September: Fall is in the air!

WOW! Where did the time go? September sure flw by! I was able to enjoy the last few days of Switzerland summer and catch up with friends. I had an amazing weekend with my friend Renee again. This time we adventured around Switzerland on the trains hiking and seeing some amazing glaciers. We spent a day in Saas Fee. It is a super cute, alpen town...planter boxes, mountains, shutters...just like the post cards! We took a gondola up the moutain and did a great hike along the bottom of the glacier. It was a beautiful fall day, sunny, and the glacier and glacier river were spectacular. We explored the town a little bit, before leaving on the bus, when I discovered that Saas Fee is one of Steamboat's sister cities! Who would have known!

We took an incredible bus to and from Saas Fee (from the neares train station). The bus was on a super narrow road with a few hundred meters of drop on one side. There was a white line and a guard rail (about a foot high) along the side and we went up up up into the valley! A bit scary but great views!

We also hiked up to the Trift Glacier with a bunch of other couch surfers. Renee and I camped in a near by town and met up with a bunch of Swiss people and we took off on a bus to the hike. Unfortunately we arrived and there was a 2 hour line to take the cable car up...so we did the hike! It was non-stop UP for 2 and a half hours, just to the top of the cable car, then another hour 15 to the glacier. Although it was grueling, it was SO worth it! Not only is the Trift glacier and the Trift valley beautiful, there is a new suspension bridge connecting the two sides of the valley. It is the longest suspension bridge in Switzerland and has GREAT views! Renee and I has lots of fun on the bridge taking photos adn anjoying the scenery! We hiked down to the top of the cable car with the couch surfing group but Renee and I didn't like the idea of the long, steep downhill, so we took tickets for the gongola and while we waited we treated ourselves to hot cider, soup and raclette! Good rewared for such a grunt of a hike!

With the Bleichs I also celebrated Oma's (the girls' grandmother) 75th birthday with a very nice party and lunch in Freiburg. Clara and Alma dressed up in their German dresses and were SO cute. Clara played her violin for Oma and then played in the market for change (she actually made quite a bit of money too)! It was very cute...and she is pretty good, especially for an 8 year old!

But, the best part of September was picking up my parents at the train station! I will have 2 weeks to travel with them! We have adventures planned for France, Switzerland and Germany while they are here! So now I'm off to drink wine, hike mountains and eat great French and Swiss food with my parents (who I haven's seen for over a year)! YeeHaw!