#399 Swiss travel

Our summer vacation included a variety of transportation - just the way we like it. We flew overnight from Charlottesville to Frankfurt and traveled by car from Frankfurt to Switzerland. Here we are in the roomy back seat enjoying the ride. In Switzerland, we left our car behind because no cars are allowed where we wanted to go. Murren is a car-free city. We traveled by cable car from Stechelberg in the Lauterbrunnen valley up to Murren. (See how lightly I'm holding on?) We traveled further up hill from Murren by funicular. We traveled downhill by foot. We didn't travel by high heels, because they aren't allowed. Back down in the valley, we found our train and we traveled in the front car with a tremendous view of the Simmental valley to Lake Geneva. No matter how you go, Switzerland's views are worth the trip.

Yours in alpine travel,
Mary

#398 Swiss hiking

Hiking maps are different in Switzerland. They look more like ski maps. Warming up for a hike is different in Switzerland. It looks more like dancing. Flowers are different in Switzerland. They look more vertical. The scenery looks different in Switzerland. It looks more alpine. The family looks good in the thin air. Click on the link to 'See all our photos' to find our Switzerland photo set.

Yours in loving all the differences in the land of the Alps,
Mary

#397 Swiss music

I like the music of Switzerland. They offer something for everybody. Those haunting Swiss Alpine horns... And atmospheric Swiss yodelers... And metallic Swiss cow bells... And timeless Rod Stewart... OK, so Rod Stewart isn't Swiss, but the Swiss like him. Yours in enjoying the music of Switzerland, Mary

#396 Fabulous Fourth

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." On July 4, we watched and listened as 66 new US citizens declared their loyalty in a moving outdoor naturalization ceremony on Monticello’s west lawn. The flags were flying, the band was playing, and our librarian friends were everywhere! We came away full of American pride.

Yours in patriotic fury,
Mary

#395 Going 'Up' for Mary's birthday

We kicked off Mary's birthday month with a trip to Fork Union, VA. I spared no expense wining and dining the birthday girl at Sal's Italian Restaurant and Grille in the heart of downtown Fork Union. Sal served us twice as much hearty spaghetti and spinach ravioli as we could eat. So we left for the drive-in with that full feeling all over. Yes, the birthday extravaganza continued at the Fork Union Drive-In theater - a throwback to the 1950s. Open since 1953, "Virginia's smallest drive-in is a rural classic with a grass field that is still sectored by traditional pole speakers for up to 180 cars." See that speaker? That was made by Projected Sound in Plainfield, IN. It sounded pretty good, but the car stereo turned to 90.3 FM sounded even better. The windows were down. The air was cool. The movie snacks were ready in the back seat if by some miracle we became hungry after Sal's. The kids were playing all kinds of games in the lawn below the movie screen. And finally it was time to see Disney's Up. We LOVED it! Carl and Russell and Dug and Kevin topped off an amazing movie-going experience. It's been a year since our last amazing movie-going experience watching Mamma Mia in Greece in gold-class comfort with our adopted daughters. Where shall we go next? Yours in lifting Mary UP for birthday month, Kelly