Slow-Up

Today we participated in Switzerland's first "Slow-up" for the summer. It was located at the next lake over from ours in the town of Murten/Morat (German and French). The roads are completely closed off (till around 6:00) to vehicles and the route goes completely around the lake about 32 km. You have the choice of riding a bike or scooters, rollerblading, walking or running.

We headed out at 8:30 and took an 1 hr 15 min boat ride to Morat. That was really our only choice. I guess I should say that we could have taken the train but we haven't done the boat ride and we can catch the boat right across the street. This boat was especially for the slow-up. There were quite a few bikes.
It was overcast and we had a few sprinkles.

It was fun to see our place from the lake. It is the one with all the trees in front of it.

Are we ready for a 17 mile bike ride????????

Of course the Alps looked so pretty.

Devin snapped a good picture of a bridge in the canal that is between the 2 lakes. His class is studying bridges at the moment.

We knew it was going to be busy but this was something else. 40,000 people were expected. Kate went about a 1/2 mile on her tricycle before Jason ended up pulling her with a rope.

There were quite a few roller bladers which surprised me. They go pretty fast. This is a good picture that shows the amount of people. It was like this the whole way.

Jason and Kate got quite a few looks with smiles. We didn't see anyone else with the rope hook-up. Kate did really well. She didn't ride the brake too much. Going down hill was a little bit scary for her and for me to watch.

We were surprised to see buffalo.

It took us about 4 hours and we didn't make it completely around. We had a good time. Lucas lost us not too long after we started. He kept riding ahead of us and waiting. Well he didn't see us and we didn't see him. Thankfully, our friends the Taylors were behind us and they picked him up. He ended up riding with them the whole way. We weren't too happy with him, especially dad.

We didn't stop very much and when we did it wasn't for very long. On our boat ride home we got ourselves some pommes frites (french fries) and some pop served in wine glasses.

I had to add this picture of J's biking gloves. As we were riding, Kate asked Jason if Grandma Marchiondo crocheted those gloves for him. It was a nice laugh for us.

Venice - Part 3 (Final)

Okay, I promise this is the final chapter on Venice. When we have so many pictures, it is easier to do the blog in sections.

This picture will never be forgotten. Kate thought it was great pretending to be Queen of the Canal. The boys just rolled their eyes and surprisingly held their tounges. They carried her over at least 12 bridges.
This is just an example of the length of the bridges.

On Friday morning, we decided to take the Grand Canal back to the train station. Jason was able to get some really pretty pictures along the way.

The Rialto Bridge

This little bridge was at the apartment/hotel. The building in the back is 8 suites. It was a great place for us to stay. It is just hard in Europe to find places that sleep 5 and it is more affordable and convenient for us to get a suite than get 2 rooms.

We are finally back in Neuchatel and Jason got a picture of us walking from the train station.

The kids could not leave Venice without purchasing one of the million masks. We had a great time but it is nice to be back home.

Venice - Part 2

On Wednesday morning (April 15), we headed down to the beach. Lido has the only beach in Venice. It was interesting when we first got there because it was quiet except for some big machinery working. It definately isn't the cleanest beach but it didn't stop the kids from playing.
The beach was covered with seashells. Everyone that wasn't wearing shoes had a funny walk.

Eventually the kids got in. Lucas actually swam. We had kept Kate's old braces and they were perfect for her to wear with her water shoes.

They had a good time. While we were sitting there, this big machine came by and he wasn't going very slow.
In the afternoon, we took a boat tour to the other islands. This is a picture looking at Lido.

Our first stop was Murano which is famous for its glass. We watched a demonstration of a man making a bowl and a horse.

It was amazing how quickly he made that horse.

One of our favorite pieces of Murano glass that we saw was this violin. Every shop sells "Murano glass" but after awhile we decided only the pieces in the galleries were probably made in Murano and the rest in China.
On our way to the next island of Burano, I thought this was a neat picture. I don't know what it was at one time but the picture turned out well.

Burano is known for its lace and the fishermen's houses painted in bright colors. It will also be known to us as the island with the leaning tower.

At each stop we got to spend about 30 minutes. I guess enough time for us to shoot some pictures, spend some money and be on our way.

I just had to add this one of the kids. I thought it turned out cute. Kate is our little gondolier.

The last stop was Torcello. It was the first centre of civilization in the area. The only thing left is the Cathedral, 2 restaurants and a few homes/buildings.

We ended the day with Jason getting a good picture of how tall Devin is getting. He hasn't passed me but he is definately close. I'm not exactly sure what Kate was doing - dancing??

Venice - Part 1

Ciao Everyone! Last Monday we caught a 7 hour train ride to Venice. Our biggest complaint was that there was only 1 wc (bathroom) working for 3 train cars. It was a long ride but we had some beautiful views of the Alps, waterfalls and lakes. I tried to take some pictures but it is hard with the train moving so fast.

Once we got to Venice, we took the scenic route to our hotel on the island of Lido. It was another hour on the Vaporetto (water bus) thru the Grand Canal. We found a good place to eat and went walking to enjoy the sunset. The Gelato (Italian ice cream) was delicious and reasonably priced.(2 Euros for a good size scoop)

On Tuesday morning, we headed out early to a perfect day of weather. It was probably high 60's or low 70's but that sun was nice and warm. We went straight to the Piazetta San Marco.

We walked around St. Mark's square. This is the front of St. Mark's Basilica.

The mosaics are beautiful.

This mosaic is from the upper part of the main portal. The work that is put into the mosaics is unimaginable. The inside of the Basilica is mainly all mosaics.

We decided to just walk the island. Some streets were very narrow which Jason had fun demonstrating.

I believe this is part of the Church of S. Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

This is one of the views from a bridge that crosses the canal. After a while, things start looking the same.

I had to add these next 4 pictures - Lucas made us laugh!

The kids were getting a little bit bored so we got on a gondola. I don't think you can go to Venice without experiencing a gondola ride. This is the Bridge of Sighs. They hide the construction work behind these huge tarps with advertising on them. There was quite a bit on construction going on.

The kids did finally perk up.

Devin snapped a good picture of the gondolier. He hardly talked and he definately didn't sing.

Some of the gondolas are definately more fancy than others.

After the ride we headed to a different part of the island - more residential. Kate and I were on a mission to find a bathroom. The boys could not keep up. We followed the signs but after a long trek, we had no luck.

So we went to a nice restaurant right along the grand canal and had a nice early dinner. The bathrooms were the nicest we had seen and there were actual toilets that were at least 1 1/2 feet off the ground and no water shooting at you when you stepped away. We chose very well to end our day.

I need to go have a French lesson but I'll post again later, so check back soon!