Sunday, September 7, 2014

Flower Island and a Waterfall

I'm having writer's block and don't even know how to start this blog post about our day at the Swiss border.  Writer's block sounds silly to me though, because that would make it sound like I'm a real writer, and that would make me sound way cooler than I actually am.  But I guess that's what my problem is this evening... writer's block?... or something or other that describes a dental hygienist who tries to write a blog but can't right now.  

It's not like I usually have a super creative intro any other time, so I'm sure y'all won't mind if I just cut to the chase, right?  Okay, so we spent our day at the Swiss Border on a day trip through the USO yesterday.  First stop, the Island of Mainau on Lake Constance!  The island is bordered by Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with Italy not far away, and had butterflies, a castle, and crocheted trees!












Between the Keukenhof Tulip Festival in Holland, the Flower Carpet in Brussels, and now an entire flower island, Eric says he is very over flowers for a really long time and still doesn't get what Isabelle and I get all excited about.... even after three different flower trips and living with two girls he still doesn't get that, for us, flowers fix everything.  He's hopeless. 

Next stop was to the Stein am Rhein (Sh-tine om Rine) in Switzerland... and dare I say... it was cuter than Rothenburg...gasp!!






Big old wine barrels! 








Our tour guide says that Switzerland doesn't export their wine, so in the words of Barney Stinson from 'How I Met Your Mother':  "challenge accepted!!"  Eric and I went on a mission for wine made in Switzerland.  We bought 3 bottles.  
Stein am Rhine might be cuter than Rothenburg, but it wasn't as enchanting, a few hours there and we were ready to head out.

For the last stop on our tour we visited one of Europe's most powerful waterfalls!




Okay, it might not look like much from this angle, but it had a 70ft plunge!  And maybe it doesn't take much for y'all to get all squealing giggling excited about things but I thought it was impressive!



The pictures above are where a little boat ride took us- crazy isn't it?!  We were at the top of that!  The rock doesn't look strong enough and that water was seriously powerful!  Honestly, being on that rock made me nervous, especially with my child on it.  The older I get, the less trusting I get... I don't trust pilots (because it makes absolutely NO sense to me how an airplane stays in the gosh damned air, and because I can't see them when they're performing black magic that is clearly the only possible way that that blasted thing stays in the air), I don't trust the kind of bus drivers that have to drive a big bus up a super skinny road going almost straight up, and that bus has to go fast and can't slow down at all because it has to maintain momentum in order to get to the top of that very skinny road, and the bus has to be perfectly timed with the buses coming down that steep hill because it is so super skinny that it can't get over even an inch because there is a few hundred feet drop-off on one side with no guard rails so only one bus can be on that rode at one time (long story), and I wasn't trusting that this rock was going to stay as strong as it probably has for hundreds of years because with my luck, when the two people that are my entire world on are that rock, that's when it will crumble into the river.  

It didn't.




Once we got across the river to the middle of the waterfall the walk up to the look-out point was steep, skinny, and packed FULL of people, so Isabelle took a little break while we waited for our turn, and ooooof course I took a picture of her.






We had a really great day yesterday, but my writer's block is because of a string of bad news we have gotten in a very short amount of time.  Not only do I not have a creative way to start this post, I don't have a creative way to end it either, and with a heavy heart I don't feel like putting a lot of thought into it (it's also why my punctuation is terrible- and I don't feel like changing any of it).  

Eric and I are thanking God today for helping to re-direct our perspective to where it needs to be, and thanking Him for reminding us how selfish we tend to get and how blessed we truly are.  Our prayers and hearts are in the States today.

2 comments:

  1. I hope everything is okay! Writers block or no, you are still one of my favorite blogs to check every day, and even more so since I've moved to Köln, Germany. And you're right- flowers DO fix everything!

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