Saturday in Switzerland

Saturday we left Zermatt, the town of no cars, and headed northwest to Lake Geneva. We toured a medieval castle there, the Chillon Castle. It was an informative tour and let me just say that I am so glad I do not live in the medieval times.And so glad we learned about hygiene and don't have to go to the bathroom in a hole in the floor. But the castle was beautiful. Right on the lake built directly into the rocky little island with a beautiful view of the mountains.

Then we drove to Cailler's Chocolate factory in Broc. Yummy! When we started the tour there, it was along the lines of Willy Wonka - I was just waiting for him to pop out from somewhere. Unfortunately he didn't. But it was still really cool to see the machines and hear the story of the company. Switzerland got all the credit for making chocolate such a yummy treat by making milk a key ingrediant. At first, coco was just a drink. And during the Depression, this company merged with Nestle (also a Swiss company) and it saved them from going bankrupt. They are still partners. We got to see the general process of making their famous little chocolates - really cool! And then we ended in everyone's favorite room, the taste testing room.

After there, we drove back to Zurich. Time with the family was fun. We had to say good bye on Saturday night to Aunt Karen, Oma, Travis and his wife, Natalie. They unfortunately couldn't accompany us the rest of the trip. More good byes that I hate to say. But it was so great to have them here! I loved sharing this with everyone and we had such a good time together and made more wonderful memories :) So now it is down to Aunt Cindy, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Carol, Katy, Courtney, Melinda, Reed, and myself touring Venice and Paris!

Today we made it to Venice - after nearly 12 hours of traveling with 6 train transfers, 1 bus ride, and 1 water taxi... Seriously... And we never even were lost. It was a crazy day, but we are here finally and loving the first impressions of the city.

Zermatt

On Tuesday we were at the Jungfraujoch and then on Wednesday the weather wasn't too nice to us. We drove around on some crazy mountain roads, walking through a gorge and saw some waterfalls. On Thursday we drove to Zermatt. This is quite the interesting little town. They do not allow cars. Well real cars. They use electric cars. So you sometimes feel like a giant walking around on the streets with the little things going by. Taxi's have to take you up to a certain point and then you have to transfer to the little things. It was a nail bitting drive up the narrow road. It was quite terrifying for us all. But it was a really pleasant little town once we got there. We went to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. This mountain can only be seen from this area. It is on the boarder with Italy and you can also see it from the Italian side, but apparently it looks completely different. It was magnificent. So, another train ride up the mountain to see this beauty.

There was a perfect blue sky as her back drop when we arrived. This is the view from our hotel balcony.

With the twins! They're all grown up! This was at the top.

Some idiots wore shorts to the top of a mountain. And other people thought it was funny when we were playing, or if you're Travis, falling in the snow, and took pictures of us as well.

The clouds moved so fast over the mountains.

And the girl cousins were adventurous and hiked part of the way down the mountain back to town. It was nice to have our own private hiking guide with us. Peter is the best family tour guide Switzerland has to offer!



Jungfraujoch Noch Mal

So I got to go up to the Jungfraujoch again (I went in December with my mom) but this time with the summer view. And of course, it was incredible! I already wrote about the Jungfrau region in my other blog, but to sum it up; it is not actually the tallest mountain in Europe but it is the highest railway, it took around 20 years to build, you have to change to 3 different kinds of trains as you go up the mountain, and it is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen.  Aunt Kathy put it perfectly - there is nothing up there but there is a lot to see. Another of God's masterpieces.

On one side it is completely white with snow and glacier. We were thankful for another beautiful blue sky, but it didn't take long before everything turned completely white inside the clouds.

And the other side was green with a view down to the city. It wasn't near as cold like it was in winter time. It was so cool to see this place in 2 seasons.

We walked through a part of the glacier.

And played in the snow. It wasn't that cold - until we started the snow ball fight.

And one of my favorite things is always the beautiful scenery on the train ride, and the good company :)

Hike Hike Baby

We got to go on one of the best, and possibly hardest, hikes of my life on Monday. I will let these pictures speak for the greatness of what it was:

At the beginning. Thankful for a beautiful blue sky.

Working our way up.

Getting farther into the gorge. We had to be careful walking right next to the cliff drop off on the narrow pathway.

View facing the other way. The glacier we were walking toward and the view we had the whole time kept getting better and better.

At the top! After we took some pictures, fed some sheep, threw some rocks, and called out for an echo, we headed back down.

And now we are all sore.

Farst Family Field Trip

So for the next 2 weeks I will be out and about in Europe with my family. Right now we are making a Swiss Safari Tour. It’s been pretty much awesome. After everyone’s crazy crazy travels to finally get to Switzerland, they made it! We started in Zurich seeing the fancy little town and then we went to another fancy little town, Luzern. Both are fancy and beautiful and have lakes. I enjoy them both very much. Neither have an overwhelming big city feel to it. They are very classy and clean. It is so nice to have our own little tour guide man. He knows all the insider stories and is a great bus driver – I’m riding shot gun! We drove through the towns and walked through towns and played in the towns. The Tour der Schweiz Bicycle Race was coming through Luzern so it was pretty crowded.

 We didn’t spend too much time in the cities because we wanted to get out into the mountains, of course! After the city highlights and ice cream stops, we headed toward our next destination in Grindelwald. On the way, we had to stop at a dairy farm and take a look around the cheese factory. Smelled terrible but was a fun thing to do and enjoyed our cheese samples! Then, on we continued and made it to Grindelwald for dinner time on Sunday night. This town is tucked away in the mountains in a very famous area in Switzerland. - Jungfrau region. It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth, I think. We will stay here for 3 days of action and then head onto Zermatt.

Traveling in style!

Good Bye for now Munich

The past few months have been quite an emotional ride. And the past few days have maxed me out. I had to say good bye to my host family last Thursday. That was so hard. I have been so thankful and felt truly blessed to stay with them for a year. I have so many wonderful memories of adventures playing with the boys as my little brothers. I love them so much and cannot wait to see them again as they grow up! I learned so much from Nevena and have felt overjoyed to become so close to the boys and to also be here when the new baby came. Saying good byes to family is hard. But, this had to come at some point..

Later that day on Thursday, I welcomed my Oma and two of my Aunts to Munich! It was so great to see family and have them here to show them my life in Munich. So Friday I showed them around the city and took one final look at my favorite spots!

Friday night we met most of my friends in a Beer garden for a Bavarian Picnic farewell party! It was awesome! Everyone brought typical Bayerisch food to share and we watched Germany’s national soccer team play on the big screen. It was a difficult night, but a perfect way to say good bye to all of my sweet friends here. They were sweet enough to give me a photo book and write me notes which was so thoughtful and makes me feel so special. I am so thankful for all of you. I will never forget my amazing experiences here in Germany mainly because of the incredible company. Y’all made it that much more special. Thanks! My heart hurts because I will miss you all so much. I am excited to see you again in the future!

Saturday morning, I got on the train with Oma, Aunt Karen, and Aunt Cindy to head to Switzerland to meet the rest of our family to begin our tour through der Schweiz. I don’t know if I could have gotten on the train if my family wasn’t there to support me. It was hard to leave Munich. It was an emotional train ride for me. But, we finally made it to Zurich and met more of our family after several travel complication on everyone’s end. (Everyone missed their connecting flights – yes, everyone.) First arriving were 2 Baldocks and 2 Farsts from Texas. So I anxiously awaited in the Zurich airport for 2 hours before I finally got to see my brother and his wife after one year! 4 Keirns from Maryland met us the next day in Luzern after a hectic travel schedule. So we all finally met together and hopped on our family (Mercedes Benz!) tour bus and headed out.

So, I have spent the majority of these few days in tears – from joy, sadness, tiredness, you name it. I’m excited to go home to Texas to see everyone, but I am afraid to think about how different home is going to be now that I have been gone for a year and that living over here has become my normal. I am so happy to spend this time with family and leave my year abroad in Europe with a bang! But I am so sad to leave my home and family in Germany. I could not have asked for this to be a better blessing.

Here it Comes

So, this is the last week with my host family... Last day... I am leaving the Vuksanovic Family tomorrow and going to meet up with my Aunt, Oma, and Great Aunt in Munich. And then starts the long journey home. Saturday is the big day. So the past week or so I have been organizing things to get ready for another international move. I truly, deeply hate packing. Shipping things over the Atlantic is not cheap. So it's been a bit stressful but I have also gotten to spend a lot of time with the boys. I'm going to miss them so much. I already have 2 older brothers, but now it feels like I have 2 little brothers and now a little baby sister. I look forward to seeing them in the future!
We will leave Munich on Saturday morning and train ride our way to Zurich to meet more of our family. There are 12 of us total making a tour around Switzerland. I am so excited to see them so soon!!! But my heart is above being overwhelmed because I am extremely upset to being leaving my life in Munich. Friday night I'll have to say good bye to my friends. I have already had to do this a few times with other people who went back home. Get ready for the water works. I have been so thankful to be in such a great place like Munich surrounded by a wonderful group of friends and be apart of a new family. My experiences here have gone above and beyond what my expectations were a year ago when I moved to Germany. I can't believe this year is over. I am so thankful for this time in my life. I am thankful for the wisdom and encouragement God has gracously and continuously given me. I am thankfull to have a new family here and know that these relationships will continue to grow.

So here it comes. Starting the count down to Texas. 18 days!

The Lone Star State Reputation

So today I just happen to be walking down the street in the city and ran into a group of Aggies! They were on the marketing study abroad trip and it also just so happens that a few farmiliar faces from tri delta are here :) So I took my first whooping pictures in Europe with them! And then I realized I have got to post a Texas blog..

Being from Texas, I get all kinds of funny questions over here...

 

 

My favorite question first: Are you a redneck?

I've gotten that as a sincere question twice now. One of the guys who asked me that is now a good friend of mine, but that was the very first thing he said to me.

 

 

George Bush is from Texas... Did you vote for Bush? Did you vote for Obama?

Europeans always want to discuss American politics for some reason. An area I am not so well informed about, surprise surprise.

 

 

Do you have a cowboy hat?

 

 

Can you ice skate?

How many guns do you have?

Why does your state still have the death penalty?

You don't sound like you're from Texas.

Are you really from Texas? Are you really?... Really?

I can't answer these questions to people without laughing. I get a lot of good questions too, not just silly ones. Our state is famous even though it's not a typical trip to take on holiday :) I'm excited to be back in our great state soon!