Summer Visit from the Girls

Emily and Katie came to visit last week. Our first trip was to Bingen, a small town on the banks of the Rhein just up the river from Wiesbaden and surrounded by vineyards. Once the girls got their sea legs, we headed off to Switzerland - about a 6 hour drive south.

Our destination was Zermatt, the last village before Italy and just below the Matterhorn. It's almost 15,000 feet high and is instantly recognizable. The town is only accessible by train, there are no cars allowed.


There was a local saloon having an outdoor festival on the main pedestrian walk. The girls took to that right away. We took off the next day for a hike under the shadow of the matterhorn. We cheated by taking a tram up the mountain and hiking back down.

Through the mountains you come across these goat herder shacks that form little towns. Of course, they are all still there for the benefit of us tourists. And some house kitchens and restaurants. They look archaic with huge pegs for nails but they don't fall down.
Our hotel rooms bordered the main walkway in town. We heard some bells clanging and looked out to see a small herd of mountain goats being led by young boys up to the mountainside.

After Zermatt, we headed north to Lucerne. The way there is scary and beautiful at the same time. Roads get extremely narrow and wind their way around the mountains. The Swiss have become the best tunnel builders in the world but they still like hairpin turns.

Lucerne is just a perfect little city built on the river flowing from Lake Lucerne. It is THE cleanest river we have ever seen. The famous wooden Chapel bridge across the river constructed in the 14th century has historic paintings inside illustrating local history.
There is even a Mt Rushmore-like monument carved on a rock hillside. The story is convoluted but basically the Lion symbolizes the memory of 200 swiss guards who died defending the King from a revolutionary mob in 1792.



Finally back in Wiesbaden, the girls made good on a promise back in March to take out a paddleboat on our Kurpark pond with a bottle of wine.
Tschuss!