Mat at Roche

Today Mat and his boss here featured in an article in the Roche Newspaper.  They were talking about Rare Disease and Gene Therapy.

Finley Soda

We have discovered that in France they sell a soda called "Finley Soda"  The flavors are....unique, but we had to have some so we could keep the can.  A friend of mine found some in a local French Grocery store and got it for me.  The flavor is Mojito, but it is non alcoholic.  It tasted....different

Last day of Visitors, First day of School

Today, sadly, Marcail and Aunt Betty headed back to the United States.  We really enjoyed our two weeks with them and I do believe that they helped our kids transition back to life here in Basel.  We will miss them very much!

Today was also the first day of school for my three.  10th Grade for Arlington, and 6th grade for Finley and Cainan.  Start of another year - hard to believe.

German Castles

Yesterday we did our last trip on Marcail's European tour. We drove Thursday night to take a Friday tour of a few castles. We went to Fussen, Germany, and then from there took a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle (which Disney used as a model for Sleeping Beauty's castle), and Linderhof Castle - both of these the homes of King Ludwig II. We also visited the villages of Hohenschwangau (where we saw WiesKirch) and Oberammergau, and drove through Austria. During Marcail's visit she has been to Switzerland, Germany, France, and Austria - 4 countries in 2 weeks - not too shabby! We have enjoyed having her and Aunt Betty and we will be sad when they go home on Monday. 

Neuschwanstein Castle

 View under the bridge we were standing on

 Another Castle in the distance

 We couldn't take pictures inside the castle, but it was incredible

 This is WiesKirch (white church). This church gets over 1 million visitors a year. At the center of the Church of Wies is the figure of the Scourged Savior. It is said that the tears, which the Savior shed became precious pearls from which the glorious rococo jewel was created.

 he alter in WiesKirch. The Christ statue in the center is the one that supposedly "cried". And now people pilgrimage to this church to see the miracle

 This was the original WiesKirch. This was where the statue originally was, but due to people wanting to come and see it, in 1740, the bigger church was built and the statue moved

 Village of Oberammergau. We could have spent a few hours here - all the buildings are painted like this - it was really neat. Also every 10 years this town puts on "The Passion" for 6 months and millions come to see it.

 Outside our seccond stop - Linderhof Castle. This was Ludwig's favorite place to stay. He modeled it after Versailles in Paris

Visit to Zurich

We have been here a year, and we have never been to Zurich, so today was a treat.  The weather was nice, but we decided to take a bus tour of the city so we could relax.  After Paris,  we are still exhausted.  We saw old town, went up a mountain to see over the city, and too a ferry ride.  It was just a way to get a little taste of the city.

Lake Zurich

 Zurich University

 Church

 Old Town in Zurich.  This square was interesting. 3 years ago, the city decided they wanted to dig a pipeline for better water movement through this section. They dug deep and what they found was a grave of 100 people. Bones dates back to the year 100AD! 1900 year old surprise for those construction workers.

 This is the largest clock face in EUROPE. It is almost 30 feet in size.

 Fountain

 This is the Gold Coast. Houses here start at 10 million dollars. Tina Turner has a house here. She has been a Zurich resident for 30 years. We rode by her house

 Looking down on Zurich