Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Visitors from the States

My parents came to visit for about a week and a half and we had a great time with them. We visited quite a few places in Switzerland and also went to the Bavarian part of Germany. Here's a picture tour through some of the things that we did.



Our first big adventure was to take a cable car up to the top of the Schilthorn - near Interlaken. There's a revolving restaurant on top of the mountain, so we decided that we'd eat breakfast there - a full buffet and as much coffee as you could drink - it was worth getting up early for! Breakfast was delicious and the view was outstanding. We had a perfectly clear day, so we had a 360 degree view of snow capped mountains. How cool! The restaurant is also where part of the film - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (a James Bond movie) was filmed. We got to see the relevant clips from the film and you could tell that it had been filmed where we'd been eating.

This is us on the ferry between Switzerland and Germany across the Bodensee. It was pretty neat - we drove our car on, walked around on the deck and had coffee in the cafe. It was cold and windy out, so it was good to be able to go inside.

Here we are in Germany at the site of King Ludwig II's Fairy Tale Castle (the white one in the distance). It's called Neuschwanstein and is the model for the Disney Castle. It was amazing - beautiful and extravagant. The king commissioned it to be built, it was worked on for 17 years and he died with the castle still unfinished. He'd only lived there 6 months. In this process he plunged his family into debt so they sold the place and it had it's first visitors about 6 months after he died. Crazy! The yellow castle in the picture is Hohenschwangau - where the king grew up. It was impressive as well, but much more practical (if any castle can be called that).

We also took my parents around our town of Fribourg. The above picture was taken from an old church that looks over a cliff into the town. We also went inside the big cathedral (seen to the left in the picture) and walked through the open market. They were impressed with how old everything is here.


Our last excursion was to Avenches - a city with Roman Ruins. Mom and Dad enjoyed the museum as well as the remains of the buildings. Above is me in what remains of an old theater (Tom told me to be dramatic) - dating to the 1st or 2nd century. Remains of a Roman bath, a wall that surrounded the city, an amphitheater and a Sanctuary are also found nearby. It was impressive.

So there's a snapshot of our most recent adventures. Let us know when you want to book your trip with Swiss Adventures!

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Wow...everything is so beautiful!

I am glad your parents could come and see you.

Cristina said...

Maybe this summer sometime? Depends on my class schedule...

Ashley said...

Katie, I've really enjoyed catching up on your adventure. You and Tom are getting to see so many beautiful and neat things. :)