I jumped out off my skin

Saturday morning, I got up early to go hike along the crest of the Jura mountains. I went all by myself but the great thing, here in Switzerland, is that there are no coyotes, no bears and no rattle snakes. So I felt pretty safe and relaxed hiking on the trail until I stepped close to a fresh cow patty :-/ Hundreds of BIG black flies that were feasting on it took off at the same time...making a loud HISS. They scared me half to death ! I felt pretty silly jumping away. Thank goodness I was alone on the path. They should have a warning sign " beware of the patty flies" They probably would if we were in California ;-)

Then, I had to walk through a pasture (opening an electrified wire and closing it behind me) with lots of BIG cows in the way. They wouldn't let people walk by the cows if they were dangerous, right? That is what I told myself anyway. I soon found out that they were curious but thankfully also very skittish.

I made it to the highest point from where I had a full view of the "lac leman" and the "vallée de Joux" on the other side. Gorgeous!

Three hours and fourty minutes later I was back to my car...happy and safe. 

Venezia

This was not my first time in Venice but it is every time a special place to visit. It blows me away to think that the entire city is built on top of wooden pillars planted in the lagoon floor.  My favorite thing to do there is getting "lost" through the narrow streets, especially away from the touristy areas. You never know what you are going to see...a small courtyard with a cafe, a bridge over a canal, great architecture, laundry strung across the alley, a piazza with an enormous church or a dead end into a canal. There is always signs taking you back to landmarks like the Rialto bridge or the piazza St Marco so you can't get really lost even without a map.

Everything is done by foot or by boat here. It was very interesting to sit at a terrace along the grand Canal and watch the traffic of boats and gondolas. The gondolas have priority over all the other boats. They seem the hardest to maneuver. We saw all sorts of delivery boats, water taxis & buses,  a freezer boat, police & firefighter boat, funeral boat and a construction boat with the crane.

We rented an apartment on the fourth floor with a view of the rooftops. Nothing was plumb or level and the floor was on a slight slop. A charming old building !

Below is a picture of Burano, an old fishing town on a nearby island. It is such a fun colorful town. It has a Disneyland feel to it and it is just as crowded ;-) The story says that the fishermen's wives, being tired of their husbands mistaking the neighbor's house for theirs, painted the façade of their home with vivid colors. That way the fishermen, after a day at sea and a few drinks with friends could better recognize  their own home !

Ciao !

Venice

Right now we are visiting Venice. It is a very interesting city because instead of having roads, there are just canals. So everybody either has a boat or walks.

We are staying in an apartment. It is really cool because it has an intercom. Near the door on the outside there is a button and a speaker, which is connected to a phone in the apartment. There is even unlock the door for whoever is trying to get in! Here's some more pictures of Venice:

Hiking

We went on a hike today. The flowers and the trees were so beautiful. It was really fun seeing all the different kinds of flowers and how different color they were purple, yellow, white, and pink.
Eva

Packing

Today we are leaving for a three months trip to Europe !!! So exciting...

We are now sitting in San Diego airport, relaxing after a crazy week of packing and getting ready. 

The bus will stay put at our friends house until September when we return. 

This week was also busy with a school play that Ben and Eva were part of. 

Ben received an award for being an outstanding sound technician. Just bragging ;-)

The final performance was last night. Our plane taking off at 8am this morning, did not allow for much sleep (between 2 & 4 hours). It is all worth it though. The show was amazing and fun and we are off for some great adventures. 

Here' s my star :-)

A smooth trip

It took us 18 hours to reach Switzerland, including two layovers, one in Minneapolis and one in Paris.

We had about four hours to wait in Minneapolis so we decided to have one last American meal before crossing the Atlantic. 

In Paris we got to walk on the tarmac. Just like when I was a little girl going on vacation to Spain with my parents. It is rare to get this experience nowdays with those new flexible corridors that bring us right to the plane's door. There, we could smell the aircraft exhaust...love it :-)

We are back...living in the bus!

2015 has been very eventful, right from the beginning. It all started with the decision to put our home on the market.

It is amazing how much stuff we accumulated in five years. We had lots of help from our friends to clean up the yard, paint railings and pack.

 Ingrid Pasco, our friend and realtor, organised a beach party in celebration of everyone's hard work and a smooth, profitable sale of our house.

My parents were also here to lend a hand. They actually came for their annual relaxing vacation, not knowing what was about to happen. They both worked hard. My mom helped me with cleaning the house and keeping the daily shores done while I was packing. My dad work in the yard with the kids.To make it up to them, we rented a vacation home by the ocean for what was left of their 2 month stay. After the craziness of the move we all enjoyed a bit of "doing nothing"...well, doing nothing never lasts very long :-)

Late March we moved into our dear old bus with our two dogs. It is a great feeling to down size and go back to just the essentials. I think we still have too much unnecessary stuff in the bus, though ;-)
It has been a great period for our family!