Payerne - The Red Baron - In The Sky and On a Horse!

Our travels always get better on the weekend when Dad finds us!  

This time he took a flight to Zurich and then a train ride to Payerne.  

He was supposed to arrive about 11:30pm, so we went to a neighborhood picnic with our cousins and didn't take our phone.  We thought we would be back in plenty of time.
Big mistake!  

Dad's flight landed early so he caught an earlier train than planned.  Since he couldn't reach us, he walked from the train station to our cousin's house and found it empty...but open.  He recognized our car and, by peeking in the window of the house, some of our belongings, so he let himself in to look for us.  He had just ventured downstairs when he heard a door open upstairs.  Suddenly aware of his burglar status, he hoped not to give someone heart failure as he walked upstairs to introduce himself.   You would think the Swiss find strangers roaming their houses everyday by how calmly and warmly he was greeted.  :)  

All was well and he soon joined us at the party.

NoFear and The Optimist soon gave Switzerland "coolest country" 

status after some of the fun adventures we had!

Payerne was hosting a big aviation show celebrating 100 years of Swiss military aviation.

The air show and the exhibits were spectacular!  

This was truly amazing.  The Solar Impulse 2 was on display.  

This is a solar powered airplane built to be the first to circle the globe.  The display included a lab that demonstrated all the different materials that were used in construction.  We were amazed that such light materials could handle the rigor of long flights!  We were also amazed at the training and endurance of the pilots who work on this mission.  

Our first air show.  We loved it!

Can you see the heart?

After an exciting morning at the air show, we wound back the clock a few centuries and went to a medieval festival in Le Landeron, Switzerland.  In our studies, we had just reached this period of time in World History so attending the festival was fun and enriching
- don't tell the boys.  

They demonstrated many of the traditional trades.

The boys even tried their hand at some.

Until they got arrested.  :)

The best part of the entire evening was the jousting event in the main arena.

We were mesmerized by these brave knights and felt transported to another time.

Some of us perhaps a little too transported.  :)

Payerne With Cousins!

The Swiss side of our family is Swiss German.  When my great grandmother was 18, she chose to follow her sister who had already settled in Canada.  One of her brothers came with her and another soon followed.  Two sisters remained in Switzerland.  Imagine leaving home at 18 and only ever seeing your parents once the rest of your life!  That breaks my mama heart.

One of those two sisters who stayed in Switzerland had a son who married a French girl.  These two raised their children as Swiss French...and voila!  We have Swiss French cousins!

It has been a blessing for us to stay in touch over the years and visit back and forth.

As we took the freeway exit to Payerne on our way to our cousin's home, this is the first sight that greeted us in beautiful Switzerland.

Our wonderful hosts!!

Another generation of family - so wonderful!  Hopefully, we can continue the line of love and friendship that has connected other generations in our family. 

I could get used to this way of dining!

Drinks and appetizers

Delicious meal

Course of cheeses and breads

Dessert

.... and always chocolate nearby.  :)

The Black Forest at Freiburg

Time to head to Switzerland via the Black Forest.

A long day of driving today, but I had dreams of Black Forest cake in my head so I was motivated!

We finally stopped in the city of Freiburg (not to be confused with the city of Freiberg on the opposite side of Germany).  It was late and dark, so we grabbed a bite and headed to bed, but morning greeted us with a beautiful site!

We headed to the town center just a few blocks away to find some breakfast and were not disappointed.  Freiburg has a bustling morning market.

Grandma chose the breakfast Bratwurst.  Yum!

NoFear opted for bread from one stall and a jar of homemade jam from another.  

The market stands in the shadow of the Freiburg Münster.  The cathedral is an interesting  mixture of Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture - built in the 1200's.  

It has a beautiful bell tower - time to burn off breakfast with some stair stepping!

The view from above.

Much about the architecture was beautiful.  I was particularly drawn to this stained glass trio from 1200, entitled The Root of Jesse.  Christ and Mary are represented in the middle.  Jacob and Issac among others on the left.  Elijah on the right.  

I borrowed this picture from the church's website as the sunny day 

made mine too bright to see the detail.

Beautiful entry doors.

We will definitely return to the Black Forest.  First, because it was so beautiful and we didn't have enough time to soak in the hot springs or explore the wonderful castles.  

Most importantly, we will back because somehow we forgot to have a piece of Black Forest cake!

Tropical Island In Berlin

With only one day remaining until Dr. Voice headed back to university, we decided to do something totally out of the box and headed to Tropical Island!

Believe it or not, an old BLIMP factory, about an hour by train out of 

Berlin, has been converted into an indoor beach!

No sunblock required!

Seven People On One Bike?

With only a few days left before Dr. Voice heads back to University, we were anxious to see many of the sites in Berlin.  We will circle back to Germany on our spring itinerary when we study more in depth the wars and the reformation, but for now we had a day to catch some highlights.

Our first stop, Checkpoint Charlie.

The people here describe how almost overnight a fence went up separating East and West Berlin/Germany.  In time, that fence became the Berlin Wall.  It was so unexpected that families did not have time to prepare.  Many were separated.  Those who ended up in the East could receive visitors, but could not leave for any reason.  Those who were in the West had their own problems.  In this case, East/West was a bit of a misnomer as East Berlin nearly surrounded West Berlin.

Checkpoint Charlie was the funnel exit/entrance into West Berlin.  

At times, even this point was so restricted that air drops of food had to be made to those in West Berlin as transport was totally restricted.

From Checkpoint  Charlie we headed toward the Brandenburg Gate.  There we spied this amazing contraption.  Why walk when you can peddle - together?!  6 peddlers plus a driver - not shown - made for a fun adventure through the sites with a great guide.

Brandenburg Gate

This gate has seen many struggles, including being inaccesible next to the Berlin Wall for many years.  Many view this gate as a symbol of freedom and peace. 

The Berlin Wall is in the backdrop here.  An exhibit entitled, The Topography of Terror is also shown.  On this day, the outside exhibit detailed the struggles of Poland, particularly Warsaw, as it was caught in the strife and wars.  We watched an aerial movie that depicted Warsaw before the bombings and then after.  Very sobering.

The inside exhibit here is a permanent exhibit of the Holocaust.  

Remarkable and horrifying in its detail.  The entire exhibit did as was intended, it left us thoughtful and sad, and grateful and determined.

The Reichstag

Holocaust Memorial

And a quick stop in Canada - the embassy in Berlin.  :)

Berlin - Life's Little Connections

At church in Berlin, we had a couple of wonderful connections.

First, one of the missionaries serving in that congregation turned out to be from a town 5 minutes away from where Grandma lives.  She promised to take word home to his family.

Next we met some girls traveling home to Switzerland.  One of them was from the very place in Switzerland that we were soon headed.  She invited NoFear on their youth temple trip.

Good things happen at church!  :)

Berlin With Dad

We arrived in Berlin the same day that Dad flew in!  We were SO excited to have him join us!

The boys say that traveling with girls in charge means they are always starving, but we all know that traveling with Dad means no one EVER goes hungry!

Dad spends a lot of time in Berlin with work, so he knew just the place to fill these poor deprived boys.  Craziest place - you walk right through this old school bus to enter the restaurant.

Heading back to AuntieL's.  Beautiful evening in Berlin.

Boy time...it's a beautiful thing.  They need it.  Mom needs it.  :)

Dad and the boys found an awesome place to go burn off some energy.

It's called Mount Mitte.  Basically, a junk yard suspended on cables that the boys can crawl through, zipline down, etc.  They just put on a harness, attach their lines, and go crazy.