The Quest Continues: Switzerland Round 2

NOTE: THIS IS REALLY OLD. SUMMER 2015 OLD. Apparently I was looking for a Swiss man and ended up finding a Massachusetts man a couple months later. Kind of funny how life works out. Just posting this because my love of Switzerland still exists even though the Find A Swiss Husband Quest ended a long time ago. 

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Remember when Elise and I rode bikes around Switzerland trying to find husbands? Well, we failed in our mission. Yeah, we got some nice pictures and explored the most gorgeous country in the world but something was missing, ya know? To be specific, we were missing some tall, hunky, rich Swiss men. 

But I'm an Ostler. I don't give up. If I want a Swiss man I will do all in my power to get one.

So I went back. 

With my parents. 

They thought we were going for a leisurely mountain bike trip in the Alps, but I knew better. 

FIRST CLASS BABY. They had open seats and so we snatched them up. If I ever become rich then I will only fly first class on long flights. The luxury! The hot fudge sundaes! The unlimited super hero movies and romantic comedies! The noise-cancelling headphones! The 180 degree seats! Do I sound pretentious yet?

Some people may be wary of being a third-wheel on their parent's vacation. I suppose they have their reasons, but I don't understand them at all. Being a young single adult and roaming about Europe with parents is the only way to go. Lest we forget, I had just done this trip two months before. Parents think differently than students. They aren't worried about keep a trip as dirt cheap as possible. They're okay with sleeping in a hotel every night, not in a field. They stay away from merely eating apples and bread from the grocery store and GO OUT TO EAT AT RESTAURANTS. Parents are the best to travel with. And when you have a Sandy and Shane as parents, you really can't go wrong. They are so rad and I have never been afraid to admit that I prefer hanging out with them to most people.

We boarded a train and went as far east as possible to a little Alp town called Scuol. GO THERE. It's literally the end of the Swiss train system. Another little hop and skip is Italy and Austria. The train ride was great besides the fact that my parents slept most of the way (apparently real adults get jet lag. Long live eternal youth). 

MOST MAGICAL MOMENT OF THE TRIP. Watching a grown man (with a slightly corpulent body) in a belly shirt soak his whole body in water in the bathroom and then come out and dance ferociously throughout the whole train. It was like I had met my spirit animal.

My Dad had the case of the traveling poopies the first day so my Mom and I went on a mountain bike ride that takes you over the mountains into Italy. It was so beautiful.

I spy with my little eye....a creep.

Staying in hostels with your parents is always an interesting experience. 

Picnic and swan adventures in Zug. This is honestly my favorite memory from the trip. Do you ever feel nostalgic in the middle of a experience because you know its a golden one that you will remember forever? It was so peaceful and healing to spend so much time with my parents, not worrying so much about getting anywhere in particular. 

I wish I lived out there. So perfect. 

We definitely were cheaters on this mountain bike ride right outside of Scoul because we took the gondola to get up. 

Who knew border crossing was so easy out there? This little piece of string marks the Italian-Swiss border. 

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Walking through the tunnel to Italy!

This is a little out of order but perfectly describes our journey trying to get back home to Hood River. A complete nightmare involving delayed flights, overly crowded airports, and rental car fiascos. At the end my mom had to sit in this wheelchair and stare off into space to escape it all. 

I forgot the name of this little village that we biked to from Scoul. It was just two houses situated in this gorgeous valley. There were swings overlooking it and donkeys and adorable Swiss children running around. I wanted to stay there forever, 

On Sunday we couldn't find an LDS church in the area so we went to a Lutheran service that was in that beautiful church in the background. It was such a neat experience. We had no idea what was happening the entire time (Swiss-German), but we loved experiencing such a integral part of the Swiss culture. 

If you ever happen to spend some time in Zug, I recommend checking out the Hollgrotten Baar. They're these super cool underground caves that have cool light shows and music playing throughout. 

Scoul is famous for its healing mineral waters, which are found in these little drinking fountains all around town. As you can see by my face it was horribly rancid. But I'm healed! 

Scoul is a must! The Eastern-most part of Switzerland and absolutely adorable. 

Zug was a really adorable mini-city that we thought would be worth our time. It definitely was! They had free city bikes that you could use for the entire day. We may have gone "off-roading" more than these bikes were accustomed to.  

Lake Zug

Typical Customs Photo

Excuse the lack of detail. It is kind of hard to remember all of the little things two years later. I just couldn't resist posting these pictures because they brought back so many good memories. I am looking forward to documenting even more adventures coming up.