Switzerland with Grandma and Papa

Happy 45th anniversary Cindy and Rich Reilly!!!!!
8 day Grand Tour of Switzerland ...Photos

July 24th we boarded the train in Landstuhl and headed to Basel Germany/Switzerland and then on to Zurich, Switzerland for our first night.  Day 2 we took the train to Lucerne and enjoyed the beautiful lake and swans.  On day 3 we had our excursion to Mount Titlis (3020 m/10,000 ft).  To get up to Mount Titlis we took a train to Engelberg and then a gondola up to the Trübsee, followed by another gondola, followed by the rotating gondola which took us to the very top allowing us to walk around on the glaciers.  Day 4 we headed to St. Moritz, it was a beautiful train ride and we were fortunate to find a great playground where the kids could get rid of their energy.  The downside is that Sean started feeling sick, fever ... he thought altitude sickness here.  Our 5th day was on the Glacier Express, the slowest express train from St. Moritz to Zermatt.  Everyone was sure that they would need their electronics to get through the 8 hour train ride, but the scenery and food turned out to be all of the entertainment that was needed ... even the kids couldn't believe how beautiful the trip was.  Sean was still not well, but he didn't seem as sick as he was the day before.  Day 6 was spent in Zermatt.  Everyone, except Sean, took the cogwheel train to Gornergrat, for a panoramic view of the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and other snow-capped peaks rising to above 4000 m/13'000 ft.  Sean spent the day in bed with fevers and a horrible tonsil infection.  Grandma and Papa headed down the mountain on the train while Mayland, Clark and MJ hiked 1/2 way down the mountain.  We saw the Matterhorn peak, which had been cloud covered, and the rare and elusive Das Alpenmurmeltier (gophers of the Switzerland alps).  Day 7 was a trip to Geneva.  
A couple of observations about Switzerland ... it is clean, very, very clean.  It is full of water fountains that are there for people to fill up their water bottles.  There are more stores to buy watches then there are in the rest of the world put together.  Ok, so maybe the last statement is not true, but it sure does seem like it.  The mountains provide a cool refuge from the heat.  One can go sledding in July on glaciers.  While Luther may have put his 95 Theses on the door of the church at Worms in 1517; the men who would follow in his footsteps would almost all be in Switzerland.  Switzerland is a country made up of mostly immigrants.  There are 4 national languages spoken in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh.  

Grandma and Papa visit (Germany)

Gate of Reichsberg Castle in the background

excavating Roman Baths

We had an adventure packed summer.  I can honestly say I did not hear my kids say "I'm bored" in the 6 weeks they had off from school.  The day that I dropped Amy and the boys off at the Frankfurt airport, is the day that I picked-up Mom and Dad Reilly.  A good thing, because the kids didn't have a chance to miss their friends with Grandma and Papa coming in.  Our first few days we spent here in Landstuhl, but Clark and MJ really wanted to show them Trier and Cochem (remember the castle that MJ had nicknamed "the Pumpkin Castle".  So, while Sean worked in the ICU we hoped on the train and enjoyed a day of wandering around Trier.
This trip we discovered a couple of new things ... the Roman bridge (Römerbrücke) which is the oldest standing bridge in the country.  The pillars are from the 2nd century.  The surface has been done twice since then in the 16th and 18th centuries and yes, cars do drive across it.  We found another site being excavated with Roman baths.  This was not for royalty, so it is clear that the Romans believed in being clean.  Turns out they had 3 bath locations in the city.  Near the bridge are two old treadwheel cranes, one being the Gothic "Old Crane" from 1413, and the other the 1774 Baroque crane.  Both used human energy to power them and from just looking at them from a distance, you can't tell them apart.  Technology was not changing rapidly.  Our last piece of excitement was finding out that we could actually tour the Porta Nigra, so we went inside of the gate and found out it had actually been turned into a cathedral around 1035; however, in 1804  Napoleon ordered that the Porta Nigra be converted back to its Roman form.
After a day in Trier we took the train to Cochem and visited MJ's favorite castle and did some shopping.  It was wonderful.  The kids really enjoy sharing their favorite places with visitors.  Clark especially likes to provide translation and guide services.  After Cochem we returned to Landstuhl where the kids had a few days to just be with Grandma and Papa before we left on our next trip ... Switzerland!