Don't stop me nowwww....

Yesterday, as usual, we woke up late, and had breakfast. As with most weekends, my Aunt had prepared for us a nice breakfast, which of course we were eating for lunch (since we didn't actually get to the table 1:00). The day then progressed rather slowly, with me playing ping-pong with my cousin, and then taking a shower, and getting ready for the cook-out that we were going to this afternoon. This was hosted by the village doctor Hans and his wife Janika (which may or may not be spelled correctly, she is from Holland originally, and he is Swiss).

We walked the "back" way to their house this afternoon at about 4:30, which brought a nice view of the mountains and some farms, as well as cherry trees, which we of course sampled. Upon arriving, we were greeted warmly by Janika, who is enormously happy all the time, she truly is great. We then went to the backyard, and there enjoyed some champagne and snacks, watched a Swiss bike race on the T.V., and then proceeded to grill the food. Their house, biological, was A-mazing! It had the prettiest random artwork, pictures, and even a huge cowbell with an ornate collar hanging from the ceiling...it was awesome! I didn't take pictures of the inside because I didn't want to be creepy...And their backyard was fantastic too (see pic). This guy does everything. He's the home doctor of the village (we got a tour of his practice...which is connected to his house-again, awesome), relative of a famous painter, and has grape vines (overhanging the table on the porch where we ate dinner) that he uses to make grappa.

We sat at the table that was set outside, and thus started the 3 hour eating fest that was called dinner. We began with a salad with sauteed mushrooms!, and then it started to rain so we moved the table under the porch. Following the salad, the main course, which was lamb, chicken, steaks, kebabs of some meat, sausages, noodles, ratatouille, and some corn-on-the-cob. After dinner, I had a tour of Hans' medical clinic, which is attached to their house, and then we ate dessert. There was ice cream with raspberries and strawberries in some sauce with expresso, then some Dutch brownies followed by a bit of Grappa. This was delightful, but I felt as if I couldnt move for like 20 minutes or I would die. I...Would...Diiieee

We left that night full, and ready for the next day, which was an adventure. We started out at about 6:30 this AM with Auntie Gail. We rode with her to Solothurn, and then took the train to Biel. In Biel, we transfered to Lausanne, and arrived there at about 8:30 in the morning. Erin was dead tired (Steve had already had coffee...and I think we all know he sleeps as soon as he hits a pillow/chair/couch/floor/wall so I'm sure he was more rested than I), but once we stepped off the train we both were able to pep it up. We walked around Lausanne for about an hour, saw some dogs in a dog park with a MINI dog, so cute! and a Benny look-a-like...I snapped a photo of course to show her when I get back :), looked at the lake and the mountains, saw a bit of the Old City, and then continued on our way to Montreux (since we didn't make it the other day). We arrived there, and upon exiting the train station, we were greeted by the lake and mountains, a view that was scrumptulascent (it may not be spelled correctly). We then ate the delish sandwiches we packed (it was only about 1130 at this point and it felt like we had been going for days) and walked the lake shore of Montreux, seeing Freddy Mercury's statue (left) (people watched...caught several awkward pictures by tourists (Steve's included) and the casino that "Smoke on the Water," was written about. We contemplated the 45 minute walk to the castle, but decided to continue our adventure.

What came next was the Golden Pass train, that has huge windows, and rides through the mountains. I think it's also the train for old people that hike. I could not tell you how many older (grandparents age) women hikers we saw, dressed in all their gear...We decided to take this train to Interlaken instead of the usual one, and although it took a bit longer, the view was great. We rode past tiny mountain villages that had the traditional houses, and saw mountain goats (and cows haha) and even glimpses of some Alps. We finally made it to Interlaken, but we were greeted then by rain. We still managed to buy a salad and something to drink, ate it on a bench in the town, and then walked back to the train station to venture back home. Also, a little hilarious side note: all throughout the day we took several naps on the train (especially the hours in the golden express)...well, on the way home, we had about 30 minutes until we needed to switch train and somehow both fell asleep during this leg of the journey. Luckily, we woke up after the train had been stopped in Olten (where we needed to get off) for about 5 minutes. Picture this: I realize we're stopped, tell Stephen we're in Olten (to which he responds, "well then what are we doing?" like we had been awake) and we both fumble around for bags and jackets and scramble off the train (still in a nap daze, mind you) just as the doors are closing. I bet it was quite entertaining for the other passengers. Fantastic day! Annnddd, Stephen got a video of Desty "laughing" when she's excited. Cute. Tomorrow to Luzern before we head back to England Wednesday