Quigley Europe Trip (Final Leg - Switzerland)

Final Leg -- You can read the last two blogs by logging on and finding our header.

Getting up early is not the "best practice" of the younger Quigley teens, however it was necessary on our journey to Switzerland. We reserved a train out of Vernazza at 6:00am and arrived in Interlaken around 4pm. Let me first say that this country is the cleanest I have ever encountered. There must be some mandate on trash pickup or some strange torture practice on throwing trash. We arrived and due to the fact this was a small town with great transportation and good maps we found our hostel very quickly. It was this hostel (Backpackers Villa) that changed my mind about hostels. It was wonderful. We were treated to free internet, hot drinks, great kitchens, quiet rooms and games along with free passes to all transportation and public swimming pools and slides. All this is great but Switzerland is also the most expensive place we have ever vacationed (13 francs - $13 for a combo meal at Mcd's). Everything was about $25 for a meal so.................we did a lot of shopping and eating at the hostel which was not any different than back home in Casablanca. The stores were large, fresh and filled with all the meats we cannot find in Morocco (pork for all!!). Brenna and Sheldon basically ate salami, cheese and french bread the entire trip and kept asking for it.

Our first day we spent at the pool which was wonderful. We hiked a bit and then the rain started. It rained the next two days but it was still a blessing to spend time together as a family playing games, hiking around town with umbrellas, and swimming in the warm indoor pools. When the weather cleared we jumped at the chance to paraglide. It was the experience of the trip (see video). The guides were great and surprisingly from all over the world. This experience was tough to beat but decided to do some hiking as well.

We planned on getting up the day of our departure, locking up the packs and heading out to Lauterbrunen and then hiking to Murren and having lunch. It was quit the hike but absolutely beautiful and reminded us of Colorado. The biggest difference was the tiny towns, inflated prices, and access to trains and trams but the beauty was similar. We hiked for a few hours and had a great lunch at the top with some of the best burgers of the trip. Sheldon took Collin on with some chess (giant size floor models) and then Tiffany and Brenna decided to take the train and tram back to town while Sheldon and Collin hiked a different trail. We caught the train back to Interlaken and then on to Speiz and then to Lausanne for our stay at a guesthouse near the train station.

Lausanne was beautiful as most cities in Switzerland are but these (Lausanne, Montreux, Interlaken, are especially remarkable by the lakes. We had plans to ride the famous Chocolate / cheese train up to the very old village of Gruyere for a tour of the cheese factory and then on to Broc for a tour of the famous chocolate factory. The train was great. We were in old 1800 pullman cars and they served us hot drinks, chocolate (of course) and breakfast. We arrived in Gruyere and had a great time touring the cheese factory. The cheeses were so fresh we decided to buy some baguettes and have lunch on the bus which was perfect. We were also treated to a tour of the ancient castle of Gruyere which was Collin's favorite and then onto Broc for the chocolate tour which ended with a massive, unlimited chocolate tasting. The cheese tour was the best but the chocolate tour was the tastiest. Fat and happy we trained back to Montreux and then onto Lausanne where we picked up some fixins for dinner and Sheldon and Brenna cooked a nice meal.

On this trip we met several from Morocco and were able to speak with them in Arabic, which was nice but the kids were able to use thier new found French most of all.

Our train for Marseille left late so the kids got the much needed "sleep in" and we left on the speedy TVG train for Aix and then into Marseille. Although we figured this to be just a stop over for our flight it turned out to be a great time. We had a wonderful sushi meal on the bay of Marseille and then the next day a littel train tour of the ancient docks of Marseille, France. We were already feeling like we were leaning toward "Morocco" since the town has many N. African residents and shops, stores and restaurants reflect that culture.

The plane was full and we were flying RyanAir, which is an Irish airline which flies in N. Africa a lot. Arriving in Marrakesh was like a blow to the head. The airplane opened the doors to the tarmac and a 113 degree breeze fell on us like a lead weight............welcome home. It was a beautiful flight over the Med, into Africa, and on to our home but negotiating the taxi, roads, and food stands was in some strange and funny way..........comfortable.

All in all........it was an adventure never to forget for all of us. We had our ups and downs and for sure some "rounds". Would we do it different........maybe a few things but being together and working out the bugs by supporting eachother in our giftings, misgivings, laughter, and sadness is all a part of the joy of the journey. All of us learned so much about ourselves and eachother. I think we grew up a little and also realized some limits. We will be back to do it again for sure.

We love and miss all of you who subscribe to this blog. We are already saving our pennies for the next adventure. If anyone is willing, able, and desires to tag along..........give us a yell.

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