Dear loved ones,
Gerry, Nicky, Sylvia and I just finished two weeks together while the temple was closed for maintenance. We had to put all of the things in our apartment into the cupboards because they were going to put up new wall paper, paint the walls and put in new carpet. We did this before Nicky and Sylvia came on Monday June 1, 2009. They flew into Zurich Airport then we drove to the Jura Mountains for a branch picnic and activity at Forest Jump where there are wires through the trees that the young at heart could slide on. It was cold and windy but Sylvia enjoyed the horses and dogs. Two years ago we bought an old car. It needed brake work but they also discovered that the brake lines were rusted. Luckily this was discovered while we were here and not on the road somewhere in Italy. It forced us to rent a bigger, more powerful, nicer, air-conditioned car to drive the 1000 or so miles in Italy. That was a blessing in disguise. It made the trip so much more enjoyable. Sylvia had a hard time in the car because she loves to climb, run and touch things and wasn’t entertained by the DVD’s or the books
Tuesday June 2--We saw Luzerne and Lugano, Switzerland and crossed the Alps through the 13 Kilometer long Goddard Tunnel. This is certainly a beautiful part of the world. We drove about 300 K and stayed in Como, Italy.
Wednesday June 3 we visited Milano and Verona, Italy. We revisited the Milano Cathedale to take pictures of Sylvia and the pigeons reminiscent of 1972 when Rod and Eric were babies and also among the pigeons. Verona is a pleasant town with a coliseum and many old beautiful buildings. Parking is always a problem in the towns but we found places to park. We spent the night at Aviano Air Force Base north of Venice. It was out of the way but the price of $41 was right. It was a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, washer and dryer, etc. We drove about 400 K
Thursday June 4 We drove to Pordenone and took the train about 100 K to Venice. We walked about Venice seeing the canals, gondolas, crowds of people until we got to St Mark’s Square to see to cathedral etc. We took the Boat-Bus back to the train station, quickly caught the train and picked up our car that was parked at the train station. There was an accident so the detour was long. We stayed again at Aviano Air Force Base Apartment and used the commissary.
Friday June 5 We drove the busy freeway to Ferrara but I was little disappointed with the city. We drove a narrow freeway to Ravenna, Italy and we were very excited to see many, many beautiful mosaics that were built about 450 A.D. The Roman Empire Capitol was moved to Ravenna because it was easier to defend so it wasabout this time the buildings were built. In the baptistery we saw the beautiful mosaics and an infant baptism. We drove to Bologna to our hotel. We traveled about 250 K.
Saturday June 6 We drove to Florence and visited the cathedral, baptistery, old bridge, Uffizi Art Museum. Gerry spent most of the day with Sylvia as she slept, walked on walls, walked on inclines and discovered the things on her level. We drove to Camp Darby Army Base and Recreation Facility. The rooms were very basic but the pine trees were nice. We drove about 300 K.
Sunday June 7 We went to church at the Livorno Branch (it seemed more like a ward but because there is not a stake in that part of Italy it is still a branch.). One of the brothers who works in the temple was at church but his wife was gone visiting family. We drove about 20 minutes to Pisa and enjoyed the leaning tower, cathedral and baptistery. Nicky climbed to the top. We then went about another 20 minutes to Lucca which has a lot of medieval buildings and towers. We stayed at Camp Darby.
Monday June 8 We drove to San Gimignano, to see their many towers and the beautiful Tuscany countryside. Then we went to Siena which has also a lot of medieval buildings. These are two beautiful cities. We then drove 2 and a half hours to northern Rome and our hotel. I chose a hotel outside of Rome for the price, and the free parking and internet. It said that it was 8 K from the center of town but it seemed farther away than that. It was quiet with large rooms and breakfast included.
Tuesday June 9 We drove to the train station about 5 minutes away and parked our car in a large parking lot for about $2.50 for all day. We took the train into the main train station so that we could buy a Rome Pass which gave us unlimited transportation and two museums. We took the metro to the coliseum and used our first museum pass. The pass also saved us from standing in line. We liked the coliseum, but really liked the Pantheon. Sylvia wasn’t impressed but liked the horses and the fountains. We ate pizza by the pound at the Tavola Calda. We saw Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps along with thousands of others. We took the metro and train back to the hotel.
Wednesday June 10 We walked at least a mile through the Vatican Museums to get to the Sistine Chapel. Those miles include the Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery), the Raphael Rooms and many, many statues. We then went to St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica. What an big building. Very impressive. As Nicky said we ate like the Giauque family usually eats. I brought cans of chunky soup, ravioli and lots of juice. But we finally stopped at a sidewalk café and had lasagna, salad and cold water.
Thursday June 11 I had made a reservation to the Borghese Museum on line because Amy said that they only let 250 people in during a 2 hour block of time. We left our car in the parking lot, took the train then the metro to the park near the museum. It was a long walk through the park. They wouldn’t let us bring the stroller, cameras, purses etc into the museum so it was hard for Sylvia to take her nap. Finally she went to sleep in Nicky’s arms and we took turns holding Sylvia, listening to the audio-guide and looking at the beautiful statues and paintings. For many centuries the rich families and the high church offices had strong ties. The museum was started by a Catholic cardinal from the rich Borghese Family. One of the statues that he had commissioned was very sensual so he had a moral carved into the base. The statue by Benini of David as he throws the sling shot is very good. We had lunch in the park consisting of canned Ravioli, juice, cheese and water. We then caught a small bus that we thought would take us to the nearest metro station but the driver was probably deaf and we went all over Rome until we arrived down town but not near a metro station. We talked to another driver and he said he would talk us to the metro but he drove for another half hour until we got the metro. We got off the metro to get on the train. It was very crowded. Everyone got on the train but we didn’t realize that it was an express train that didn’t stop at our stop. Two and a half hours after leaving the park we finally reached our car and started driving the 4 hours to Camp Darby Army Base. Sylvia was not happy in the car but we made it there
Friday June 12 We left Camp Darby at 9:00 A.M. and arrived in Zollikofen at 9:00 at night. We stopped for 3 hours at Portofino, Italy. The cruise ships and yacht stop here. The parking cost 5 E per hour or about $7.50. We also drove near the marble quarries but only saw all the large blocks of marble in the storage lots. The freeways were good. We especially liked the Aosta Valley which was on the way to St. Bernard Pass to get through the Alps. What a beautiful drive. We drove about 650 K. When we arrived at our apartment we were lucky that the work had been finished because the other American couple’s apartment was not yet finished. They said that on and off they were without water, without laundry facilities for 10 days and had few quiet days. Nicky and Sylvia stayed at the temple hostel which was closed except for them. They stayed there 4 night for a total of 55 SF but ate and often bathed at our apartment.
Saturday June 13 We did 4 loads of washing. Now I know that we were lucky to do that because for 10 days while we were gone the laundry room was full of furniture from apartments that were being remodeled. We drove to Grindelwald and really enjoyed the mountains. We tried to recognize the 3 tallest mountains in Switzerland: Jungfrau, Monch, Eiger. There were dozens of paragliders near the mountains. They must have had fantastic views. Then we went to Kandersteg to see the mountains from another angle.
Sunday June 14 Gerry and I drove to Bern to return the rental car by 8 A.M. I spent the morning playing with Sylvia on the swings near the temple hostel and getting ready for the afternoon church. Gerry goes to the German Ward because he wants to learn more German. We drove 30 K to French Bienne Branch because the building near our apartment is the German Ward. The temple workers were not back yet so the attendance was small. We had dinner in our apartment. I bought a Raclette Machine. It is a special melted cheese eaten with small potatoes, pickles, pickled onions. I usually have tomatoes that I cook on the grill but I didn’t have tomatoes. We drove into Bern to see the bear pit but the last bear was put to sleep in March and the construction of the new pits is not done. It started to rain in the night. We took pictures around the temple.
Monday June 15 We drove our Renault Car to Zurich Airport for Nicky‘s 1:00 P.M. flight. It rained a little all the way. We finally got a DVD player that would play Lion King so Sylvia could watch that a little. She finally went to sleep in her stroller while Nicky was checking in. There was an unknown problem with Nicky’s passport so it took a really long time to check in. Nicky flew to JFK to stay with Stacy for a few days. Benjamin has worked a lot but he really missed Nicky while she was gone. Putting things back in our apartment is a little complicated because the plugs in France and Switzerland are not the same. We also have an American key board, electric shaver, two computers, electronic devices, lights, printer, TV and only one outlet near the computers. But they all work now.
This is long, so pick and choose what you want to read. Love to all, MOM, ALICE
Gerry, Nicky, Sylvia and I just finished two weeks together while the temple was closed for maintenance. We had to put all of the things in our apartment into the cupboards because they were going to put up new wall paper, paint the walls and put in new carpet. We did this before Nicky and Sylvia came on Monday June 1, 2009. They flew into Zurich Airport then we drove to the Jura Mountains for a branch picnic and activity at Forest Jump where there are wires through the trees that the young at heart could slide on. It was cold and windy but Sylvia enjoyed the horses and dogs. Two years ago we bought an old car. It needed brake work but they also discovered that the brake lines were rusted. Luckily this was discovered while we were here and not on the road somewhere in Italy. It forced us to rent a bigger, more powerful, nicer, air-conditioned car to drive the 1000 or so miles in Italy. That was a blessing in disguise. It made the trip so much more enjoyable. Sylvia had a hard time in the car because she loves to climb, run and touch things and wasn’t entertained by the DVD’s or the books
Tuesday June 2--We saw Luzerne and Lugano, Switzerland and crossed the Alps through the 13 Kilometer long Goddard Tunnel. This is certainly a beautiful part of the world. We drove about 300 K and stayed in Como, Italy.
Wednesday June 3 we visited Milano and Verona, Italy. We revisited the Milano Cathedale to take pictures of Sylvia and the pigeons reminiscent of 1972 when Rod and Eric were babies and also among the pigeons. Verona is a pleasant town with a coliseum and many old beautiful buildings. Parking is always a problem in the towns but we found places to park. We spent the night at Aviano Air Force Base north of Venice. It was out of the way but the price of $41 was right. It was a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, washer and dryer, etc. We drove about 400 K
Thursday June 4 We drove to Pordenone and took the train about 100 K to Venice. We walked about Venice seeing the canals, gondolas, crowds of people until we got to St Mark’s Square to see to cathedral etc. We took the Boat-Bus back to the train station, quickly caught the train and picked up our car that was parked at the train station. There was an accident so the detour was long. We stayed again at Aviano Air Force Base Apartment and used the commissary.
Friday June 5 We drove the busy freeway to Ferrara but I was little disappointed with the city. We drove a narrow freeway to Ravenna, Italy and we were very excited to see many, many beautiful mosaics that were built about 450 A.D. The Roman Empire Capitol was moved to Ravenna because it was easier to defend so it wasabout this time the buildings were built. In the baptistery we saw the beautiful mosaics and an infant baptism. We drove to Bologna to our hotel. We traveled about 250 K.
Saturday June 6 We drove to Florence and visited the cathedral, baptistery, old bridge, Uffizi Art Museum. Gerry spent most of the day with Sylvia as she slept, walked on walls, walked on inclines and discovered the things on her level. We drove to Camp Darby Army Base and Recreation Facility. The rooms were very basic but the pine trees were nice. We drove about 300 K.
Sunday June 7 We went to church at the Livorno Branch (it seemed more like a ward but because there is not a stake in that part of Italy it is still a branch.). One of the brothers who works in the temple was at church but his wife was gone visiting family. We drove about 20 minutes to Pisa and enjoyed the leaning tower, cathedral and baptistery. Nicky climbed to the top. We then went about another 20 minutes to Lucca which has a lot of medieval buildings and towers. We stayed at Camp Darby.
Monday June 8 We drove to San Gimignano, to see their many towers and the beautiful Tuscany countryside. Then we went to Siena which has also a lot of medieval buildings. These are two beautiful cities. We then drove 2 and a half hours to northern Rome and our hotel. I chose a hotel outside of Rome for the price, and the free parking and internet. It said that it was 8 K from the center of town but it seemed farther away than that. It was quiet with large rooms and breakfast included.
Tuesday June 9 We drove to the train station about 5 minutes away and parked our car in a large parking lot for about $2.50 for all day. We took the train into the main train station so that we could buy a Rome Pass which gave us unlimited transportation and two museums. We took the metro to the coliseum and used our first museum pass. The pass also saved us from standing in line. We liked the coliseum, but really liked the Pantheon. Sylvia wasn’t impressed but liked the horses and the fountains. We ate pizza by the pound at the Tavola Calda. We saw Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps along with thousands of others. We took the metro and train back to the hotel.
Wednesday June 10 We walked at least a mile through the Vatican Museums to get to the Sistine Chapel. Those miles include the Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery), the Raphael Rooms and many, many statues. We then went to St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica. What an big building. Very impressive. As Nicky said we ate like the Giauque family usually eats. I brought cans of chunky soup, ravioli and lots of juice. But we finally stopped at a sidewalk café and had lasagna, salad and cold water.
Thursday June 11 I had made a reservation to the Borghese Museum on line because Amy said that they only let 250 people in during a 2 hour block of time. We left our car in the parking lot, took the train then the metro to the park near the museum. It was a long walk through the park. They wouldn’t let us bring the stroller, cameras, purses etc into the museum so it was hard for Sylvia to take her nap. Finally she went to sleep in Nicky’s arms and we took turns holding Sylvia, listening to the audio-guide and looking at the beautiful statues and paintings. For many centuries the rich families and the high church offices had strong ties. The museum was started by a Catholic cardinal from the rich Borghese Family. One of the statues that he had commissioned was very sensual so he had a moral carved into the base. The statue by Benini of David as he throws the sling shot is very good. We had lunch in the park consisting of canned Ravioli, juice, cheese and water. We then caught a small bus that we thought would take us to the nearest metro station but the driver was probably deaf and we went all over Rome until we arrived down town but not near a metro station. We talked to another driver and he said he would talk us to the metro but he drove for another half hour until we got the metro. We got off the metro to get on the train. It was very crowded. Everyone got on the train but we didn’t realize that it was an express train that didn’t stop at our stop. Two and a half hours after leaving the park we finally reached our car and started driving the 4 hours to Camp Darby Army Base. Sylvia was not happy in the car but we made it there
Friday June 12 We left Camp Darby at 9:00 A.M. and arrived in Zollikofen at 9:00 at night. We stopped for 3 hours at Portofino, Italy. The cruise ships and yacht stop here. The parking cost 5 E per hour or about $7.50. We also drove near the marble quarries but only saw all the large blocks of marble in the storage lots. The freeways were good. We especially liked the Aosta Valley which was on the way to St. Bernard Pass to get through the Alps. What a beautiful drive. We drove about 650 K. When we arrived at our apartment we were lucky that the work had been finished because the other American couple’s apartment was not yet finished. They said that on and off they were without water, without laundry facilities for 10 days and had few quiet days. Nicky and Sylvia stayed at the temple hostel which was closed except for them. They stayed there 4 night for a total of 55 SF but ate and often bathed at our apartment.
Saturday June 13 We did 4 loads of washing. Now I know that we were lucky to do that because for 10 days while we were gone the laundry room was full of furniture from apartments that were being remodeled. We drove to Grindelwald and really enjoyed the mountains. We tried to recognize the 3 tallest mountains in Switzerland: Jungfrau, Monch, Eiger. There were dozens of paragliders near the mountains. They must have had fantastic views. Then we went to Kandersteg to see the mountains from another angle.
Sunday June 14 Gerry and I drove to Bern to return the rental car by 8 A.M. I spent the morning playing with Sylvia on the swings near the temple hostel and getting ready for the afternoon church. Gerry goes to the German Ward because he wants to learn more German. We drove 30 K to French Bienne Branch because the building near our apartment is the German Ward. The temple workers were not back yet so the attendance was small. We had dinner in our apartment. I bought a Raclette Machine. It is a special melted cheese eaten with small potatoes, pickles, pickled onions. I usually have tomatoes that I cook on the grill but I didn’t have tomatoes. We drove into Bern to see the bear pit but the last bear was put to sleep in March and the construction of the new pits is not done. It started to rain in the night. We took pictures around the temple.
Monday June 15 We drove our Renault Car to Zurich Airport for Nicky‘s 1:00 P.M. flight. It rained a little all the way. We finally got a DVD player that would play Lion King so Sylvia could watch that a little. She finally went to sleep in her stroller while Nicky was checking in. There was an unknown problem with Nicky’s passport so it took a really long time to check in. Nicky flew to JFK to stay with Stacy for a few days. Benjamin has worked a lot but he really missed Nicky while she was gone. Putting things back in our apartment is a little complicated because the plugs in France and Switzerland are not the same. We also have an American key board, electric shaver, two computers, electronic devices, lights, printer, TV and only one outlet near the computers. But they all work now.
This is long, so pick and choose what you want to read. Love to all, MOM, ALICE
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