My parents visit Switzerland!

The month of April flew by after spending the first week in Spain and Portugal and then the last two weeks of the month we were excited to have my parents make the trip across the pond! We certainly made the most of the two weeks as we ventured to nearly every corner of the country. Needless to say by the end of their time here I think all of us needed a vacation from our vacation!

After my parents first flight across the Atlantic we spent the first few days just relaxing and catching up and sorting through the two extra suitcases that were brought solely for their granddaughter. She certainly is lucky to have such wonderful grandparents that were willing to haul all that extra luggage before she is even born! Then after feeling a little more rested and getting an introduction around Zurich it was time to set off on our first adventure.

Lake St. Moritz

We made the 3+ hour train ride to St. Moritz and lucky for us that was really one of the very few days with less than ideal weather, and all we were doing was riding in a train! We were able to explore the small ski village that evening (and spend our first real time with Steve as well since he was out of town for work most of the time they were here unfortunately), but our real purpose of venturing to St. Moritz was the next morning we were heading out on the Glacier Express scenic train.

The Glacier Express is an 8 hour train ride across eastern and southern Switzerland and through some of the most scenic stretches of the Alps. I would highly recommend it as a great way to see some incredible scenery without having to get out of your seat (and if you live in Switzerland and have a GA pass or are visiting and have already purchased a Swiss Pass it is nearly free). It was truly a spectacular ride through hundreds of tunnels, over hundreds of bridges and making several treks up and down mountainsides to as high as 6,000 or 7,000 feet at times.

Mom & dad on the Glacier Express

Beautiful scenery from the train

The Glacier Express ended in perhaps my favorite Swiss town, Zermatt. We had planned a two night stay in this quaint car-free ski community (see previous post about our January stay here), and almost ended up staying a third night as we enjoyed it so much and found this great condo to rent at an extremely reasonable price (by Swiss standards reasonable) and the property manager offered to let us stay another night for free if we wanted! If we hadn't already made other plans we probably would have taken her up on the offer, but it once again went to show us that the Swiss are often not very concerned with making extra money - when was the last time you had something like that happen when you were on vacation in the states?

One of the reasons we had trouble leaving Zermatt was the absolutely beautiful weather we had, and to my delight my third trip to this town proved to be the charm as I finally saw the Matterhorn in completely clear skies! It truly was mesmerizing and hard not to take a photo from every angle throughout the town as it was difficult to let our gaze stray from this amazing peak in the Alps.

The Matterhorn from the far end of Zermatt

We finally convinced ourselves we couldn't stay in Zermatt forever and so on Monday morning we headed out to Lausanne as that was where Steve was working for the week. Lausanne is situated perfectly on Lake Geneva with views of the French Alps across the lake and in the middle of the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, which are a UNESCO world heritage site that stretch for over 20 miles along the lakeside. While there we explored the Chillon Castle. The castle physically sits right on the lake. We also took a boat ride that allowed us to get a full view of the amazing vineyards. Here's a quick look from the boat ride that shows just how large and impressive these terraced vineyards are: http://youtu.be/9w67_wUea4c

Chillon Castle

Views of the vineyards last summer when they were closer to harvest

After these several days of traveling we were ready to head back to Zurich for a few nights and the rest of our travels during their time here were day trips. We once again got lucky and had beautiful weather for our day in Luzern. Like most everyone else we know my parents loved the charm of this town, and it has proved that it will be a regular destination for most all of our friends and family that come to visit. We were also able to venture via cable car and gondola to the top of Mt. Pilatus, which is just outside of Luzern with one of a kind views of the lakes and mountains throughout central Switzerland.

In front of the historic wooden bridge in the center of Luzern

At the top of Mt. Pilatus

Views of the lakes and mountains surrounding Luzern on the cable car ride to the top of Mt. Pilatus

 On another day we made our way to Interlaken, also a place that is hard not to love as we explored the Lauterbrunnen Valley and took in views of the Alps from another car-free village, Murren. Although we were there during the slow season (between winter skiing and summer outdoor adventure seasons) we found ourselves on some of the busiest gondolas I've ever seen. We literally felt like cattle as they kept stuffing more people in the doors! There were many American tourists on the gondola with us who were extremely fearful that it was even going to break. I'm still not sure I felt safe, but I'm also convinced that the Swiss build things to last and don't cut corners. Luckily, they proved me correct. Regardless, it's still pretty impressive that one cable can support a gondola with well over 100 people inside!

Views of Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains from Murren

Back in Zurich for my parents last few days in town and we made our way to the Zurich Zoo for the first time. It is supposed to be one of the best in Europe and it didn't disappoint. We live very close and I have no doubt that come next year we will have season passes so one very important little girl can learn all of her animals!

This elephant wanted to greet us up close!

All in all it was a great two weeks and the time absolutely flew by! My parents learned first hand about many of the Swiss tendencies and quirks about everyday life in this country. And I was very lucky to have extra hands every time I had to go to the store (which when you have four people around it seems like you have to go almost everyday!). We are definitely already looking forward to their next visit!