Spring break this year took us to Europe! We rented a car and drove through 6 different countries from the Netherlands to Switzerland and back. The countries in between included France, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. Highlights included attending two temples with the Schlip Family, visiting with Ellen and Don in Switzerland, and discovering the biking capitol of the world-- Amsterdam!
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| Here in Moscow we always take the metro to the train station and ride this red aeroexpress train straight to the airport. It's a nice way to avoid traffic and parking |
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| The "Back to the Future" Car! |
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| Taking a rest stop along the road to Strasbourg |
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| "What is THAT?!" said Moriah when she spotted this cute guy down by the river in Strasbourg. "Why a muskrat of course," said Otto. We watched him eat lots of grass and then go for a swim. Isn't he cute?! |
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| Jenna checking out some tattoo art along the old city walls |
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| This old gothic church in Strasbourg was the tallest building in Europe for some 250 years. |
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| The detailed art here show several stories from the Bible. |
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| Inside the Gothic Church |
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| Beautiful stained glass windows. No too centered but you get the idea.. |
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Moriah is taking in a depiction here of the founding fathers, Ben Franklin up front there. This monument is celebrating freedom fighters.
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| We found "Otto's" a big store in Bern. Unfortunately it was already closed when we arrived there. |
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| The Bern temple was the first temple built in Europe and was dedicated on September 11, 1955. |
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| Otto got to accompany Jesse through for his first time |
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| Castle in the Sky |
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| From the mountain tops of Switzerland |
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| We joined the Schlip's in taking a tram up a very steep mountain and skipping back down. We had intended to ride scooters down, but they weren't open yet this year. |
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Jenna and Moriah bringing their bags in to our cute bungalow hotel in Interlaken,.
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| We drove south to Chillon to this medieval castle built on the shores of Lake Geneva. |
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| Here we met Don and Ellen and explored from down in the dungeon up to the turrets. |
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| Here you can see the faint remains of what must have been beautiful murals on the walls. |
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| Next we visited the Chocolate Factory..cacao beans shown above |
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| We got to taste several different chocolates. It was an 'all you can eat' experience. "Eat as much as you like here, but don't take any out of this room," we were told. After trying one of 15 different chocolates, we'd all reached our limit. |
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| Yum! |
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| Next we walked up the hillside to an old village |
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| Here we had dinner-- cheese fondue! |
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The traditional swiss horn music and the flag twirler
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| The next day we visited Old Geneva |
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| Moriah getting a drink from the public drinking fountain. Swiss water is very good, btw |
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| Jenna dwarfed by the door of this old church |
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| Podium stairway |
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| This door leads to the bell tower we climbed |
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| The view from up top |
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| Dragon creature on either side of this |
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| The reformers wall including William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. |
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| This broken chair monument serves to protest land mines and sits in front of the U N |
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| The U N and the supporting countries' respective flags |
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Moriah sharing a moment with Gandhi
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| We drove back up to Amsterdam-- land of windmills |
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| This is a smaller but beautiful temple |
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| Here this beautiful family was sealed for time and eternity! |
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| We visited Keukenhof -- the tulip festival. Amsterdam is also the land of tulips! |
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| Jenna (hello kitty) liked smelling all the beautiful flowers |
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| I would hate to walk a mile in any of these people's shoes. Ouch! |
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| Outside of our hotel because Amsterdam is most of all the land of bicycles. I LOVE it!! |
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| Jenna with Nelson Mandela. A GIANT of a man! |
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| Couldn't get over how cool this mirror was in our hotel bathroom. A no-steam square! |
