My dad wanted me to clarify some things: a). they were only running to their second flight because their first was late (you're cleared, Dad). b). I absolutely loved Switzerland. It was wonderful. The day after it rained, the Children's adventure trail day, was perfect. Perfect weather, perfect scenery in Murren and Gimmelwald, and everyone we met was friendly.

It was so wonderful in fact, that, after Spain, Switzerland is the #2 country I would move to. It's orderly but not dictating, friendly but not out of control- they've got it going on. I set my watch by the trains. Speaking of which, I don't sleep on planes at all, I only sleep in cars if I'm exhausted, but put me on a Swiss train and I am out. They're silent, smooth, and gently swaying... wishing yet? yeah, me too...

And since my next blog will be on Italy, here's some stories that happened from Switzerland to Italy. On the train from Martigny, Switz. to Milan we had assigned seats, and the fourth in our booth was a great Swiss man from Geneva. Alex is 35, a pediatric surgeon, and sweet sweet sweet. As God would have it, he had lived in South Africa for 3 years, goes back every year, and loves it. My dad lived in South Africa for 2 years before he met my mom. Needless to say, they had quite a lot to talk about. Also, he had been to Cinque Terre the weekend before and gave us a lot of good information, which was great.

But there's more. I need to insert a bit about luggage here: I have a 54 lb. bag lovingly referred to as "Helga" (aka Hel on wheels). She's a bit wieldy. Anyway, this particular train didn't have a luggage rack, so my dad strapped her to the handrail in the entrance/ exit area of the train. So he has to leave every so often to check on her and make sure that no one has stolen her (as if they could pick her up). Right in front of the doorway is a group of individuals who popped their first bottle of wine at 9:15am. Every time Dad passed, they would talk to him in French. Dad doesn't speak French, so he would just shrug and laugh. By 9:45, they'd had 3 bottles of wine, and Dad was cracking jokes with a word in Italian, a word in French... and Alex was chuckling because he, of course, speaks German, French, English and some Italian. Figures.

Anyway, it goes downhill from here, because Dad is talking to Alex, and all of a sudden he goes "Wait, I saved this to show someone...." I had no idea what he was talking about. He crawls over Alex to get to his bag and whips out a file folder. Still no idea. He then proceeds to pull out family photos. Oh yes, Alex is treated to a small family history in pictures, with one picture that was taken when I was probably 11. I was ready to claim a twin sister who was absent at the moment... So, we went through that, and Alex was an angel, and helped Mom and I with our bags when we got to Milan.
That was Switzerland. Good stories.

Hope you like! I know I'm really behind on posting... sorry. I'll catch up soon. (:
Love to al-
WAR EAGLE!! Tomorrow is first gameday!