Well, first let me introduce you to the reason we were in Switzerland to begin with. This is Romy and Matt Backus. Romy is from Switzerland, but was a student at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts and a big part of our church while she was studying there. She is married to Matthew Backus, who is from Buffalo, NY, but works on staff at an international school in Zuricha as part of the IT team. They met at another international school in Switzerland where they both found themselves working for a summer. Here we are at their beautiful apartment having one of several amazing dinners Romy provided for us. This is the day we arrived after touring all of Zurich as a way to keep the jet lag at bay. First things first……straight to Starbucks. We paid about $14 (that’s 14 Swiss Francs as well) for these iced coffees! They would be our last, though. The Swiss don’t really “do” iced coffee or iced anything for that matter, so from here on out we would acclimate to the culture and drink hot espressos at least once a day!

As another afternoon treat Romy took us to Zurich’s famous Sprungli’s chocolate shop.

These are called Luxemburgerli – like little meringue hamburger buns with cream filling. They were melt in your mouth delicious and the best part…..they were gluten free!

We also bought a small bag of truffles and as soon as we found a good place to sit down on the waterfront, they almost completely disappeared.

Here Romy is demonstrating the availability of fresh cold drinking water from fountains! They were in every town we visited – some very simple and some very ornate – but always flowing with refreshing water.

Zurich’s Grossmunster, or Great Minster – a beautiful cathedral, said to have been founded by Charlemagne on the graves of martyrs Felix and Regula, where Ulrich Zwingli preached during the time of the Reformation. This trip felt like a history field trip perfectly timed with our completion of the study of the Reformation, Renaissance, and Middle Ages in history class this year!

View of Zurich from the tower of the Grossmunster. This would be the first of many stair climbing journeys up to the top of cathedral towers. Literally hundreds of stairs.

It was Euro Cup Championship time, and I have to say it was like the American Superbowl times 100. Everywhere you looked were flags representing countries, t-shirts, trading cards, chocolate soccer ball truffles, and these gigantic paper mache soccer players in the Zurich train station. They represented an actual player on each European team – truly amazing.

On our second day we traveled to Bern, the capitol, where Romy is from. This is the tympanum of the Munster St. Vinzenz. It depicts the Judgment, with the saved on the left side and the damned on the right. In the arches above are the prophets and disciples. Below were images of Justice, and the Wise and Foolish Virgins.

Side view of the Munster St. Vinzenz – impossible to get a photo of an entire cathedral – they are so massive.

From 1191 to 1250 this clock tower was the western gate of the city and later used as a prison. It’s chimes begin at 4 minutes to the hour.

An example of one of the very old and ornate fountains. On top is Samson and a lion.

On our third day we traveled to Geneva – about a 3 hour train trip. As you approach the city, you see nothing but vineyards lining the hillsides surrounding Lake Geneva – really beautiful. Geneva is in the far west French speaking part of Switzerland. In the eastern parts, German, or rather Swiss German is spoken. Robert and I speak neither language, but I have to say that French is at least a bit recognizable! German seems impossible. Thankfully, most people spoke English as well. (That makes 3 languages that many Swiss natives are able to speak!)

Robert as John Calvin. 🙂
The Museum of the Reformation is located in Geneva as well as the John (Really “Jean.” Did you know he was French?) Calvin museum. We only had time for the Reformation one – and it was very nice. In one room, a fancy dining table was set for a group of men who were influential thinkers during the time. As they spoke (on your audio tour device) a spotlight illuminated their plate. It was a heated discussion on the finer points of Theology.

This is the famous Jet d’Eau in Lake Geneva – complete with another symbol of Euro Cup Fever – a giant inflatable soccer ball. This is the largest fountain in the world – spraying at over 100 meters high.

A view of Lake Geneva from the Cathedral St. Pierre.

More climbing of cathedral stairs!

In Geneva’s Parc de Bastions is a monument to the Reformation and the Reformation Wall. Here Robert poses with reformers Guillaume Farel, Jean Calvin, Theodore de Beze, and John Knox.

Day four took us to two small medieval towns called Stein am Rhein and Rheinfall. I think these were our favorite towns – buildings in the half timber medieval style, every building facade painted with frescoes depicting the history of the area, bright flowers , window boxes and fountains everywhere and located on the Rhine River close to the border with Germany. (Switzerland borders Germany, Austria, Italy, and France)

Afternoon espresso and chocolate at one of many sidewalk cafes – so wonderful, and the absolute best coffee I’ve ever had!

The waterfall in Rheinfall – the largest falls in Europe.

And the day we were all anticipating! The wedding was truly beautiful – ceremony outdoors under a tent, hors d’oeurves in an ancient wine cellar, and dinner and dancing in yet another beautiful and grand hall. Guests arrived all through the week and everyone enjoyed each other’s company in the festivities leading up to the big day – a hike, an afternoon barbeque and dinner out. We were so blessed to have this wonderful vacation and to be a part of Romy and Matt’s special day. We miss them already and wish them God’s richest blessings in their marriage!
Thanks, Romy and Matt, for making it such a special time for us!

For the rest of the photos – and more history/scenery, etc. go to my Flickr page!