Switzerland: Ballenberg

October 4

We headed out with the entire family pretty early in the morning and went to the Ballenberg Open-Air Swiss Museum just outside of Interlaken. It is a huge 50-acre museum that has historical buildings and homes from all the different regions in Switzerland. We could have spent days there, but saw a little bit in the few hours we were there. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice time learning a little bit more about Swiss culture and history. There were jets flying overhead all day that were super loud and made James cry every time, but besides that the boys were happy...especially when talking to the roosters and the pigs.

After the Ballenburg museum we walked around Brienz and played in some cool water fountains, then took a boat back to Interlaken which the boys were very excited about. The views were incredible and it was a fun way to end our day before taking a train back to Bern.

Switzerland: Gruyere

October 3

On Monday Ty and I set out on our own for a very busy day. We spent an hour in Fribourg and quickly saw all the main sights there.

Then we spent an hour in Bulle where we grabbed some pastries and walked around the castle.

Both Fribourg and Bulle were necessary stops on the way to Broc Fabrique and so we just turned our layover into mini-visits. Then we made our way to the Cailler Chocolate Factory in Broc Fabrique. We took a corny tour of the factory which ended with an all you can eat chocolate buffet. Most of the chocolate was amazing and I was sorely disappointed by how quickly I felt sick and couldn’t eat anymore.

After stuffing ourselves with chocolate, we took a couple train rides to get to Gruyeres. Before we went up to the town we went to the cheese factory. We got to see the worker’s making cheese and it was really interesting, especially because I LOVE cheese. After tasting some cheese we hiked up the big hill to the town of Gruyeres. We took a tour of the castle, then walked around the church and around the cute little town. It is a beautiful little place and the weather was perfect. We got some sandwiches and ate them outside. It was a busy but really fun day full of some of my favorite things: cheese and chocolate!

Switzerland: Murten

October 2

Ty and I took Thatcher on an easy quick trip to Murten/Morat. It is a little French town pretty close to Bern and was fun to see. We showed up along with thousands of very serious looking runners ready to run in a big race. It was pretty crazy weaving through the crowds but fun to see such a big event. We saw what there was to see in the town (according to Rick Steves). My favorite thing about Murten was its skyline. The chimney's were so cool and I felt like I was in 'Mary Poppins'. We tried a tasty pastry at a local boulangerie and then headed back home. It was a cold and foggy in Murten so we felt like there wasn’t much more we could do on that trip. The rest of the afternoon I spent with the boys playing outside and doing laundry. My mom’s place has the greatest outside area next to her building with a sand box and playgrounds and the kids just love it. Ty, Keith and Josh went to a soccer game which was fun for them and on Ty's must-do list while in Europe (there were only two things on that list: see a soccer game, and go paragliding).