Day Trip to Bern

Robert recently had a colleague visit from Japan and we were all invited to another colleagues home in Bern to tour the city.

Bern is the capital of Switzerland and a great town.

As our colleague says, "This is the most beautiful street in all of Europe."
Local steam train - Jacques we thought you would like this!
Town Hall...I think

Julie, Razvan, Robert and Yoji enjoying the city
Robert and Yoji enjoying a day in Bern.

Fall Hike Through the Vineyards

When Robert was in Japan a couple of months ago, I took a day hike through the vineyards of Biel with some friends. I promised Robert that we would go back once the fall arrived to repeat the hike. The day was a bit foggy and despite the phone camera (long story) the hike was through miles of vineyards all changing colors. The grapes were ripe for the picking and the wine makers were busy harvesting. It was an awesome day and a fabulous hike!

We will come back in a few months when we can both enjoy the local wines

The leaves were changing
Grapes ready to be picked


The colors were amazing

Cute Swiss village

Grindelwald - Berghaus Bort

One of our favorite places in Switzerland (of what we have seen so far) is Berghaus Bort in Grindelwald. It is a special place, with incredible views of the Alps and each time we go, we remember the friends and family who visited this magical place with us!

We decided to head up for a weekend, do some hiking (the last time we went it was so foggy and rainy we didn't make it to the lake) and stay in our favorite Berghaus.

We had great weather, crystal clear views and two days of fantastic hiking.

Robert and Melinda at First (the Lake)
The beautiful lake
Snow covered moutain tops
Just a cool shot Robert took
Oh, the Alps...
Clear skies
Melinda at the lake - yeah we will bring the baby here...
Views, views and more views

So many people enjoying the lake


The perfect cow shot... happy Swiss cows

It is hard to get tired of views like this
Robert enjoying the day

Bellizona - The Land of Castles

Bellizona

On the way back from Ascona, we stopped in Bellizona to do a fall castle hike.

The town of Bellizona is charming and the three castles were amazing.

Enjoy! View from Castelgrande looking up at Castello di Montebello and Castello di Sasso Carbaro - all three UNESCO sites
Castelgrande

Castello di Montebello
View from Castello di Montebello looking at Castelgrande
View of the town of Bellizona
Melinda and Robert at Castlegrande

Castello di Montebello
View of Castelgrande
View of Castelgrande
Castello di Montebello

View of the town

Time to Travel - Ascona Switzerland

Yeah...it has been awhile since we have updated our blog. We know, but the one thing we don't know is where the time is going. Wow...is it going fast. We have now lived in Switzerland for a year and a half and we still describe the experience as "falling in love." You know that wonderful well of passion you fall over for a place, a person or a sport and it simply grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. Well, we are still deeply in love with the country and the more we see of it, the more we want to see. The pictures below are of Ascona, Switzerland, which is extremely close to Italy. The town has a beautiful, laid back, lake feel, with nice Italian influences (Robert loved the coffee and the gelato!) We spent four days in Ascona, took a boat trip to small villages, took a day trip to hike through a gorge and found sometime to just relax and enjoy the amazing scenery.

Ascona at night
Looking back at Ascona from the boat
Island trip ...botanical gardens galore
Melinda on the island - 28 weeks

Robert on the island...can you find him?

Boat trip



Sunset over Lake Maggorie
Ascona
Boats on the lake
Sunset - nice lake view from our room

Intragna - hiking by the gorge
Town of Intragna
Black cat walking across the town square
The gorge...

Robert admiring the view
Locarno
Locarno
Loan boat in the lake

Villages on the lake
So nice