Next Stop: Lucerne

After three wonderful days in Lauterbrunnen, Justin and I hopped on a train and headed to Lucerne. One of the first things we noticed about our home for the next couple of days was...

... the swans!

These guys were everywhere! I have never seen so many swans, ducks, and unusual little birds before. There were literally hundreds of them, and they didn't have one feather's worth of shyness in them. 

We also noticed that it really was a very pretty city. With a sparkling lake surrounded by picturesque mountains, what's not to love?

After dropping our bags at our unremarkable hotel, we set out to explore. We walked around town taking in the beautiful wooden bridges, peaceful views, and bustling outdoor cafes. 

Lucerne also has rain, and lots of it, which we discovered later that afternoon and evening.

The next morning, however, we woke up to something almost unrecognizable. We kept looking out our dusty window, squinting between buildings trying to see if our eyes were deceiving us. We finally, and joyfully, accepted what it was: the SUN! Thus began the first day of our entire trip without rain.

Not taking it for granted that the weather would remain nice, we hurried out to enjoy the day. Since arriving in Switzerland we had been wanting to go up on one of the mountains, but each day we had watched them become covered in clouds, blocking any view we might have had. We were determined that this day would be different - we would get to a peak before the clouds came in! With the early morning sun spurring us on, we began our journey to Mt. Pilatus.

To get there, we caught a boat that took us on a beautiful one hour trip to the foot of the mountain.

Willing the pesky clouds to give us just a few more hours, we stepped off the boat and onto the world's steepest cogwheel railway for the journey to the top.

This was definitely a highlight of the morning! Not only did the little train go up at a 48% gradient, but it provided gorgeous views. Pictures just didn't come close to capturing the beauty of the crystal lakes and rolling hills surrounding us.

The little red dot near the middle is the train ahead of us as we neared the top.

And here is the one behind us. Beautiful views!

 It took us about 30 minutes to reach the top. By the time we got there, the clouds had begun to settle on one side of the peak, but the other was perfectly clear. We had a great time hiking up to the different vantage points and seeing the view until the clouds took over.

When the clouds did eventually claim the mountain, it was hard to see anything! We could hear people around us but wouldn't see them until they suddenly appeared 10 feet away from us.  It was a little bit eery!

This man was yodeling and playing his alpine horn while we were up there. It was great.

We explored the caves, rumored to be the former homes of dragons!

After a few hours, the view had gone and we decided to take our chilly selves back down. The return trip required a series of gondolas down the mountain. 

When our scenic ride burst through the clouds, we were greeted with a beautiful day! 

On the way down, we noticed a toboggan run on the side of the mountain. "That looks fun!" we thought to ourselves. By the time we reached our next stop, we had decided to give it a try.

Advertised as the world's longest summer toboggan run and surrounded by the most breathtaking sights, we hiked to the top of the hill and eagerly awaited our turn. 

We're glad that we took the time to do this because it was a lot of fun! 

We caught our final gondola to the bottom of the mountain, where we took a bus back into town. 

We spent the remainder of the day exploring the Nine Towers, which are part of the original city walls built in the 1300s, and walked around enjoying the pretty day.

Of course, we had to enjoy some chocolate while in Switzerland. We splurged on those that evening as a nice little farewell treat!

We enjoyed our trip to Lucerne and made some good memories while we were there!

To Switzerland!

On Saturday morning, we woke up early and hopped on a bus back to London. We went straight to the airport to catch our plane to Zurich, giving Justin the pleasure of experiencing easyJet in all its glory.

This was pretty much a full travel day, but we did get to explore Zurich in the evening. The real treat came the next morning, however, when we caught a train to a valley within the Alps called Lauterbrunnen. Ah, Lauterbrunnen. As our train zipped farther away from the city and farther into the mountains, the views were continually changing and becoming more spectacular by the moment. As our train pulled into the place that would be our home for the next few days, I actually gasped at the scenery coming in my window.  Mountains. Waterfalls. Log Cabins. Water the most enthralling shades of ice blue. It was breathtaking.

Everywhere we looked, we saw beautiful flowers, rushing river water, cows grazing in their majestic pastures, and thundering waterfalls. Our train raced over the water on seemingly invisible tracks that made it appear as though we were floating across the lake. At every turn, new and even more stunning views awaited us.

Lauterbrunnen is known as the "Valley of Waterfalls" and is absolutely stunning. We spent the next three days hiking and exploring this beautiful area and loved every minute of it.  

When we arrived at the campsite where we were planning to stay, we were given the good news that they were going to upgrade us to a great cabin! Complete with a small kitchen and one of the valley's 72 waterfalls right behind us, we were pretty happy!

Another fun treat was seeing Trummelbach Falls, glacier waterfalls that are accessible by lifts and tunnels within a mountain. Up to 20,000 liters of glacier meltwater per second thunder through so loudly that we were yelling just to hear each other. While it was a little frightening to be so close to so much power, it was incredible.

Lauterbrunnen was the most breathtaking place I have ever been, and Justin and I absolutely loved our time there. As much as I would like to visit new places and experience different things, I don't think it would take a lot of convincing to get me to go back!

In addition to the incredible sights surrounding us, we also enjoyed the sounds of the valley. Rushing water, birds singing, and distant cow bells followed us everywhere we went.

We had the best time hiking within Lauterbrunnen and to the surrounding towns, even in the frequent rain, and were reminded constantly of what a big and creative God we have.

People parachuting could be seen frequently throughout the day. While I'm sure they got some incredible views, this was not one of the activities that we participated in!

This was one of our favorite places of the entire trip, and I can't encourage you enough to visit if you ever get the chance!

The Adventure Begins!

A few days after school let out for the summer, Justin and I found ourselves on a plane heading to Europe. Not a bad way to begin a summer vacation! We were blessed with the opportunity to visit England, Switzerland, Italy, and France over 3 wonderful weeks. We began planning for this trip even before we were married, daydreaming about what countries we would visit, when we would go, and how great it would be to travel through Europe together. I was able to study abroad during college, but Justin had never been to Europe before and I couldn't wait to share it with him - I just knew that he would love it!

After all of the budgeting and planning had fallen (mostly) into place, we tackled the next challenge: packing. We did not want to lug hundreds of pounds of belongings around Europe with us, and managed to get it all packed into a couple of backpacks.

Not bad for someone who likes to be (overly)prepared for every possible situation, mishap, or opportunity that may arise, right?! We were so thankful to have packed light each and every time we saw someone hauling 12 bulging suitcases up and down the many stairs and hills of Europe at every train station of every country in, of course, either the pouring rain or the scalding sun. It just didn't look fun.

We had an uneventful flight to Europe, even surviving our layover at JFK, and arrived bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in London around 8am on a Thursday morning. Okay, that's a lie. But who would be bright eyed stepping out of an airport after 17+ hours of traveling to find that the day is only beginning?   

We were tired but so happy to be there. Not wasting any time, we hopped on a bus to my beloved Oxford and arrived there by lunchtime, where we were greeted with a traditional English welcome: pouring rain. We found the little B&B where we were staying, dropped off our stuff, and headed out in search of food. We ate lunch at an old favorite, (On the Hoof for you fellow Oxford-lovers!) and then walked around Oxford shivering and wet, determined to enjoy being there. That's right, in addition to the pouring rain, it was COLD! I got to show Justin around some of my old favorite spots, taking in all the little things that had changed and embracing the things that were still perfectly familiar. Over the next day and a half, we enjoyed many Oxford favorites, such as walking around city centre, strolling through Port Meadow, having coffee and dessert at The Trout, walking through University Park, and visiting museums or cozy pubs when we needed a break from the rain and the cold. We even got to visit my old house on Canterbury Road and had tea with Janine, who was a professor and house parent while I was there. It was really nice.  I will leave you with some pictures from our first couple of days in Oxford....

Visiting Port Meadow

Showing Justin my old home

Enjoying a warm drink at The Trout

Where We've Been and Where We're Going...

I had a feeling at the end of the summer that if I didn't take the opportunity then to update the blog, it might be a while. As it turns out, I was right.

A lot has happened in the last 10 months.  I started a new job (which I will go ahead and credit for the long absence from blogging). Justin finished his second year of teaching. We became home group leaders at church.  I finished my Clinical Fellowship Year. Justin decided to take a leap of faith and make a career change.  We have learned a lot in the past year about God's grace and provision, and have been so blessed to see God working in our own lives and in the lives of others through joyful circumstances and through difficult ones.

This year has been a very challenging one for me at times, but I have seen God provide for me and care for me every step of the way. One of the best things about having a not-so-perfect year has been that I have the opportunity to see Justin's servant heart come out over and over again. He takes such good care of me and I am incredibly thankful to have him as my partner.

The year has brought challenges and changes to Justin's world as well. He will be "retiring" from teaching for a new career in the finance world this summer. I am excited to see the ways that God will use him in a new field! We are happy about the change and would love your prayers as Justin heads down a new road. The new job is based in Dallas, which means that we will be camping out here indefinitely. We have not always held an affection for this town, but God has given us a peace and excitement about sticking around, so we will be in or around here until further notice!

This is the last week of school for Justin and I and we are thrilled! This excitement is probably enhanced by the fact that we will be heading to Europe next week. :) We are so looking forward to relaxing, enjoying beautiful scenery, hiking, exploring, experiencing other cultures, and creating memories together. It's going to be great! Pictures to come as soon as I weed through the many that I am sure I will take...  :)