Swiss Alps

The family I work for does an annual ski trip. We spent 9 days in a cabin in Avers-Juf, Switzlerland, with few other families who are friends or relatives of Patrick and Koko. The area is beautiful. It's the highest village occupies year round in Switzerland. It's know for great "Tour-skiing" which is Patrick and Koko's sport. There is also a small ski resort there, where the kids had ski lessons everyday. I was working throughout the trip - getting all the kids (some from the other families) dressed and ready to ski, and taking them to their classes while the parents were out tour-skiing. Amazing scenery, really quiet town removed from civilization. There are a few dairy and sheep farms up there, and the village cheese store, and that's about it. We drove into Andeer one day and went to a hot spring spa in the middle of a beautiful Alpine valley.

Late season sun has made only half of the slopes ski-able

I hung out at the ski hut while the kids had their lessons. This was my view.

The house across the street from ours had the most elaborate model train I have ever seen. The tracks go around the house, through the garage, and are based on the famous Glacier Express train route, which goes through the area.

Deaner - this pic is for you. Roofs out of flat rocks. I found this mystifying.

This was our home for the week

Our home from above.

I got a chance to ski on the last full day there - I'm not much of a skier, but it was a beautiful place to try something new. (Picture to come later hopefully)

On the way home we stopped and went to church in Chur, Switzerland, which is the same congregation Patrick and Koko used to attend when they lived in Davos, Switzerland. They had a fun Easter luncheon after the services with traditional eggs and bread.

Weekend in Holland!

Quick lesson that I learned at an embarrassingly late age: The Netherlands is a country where the Dutch people live. They speak Dutch. The country is made up of 12 provinces, two of which are called North Holland and South Holland. A lot of the sea-faring adventurers came from the coast which is where those two provinces are, and claimed they came from Holland. So the two terms aren't interchangeable, only people from those two provinces are from Holland. Also of note - one other province there, Zeeland, is the Sr. of New Zealand.

So I took a train to Amsterdam, only about 4 hours from Bonn. I honestly wasn't really looking forward to the city, and I was pleasantly surprised. So far my favorite European city. 

Hanging out at Museum Platz

Perfect day at Vondelpark

And yes, the Red Light District. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Window Shopping"

 I stayed at a house in Almere, I booked a room through Airbnb, and it was fantastic. My host, Caroline, gave me wonderful insights about the area, growing up in the Netherlands, and she made me an amazing and huge breakfast each morning.

I spent my Sunday with tulips. Took a bus to the Keukenhof museum, the world's largest flower garden. Dwell on that fact for a minute. It is amazing. I was weary that it would be too crowded, but it was a beautiful day for anyone at the park. Absolutely stunning. They had some fun traditional songs and dances around the park as well. I posted a million flower pics on FB, but I'll post a few here. 

After spending a few hours at the Keukenhof, I rented a bike and went out on my own. I biked for about 4 hours, through a few cities, went to the coast, and through at least 75 tulip fields. It was a perfect Sunday (minus the flat tire I got about 5 kilometers away from the bike rental place)

Around Bonn

One Saturday, I caught a train to meet my friend from church on our way to Koblenz. It's a city about the size of Bonn just upstream (which means south), only about a 30 minute train ride. We had a great time on a beautiful sunny day.

This is a huge statue right at the delta where the Moselle and Rhine rivers meet

The View from the Horse

Here is Inga in the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. She's great. 

View of Horse from Fortress

View of Fortress from below, after we hiked down the mountain

I have never really been in love with spring. In Utah, spring lasts about two weeks and doesn't involve a lot of flowers. In Juneau, spring shows up end of June, and isn't much different than any other part of the summer, except colder. Europe however, knows how to do Spring. Here are some spots in Bonn flaunting springtime blossoms.

Rhinaue Park

Rhineau park. So much green

Today, my friend Olivia and I biked around the area a bit. She's another American Au Pair here in Bonn. We biked across the Rhine to Koningswinter. We ate lunch, took this train up to the top of one of the Siebenbergen (Seven Mountains) to the ruins of a beautiful castle.

Bad Honnef

Some of the other mythical Siebenbergen

Bonn, and the skyline of Cologne in the distance