Neuchatel

Neuchatel, or in Swiss German Neuenburg, is the main city of the canton with the same name. For us it was a first-time, since so far we did not visit the French speaking part of Switzerland very often. You really have to be prepared: the feeling is different. And maybe this is the main problem. It is hard to realize that within the same country - and it is not a very big one - you suddenly are in a completely different world. A French world (like in Neuchatel), an Italian world (like in the Tessin). How the heck is this possible??

Well, however, it is possible. And the great thing about French-speaking Switzerland: it speaks French the way you imagine it. In France they speak it so differently, so even if you finished High School with a diploma in French you do not have a clue what people are talking about. But in French Switzerland it is different. I found my kitchen French to be completely cool here, I could understand and talk to everybody. So thumbs up!

We started our tour of Neuchatel from top of the hill, from the Chateau, which today is the seat of the magistrate, organisation is done here, and it is a really fine place to work. Still it is not so easy to find, since there are corners and parks and then other corners, but my "Excusez-moi, nous cherchons le chateau, aidez nous, s´il vous-plait" was enough to point us into the right direction. With beautiful views over the city.

There are free guided tours inside the castle from Mai to September, but since it is an administrative place we did not even try with the kiddos. Into the castle yard you can proceed with no problem, and this is where we took a few photos. Isn´t it lovely with the colours?

The "Collegiale de Neuchatel" is under construction at the moment, which is why we definately are going to be back and have a look at it when it is finally done. But the inside it surprising! It is very modest, but have a look at the ceiling!

From up at the chateau and the collegiale you have a great view over the Lac the Neuchatel. The lake is beautiful, and the Swiss lakes always remind me to the Austrian Salzkammergut. *sigh* I love lakes, I just love the sea even more. *doublesigh*

This is a view from the tour du prison, which was used until 1800 something. I did not walk up there, you know me being afraid of hights, but brave Stefan mastered it and was therefore able to impress us with a great view from up there.

Walking down from top of the hill this is what you see. I love little villages like this, with their mideval and later flair!

And once you are down at sea level you get the impression of a village that is on one hand still in mideval times, on the other hand modern and with all the commodities you get nowadays.

We really liked it here, and we most definately will be back - especially when they have finished the collegiale.

But before you leave Neuchatel, on your way out, you absolutely have to visit the L´eglise rouge du Notre Dame. When you come into town and do now have a clue about the sights in Neuchatel you think "Wow, this is some red church". But then you find out that it is the main sight after the chateau area, and you start to like it even more!

And on our way back to Spiez we had some great view onto the Jungfrau from the motorway. Usually I think it is just clouds, but when you get closer you realize it is a huge mountain!!

Why do elves live in Lauterbrunnen

Elves live in the Lauterbrunnen Valley because J.R.R. Tolkien has visited here and the valley inspired him to set the home of Elrond and his elves in famous Rivendell (in German: Bruchtal). If you know the place it is easy to understand why he could see one of the most prominent races of The Lord of the rings settled here, the area is green and peaceful, a quiet valley between sharp rock walls.

In fact we like to come here not only because of the flair of the area but also because it is not a typical Swiss place. In Switzerland whether you go up into the high alps or onto a mountain pass that is extremely difficult to reach and you think you are like on the surface of the moon - you will find wire fence left and right to your trail, telling you to stay the hell clear of the lush meadows/fields/uninhabitable rocks behind the fence. Spring guns and mantraps seem to be assisting this harsh command suggesting you better sod off. And believe me, the fences that look electric ARE electric. I ran into one myself a couple of years ago.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley is peaceful, you can let your dogs run freely, you are not bothered by wires, fences and other devices, and it is just the way a hiker expects his trail to be.

The most famous tourist attraction of the valley are the Trümmelbachfälle, a really spectactular waterfall that drains the melting water of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau all alone. For me it is a bit too high up, since I am afraid of hights, I tried it a couple of times but always failed to reach the hightest viewing point. But still it is a brilliant experience!

Beside the Trümmelbachfälle there are lots of smaller waterfalls everywhere in the valley to be seen.

The kiddos love the place. Dessa for example knows that there is a watering place at one side of the valley, and she usually starts running about 500 meters in advance to take a deep dive in and enjoy her "Kneippkur".

Indy of course is more interested in exploring the place with his balli.

And the whole family sometimes likes to rest a while on one of the benches that you can find here in the shade from time to time.

From here you can also watch the basejumpers that come from all over the world to throw themselves off the steep rock walls into the valley, often you see hikers in the middle of a trail standing frozen like statues staring up onto the cliffs waiting for basejumpers to come down. Lots of accidents happen here every year, and actually I would not want to be a farmer in Lauterbrunnen with a good chance every day to find a squashed basejumper in my backjard. And if they are not squashed they still might be landing there and trample on my veggies!  But I guess the farmers get some nice compensation from the local government, otherwise they would not tolerate it.

This is one of the rock walls the basejumpers throw themselves off. Definately not my cup of tea.

After our walk we usually enjoy coke and cake at the local café place. It is not cheap - well, what is in Switzerland? - but the bagels with cream cheese and salmon are wonderfully crispy, and the Cremeschnitten.....don´t ask. A Finnish friend had the opportunity to try one a couple years ago, and she still lives to tell the tale!

The view from our favorite table is great too!

The Jungfrau is the highest mountain of the threesome with Eiger and Mönch, and you can go up there with the Jungfraubahn to the famous "Jungfrau Joch - top of Europe", with the world´s first "Drehrestaurant", that offers a 360° view and was used as a location for a James Bond movie. But that is another story and might be told some other time.

A little further down the valley there is the location of the "Air Glacier", the heliport of Lauterbrunnen. In fact helicopters are used like mules here, they transport goods up to the alpine areas, they rescue people that get in trouble in the mountains, and they also transport tourists who want to catch a good view of the mountains around.

But they do not break the silence of Rivendell. From where we like to walk you can sometimes hear them like bumblebees when they buzz off into the mountains, but nobody is bothered by them, they are too far away and we are too used to them.

So why would an elve live here in Lauterbrunnen? Because of the great nature, the mountain scenery close by, the great cakes at the café place and the possibility to fly, fly away with an helicopter in no distance. And if I was Elrond I might buy my own heli and take off into the lovely scenery of Lauterbrunnen and Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau....

Grooving on a Sunday afternoon..... in Spiez

Spiez is a political community in the Kanton Bern and our Swiss home since many years. It is situated at the southern shore of the Thuner See, and compared to other places in the area like Interlaken or Grindelwald it is very quiet and almost contemplative. When we are here we use the time for trips into Switzerland, but sometimes we just prefer to stay home, walk the kiddos and just enjoy the easy life.

Summer time of course is the best of times. The air is warm and the sun is shining - but you almost never get the high and extremely humid temperatures we usually get at that time of year in the Vienna area.

The main attraction of Spiez is the castle, and you find it in the little bay area - the bay that is called "Die schönste Bucht Europas" by Swiss Tourism. The bay is lovely, and it is the view we get from the balcony of our home here.

From our windows we can watch the boats come and go that cruise the Thuner See with its 48 square kilometers on a permanent schedule. The Suisse people use them to go to and from work, the tourists for getting from one of the little towns to the next for sightseeing.

The most prominent boat is the "Blümlisalp", an old river steam boat that is more than 100 years old and today the prettiest boat on the lake. It is huge, compared to the "Stadt Thun", the other boat you see on this photo.

The kiddos love our daily walks here. There is a little path a few meters from the house that leads directly to the lake, and this is where we go walkies with them when we stay in Spiez. They enjoy their regular swim and Indy especially appreciates his fun-time with his balli.

Sometimes the game gets a little bit out of hand and then the trainer has to declare a time-out and explain the rules.

Afterwards we usually walk over to the station and watch the tourists get off the boats and get back on after a while and disappear. How strange to come here for just a view hours and never come back ever again...

We sit there like Staedler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show, and sometimes, when we really feel like partying we buy a bottle of Rivella (classic, the red bottle, it is a Suisse drink you only get here, like Almdudler in Austria).

And after all this excitement it is time for a nap in the sun....

Back home some more "lake watching". Especially on Sundays lots of boats are out, and in the meantime we have learned to recognize some of them.

Then it is time for dinner. This time it was home-made "Zürcher Geschnetzeltes".

The days are very long here in Summer, but sooner or later night is coming, the lights around the harbor are lit and much too soon it is "Good-night, Spiez".

Row, row, row your boat in Spiez!

Today we had a great time boating on the Thuner See! We dragged the little rubber dinghy out of the garage, left Indy, who is a bit too big for it, at home and off we went. Dessa came along, and as you can see she was quick to sit inside but was a little bit suspicious about what was going to happen then.



After carrying the boat down to the lake of course some posing was necessary to calm the press. The explorers were just a whee bit from taking off, to boldly go where no one had gone before! Look here, Starship command!

Warp speed took us into the bay of Spiez, "die schönste Bucht Europas", as Spiezer tourism calls it. Yes, yes... But it is nice there, and we did not see any Klingons. The boats harbouring there are the boats of locals using the lake for recreation - as you do, when living close to a lake.

Yes, we like boating! As you know I prefer boating on the sea, the waves and all - but it was fun floating about in our little rubber boat!

We just had to watch out for the huge cruise ships that tour the lake on a permanent schedule. No doubt, they were bigger than we were!!! Red alert, red alert, red alert!

Mr. Hasi at work. But don´t believe his intense face - I was rowing just as much!

And Dessa was as relaxed as always. Mama and Papa were there, rowing or not, goodies were also available, so no big deal. Good bye, world, she was taking her well-deserved afternoon nap. On the lake for a change!

A visit from nextdoors!

Right now the weather is extremely hot and boiling. The garden is in full bloom but needs a lot of watering of course....

So it is great if you do not have to drive somewhere distant but get paid a visit from our friends nextdoors! No long ride, no long preparations, no long anything - and they are here. Cool!

Here you see Tamara and Stefan.......

and little baby boy Clements having fun in the pool!

Here you see the whole family and Stefan cooling down in the water. I guess the little guy had fun on the floating seat....

Some of us did not go in, but still had fun! Dessa was the same party-dog as usual, isn´t it great when people come over and you have a good time?

Afterwards we were all ready for some good food..... and some nice dessert of course. Thanks for this great cake, Tamara!

Much too soon it was time to go to bed and relax from a fun-filled day.

So good night, pool, and good night friends from next door! Please come again soon!