Switzerland

Plane ride.. sleepy eyes
don't you just want to eat lunch here everyday? 1st hostile experience. loved my handmade silky sheet

If you've ever wondered if this country is as beautiful as everyone says it is, well you'll just have to see for yourself. But, let me just tell you... It's so beautiful! As we left Kiki's care it was a little scary to now be completely on our own in a country where we didn't know where we were off to next and.... yep, no French for us. We flew into Geneva, walked around for about 30 minutes wondering what on earth we were doing there.. Not that it wasn't cool, just foreign and a little intimidating. So... we found a tourism shop (thank goodness for Chad's sense of direction) where they knew English and got our feet underneath our knees again and had high hopes. Gruyere
We should have done a little more research since we were just marking off the places to go that the brochure pointed to us, but who cares... We're in Switzerland! We had a great lunch on the side of the street and started walking. Our hostile wasn't the cleanest, wasn't the safest, but I had my hubby and he kept me safe. A couple that was staying in our room ( hostile remember) had been away from home for 1 month already and were planning to be gone another. It was fun to see other travelers on their merry way.
We got a lot of pointers from our neighbor Nick that served his mission in Switzerland, and he hooked us up with the Country Side of Switzerland. We went to church and met some great members, including this older couple that gave us a ride Chateau Chillon and learned that they have a daughter now living in Logan Utah (small world, eh). It was such an enjoyable ride up to this beautiful Chateau with the Alps just covered by a thick layer of clouds; at least we kind of saw them, right? When I first laid eyes on this magnificent location right on Lake Geneva I was so impressed. The architectural boundaries that were created to build this Chateau right off of a rock floating above water was breath-taking. Definitely one of the highlights of our vacation.
Next highlight was a little town named La Gruyere, home of the famous Swiss cheese and Chocolate. We toured the building where they famously make their cheese from native Swiss cows and tested the cheese right on hand. With another 10 min. train ride and a $50 taxi ride (Chad wasn't too pleased) we made it in the nick-of-time to see the Chocolate Factory. I was just waiting for Mr Wonka aka Johnny Depp to pop out somewhere. At the end of the tour, being very educated on the root of the cocoa bean, where it came from and how precious it once was, there was a beautiful display of chocolates waiting at the end of the tunnel for Chad and I to nibble. Brilliant... the chocolate was to die for.
The Alps.
chateau chillon
Cailler Chocolate Factory