Monday June 2
Me, Sister Cook, the girls, and Charlie were going to go up to a small town that is right near St. Margrethen called St. Gallen. However, as we were driving up there, it started to rain; and the fun thing about St. Gallen's is that it's this cute town with lots of shops and little sites that you can see... so we wouldn't be able to walk around very well if it was raining. We decided to turn back and before you know it.. it's starts hailing!! It was so bizarre! I thought for sure it would start snowing or something because the weather has been FANTASTIC and in or around the 50's F. But rain is normal for Switzerland... hence why it's SOO green out here!! I still can't believe sometimes how much green is out here- it's unbelievable.
So anyway, the trip to St. Gallen that night got postponed and we headed back to St. Margrethen... and on the way we stopped at... MCDONALD'S!!! I was so happy! Well.. kinda... I've been trying to watch what I'm eating... lol oh well :) I'm happy with the way I am... anyway it was really fun. I had a cheeseburger (I was nervous that I'd had the last of those before I left.) and a diet coke! Or.. coke zero I guess is what it is out here... ahhhh. I was content. The rain and hail followed us to St. Margrethen and so we had our FHE lesson in McDonalds :) it was quite the experience!!!
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5209852085612864258" />Tuesday June 3
On Tuesday, we actually made it up to St. Gallen. It was SUCH a cute town!!!!!!! Cute little shopping stores, food, venders, cathedrals. It was so fun!!!! I've been trying to find a tshirt of some kind to bring home, that has either Switzerland written on it, or "Suisse" which is "Swiss" in German.. just something so that I can be reminded of this beautiful country... but I didn't really find anything.. that were girl sizes at least lol. I find several shirts/jerseys that were awesome and on sale for pretty cheap, and then I'd realize that they were guy shirts... oh well.
There was a cathedral in kind of the middle of the town, and Madison, Ellie and I went in and sat in the pews and just admired how beautiful it was. The intricut designs were absolutely breathtaking. Even Madison and Ellie were talking about how pretty it was and being very respectful of the chapel. It was such a fun day!! I love going out and just spending time with the girls and Charlie.
Wednesday June 4
"Giddy 'yup horsey!!" Hahaha remember that Mom and Dad?! Guess what?! I got to go horseback riding in Switzerland!!!!!! It was so fun! The only downer, was that Sister Cook and I ran the steps in the house (it was raining outside so we couldn't go running-we've been running/walking almost everyday so far :) either along the Rhine River, or the other trail that follows the mountains. I'm loving it!!!) so we ran steps- there's three... long... flights in the house. haha So I had done that, then went and met these two girls with our bikes to drive to the lady's house (Irene) which ended up taking about 35-40min (it was fun tho, we went through several cute towns... I just wasn't expecting such a long trip) and then sat on horses for three hours, and rode bikes back home for another 35-40min... lol when I woke up Thursday morning... I could hardly move! I could tell you exactly which muscle hurt on my legs, calfs, and bum, and from which activity it was cause by. It was pretty funny. My bum has never hurt so bad in my life. Anyway! The horses were great! I learned how to ride an English saddle (without the horn to hold on to) and how to stand up and down in the saddle when the horse runs or trots so that you're not banging on his/her back everytime you come down. So... I got to run!!! One of my dreams!!! lol Only, I wasn't by myself in an open field with my dream guy on a horse next to me... but it was close :). Just to be able to say that I did it and survived... is pretty great for me! :) I wish I had gotten pictures... but I was kind of uncomfortable asking the people I was with to (I didn't know them very well, nor speak German lol they spoke some English... anyway it was just a little too outside of my comfort zone. But I'm working on it.) take some for me. Oh well. Such is life... but I have the bruised muscles to prove it if you don't believe me! ;) We rode on a trail along the mountains and it was just stunning. I'm starting to run out of adjectives on how to describe the mountains,and the scenery! haha but just believe me,and imagine the most beautiful countryside possible- and that's Switzerland. It's wonderful.
Friday June 6
Castles, castles, castles, castles!!!! YAY! My first castle of the summer!!! We went to Lichtenstein (don't know spelling sorry!) to visit Brother Cook at his work (which was an AWESOME buildling!!) but before that, we met him in the town (don't remember the name, sorry!!! lol so much German!!!) for lunch. Sister Cook had dared me earlier that morning during our run to try what's called a "Kabob" (again.. spelling.. no clue.) So I thought it would just be meat on a stick ya know? Well.. it wasn't lol but it was really really good!!! It was basically-here's the Bread Co girl coming out- Ciabatta bread, which is just flat, fluffy bread, and then inside was lettuce, onions, this really yummy sauce and... dun dun dun! LAMB!! I couldn't believe it!! When she told me it was lamb (after of course, I had agreed to the dare lol) I kinda of did a double take and doubted the dare... but, I've got to get out of my comfort zone at some point right?! (sarcastic- leaving the house and immersing myself in German... is stepping WAY out of my zone!! lol) But it was absolutely delicious! As long as I didn't think about it being lamb... and that I was probably eating someone's mom... I was ok with it! I did find tshirts in this town!! Hurray!! They're kids sized shirts, but luckily they fit really well. One is a tshirt with "Suisse" on it, with the Swiss flag, and the other is a jersey with "Euro 2008 Austria-Switzerland" on it for the Soccor tournament that was this weekend, and the Swiss flag on the opposite side. On the back it says, "Switzerland" and the number 8.. I'm assuming it's for one of the players... lol whatever, it's cool :) I love them!!
But, the castle!!! Was, FANTASTIC! It was this smaller sized castle, but still SO fun to go up and look out the windows and take pictures, and just... ok.. I'll save that part until the next castle :) I just love it so much! But this castle was called Werdengerg Castle. It was really cool to walk around the rooms and see little beds, and short little doors.. and the walk up to the castle was really fun. We walked through this small... neighborhood I guess.. with these houses that had the smallest doors imaginable... it reminded me of hobbits actually.. that's how small they were. I took a picture of Madison standing next to one-it was pretty funny. But these castles just sit up tucked away in the mountains and have the most beautiful backyards... the town, hills, more mountains, a lake... it's incredible. Here's a slideshow!
Saturday June 7
Germany!!! I have now been to officially 4 countries! Switzerland, Austria (church), Lichtenstein, and Germany! It's so crazy!!!!! This trip, was by far the best one...so far :) We took a car ride and drove to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Now, some history on this castle...
First off, Neuschwantstein Castle is the castle that inspired both the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty castles from Disney. Cool huh?! It's HUGE! And BEAUTIFUL!!!! Holy cow. Ok, Neuschwanstein Castle was built by King Ludwig II and it took almost 5 years to build. When 6 rooms had been completed, Ludwig moved in. However, he only lived in the castle for about 10 days. Why only 10? Because he mysteriously died. His body was found in the lake-which you can see from the windows of the castle- along with his psychiatrist... creepy, yes? But this guy seriously had some amazing architects working on his castle. The wood carvings about his bed were exquisite and huge; the paintings all around the castle were so vibrant in color that you would think they were painted last week-but they're over 200 years old.
Ok, so now my rantings on castles... I think I am becoming completely obsessed with them!! I have always loved reading novels that are set in castles, with princesses and princes and knights in shining armor... anyway, I've just always loved castles. So to actually walk through such a beautiful and huge... HOUSE... it completely floored me. I catch myself imagining living in a castle, and what it would be like. Granted, give me electricity and plumbing and I would live in that time period in a heartbeat. I really had the time of my life. As we were walking out, I all of a sudden had this clear image in my head of a princess riding through the main gate, ribbons flowing in her hair and her horse's, and riding up to the doors of the castle. It was such a weird experience, but really gave me something fun to think about. Think about it- how long would it take for a Prince who lived in say, Neuschwanstein, to ride all the way down into the valley, through the mountains and up into another mountain JUST to see his princess. It would take so long!! Anyway, that's my rant :) I just couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to live in the time period of castles... I love it.
1 comment:
It is fun to see you were I was standing in November!! and we can remind Dad that this is one place we have seen and not him. I am sure the hike was prettier with all the green. HAHA, I carried Ellie too. Has she ever seen the castle:) Love ya, Mom
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