Days 4 & 5: Switzerland

Switzerland is a place that is very dear to my heart, though I had never been there until this summer. My grandpa, Walter Wuthrich (my mom's dad), was born and raised there. When my grandpa was 18, he was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and, with his sister, left Switzerland to come to the U.S., eventually ending up in Logan, Utah. He was soon followed by his parents and all but 1 sibling. Although I've never met him, as he passed away when my mom was only 13, I've always felt a strong connection to him and that part of my heritage. I am so grateful to him for the sacrifices that he made so that I could be born into such blessed circumstances. So needless to say, when I found out that I was going to be able to go to Germany and we were deciding what we wanted to do while we were there, Switzerland was the first destination that popped into my mind.

Switzerland Day 1:
As stated in the previous post, Candice and Tyler were awesome and rented a van so that all 9 of us could travel there together in style ;) Our destination was a campground in Jungfrau, Switzerland, which is right in the Swiss Alps! There we planned to spend a few nights. A 5 hour drive turned into 7 1/2, because of all the fun stops that we made along the way:

This is a butcher shop that is owned and operated by a distant relative of mine. When Candice and Tyler had been there before, they were able to spend some time talking with him. I did not get that chance, but it was really cool to be able to see the shop and kind of crazy to think that I still have relatives there that I've never met or really even heard of.

This stop was definitely the most special to me. This is the very house that my Grandpa grew up in, in Bern, Switzerland. When Candice first moved to Germany they were able to find it and were able to visit with the family that was residing in it at that time. It really was such an awesome experience to be there. It was also very surreal. To walk where he walked and see the place that he called home. I can't wait until I can actually meet him and he can tell me what it was like growing up in such a beautiful place :)

The house is very interesting, because it actually has two separate living quarters, and then the barn where the cows were kept is right in the middle. Pretty crazy!

I loved loved loved getting to see were he lived, and it was especially neat to be able to share that with my awesome sister. Thanks Candice!

Driving through! Getting close to our destination!

This is in Interlaken, probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I LOVED the lakes and the incredible city between them.

And, we made it! Camping in Europe is VERY different than camping in the U.S. Pretty much it's just like you see here, a big plot of grass that is sectioned off into "sites" and you bring your own tent and camp RIGHT next to a million other people. There are also restrooms with showers, dish-washing stations, washers and dryers, restaurants, grocery store, cabins, and even little cubicles where you can connect to the internet. Haha! They really rough it over there. Another really interesting thing is how they charge you: Per tent size, per vehicle, AND per person. Crazy. But we had a great time, and I'm not going to complain about all the amenities (I'm not much of a camper anyway ;) ). It was so fun to stay in such a beautiful place.

Since we got there so late, we took a little walk, ate dinner and sat and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.

Switzerland Day 2:
Day two was such a blast! After breakfast, we all loaded into the van and headed up to Grindelwald to take the gondola up the First Summit! We had some BIG plans that we were EXTRA excited for:

So so so picturesque. It was absolutely beautiful. I have never been much for the outdoors, but it has always been a lifelong dream of mine to see the Alps. And they did not disappoint!

Riding the gondola up the mountain. I promise Brig was a lot more excited than he looks in these pictures. If you can't tell, I took a lot ;)

And here we are at the summit! I was totally blown away.

It was really crazy to be so far above the tree line. There were tons of cows! I couldn't believe how they could maneuver so easily on such steep slopes.

The first thing we did was take a hike. I believe it was about 4-5 miles round trip, and the kids did awesome! I was really proud of them :)

Pretty sure this was Brig's favorite part of the whole trip!

Our final destination. Absolutely breathtaking! Apparently when the weather is calm and the time is right, the lake is perfectly still and reflects the most beautiful image of the surroundings.

Here we spent a couple hours, played in the water, had a snack, and enjoyed the beauty that was around us. It's one of those places where you don't want to leave!

On our way back.

We had a little bit of a "race" to see who could get back the fastest. Except Brig, Porter and I were the only ones that knew about it ;) Needless to say, we won!

Here is where we also had a pretty huge letdown. We had made plans and bought our tickets to do this totally awesome zip line that I was so so so soooo exited about. The kids had also bought tickets to take these bike things down the mountain through all of the little villages. Well, when we got back to where we were supposed to be, a lady came out and told us that everything was closed. Our tickets said that they closed at 6, and we were there at about 5, but apparently they had just decided to change the closing time THAT DAY and decided that they didn't need to tell us about it when we bought our tickets. What was especially lame, is that they gave us our money back for the tickets, but since that was how we were planning on getting down the mountain, and that option was no longer available, we had to pay to take the gondola down, which pretty much means that we didn't get our money back at all. I was pretty disappointed. But the rest of everything that we were able to do made up for it. Just being there was the best part of all!

Riding the gondola back down the mountain :)

Before we left Grindelwald, we stopped by this bakery that is owned by someone with the last name Wuthrich. We aren't sure if they are related to us, but chances are they are somehow, however distant it might be. It is pretty cool to see that name around so many places :)

Overall, Switzerland was a HUGE success! It was everything I imagined it to be, and I am so glad to have been able to go there. It really is such a special thing to see where you came from and to know of the incredible things that have happened so that you can be here on the earth at this time. It is amazing how the Lord has a plan for all of us and how things fall in place just the way they are supposed to :)