Rebers & Cottrells Visit - Part 1

In between my mom and Kenzie's visit, and the weekend after Kenz left, we were able to meet up with our best buds, the Rebers and Cottrells. We have known these guys since freshman year of college and to have them come visit was something we had been looking forward to all summer. We just don't see them enough! 

They flew in to Zurich on Saturday morning the 8th, so we started our reunion in Bern, where we toured the city and floated down the Aare River (just like the locals), before heading off to the Bernese Oberland area.

At the Parliament Building - Shannon, Nick, Kurt, Ryan and me

Westin is kind of obsessed with Erika (I mean, what's not to love about her) and was attached to her all weekend. It was like Ryan and I weren't even there. 

Shannon, Nick, Kurt, Erika and Ryan waiting for the clock tower show (which turned out to be a bit of a let down. Rick Steves built up our expectations a little too high - turns out, it's two or three little statues that move their arms and heads for about a second. But apparently, it's a big deal because it's all the original pieces and has been working for centuries).

After walking around town for a little bit, we made our way down to the Aare River, where we floated down the river. This is something the locals love to do, and we saw several others being as crazy as us and getting in the freezing cold water. 

Since this was not a Westin activity, I sat out the first round and met the gang at their exit point.

They survived and actually wanted to go again... which meant, I got to go too!

With his bestie, showing off his skills

He's a serious jumper. Look at that form!

The Rebers and Cottrells had rented a car, so Ryan, W and I hopped on a train and met them in Lauterbrunnen about an hour and a half after we left Bern. On our way, we passed the stunning Lake Thun. This picture doesn't do it justice in the least. The water was as clear and as bright blue as any I've ever seen.

Once we were reunited in Lauterbrunnen, we took a bus about 20 minutes north to a gondola station that took us up to Gimmelwald, a small town on the mountain of about 120 residents.

Right off the gondola ride was this slide that Westin rode about a dozen times.

A short walk away was our hotel. Look at this view! It was incredible to be up in the mountains and around this scenery, especially with the great weather we had.

At our hotel (and I guess around Switzerland), there was this "Honesty Shop." No one works there. It's just a store, filled with food and souveniers, that has a sign requesting you leave money for what you take. Amazing. That could never fly in the states.

We had two, three bed rooms. So the girls and W took one and the boys slumbered in the other. For W, the hotel staff gave us a crib that the boys were kind enough to put together. Not sure where Ryan is on this one, but at least it's giving Nick some practice since he'll be putting one of these up in his house very soon!

And to give you a good idea of our Swiss accommodations, here's 6'5" Nick standing straight up in our room.

After we got settled in our rooms, we went for a walk through the town, enjoying all the different views around us.

Several of these guys in the yards...

Love his poses for the camera

Lovely family photo

With flower boxes on every house, the town was so colorful.

Along our walk, we saw signs for Alp Kase (cheese), so we decided to get a few samples from the locals. I loved this. You literally just ring their doorbell, they take you into their house and into a small room filled with cheese wheels. This lady was so nice. We sampled cheese from this summer and last summer. It was delicious.

Our second tasting

We finished day one with dinner at our hotel on the deck overlooking the mountains. This area was one of my favorite destinations we've visited. I have so many pictures, so I'll have to save day 2 and the second weekend for another post.