Blogs from Lausanne, South-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 5

The weekend of October 12th-14th we went to Switzerland!! Bailey, Kyle, Tim, and I left Florence early, early Friday morning. I mean early like at 2 am and had to switch trains in Bologna and Milano. It took us about 10 hours to get there but hey the reservations only cost 5 Euro so I was fine with it! We traveled past Lake Como and through the mountains....it was sooo pretty! We also pretty much slept the entire way because we were sooo tired! We arrived in Lausanne at about 12:00pm and I immediately loved it! Lausanne is located right on Lake Geneva and is beautiful! The people are also soo nice and hospitable. As we were walking up the hill to the Pepperdine Lausanne Program Hotel we saw our friends from Florence who had arrived ... read more

hello all, wow it's been a few weeks since ive done one of these and what an insane few weeks its been after i last sent out a group email ive been all over the place!!!! first off was barcelona which was AMAZING.... its such a chilled out place and the weather was amazing... I spent a lot of my time just walking around and having fun at the beach which by the way, so far, european beaches, or spanish beaches, have NOTHING on the beachs back in australia, the sand was really dirty, it left a brown stain on the back of my board shorts.. awkward... and in the ocean it was all peebly and not so nice..... but still it was nice to be at the beach!!!! i so desperately wanted to go to ... read more

This from my journal while riding the train from Montreux to Luzerne: "Switzerland is the kind of country I would have invented if it didn't already exist." It's Disney-esque. It's Heidi-esque. It's even a bit Python-esque I realized when I noticed that some of my fellow travelers were dressed in suits but wear hiking boots and have ski poles sticking out of their rucksacks. I want to know where they work. Don't like mountains and lakes? Then move here for the progressive attitude. Take the car sharing system, for example. If you need one, just come pick one up. If it's below a third of a tank, top it off if you have a chance. Oh, and try to leave it tidy for the next fellow. But of course we don't really need to tell you ... read more

We enjoyed our visit with our friends, sharing our new home...letting the girls play. We had a 3rd birthday party for Bella with her "cousins" and her aunt Suzie and Uncle Bruce. It was very special, and really helped us settle into our new community. We took a lake cruise around Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) and visited the ancient castle: Chateau de Chillion....It was interesting as it was built in the same period as our apartment, so it had the same stained glass as our house. Yikes!... read more

Well,....all the months of planning, stress and worry are over. We have successfully sold our home, our cars, our furniture and pretty much everything but our children and our clothes. We have exchanged our spacious Texas home , for a cozy rented 3rd story flat in the historic center of Lausanne, Switzerland (complete with 49 steps and no elevator). We now rely on public transportation and our feet (we are all becoming quite fit!). I, the momma, am trying my hand at stay-at-home parenting. This is a necessity at present, as it is a full time job trekking to the grocery store and deciphering the food choices in French! Yikes! Nate is now settled into his new position at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnic Federale Lausanne) as a researcher working on brain mapping. Our goal is to live ... read more

No bags (no bikes shoes!) plus rain puts Andrew and Ray on train to Lausanne (after visit to Geneva airport to advise of their departure for Lausanne). Cell phone useful to call airport several times throughout the day for recorded message that Ray's bags have not arrived. Dinner at elegant old high ceiling oil paintings train station restaurant in Lausanne. Beef tongue, local cold meats and Dole du Valais (Swiss wine). A and R decide if bags not there by following day to travel by train to Zurich to spend a few days shopping for replacement bike bags etc. On return to bike hostel Ray receives their first call on cell phone. Expecting news from British Airways, gets British mother-in-law instead. (Ray hides any theortetical disappointment). They discuss the apartment reservation made by Ray and ... read more