Switzerland!

On November 4, 1977, I left a part of my heart in Switzerland, as I headed back to the U.S. at the abrupt end of my mission. I had learned to love the land and the people and was not ready to return home. I have longed to go back and feel so blessed that that became a reality on this recent trip. The train trip from Florence was a long one, but a beautiful one. We traveled from Florence to Milan and then up through the beautiful mountain passes into Switzerland. The sights as we came out of the tunnels at St. Gotthard's pass were absolutely breathtaking. I had never been to the Italian part of Switzerland, in the south. The areas around Lugano and Locarno were absolutely stunning. It was a clear, sunny day--the views memorable. People were pressed up against the windows, taking pictures as we traveled from town to town and village to village. Such beauty! The final leg of the journey, into Interlaken was very emotional for me. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy at being back, and tears of awe at the beauty before us.

My German wasn't great, but I remembered enough to ask for help when we needed it. And everyone I talked to seemed to understand what I was saying or asking, so that was good. A lot of people in Switzerland, particularly in the tourist areas, speak English anyway.

We got settled into our hotel and then headed out to explore Interlaken, buy some chocolate :) and find some dinner. The Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountain peaks (evident from many vista-points in town)were in their full glory. They were even visible from our hotel balcony...ahhhh! The next morning was a little cooler and cloudier, but we decided to make the trip up into the mountains. We boarded a train in Interlaken and took local trains, a funicular, and a cable car, as we headed to Lauterbrunnen, on to Murren,and on up to Schiltorn, with its panoramic views of over 200 mountain peaks. There is a revolving restaurant at the top that was the setting for some pretty cool scenes from James Bond's In Her Majesty's Secret Service back in the 1960's. The views were outstanding! Beautiful! Majestic! The clouds had been moving in all morning and we got some good photos just before it started raining and clouded over. We then went part-way back down and then took another little train detour over to the village of Grindelwald. Another beautiful place! We snacked on some yummies and headed back to Interlaken.

Once back in Interlaken we walked from the train station and wandered around until we found the house I had lived in in 1970. It was a bit drizzly and I think Scott wanted to go back to the hotel, but he kindly indulged me in my walk back through time. I took a picture or two and then we walked over to figure out where the church was, since it was in the same general neighborhood I had lived in. They built a church there not long after I left--that was fun to see. Once we found it and took a few more pics we headed back to our hotel to rest and get ready for the next day.

Sunday morning we walked back to the church and attended Sacrament Meeting. There were a couple of people there who had lived there in 77, but most had either moved or passed away. After the meeting we took a train to Bern and on to Zollikofen to see the temple. And then it was back to Interlaken for a relaxing afternoon/evening.

Monday morning we got up and got going early and headed back to Italy. The train took a different route, so we got to see different scenery as we journeyed back to Rome. It was a 10 hour train ride back to Rome. That evening we visited with Rob and Bec and Papa and headed off to bed to prepare for the next day which would be our only day to see the sights of Rome. More on that to follow, in a few days when we get back from Idaho.

Yup, we are actually off and running again. We will be going up to Rexburg for the weekend for Jed and Laura's graduation. Looking forward to a little family time. Can't wait to see all the kids and those two darling grandbabies!

Pic 1: View from the train in southern Switzerland
Pic 2: The alpine village of Murren on our way up to the top of the Alps
Pic 3: Me, on top
Pic 4: The village of Grindelwald
Pic 5: The temple