/>
/>
/>
/>
/>
/>
Switzerland
We rented this little Volkswagen for the rest of our travels. We found that renting a car was actually cheaper than taking a train from Paris, France to Bern, Switzerland, 6 hours away. Plus we love a good road trip!
We drove through the pretty French countryside...
And reached the mountains and green pastures of Switzerland...
Since we drove we could stop along the way whenever our hearts desired! We discovered quaint villages and gorgeous views... I fell completely in love with Switzerland! Charming cottages adorned by flowers, and farms dot the rolling green hills, majestic mountains and pines surround you and the air is clean, quiet and peaceful. If I could choose one word to describe the country it would be... Breathtaking. I wanted to run through the hills like the Sound of Music! I felt as though we were in a picture book and I didn't want to the story to ever end...
We arrived at the beautiful Bern, Switzerland Temple after dark. This was the reason we came to Switzerland in the first place, to attend the Temple, little did we know that Switzerland would become one of our favorite places on earth. We stayed in the Temple housing and did a Temple session the very next morning.
"It's a small world after-all..."
Ben is pictured here with a family from his mission in Ecuador! What a sweet reunion it was to find them visiting the same Temple as we were at the very same time. The family had moved to Italy and the Bern, Switzerland Temple is their closest Temple. They were on a ward Temple trip and were staying at the Temple housing as well. They invited us to join them for dinner they prepared in the kitchen of the Temple housing--a delicious traditional Ecuadorian feast! Ben had a lot of catching up to do and I had fun trying to communicate with them in Spanish. (This was supposed to be the one trip Ben didn't have to speak Spanish while I tried to figure out what he was saying! Maybe I should learn?...it seems to be very useful no matter where we go).
After our stay in Bern we visited Interlaken--a bustling city with shops, restaurants and many train connections. We then continued our travel, stopping along the way at a few small villages and on to Gimmelwald (pronounce the "w" like a "v"). It has been said, "if heaven isn't what it's cracked up to be, send me back to Gimmelwald!" The only way to reach this sleepy mountain village of about 100 people or so is by hiking or taking a cable car. There are no cars, TV, no theaters, not even a food store (except for one--a wagon full of fruit and vegetables that you can help yourself to and place the amount of money you feel it is worth in a basket--how trusting! We purchased bananas for a generous price). We hiked the mountainous village, enjoyed breathtaking views, stopped in a few little shops and contemplated hang gliding. Next time maybe we'll have the guts to do it! Hang gliding that is; we've got the guts to shop alright... one of our favorite purchases was a large antique and well worn cow bell. Maybe we'll hang it in our home and ring the bell when dinner is ready, just like my mother used to do. :)
We spotted a waterfall, one of many... Ben's favorite thing!
The cable-car ride to Gimmelwald...
Handstand photos in Gimmelwald. It proved to be very difficult to do a handstand on an incline and even more difficult to capture our handstands using the camera self-timer. This is the best we could do...
We enjoyed the many assortments of Swiss cheeses, meats and chocolates, oh my.
Our last stop in Switzerland would be the famous Matterhorn Mountain in Zermatt, Switzerland. An exciting part of our drive was driving our car onto a train to ride a portion of our journey. A first for the two of us...
We boarded a train in Zermatt that would take us as near as we could get to the Matterhorn.
The view of the mountain from the town below...
As the train chugged through the mountains and rose higher and higher the air felt cooler and crisper and the views were spectacular. We reached the altitude of 3100 feet and signed the wall to prove it!
Ben fell in love with a painting of the Matterhorn and bought it directly from the artist himself...
We built our own prayer rock tower, amid the many other towers built by hikers along the way.
We thoroughly enjoyed the views of the Matterhorn, hiking the mountainous terrain, and the train rides through the Swiss Alps.
It was hard to leave breathtaking Switzerland but we had more places to see on our itinerary and only so much time to see it all. For now, we'll dream of having a little cottage in the rolling hills of Switzerland where we can escape from our busy world and enjoy simplicity and the beauty and serenity of nature.
What a dream!