trips, stories & belly

@ chateau Chillon, in Lake Geneva

you can find photos HERE

This last weekend my dad went back to Mexico after his 3-week European vacation. We both had a great time during his visit, and I even managed to convince him to take a couple of “unplanned” day trips, one to Milan and one to Freiburg, Germany. Since I had already been there before (and kept all the brochures and plans and notes), it was easy to just sorta jump on the train, plus I just thought it would be good to add a couple of more countries to his list.
Together we went to Lausanne, Chateau de Chillon and Bern in the same day!! OMG! It was a great trip, and very well planned (if I say so myself). In Lausanne (2 hour train ride from Zurich) we only went to the cathedral, supposedly the most important gothic building in Switzerland. There’s much more to see in Lausanne (a city on lake Geneva), like the Olympic museum and some other stuff, but on a tight schedule the cathedral is priority. Then we took a train (40 mins) to a Chateau de Chillon, a castle on the lake. It is super old, and super well preserved. We each got an audio guide and did the tour in about 2 hours or less. Then we took the train back to Lausanne and then a train to Bern (which is on the way back to Zurich). In Bern we did just a basic stroll through the medieval part of the city (old town), and by the end of it we were BOTH dragging our feet and ready to go. We were back in Zurich by 8pm, after a long day.
Another trip we took together was to Luzern and Mt. Titlis. Luzern is 1 hour away on train, and from there you take another (mountain) train to Engelberg, and from there 3 cable cars to the top of Mt Titlis. It was great that my dad got to see snow and a close up view of the Alps, and the weather was awesome too (thanks to my handy dandy planning skills). I did not even attempt stepping on the snow and remained the entire time on the terrace area, I was too afraid to slip and fall, and since I had been there before, I wasn’t really missing it. In Luzern we went to the Transport museum, and did the usual stroll through the old part of town.

@ Mount Titlis

@ Luzern, feeding the swans

@ Luzern, Transport Museun

To take all these trips, my dad got a Swiss Saver Pass, with 3 days of unlimited travel in Switzerland within a month. The pass also included a museum pass, with free entry to hundreds of museums in Switzerland, AND it also work as a public transport pass. I highly recommend it.
On his own, my dad went first Bayeux, a town in Normandy, France. He was there for a 2-day tour of two of the beaches were D-Day was staged. He is a war history enthusiast, and he also likes planes and all that stuff, so that was really fun for him. He also took a quick trip to London and Paris on his last week, when Gera was already back home with me. My mom was not too happy that he was taking all these trips, and “making” me go with him on some… “you’re supposed to be there to take care of her while Gera is gone, not to make her tired and leave her for an entire day…” hehe. You know moms…
I have a couple of funny anecdotes that happened to us, like the “tale of the forgotten backpack” and “the 100 dollar bill”, but I will tell you about those later.

@ lake Zurich, with Dad

Gera got back from the US on October 14, and he made it home safely, even while carrying two loaded suitcases to the limit. Literally! They weighed exactly 50 lbs each! And he had a full carry-on, and he even stuffed the pockets on his jacket with some stuff that would not fit anywhere else. Too funny! A big thank you to the people who sent presents!

Gera in Reno

IT’S A GIRL!! I guess everybody already knew, since I got no emails or messages regarding the subject, hehe.
The belly keeps growing, and the Mommy too! I feel as soon as I hit month 7, my feet got swollen and my back started aching. Even so, I consider myself lucky to have gone so long without many complaints (and hopefully that will be all).
I had an appointment with the doctor on Thursday morning, and all looks well. We’re just keeping an eye out waiting for the baby to “turn” (get into the head-down position). I am also trying to arrange to get some nice professional photos taken, so I’ll keep you posted on that.