Beautiful City Sights...

Sunday afternoon we headed to Lucerne where we stayed in a hostel near the lake. We were happy to save some money on our room to help offset the high food prices. The city’s very beautiful with the mountains surrounding the lake in the city center. The Chapel Bridge dates to 1333 and is Europe’s oldest wooden bridge, but unfortunately had to be largely rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1993. The girls tried swimming, but it was too cold to last long. We enjoyed visiting a museum featuring a panorama from the late 1800's, the Lion Monument and the city walls from 1386.

Another Great Hash Weekend...

We climbed the stairs to the bottom of the falls one last time to toss two messages in a bottle (no responses so far). We walked the hangover hash, but still got plenty of exercise as we climbed up 330 steps then back down due to a bad mark. The end was next to the Munot, a 16th century fortification overlooking the city of Schaffhausen. It was fun seeing our San Diego H3 buddies Kissy Face and Webfoot. It was also fun watching Jimmy get duct taped to two big German guys at the circle.

Swiss Nash Hash...

It was unseasonably hot for Saturday’s big hash. While Ashlynn walked with new friends, Veronica stayed with me on a 10.5 mile trek thru the surrounding farms and forest; she developed quite an eye for finding yummy wild mountain blueberries. Jimmy enjoyed the freedom to front run and solve checks for much of his 13 mile trail. The trails all met up for a late lunch next to the Rhine where there was a safe place for swimming. Jimmy got a thrill out of jumping 30 feet off a bridge, however no one managed to get a photo of the big moment. That night was a medieval party. The girls were disappointed they couldn’t play bartenders, but enjoyed dancing until after midnight.

A Castle with a View...

Next we were On-On to Schaffhausen for the Swiss Nash Hash weekend. We chose this particular weekend to attend because of its location at the top of the Rhine Falls, Europe’s widest and most powerful falls. The hostel is in a castle dating back to 858. While we didn’t have a view from the room we shared with two other families, the location was fantastic with easy access to the stairs down to the falls (the first of many stairs that we climbed this vacation). After Fridays’ hash along a bank of the Rhine and dinner, there was a spectacular fireworks show over the falls to celebrate Swiss independence.

A Morning in Ruins...

...Roman ruins, that is. When Jimmy and I visited August Raurica in February, we’d wished the girls were with us. So it made sense we’d squeeze in a visit while in Western Switzerland. It was lightly raining, so we didn’t take many photos. The girls loved running through the cornfield and picking blackberries on the way to the amphitheatre. As you can see, Ashlynn especially enjoyed being a Goddess worshipped at the temple and Veronica liked demonstrating the use of the loo in the museum.

Getting Wet in Switzerland...

One tram, 3 trains and 8 hours later we pulled into Rheinfelden, Switzerland along the shore of the Rhine River on the last day of July. We chose this town to start our Swiss adventure because of the spa, Sole Uno. We were somewhat reluctant when we arrived, because we weren’t sure the warm saltwater would be very refreshing during a heat wave. Turns out we hesitated needlessly, because it felt wonderful. We all agreed that the best feature was the current that pushed you along within the middle circle of the giant outdoor pool; it was like flying while on your back. Jimmy and I swung through the adult-only section (i.e. only towels allowed), which featured Finnish saunas; only lasted a minute in the 165°F, so skipped the 200°F and the 230°F. Preferred the Turkish bath and eculyptus steam room. Enjoyed watching Jimmy squirm as he dumped the bucket of cold water on his head.

Boogie Down in DC and Jax...

When Jimmy mentioned to his boss that he was going to head to Florida in June for his cousin’s wedding, his boss suggested that he make a stop first in DC to visit a customer. Not a bad financial deal for us and it allowed him to spend two fun-filled nights with Marc, our Raleigh buddy who moved to DC last year. Somehow they managed to cram in rock climbing, going to an Afro-Latin drum circle then a jazz club, running for 8 miles along the Potomac, and eating oysters at a gay bar (I try not to over analyze that). Jimmy then spent a week in Jacksonville visiting family, some of whom he hadn’t seen in almost 8 years and spending quality time with his sister Debbie and his grandmother.

Unaccompanied Minors...

When my parents asked if I’d consider letting the girls fly alone to visit them in California this summer, I was unsure--were these two small girls ready to fly alone for 11 hours? However, when they offered to pay for the tickets, I knew instantly that the girls were ready. The only thing that took any time to decide was where Jimmy and I would be going as soon as they left. Ashlynn’s barely been able to contain her excitement for the last 4 months with visions of flying for the first time on a 747 , devouring fresh CA sushi and doing tricks in a heated pool. When I dropped them off this morning, they were mature and excited with barely a glance back as they left me. The airline seems to take good care of solo kids except perhaps the unconventional security screening. Good thing though that they took the extra precautions as the girls were caught trying to smuggle an Apple into the US--the Granny Smith variety, not the iPhone.

What Do This Things Have in Common?

Since I’m clearly on a roll with the sculptures, I’d like to include this unusual one that’s in the entryway of the ethnological museum (which studies cultures throughout history) in Leiden. I’ve forgotten what point the museum was trying to make, but clearly all of these items come to a point of some kind.

A Variety of Bushes...

While we enjoyed watching the iceberg moving around the pond, much of the rest of the Freedom exhibit featured a variety of American artists expressing their general freedom to baffle their audience. The two bushes, however, were interesting. While the rest of the sculpture show is outside, this one is inside the city hall. Not sure if that’s because it needs electricity to stay inflated or it’s the only way to ensure no one pops it. Wonder if it would have smirked if I punched it?

What Are Those Doing Here?

When Jimmy’s college buddy Phil visited with his family, we managed to take them to see several sights they’d never expected to see in Holland. The first was this iceberg in the pond in front of the parliament building. It was sculpted by an American artist as part of this summer’s Freedom Exhibit. We ended the evening by visiting this sperm whale on the beach. We already knew it was a piece of art since I’d read about it, but were still surprised by it’s size (although it wasn’t anatomically correct since at least one vital part was smaller than actual to avoid shocking everyone according to the wildlife volunteer who was on hand to educate us about whales in the North Sea).

Sand in the City Center...

Most years there is a sand sculpture festival at the beach, but this year it was canceled. Instead a large sculpture was built near the parliament building featuring the Den Haag skyline plus the duties of parliament and the International Court of Justice. Not quite as cool as last year’s Escher cows, but still pretty spectacular.

An Automated Music Museum?

That’s right. There’s an Automated Music Museum in Utrecht. And as silly as that sounds, it’s actually a pretty cool museum. The tour highlights a variety of items from the collection including grandfather clocks, calliopies and self-playing pianos (including one with three violins played by robotics built in 1920 for the World’s Fair). This particular clock is the oldest in the collection. While it wasn’t featured in the tour, I was amazed to see that it’s from 1480, predating Columbus’ famous journey to the New World. Veronica was recruited to hold up the words to a sad love song while the guide played one of the small organs.