March 20-23, 2014-Switzerland

We took the ICE train to Switzerland.  It took around 7 hours to get there. This picture was taken from the train in Bern, the capitol of Switzerland.

The next 7 pictures were taken from the train from Interlaken to Grindewald.  I will gladly come and visit this area again.  When we got closer to the water you could see the bottom of the lake.  It was absolutely beautiful!

We arrived in Grindewald to spend the next 3 nights.  We didn't even need our coats when we arrived.  The weather was so warm, but we were prepared for cold weather.

Pretty tired and getting hungry

Seth was excited to be in the Alps.

The church is kind of an iconic symbol in Grindewald.  There was a pretty big cemetery around it.  Seth thought it was creepy.

You could see the glaciers on this part of the mountains.  It was such a beautiful clear day.

Sometimes on our adventures we do lots of walking....sometimes this is planned and sometimes not.

I really was there!  

Friday-Skiing!  The kids had never skied before but they were very excited to give it a try.  This is Harry, the wizard.  They made a lot of progress during their 3 hours of ski school with him.  

I spent the day watching them from the balcony of a restaurant, feeling the sun and reading a good book.

Joshua, living his dream of skiing the Alps.  

Then an afternoon of skiing together.

This is the little village where our Chalet was located.  You would have thought we were visiting a great aunt, the receptionist gave us such a warm welcome.

Eating breakfast, Joshua was ready for Day 2 of skiing.

The kids and I shopped for Swiss chocolate and Swiss army knives.

Then we spent the morning swimming at the indoor pool in Grindewald.

Straight ahead there were sometimes cows in the little field.

Another picture of Mettenberg, the neighborhood where we stayed.  You could take the 10 minute bus to town or walk.  

Bringing groceries home

A clear sunny Saturday

We attempted to sled, but it was so slushy it didn't work very well down by our Chalet.  

But on Sunday morning we woke up to lots of snow!

This is taken from our balcony Sunday morning.

The church in Grindewald.

At the train station, Brooke is showing the elevation we were at when they went skiing.

A picture from the train.

On the train again.

Can't wait to go to Switzerland again!....or at least dream about it.  The kids are ready to move there.  Next sabbatical?

March 8, 2014-Day Trip to Hildesheim

One of the reasons we visited was to see the Historical Market Square.  The buildings were beautiful.  We had never seen any quite like this.

The Upended Sugarloaf building

One of the fun things to do is to follow the rose tiles or the white roses painted on the sidewalks.  They take you to historical markers located throughout the city.

St. Andrew's Church has the highest steeple in all of Lower Saxony and has one of the largest church organs in northern Germany.

Kaiserhaus Facade, the Roman statues and emperor's medallions from the former Renaissance building decorate this newer building.  You could clearly distinguish the new reconstruction from the old.

St. Michael's Church (1010-1033). After looking around inside, we spent a long time playing tag on the grassy area.  It was the highlight of our day!

Seth is looking at a map of the rose tour.  It was like a really fun scavenger hunt for the kids.

The 1,000 year rose bush growing on the Cathedral (852-872) was located in the courtyard.