Switzerland (April 15-17)

We woke up very early and caught the 7:55 train to Neuchatel. It was a long ride (4 hours) but it was fairly scenic, so it wasn't too bad. We then got ready to take a connecting train from there to Mürten, but it was canceled. Luckily for us, a friendly Swiss man asked us if we were waiting for that train and told us that it was canceled. He told us just in time, as we were able to take a different train and then change once to reach our ultimate destination 15 minutes later than originally planned. Daniel Lehmann picked us up at the train station and we went back to his place, where we had a big fondue meal with him and his wife Sina (Hardy came by and joined us part way through). Flavia (their daughter) then got back from school and we all wandered around town, the walls, and the castle. Mürten is a picturesque town and very worth visiting. Flavia and Cordion (their son) came with us as we walked the city. They were a little shy at first (it has been 2 years), but they quickly warmed up and became my friends again (they are funny kids - I really like them). We then went to the train station to purchase our tickets for that evening and drove over to Mons Vully, on the other side of the lake (which has a great view of the area). We then had dinner with everyone (Daniel's sister Barbara even drove out). After dinner, we had to leave, and Barbara gave us a ride to Bern, where we caught the train to Luzern. We were sad to leave them, but we needed to get to Luzern that evening. Markus and Kathy were there to pick us up, and we went back to there place and talked a while with them, Caroline, Andreas, and Lucas. It was great to see everyone again, but we had to quickly call it a night because of the next day's plans.

The next morning, we got up at a little before 5:00 am. After getting ready and eating breakfast, we drove over to Interlochen and rode up the cogtrain to the Jungfraujoch. It was an impressive view and a neat facility (with some cool ice caves full of ice carvings). It was also amazingly cold (-17 degrees Celsius before the heavy wind chill). I was bundled up in heavy warm clothing and was still cold. Rather comically, a crazed Chinese guy ran out to the viewing platform in just his boxers and has his friends take pictures of him. Markus got a picture of him too, shortly before he threw a bunch of snow on him. The guy then ran back inside, but I imagine he must have been freezing. We tried hiking a little bit along the ridge, but the snow was too deep and it was too cold, so we turned back. We then headed back down the mountain and went to the airfield, where Markus took us up in his Cesna. I enjoy flying, so it was rather cool. Weather conditions prevented us from flying over parts of the Alps like last time, but we still had some great views of the area. While on landing approach, some joker was taxing around on the runway, and Markus had to slow down his approach to avoid hitting him (the guy wasn't supposed to be on it). We then went back to Büels and relaxed (it by then being late afternoon).

The next morning, we got up early again and headed out with Kathy and Caroline to Titlis, where we went skiing. We went up on some fairly challenging slopes and had a great time. I was by far the worst skier (not having done it in years), but with lots of help from Kathy, I greatly improved by ability to maintain control on steep slopes. Caroline and my dad went skiing down some thick powder that was off the official slopes and my dad sunk down in it. He had a hard time getting up, and when he did, he had snow and ice all over him (including his eyebrows, mustache, and eyelashes). We joked that he looked like Frosty the Snowman. After skiing half day, we returned back to Luzern, ate lunch, and walked around town for a bit with Christian (he had come home by then) and Caroline, seeing the Lion monument, the old walls, the bridge, and doing some minor shopping (buying chocolate, etc.). We then went back to their place and met up with Martina, who had also come home from school. We all ate dinner and then visited in the evening. I wish we could have stayed longer - I really enjoy being around the Büels.