Fredricks Take Europe :: The Cinque Terre

One of the first stops on our Italy tour was the Cinque Terre. 

We only had one day before continuing to Florence,

so we were only able to stop in 

Monterosso al Mare, 

Vernazza, 

and Manarola. 

We wish we had more time to explore the beautiful towns. 

 

Advice: 

- buy a Cinque Terre pass online in advance

(lines to buy any tickets are unbelievably long)

- look up the train schedules in advance

(train staff is very limited and only speak Italian)

- stay a while and explore

- make dinner reservations before you travel

(There are some amazing restaurants with 5* views 

and food, but they will be booked-out well in advance)

Fredrick's Take Europe : Gruyères & Bern

This summer my mom and sisters took an 

extended vacation to visit us in Europe!

First adventure:

Gruyères, Switzerland

Château Gruyères

La Maison du Gruyère 

unlimited chocolate tasting at 

Maison Cailler

On the drive back, 

we stopped for a session at the Bern Temple

It was a really fun day and a nice chance to 

break the girls into Switzerland :)

Christmas time

This year the holidays were bitter-sweet. 

We certainly missed being away from family, 

but thanks to loving friends and technology

we were able to celebrate Christmas with an adopted family

and talk to all of our family around the world :)

Traditional Swiss Christmas eve complete with 

real candles on the tree,

cheese fondue dinner,

Christmas carols,

A Charlie Brown Christmas....

and late night pillow wars...

We eventually fell asleep around 3 am.

Yep, I got to skype with the coolest person I know.  

And she comes home in 4 months. 

NBD. 

Adventures with the Parents Part 2 :: Austria

When my parents were in town, 

we decided to take a couple day trip to Austria!

We actually stayed the night in Innsbruck.  Innsbruck has a lot to do, but it is a big city.  I would recommend staying just outside of Innsbruck or in one of the alp ski towns like Lech. 

 Egg, Austria

 Cow traffic

 Lech, Austria

Hiking in Arlberg

On the drive back, we smelled something DELICIOUS. 

So we pulled over in this little town and followed the scent to this restaurant. 

Happy Dad. 

Lake Constance, Switzerland

Adventures with the Parents Part 1 :: Zurich

My parents flew out to Zurich to help us get settled. 

They picked us up at the airport and 

we had a LOT of stuff to fit in a tiny car. 

Since 3/4 of us were engineers, 

we decided to play Tetris and make it all fit. 

2 bikes in boxes, 3 large suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 2 backpacks, and 4 people.

It was a tight squeeze, 

but our apartment is only 10 minutes from the airport 

so we made it work :)

Over the net few days we ran errands and explored the city.

Bratwurst on the lake

Our new ward!

After church the men pieced together our bikes, 

and the women made tortillas. 

It was a nice few days in Zurich.

Next up: a short trip to Austria!