Sunday, November 30, 2008

Switzerland Nov 30





We had a marvelous time visiting Lisa and Frits in Switzerland on Lake Maggiore, only 2 miles north of the Italian border. We’ve known Lisa for about 18 years when she was a First Lieutenant in the US Army in California. She and Frits married four years ago, and it was delightful to spend 2 days at their charming Italian villa, which used to be the abbey for the church next door. Although the weather was dreary, cold, and rainy, we couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the lake surrounded on all sides by the Swiss and Italian Alps.
The boys loved playing with their dog, Fargo and sharing countless stories with Lisa and Frits. We stayed up late two nights in a row, surrounded by candles and a cozy fire. Thom and I especially enjoyed getting to know Frits, since this was our first time meeting him. We went shopping across the lake in Italy, where Thom purchased some great hiking boots. Frits treated us all to lunch, and then we drove up to a dam on the northern Swiss side of the lake. Here we stood at the top of an incredibly steep dam where a James Bond movie was filmed with the star (stuntman) bungee jumping off. We had a great time throwing snowballs down, waiting for what seemed to be an eternity, and finally hearing the loud Boom upon impact. Lisa and Frits said on our next visit, we must come during the summer to truly enjoy the beauty and swim every day. The only one brave enough to swim on this trip was Ben. On our last day as the rain poured down, Ben ventured into Lago Maggiore in just his swim shorts for a short, cold swim! We all cheered him on.
Now we’re heading back to our starting point, Ramstein Air Base, to catch a space A flight back to Baltimore…hopefully soon! It’s been a wonderful 2-week European adventure where we had a chance to visit Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, France, Switzerland, and Italy (briefly!).

1 comment:

Busy Mom Of Four said...

Just catching up here on your last 2 weeks...wow, what an adventure! Reading it made me so miss our time we had there. We both LOVED being stationed in Germany & being able to travel all over. One day we can't wait to take our 4 & show them all that we saw. Have a safe return to the states & Happy Thanksgiving!