Thank you

Hi,
Just wanted to say thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it and reading your comments. It will be nice when we are at home to still look at it. Yesterday we went to the lido and tomorrow we are getting ready to end our holliday and in the afternoon we are going to the lido. It has been a wonderful holiday but it will be nice to get home. It is just as they say 'there is no place like home! Thank you again. Neve xxxxxxxx

Luzern

Today me, mum and Euan cycled round Luzern which is 70 miles all the way round, but don't worry we didn't cycle all the way round!!! It was 34oC today so whilst we were cycling round we were all sweating like mad. Me and Euan finished our water after we stopped off for an ice-cream so mum let us share the rest of hers which was very kind of her. Even after that we were still thirsty so the we were trying to find some where to get some water and when we got to a garage it was closed, but eventually we found a fountain and filled up our water bottles because in Switzerland you can drink the water from the fountain unless there is a certain sign.Half the time we were on roads but the other half we were on lovely country side cycle paths. There was one part when we were in the middle of a few trees and it was all in the shade so it was lovely and cool. There was lots of up hills and some down hills, there were some flat parts but not many. It was great because we kept on finding places where we could go in the lake and cool off. It was a great day out again!!! Neve xxx

Basel-Three countries

Yesterday me, Mum and Euan all went to Basel. When we were there we went to three different countries! The countries that we went to were: Switzerland (left), France (middle) and Germany (right). In switzerland we went to a famous fountain and had some Swiss chocolate, In France we had a Pain ou chocolat because there were no plain croissants and in Germany we had a German thing that was like a pretzal and mum had a German beer. It was a fantastic day out and very weird to just walk and catch a tram to a different country. Neve xxx

The Alps

Saturday and Yesterday we went to the Alps. We stayed in a place called Wengen where there are no cars unless you have a pass and the hotel we were staying at was called Edelweiss. When we arrived on the Saturday we quickly got dressed into some warmer clothes and then rushed off to catch the train to the top of the Alps. It was 4.5 degrees but we were not freezing cold. When we first got to the top we went on some sledges that were really fast and bumpy. We all had a go and in the picture it is Mum going down the snow. When Dad had one go he descided to go skiing whilst me, Euan and mum carried on sledging. After that we went to the gift shop and bought some souvenirs. It was a fantastic experience.

Yesterday me, dad and Euan went to play mini-golf whilst mum had some time to herself. We don't know who won because we play a bit differently than most people. After that we went for a long walk around a mountain. It was extremely pretty and we all enjoyed every minute of the walk. Then we had to make our way back to the house. We all had a great experience of the Alps. Neve x

Schwartzee-BBQ

On Friday evening we went to Schwartzee agian because after 5:00 you can have a discount on most things there. So we got the chairlift up and had a BBQ. As you can see in the picture it wasn't a big BBQ it was a cheap, disposible one! It took us about 1 hour to get it all ready and cook the burgers and veggie burger but it was well worth it in the end! When we had finished our BBQ we hired the scooters to scoot down the mountain. I forgot to say that before we did any of that, with our money Euan and I payed for two goes on the toboggen run and Dad payed for one go and said he only breaked once. We had a fantastic day! Neve x

Chocolate factory and lido

Today we went to the chocolate factory and the lido. When
we were at the chocolate factory we got to taste lots of chocolate, we ate so much that we started to feel sick! In the picture is just some of the chocolate we got to taste.
Also in the afternoon we went to the lido agian. It was about 28C so it was perfect weather for the lido. The picture is of the main part of the lido but it is normally alot more busy than that. I wore my swatch watch in the water and it is still working. This morning Euans fastener broke so we are going to take his back and get a new one. We had alot better day today than yesterday! Neve x

P.S. I won't be able to write again till Monday because tomorrow we are going to Schwartzee in the evening and Friborg in the morning and at the weekend we are going to the Alps and on the Saturday night we are staying over night up the Alps. xxx

The house

These are some pictures of the house. Neve x

Charmey-Mountain biking

Today me, mum and Euan went to Charmey again. When we were there we got the gondelers half way up the mountain with our bikes and then cycled down the mountain which we thought would take quite a long time but it only took about 15 minutes! So we went on a bike ride to try and get to Broc which is where a chocolate factory is. But instead we ended up on a walking route by a lake!!! When we were about half way to charmey I slipped and fell down the bank and then my bike fell on my head it was a really big shock and at first my head hurt but I was fine after that. It was a big, tiring bike ride/walk so dad cycled to were we met by a different lake and me and Euan had a ice-cream and coke zero whilst mum and dad had a beer. In the end me and Euan would give the day a mark of 4 out of 10. Neve x

Schwartzee-Scooters

Last week I missed out a day when we scootered down a mountain at Schwartzee.

The picture is of me, dad and Euan with our scooters just before we were going to scoot down the mountain. The anoying thing was that we diddn't realise that we got a cable cart ride with the scooters so we all walked up the mountain because we diddn't think we would be able to have anough monney for both. It was a really tough walking up the mountain but when we were having our lunch when we were half way up we realised that the cable cars came with the scooters. But the good thing was that it was a beautiful walk up the mountain and the man gave us a discount. We all agreed that it was good to get some excercise. When we were scooting it was amazing, it was really bumpy but the tyres were so thick that we could hardly feel the bumps. Neve x

Bern

Today me, mum and Euan went to the capital city of Switzerland which is Bern. Whilst we were there we visited Einstein's house, the houses of parliament and a swatch watch shop. Mum and dad promised us a swatch watch each. I got a swatch watch that was multi-coloured and Euan got a blue one that says swatch all the way round it. The picture is of me and Euan with our ice-creams outside the houses of parliment. We had a fantastic day out and now we are exhausted! Neve x

Charmey

Today we went to Charmey which is a village about 30 minutes away. Whilst dad and Euan went on the high ropes me and mum went to a lovely spa. We payed 3 swiss francs more so we could go in these steam rooms. One had a water fall sort of thing that you could sit around and the other ones were more hot and they did not have a waterfall. One was 40 - 45oC and the other one was 50-55oC. My favorite one was the most hot. When me and mum came out of the spa our skin felt softer and we were more relaxed. Sorry no picture did not take any today. Neve x

Yesterday we went to Murton. Whilst we were there we went to a summer fayre. At the fayre there were places to eat, games going on, a brass band and a ice-cream machine where we got our ice-cream which I had to order- IN FRENCH!After we had been to the fayre we played a game of giant chess which we found on the way to the car. It was boys agianst girls but the boys won. :(
Neve x

The heroes of the trip so far

Pi

Thought it was time that Dad wrote another blog entry. Neve has been rather humble on a couple of her posts and so I thought I would set the record straight. The most impressive day was yesterday around Brienzersee - the eastern lake of the two lakes that Interlaken sits in between.

Neve was correct - they cycled 26 miles. The first half of which was mountainous with a couple of 1 in 5 hills that I struggled up. Neve did indeed have a fall (not dangerous) and at the half-way point we gave them a choice of a train ride back or continuing round. At that stage we believed the second half was as "hilly" as the first. One parent was secretly hoping that they would choose the train! Well, both kids decided to cycle and off we went. While thankfully flatter than the first half, it was still another 13 miles which is impressive.




So, they have been very active and more action is planned. Everyone is enjoying themselves - weather is excellent (actually getting some rain but nothing to concern us). That said, the rain we got at the football game made headline news in the newspapers the next day - Neve has a cutting for her scrap book.



One technical point - if you click on the pictures in the blog then you get them full size (just hit back in the browser to get back to the blog I think.)

Off to rest (had day to myself today and did a 50 mile loop on the bike before meeting family at the Lido).

Brendan

Interlaken

Yesterday we cycled round another lake near Interlaken. It was really difficult because on the first half it was about 90% up hill!!! We tried not to walk to much but it was very difficult. Just before we were about to stop I fell off my bike when we were on the road but luckily I fell on to the pavement. It was very sore but I got back on my bike and I was fine. On the way back we missed our turn but it didn't matter because it we went the right way it would have been very hilly again so we carried on going on the road. In the end we did 26 miles the longest me and Euan had ever done so now we feel very proud of ourselves. Neve x

Yesterday and the day before we went to Milan. We had a wonderful time there and visited: The fourth largest cathedral in the world, Monet art gallery, Euan and dad went to Milan football stadium and me and mum went to look at all the over priced disigner shops! We had a fantastic time even the train was perfect beacause the seats turned into beds! Neve

Some pictures

This is a photo of all of us outside the fourth largest cathedral in the world which was in Milan.


This was taken on National day when we went to the firework display at Schwartzee.

This photo is of Euan next to a clock made of flowers which was created in 1955.

This is a photo outside the United Nations of the chair with a broken leg which is part of a campain to ban land mines.




These are some photos of our holiday so far. Neve

Milan

Today we are going to Milan and staying over night in a hotel. We are going to see some historical sights and have a pizza for dinner! When it was national day we went to Schwarzsee to see the firework display and it was fabulous. There were lots of different fireworks going off every where. Yesterday me, dad and Euan went to see Bern play the Grasshoppers at football. Bern won 2-0.
Neve

31st July- Schwarzsee

Today we went to Schwarzsee and climbed Kaiseregg which is the highest mountain there! I got to choose which mountain we climbed and I chose the highest, longest and most tiring walk out of all of them. It took us about five and a half hours but when we got to the top we felt really proud of ourselves; mum gave us some swiss chocolate and pringles! When we were at the top, we were so high up we were in the clouds. Now we are all really tired but happy!

Tomorrow it is national day in Switzerland so I might not be able to write but I will certainly write all about it on Sunday. Neve x

Geniva

Yesterday we went to Geniva. We had an amazing time because we went to the United Nations. We had a guided tour around the building and got to see all the meeting rooms. After we had been to look around the United Nations we went to have a look at the tallest fountain in the world but we didn't get to see it for long beacause it suddenly turned itself off and me mum and dad all teased Euan saying that he turned the fountain off! Finally we went to have a look round the old part of Geniva. We had a wonderful day out. Neve x

Wednesday- lido

It was 29 degrees celsius.
We went to the lido and I swam 100m which is 4 lengths. Afterwards we went on a bike ride wich was 2 miles but it was all up hill. Me and Euan feel very proud of ourselves because there was only one hill that we walked up and that was out of about seven.

Emmental- the place!

Today we went to emmental the place. We saw them making the cheese in the dairy so we could listen to the audo whilst they were making the cheese. We leart some interesting facts about emmental cheese like: The name of the cheese came from the river Emme. We had a fantastic day out and hot again!!!

Monday- lake

It has been a wonderful sunny day again about 85 degrees As you can see in the picture we cycled round Murten lake. Dad said it was about 16 miles! It took us 4 hours with breaks. It was really pretty and we saw vineyards and saw a man trimming vines. Neve

From Neve

It has been a wonderful day out in the mountins. Me and Euan went down the mountain on a toboggan. we were pulled up by a rope half way up the mountain and then we used the break to choose how fast we went. The weather has been amazing, Mum has made us wear loads of sun cream but we needed it!!! Neve x

Sunday

Glorious, sunny day - about 80 degrees.

We went to Schwarzee - nearby mountain lake, about 30 minutes drive. First picture opportunity - right next to the lake.

We walked around the lake and then Euan and Neve rode down a tobbogan run.

Adjusting to the prices - 2 very small beers, 2 diect cokes : £10! and having a great time.




The Walshes

A word from Dad

We are going to use this blog to record photos (and maybe even video from Neve!). The kids will be doing most of the work - hope you enjoy reading it!

Brendan