An Alpine Adventure

As promised, here are some photos of my four day trip in the Swiss Alps. This trip happened a couple of weeks ago - I finally got around to downloading, organizing, and posting the photos.


All is ready, just waiting for the bus to take us up the valley to our starting point. We spent most of our hiking time in the Tessin, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The five on the trip were a mountain guide, my aunt, her husband, his niece, and I.

First day, hiking through alpine meadows, over rocky brooks, surrounded my snowy mountains and sunshine!

Capanna Terri, the lodge we hiked to and stayed at the first night. Here we relaxed, read, met new people, played card games, and ate a wonderful supper.

My aunt Madeline in our loft bedroom - perfectly suited for the five of us. We even had our own outdoor entrance, which seemed really cool until in began to storm when we wanted to go to bed and we had to run through huge raindrops to get to the washroom.

Second day. One of my favourite photos. Isn't that green mountain so cool looking? At first, I kinda missed the trees, but I soon began to see the somewhat more "hidden" beauty in the rocks, snow, and grass. The alpine flowers were a highlight.

A little hut (probably belonging to a farmer who brings his cows here in the summertime) that we passed as we hiked down a long valley on the third day. Many houses in this part of Switzerland are built out of rocks.

View from the lodge we stayed at on the third evening. That valley hidden by the fog is where we had just arrived from.

The climax of our trip. On the fourth and last day we hiked up to the summit of the Rheinwaldhorn. 3402m above sea level. Unfortunately, the fog refused to lift while we were up there, but it was still worth it, just for the climb.

Flowers growing in rocky ground. Talk about perseverance.

In summary, I would highly recommend a hiking trip through the Swiss Alps. You need to experience it for yourself!

From the Swiss Alps to the German Fields

Hello friends. Sorry for the infrequency of posts on this blog. This last week, I spent four days in the Swiss Alps, hiking from one lodge to another with some relatives. Even though legs were sore by the end of this mountain tour (on the last day we hiked 1000 m up and then 2600 m down back into the valley = sore knees), it was so worth it. I just loved being outside in God`s creation and found the whole trip to be mentally refreshing. The best way to tell you about all the beautiful mountains and flowers and experiences would be with photos, but they have not been uploaded yet, so that`ll have to wait for another post.

After returning from the mountains, I said goodbye to my beloved homeland and took the train to Germany, to a beloved family whom I lived with seven years ago. Wow, seven years seems like a long time ago and much has happened since then and changed, both in my life and the lives of the people here. Yet, I quickly felt comfortable being here again and I`m enjoying just being for a bit and spending time with the family here without having to plan much or trying to fit in lots of visits in a short time (like I did while I was in Switzerland). And, of course, I`m enjoying the fact that I can spend a few days in a lovely old house, surrounded by a lush green garden, a typical German village, and flat fields of wheat, corn, and sugar beats.

This morning, I attended a church service with Uli and Inge at the FEG (which some of you are familiar with). It was such a blessing and encouragement to me being at a church service again, after not having been for the last few weeks. (The time that I went to the church service at the senior`s home with my grandma doesn`t count - the only good things about that service was that my grandma was glad to go and that the organ and flute music was enjoyable.) Anyhow, I hadn`t realized how much I had missed spending time in worship and in God`s Word with other Christians, in a place where Christ`s presence was very much felt. Just what I needed.

The sun shining into the window is beckoning so I am going to end here. Until another time!

Switzerland

Here I am, in Switzerland, eating plenty of yummy food and visiting with many of my relatives. The weather here has been sunny and usually 30 degrees which I am quite enjoying. The heat has mostly been bearable because of the delicious ice cream I`ve been served and the times I`ve been swimming with various relatives - once in a lake and twice in the river Aare. I`m not really in the mood for writing and, besides, I don`t want to bore you with all the things that my relatives are up to (which are interesting for me and my family, but not so much for the rest of you), so here are a few photos.

The city of Bern, with the River Aare in which I went swimming. Or, rather, in which the current pulled me along.

Some of my relatives from my mom`s side who I had dinner with last night.

The view from my Auntie Käthi`s porch where I am have been staying mostly. Yes, those are the Alps in the background.

A typical Swiss farmhouse in the village of Bleienbach. These types of houses are everywhere around here, especially in the villages, and I just love them. One day I will have window boxes with red geraniums in them.

This is the same farmhouse zoomed in a bit so you can see the rather untypical sign marking the front of the house.

Did I mention that Switzerland is beautiful? If you don`t believe it, you should come see it for yourself sometime!