Switzerland: Not as restful as I had hoped, but more beautiful than I had imagined.

I chose to stay in Neuwilen, Switzerland because I found this amazing house on airbnb that was inexpensive, had acres of meadow and forest and stream right outside, had a beautiful sunroom and a lego/playmobil toy room. It had only two bedrooms, but there were only six of us and we could make that work just fine, especially with lots of other living space to use when various people are awake. (That's the key--making sure everyone has it quiet where they need to sleep.) And the home really was all the things it professed to be, except . . . .  the home's owners lived there as well. And they didn't just live in a different part of the house, but we had to share all the living space. On airbnb, when you mark "Entire House," I'm pretty sure it means that you aren't sharing with anyone. But we shared. I had opted to stay for three nights because this looked like such a fun place to relax. And the kids had a great time. But I was so stressed and frustrated at having to parent my five crazy kids in front of and in the private space of two complete strangers (one of which was a family therapist), that I actually burst into tears in front of the wife when we were talking one afternoon. They were very kind people, generous Christians who have for years opened their doors as a halfway house for recovering addicts. So they really are used to sharing their space--physically and emotionally--with all sorts of people. But I had been so excited to let down my guard and let the kids run free, and even to leave them at the house while I did a little sightseeing, and I didn't feel comfortable doing any of those things. I was completely relieved when Thursday morning rolled around and we rolled out of there. It's really too bad, because the kids loved it there. The homeowners even have a ten-year old boy with whom Isaac played well.

The first day in the toy room, before the toys exploded all over. See the cabinets there? There were actually twice that many, and they were all full with bins and bins of lego and playmobil.

The view from the patio: a playhouse, pond, stream, field, forest, etc. There were even bikes to ride. 

Of course, I hit their rock wall on a narrow curve trying to park the van. Thank heaven for $0 deductible insurance. Right now the bumper is taped up with brown duct tape and looks super-duper classy. We'll get it fixed when we get to Prague. I might try to take a black Sharpie to the brown duct tape. 

One afternoon, Linda decided to learn the "Jolly Holiday" song from Mary Poppins, complete with umbrella. It was cute.

I think I do love, Switzerland, though. Neuwilen is a tiny town, and there were cows in the fields all around the house where we stayed, complete with their own bells. The fall colors had just started to turn as we traveled south through Germany, and continued when we left Neuwilen on Thursday and went south through the rest of Switzerland. The countryside along the eastern border (which we crossed and recrossed back and forth into Leichtenstein--another country to check off the list!) was green and wild, with cliffs and tunnels. We followed the Rhine river, and it was an amazing blue-green color that looked shockingly cold. Add to this the colorful timber frame houses, traditional Reformation churches, and distinctively-striped hawks swooping above the fields. I loved every minute of the drive through southern Germany and Switzerland.