OUT OF A FAIRYTALE

Most small towns and villages in Switzerland (and all of Europe for that matter) have a church, an old town, and a castle. As the boys have articulated on several occasions, not all castles are created equal!  Understandably, they have a very specific impression of what a castle should be...drawbridges, moats, high towers, lookouts, knights in shining armor.  It isn't surprising then, that several of the smaller and more house-like structures that are still classified as castles have not lived up to the boys' expectations.  So, Chris and I decided to take them to a castle that would meet...and in this case, exceed, their expectations.  We headed to Fussen, Germany to visit Neuschwanstein (and it's neighboring castle, Hohenschwangau)-both inhabited by King Ludwig.   Although the area is a bit tourist trappy-it is worth fighting the crowds to get a tour of these impressive castles.  There were no pictures allowed inside, but Neuschwanstein (only partially finished due to Ludwig's untimely death), was a spectacle of royalty and wealth that had not only the boys mouths hanging open, but mine as well.  We stayed in a cute little hotel with a view of Neuschwanstein and enjoyed a delicious traditional Bavarian dinner.  We rode a horse-drawn carriage to the top of the mountain to reach the castle, and the boys really got a kick out of the fact that the horse directly in front of Chris was experiencing some bad gas...I thought they were going to laugh their little selves right off of the buggy! (poor Chris wasn't as amused) 
The only drawback of the trip was during our drive to Germany.  We got pulled over at an Autobahn checkpoint, only to find out that we were in Austria (surprise! Chris turned to me and said, "did you even know we were in Austria?"...nope!), and that we were driving without an Austrian vignette.  (a sticker you must buy and post on your windshield to drive on the highway)   The fine was a whopping 120 Euro!  OUCH.  That's a hefty fine to pay for a 10 minute trip through a teeny tiny corner of Austria. (especially when the cost for the vignette is only 7 Euro!)  Guess we should have paid closer attention to the map.  Again, a lesson we hope to only have to learn once.  Once we hit the Autobahn in Germany Chris really enjoyed opening up our little BMW wagon to see what she could do...and lets just say that her reputable German engineering didn't let us down!

MOVE OVER JULIE ANDREWS, THESE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH SOME NEW MUSIC

The radio stations here are hilarious.  We are hearing a lot of 80s music: Bon Jovi, Guns n Roses, Phil Collins, and a random sampling of obscure American songs that never made it even close to the Top 40.  On the drive to get Isaac dropped off and picked up from school today I heard the following: Elvis, C and C music factory (which had Isaac giggling), Tina Turner, One Republic, Simon and Garfunkle, Train, Michael Jackson, and Shakira (Switzerland loves her daily dose of Shakira!).  Now THAT makes for an eclectic listening experience!  The DJs are also a crack up, as I listen to them rattle away in Swiss-German, all of a sudden you hear an American celebrity name in a thick German accent and pronounced with a slower pace...JJJeeeffff  Brriiddggeesss...then back to the fast paced Swiss German.  Makes me laugh.  We will definitely be putting that ipod jack to good use in the car we ordered!  Which, reminds me…when IS that car we ordered going to get here?  We were told that it would take 4-6 weeks.  About 5 weeks after placing the order, Chris called to ask if they had a delivery date, and we were notified that somehow the paperwork got "lost in the shuffle".  Our car had not yet been ordered.  Now, I am loving the little M series BMW wagon we have been tooling around in…it makes me actually look like a European, but poor Luke is completely smashed in-between his two little brother's car seats (not to mention, illegal.  Switzerland just passed a law April 30th that requires kids to ride in booster seats until the age of 12).  We are lucky he is such a trooper, always easy to get along with.  Just one more reason I love that kid so much!  

THIS WILL MAKE YOU ITCHY

I have recently found out that there are a lot of ticks in Switzerland, and all of central Europe.  The scary part is, 50-100 percent of them carry one of two diseases: TBE (tick born encephalitis) and Lyme's disease.  There is a vaccination you can get to protect yourself from TBE once you turn 6 and if you are not breastfeeding...so that covers Chris and Luke.  As I read more about it on the internet, my mind starts to replay how Luke, Isaac, and Levi love to roll around in the grass...and I think of how much they have been doing just that.  Heck, all of a sudden I think of the photo-ops Chris and I have tried to create, as we set our babies IN the grass, laying them on each other and rolling them through the thick, disease-infested tick habitat.  Great!  Another thing to keep me up at night worrying...looks like we can add tick checks to the nightly routine!

LAKE GREIFENSEE HOW I LOVE THEE

On Lia's last day here (boooo), and with Chris home from his trip, but fighting jet-lag, we decided to spend a Sunday visiting a favorite hangout of the locals.  On Sundays in Switzerland, everything is closed except for some restaurants.  The Swiss are known for doing three things on Sundays:  exercising outside, hanging with their families outside, or eating long, expensive meals at restaurants (and if at all possible-outside).  Once you accept Sunday as a day that you won't be able to run any errands, or get much done (vacuuming and laundry is also banned due to noise restrictions), it is really fantastic!  It is a guilt free way to ensure that you take time out to enjoy yourself and your family, and there is no more of an enjoyable place to do that than outside-especially when you are in the Alps!  We went to Lake Greifensee to check out the small village and the lake.  There is a path all around the lake, and hundreds of people were out roller blading, biking, walking, and scootering.  It was a beautiful, hazy day.  The pics we took look like I've edited the color on them, but I didn't.  It was the most romantic light.  I felt like I was sitting in a Swiss version of an Emily Dickinson poem (sans some crazy dress and girdle).  We enjoyed some beers at a bier garten, and let the boys wade in the lake.  We walked around the lake for a while and enjoyed some of the first warm sunshine of the summer season and each other.  It felt like a genuine Swiss experience.  It felt great!