Cloches (des vaches)

Cloches (des vaches)

"Bells of the cows"

~ Journey of the Cows ~

During the month of August in our blog, we had asked if any one knew what the first picture above was.....any idea? They are cow bells! To share a bit of Switzerland culture....the secound pictures is from the "Journey of the Cows". The "Journey of the Cows" is when the farmers walk their cows down from the high pasture ground after being there since spring. As you can see from the picture; the cows are wearing these large beautiful embroidered collars with the large bells and beautifully arranged floral head dresses. To enlarge the photos to see them better, double click the mouse on the photo.

This is something I'd really like to see while in Switzerland! So, yesterday we had asked one of our friends from Switzerland; when and where do we need to go to see the "Journey of the Cows". She knew just where we need to go and when in our local area. On Saturday, September 27 we will travel, not to far from Neuchatel to take part in this festival! Look for more pictures later!

Our Day In Berne, Switzerland

Our Day In Berne, Switzerland
To enlarge these photos to view them better, double click your mouse on the photo.

Our friend Priscilla

Trace and I

The lovely cobblestone streets of Berne

God has truly blessed us with a our friend Priscilla (pictured in the second photo down). Over the past several months she has been helping us one day a week after school with our French language studies. She was so kind in taking us during one of our vacation days to see the city of Berne, Switzerland. We had a great time walking through the lovely cobblestone streets, window shopping and seeing different sites of the city! We even walked by Albert Einstein's house! The one picture that did not make it in this blog (because it was not in focus)....our coffee time at Starbuck's....oh, what a treat ~ cafe mocha!

We thought we would share a little history lesson with you about Berne; The city of Berne was founded in 1191 by Berchtold V. Duke of Zahringen. The wooden-built town was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1405, the houses were then rebuilt of sandstone. There are approximalty 130,000 people who live there today, the Municipal area is 20 square miles and nearly one third is public parks and woods. What a beautiful city!

Trace has won the gold

Trace has won the gold!

If you would like to see the photo's enlarged, just double click your mouse on the photo.

Where's Karen?
Do you think Trace can make the jump?
Le Parc Olympique Lausanne

One of the highlights of our vacation was to travel to Lausanne, Switzerland by train (approximatly 1 hour away from where we live). We made a point as you can see to visit the "Olympic Capital". It was fitting that we visited the very week the Olympics in Beijing began. The Olympic capital in Lausanne, is home to the Olympic Committee and also the Olympic Museum, the world's largest information center about the Olympic games. Lausanne is Swizerland's fifth biggest city and is situated on the banks of Lake Geneva. After our visit of the Olympic capital, we found a nice little spot to have our picnic lunch sitting along the lake. Once we finished our lunch, off we went to go walk through the streets of Lausanne ~ taking in the charm of the boutiques and cobble stone streets.
Until next time! Hhmmm.....a a church that is regarded as the most beautiful Gothic building in Switzerland.