Our plans, decisions, and adventures
Our month in Switzerland is over and it is time to move on. We have had a wonderful time. Our house-sitting experience was fantastic. We were nestled in the mountains with 360° views. We lived in a large, spotlessly clean and uncluttered penthouse apartment with high-end appliances, enjoyed weekly house cleaning service, drove a very... Continue Reading →
While rooting around for Switzerland rainy day ideas, we discovered the Musée International de la Croix‑Rouge et du Croissant‑Rouge (International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum) in Geneva. We were at once excited and disappointed; excited because we have been proud Red Cross volunteers and wanted very much to visit, and disappointed because the museum was in Geneva,... Continue Reading →
Zug, about half an hour from Stans, was really just an afterthought for us--a quick visit on one of our last days in the area. Zug Tourism offers an online self-guided walking tour through the old town, so we grabbed the phone and went wandering. Right from the start, we were delighted. The first stop... Continue Reading →
If you've been following along on our Swiss journey, you might have noticed that one clear theme is modes of transportation. Our first view of Switzerland was concrete in the form of overpasses, underpasses, snow sheds, walls, and tunnels. So many tunnels. When we started looking into excursions, we became overwhelmed by the many train options.... Continue Reading →
We had attempted a day trip to Rigi the week before, but missed our bus stop and by then it was too late to get back to the right one so we could board a boat across Lake Lucerne. Fate was with us, though, because at the time we would have been up the mountain... Continue Reading →
We hadn't planned to go to Basel, but on a drizzly day with hopes for a clearer afternoon, we made the 1 1/2 hour drive to check it out. Between Christmas and New Year's, on a wet weekend day, we didn't expect it to be very busy or much going on. We were quite surprised... Continue Reading →
Taking the fast northern route, Bern, Switzerland's capital city, is about 1 hour and 20 minutes from Stans, where we are staying. But the longer south route looked much more scenic. There were actually so many "wow" moments where I wanted to stop and take photos, but there was no place to do it. So... Continue Reading →
We flew into Zurich a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't seen anything of the city except the highways and tunnels leading out of it to our house sitting home in Stans. So, on a day that didn't bode well for views from mountain tops, we drove about an hour to this city to wander... Continue Reading →
Though, as close as the night before, this day trip just about didn't happen (see TripBits, below), we ended up having a lovely time and were so glad we had persevered. As we poured over the map and checked out the towns along the way, trying to decide how far to take the train, we... Continue Reading →
We drove to Luzern, about 20 minutes away, and parked under the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern (the Culture and Congress Hall, also known as the KKL). Up the escalators and outside we easily found the large archway that was our meeting place for our Free Walking Tour. Our guide was a future secondary school teacher, and... Continue Reading →
When we arrived in Zurich, we were met by one of our house-sit homeowners and driven about an hour to the town of Stans, Switzerland, our home for the next month. Along the way, I was surprised at the abundance of concrete infrastructure that loomed all around us--highway overpasses, tunnels, and bridges. In our little village of... Continue Reading →
Just left: Port Townsend, Washington, USA
Now: Birch Bay, Washington, USA
Up next: Maple Bay, British Columbia, Canada
Life: Phase Next 