Weekend in CH

Labor Day weekend we spent in beautiful, expensive, neutral Switzerland. Which, by the way, is more typically known as CH. (?) Confederation of Helvetica. Who knew? They still use the Swiss Franc and are not part of the EU... strong into independence they are. The Swiss Franc has a closer exchange rate to the dollar, almost 1:1, but it is SUPER expensive here. Camping was the way to go to offset the $5 coffee (in a teeny tiny cup) and $12 personal pizza.

The people mainly speak Swiss German, which though closely related is not the same as German. I cannot understand any of it. But many also speak "high" German and English as well.

We camped at Lake Lucerne, about a 3 hour drive from Stuttgart and almost another land entirely. Blue skies, chilly mornings, but warm sunny afternoons. And awesome views of Pilatus Mountain overhead.

The campground had resident turtles which came out each morning to chomp on the clover. Good pets. No real risk of them running away.


On the "porch" attached to our Wohnwagen (camper), Dad and the kids played Indian poker. The kids have a little to learn about keeping a poker face and bluffing. "Alex, you should totally go out, your card is awful. I MEAN it!"


Sleeping in the Wohnwagon. Actually there was room for each of the kids to have their own bed - bunks were at the other end. Here is the "kitchen" table folded out for a bed. The "master" is just beyond. We were happy to have shelter. Nights were frigid. The first night I had to get up and put all my clothes back on, plus a couple extra layers just to stop shivering. But once the sun came up in the afternoon, it soon warmed up.

The first day, Evelyn and I rode this Alpine slide, the longest in Switzerland. Next to it, cows grazed for a few hours and then were driven down the mountain by a Swiss Mountain dog (very similar to the Bernese Mt. dog, Sandy).


While Evelyn and I slid, the boys and Dad spent 3 hours trying their hand at this very cool ropes course halfway up Mt. Pilatus. They had a TON of fun and I was so jealous to miss out. We have to come back in a couple years when Evelyn is old enough to go too.




The second day we spent in Lucerne (Luzern) walking the city.




This hall of mirrors was hysterical. It was actually very hard to tell which was a reflection and which was the real kid!