yodeling in the alps!

Wow! These past few weeks have been a whirlwind, but let us just start where we are and then go back. Picture yourself in a little village high in the alps of Switzerland. We are LOVING it here. What could be better than pastures of goats, symphonies of cowbells ringing (those cool old fashioned ones), and our yodels echoing through the breathtaking hills and mountains of Switzerland. We hiked up to the next village today and helped a farmer get his hay off the road. He looked a little bit like Santa Claus. Yeah. Switzerland is a dream! (ESPECIALLY THE CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE!) Will you all still love us if we come back fat?

From London, we took a ferry from Dover down to Calais, France. We met a stellar group of people our age that gave us a ride and helped us find our way. So there you have it. French people are cool. We spent the next day in Bruges, Belgium and my, oh my....the CHOCOLATE!!!! We had some HEAVENLY Belgian waffles, and some delicious bratwurst. Don't take our word for it, you have to come over and try this stuff. :)

After Belgium, we took a train over to Paris and there we stayed for a few days. Paris is definately for the hopeless romantics (or a group of 4 girls). It was all that we dreamed it to be. We spent a day in Versailles, relaxing in the gardens of Marie Antoinette, and sticking our toes in the water. We also went up to the top of the Eifel Tower, Arch de Triomphe, took a nap in the gardens of the Louve and visited all the amazing museums. We ate amazing crepes from the street vendors, and of course lived off of baguettes and cheese. Ahhh, Paris. We love you.

After Paris, we went down to the Rhine and backpacked up to a castle called Burg Eltz up in a German forest. The hike was incredible! We felt like we were in a fairytale and we may have pretended just a little bit. :) We went to the Frankfurt temple as well, and there is no other place on earth that brings more peace or such a good feeling. Trust us, we have been traveling a lot. It is incredible in the temples. That has been one of our favorite parts. We went to church in Freiburg and we have never felt so welcome even though it was all in a different language! We had headsets and the missionaries translated for us. It was awesome. Another thing that made Freiburg so great was the hotel. We really lucked out. We walked around for a few hours trying to find a place to stay. Finally, we walked into a 4 star hotel. Yes, that is just ONE under 5. The guy at the desk took pity on us and let us stay in a sweet room for a really good price.

We then made our way to Bern, Switzerland. It's pretty cool there. We went and hung out by the river and went all over town. The streets have beautiful water fountains everywhere, and it felt really safe and clean. We headed over to Interlaken and, WOW! What a beauty! I have never seen waters so bluish green in my life. And not to mention the Swiss Mountains towering over, reflecting on the water. Is this real life?!?!?

This definately has all been a dream. We wish you all could be here living it with us!

Love you all!