Switzerland.

Switzerland, ah.

We were met at the airport in Basel (half of which is in France) by my dear sister-in-law and niece, Susanna and Kyara.

The following two photos are from Suhr, where Susanna and Kyara live. One of the best things about Switzerland was just hanging out on Susanna's tarped patio, below.

Sean and I walked in the woods above the town. The air was so clean, there was delicious water in the fountains, and villages spread out in every direction around the hill. Each village is marked by a church, as you see here.

Back, briefly, to Basel. I remembered much of it from my visit five years ago, but this time I saw more. Below is the inside of city hall, in Basel. Fancy, eh?

The Rhine runs through Basel. It's a storybook city.

Here I am with my niece, Kyara Meetoos. She's a wonderful girl, and we enjoyed several excursions during our days together.

One day we drove to Lenzburg Castle (Schloss Lenzburg), near the town of Suhr, where Susanna and Kyara live. This was followed by a trip through Bremgarten, which may be one of the prettiest towns I've ever been in (photo below), and so quiet! (Susanna says the Swiss are quiet in general)

Our last stop that day before returning to Suhr was to this lake, Hallwilersee. It was great just to collapse on the grass beside the water and let the ducks entertain us.


The next day we drove to Sarnen, a town where Susanna's boyfriend lives. Loved it. We were in the centre of town and happened onto a place where townfolks were drinking beer, wine and coffee, while a trio of musicians perfromed traditional music (sounded like slow polkas).
Then it was to Lucerne, and again ... I could live here. What a great city. We did loads of walking, and Guido gave us a guided tour of the old part. One of the highlights was the old covered bridge (there are two in the city) containing ancient paintings. And I got some great finds at a flea market, including a traditional Swiss cow-milking cap. (Never know when I might need one.)

Here is Kyara ... happy girl.

And one more of Lucerne and its swans.

And here is Susanna, Kyara, and Guido. They treated us so well.
The man here is Franz, a Swiss feller I met in Sarnen. I was going to ask him to dance (to the slow polka music), but chickened out.

Ah ... this pretty town is Bremgarten, mentioned above.


So many great memories ... including exploring caves. I hope to get back to Europe before too long, so will see Switzerland and my family there again soon-ish. Susanna and Kyara are coming to Canada next year, and I'll host them in Middle Lake, but how I'll ever repay Susanna for the great meals is beyond me ...