Mom and Dad Visit

Better late than never, right?

So mom and dad arrived while I was still in Budapest and just toodled around Switzerland and France. I got to meet up with them Saturday (April 5th) for dinner in Fribourg. It was a great reunion! Sunday then came from Montreux to stay in Bulle for a few nights. That night they took me and my other two gringas out to dinner. It was nice to be able to have a conversation with people who knew me and spoke english! And of course, having them treat us to a good meal :)

Monday I took them to the usual touristy spots around here. Gruyeres to see the town, the castle, and tour the cheese factory. We had a really good lunch at the cheese factory, too. Since they had a car (which was soooo nice) we drove up to Moleson, our "token" mountain in the area. The day was kinda crappy so we didn't get to take the funnnnicular up to the top, but it was still a nice drive. From there we decided to trust the GPS and drive around a bit. I was falling asleep, so mom and dad dropped me off here for a nap before dinner. I took them to a nice place in Bulle that served all kinds of food. Delcious, as always.

Tuesday they picked me up in the morning to head off to Zurich. We explored there Tuesday and Wednesday. It was definately a fun city. Not to big, but lots to do. We walked a lot, took a boat ride, ate at an authentic beer hall (where if there are extra seats at your table, other people sit down), shopped, went to some museums, and saw all the necessary sites. We were going to go to the zoo, but when we went to check it out it seemed a little lame.

Thursday we left to go to Interlaken. On the way dad took us to the Rhine Falls. They were soooo incredible. Not very high, but the rocks that they flow over are really amazing. It was quite cold, so we got all the pictures we wanted and then left. Next stop was the Bernina Factory. It was in this little random town in the middle of no where. We were lucky that the sun came out after lots of rain in the morning. Dad got a kebab for lunch and mom and I bought some bread and cheese. After seeing the factory, we headed to Interlaken. Unfortunately, I fell asleep during the best part of the ride! We had to drive up and over a mountain. Towards the top it was snowing like crazy, and big trucks were pulled off to the sides. Mom was freaking out and I slept through all the excitement - damn! I woke up when we were on the other side of the mountain, out of all peril. Interlaken was adorable. Right on the edge of the lake, surrounded by mountains. We finally found our hotel, checked in, and started walking around the town. Of course we shopped a little. Dinner was interesting. We chose a place that looked reasonable and good food. Walked in and the place was absolutely full of asian tourists. We felt a bit out of place. There was one main waiter who was out of his MIND. Singing, dancing, ringing cow bells, etc. It was entertaining, to say the least.

Friday dad planned for us to go to the "Top of Europe", which is the highest accessable point for tourists in Europe (almost 12,000 feet!). We had to take one train up a ways, then wait for another to take us the rest of the way. The train goes right through this amaaaaaazing skiing. We were all very tempted to strap on some skis. The second train takes you right through the mountain to the top. There, you can go to different look out points, walk through ice caves, and more in the summer months. It was soooo beautiful. We decided to get lunch up there and wait for the next train to go down. That was a bad idea. As we were on the train waiting for it to leave, I started feeling very sick. Luckily the train started going, and after only about 5 minutes of decending I felt fine. Man the altitude is rough on you! The ride down was just as beautiful, and at the bottom we got in the car to drive around the area some more. Man I love this gorgeous country!

Saturday, the plan was to go straight to Geneva, and I would take a train back later. Thanks to the GPS, we realized that we could go basically right through Bulle. Thus, I could drop all my stuff off and then spend the day with mom and dad in Geneva. Got to Geneva, checked into their hotel, returned the car (in France... yea, don't ask), then got to spend the rest of the day in the city. At the lake there were about 15 hot air balloons just hanging out. It was a beautiful scene! We took a boat ride around the lake, shopped (of course), got dinner, and then I had to get my train back to school. Mom and dad think I was happy to see them go, but it was definately sad saying goodbye. We had such a good time traveling around, taking lots of pictures, and eating good food!

Speaking of food... dinner time!

.love and chocolate.