February 15, 2023

This is the moment Randy has envisioned for decades. He was a teen working in a peach orchard when he read The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. Here we are in Florence going to see David. The book title depicts us today, me in daily agony with my ankle and Randy in ecstasy upon seeing the marble masterpiece of David. Despite never reading the novel I have researchable knowledge of Michelangelo, marble, and David.

A stop at a local cafe recharges and sets us off to the most unassuming museum entrance in the world! Small touristy gift shops and bookstores line the narrow pedestrian street. While Randy secures our tickets I browse a few stores, a christian bookstore with Italian souvenirs and another bookstore with old hardbacks. One observation I have noticed in my travels is bookstores have the similar, familiar smell which I find grounding. Academy Galleria, contains Gothic paintings, musical instruments, David and other sculptures.

Gold, 2 dimensional and religious describe the Gothic era of paintings in this gallery. 

A $16 million Stradivarius musical instrument and its family members stood proudly in front of us.

In the piano room I joked with the security guard about him playing all the pianos after everyone leaves. He nodded and explained that while he does not play them, someone plays them in order to prevent rusty strings.

David is the size of a giraffe. The marble slab from which David was carved was rejected 2x and left outside for 25 years before the 26 year old sculptor was commissioned.

In the room of sculptures we found pieces reminding us of family and friends. This face reminded us of our friend Audrey. A child with a dog reminded us of Mazie. We replicated a sculpture for fun.

While we were with David the kids were skiing away! Luckily they did not break their arms, like 3 other campers did during the week.

Earlier in the day we ate breakfast at our hotel in Chur. I inquired about the pretty dyed eggs and the bowl of warm hard boiled eggs. The dyed eggs were traditional hard boiled eggs, “That’s the way we make them,” replied the hostess. I grabbed a couple for lunch and I am glad I did, they made me happy.

The kids had their first day on the slopes. Incredible views were in sight the entire morning and afternoon. Mazie donned the red ski onesie while Zach opted for blue ski pants with a windbreaker, thank you to Ferrieu’s attic. Ski goggles were a gift from Uncle Joel.

We arrived in Florence with the moon above us. After a little difference of opinion and no cash we found a taxi to take us to our lodging for the next 2 nights. The pictures show the wall on each landing of the flights of stairs we climbed. Again I rested my ankle and Randy scouted out a place to eat dinner. We decided to eat at one of the best restaurants in the world, known for their steaks, Trattoria Dall’oste, which happened to be next door to our building. Randy tried Bistecca alla Fiorentina, famous in this part of Italy and includes “blood” cooking! My filets were superb. After dinner we walked around and found gelato before heading in for the night.

Randy and I have different parts of the trip that excite us. Today is my exciting adventure. I have been looking forward to this day of the trip since I stumbled across it during my initial research. We will take the Bernina Express Panoramic Train over the Swiss Alps to Italy. Imagine snow covered fields, mountains, lakes, and glaciers for 4 hours! 

In the back of mind I have to be realistic (so my disappointment level can be in check) and remind myself this year is a terrible year for snow in the Alps. I found my outfit a month ago. Yes, I wanted an outfit, as crazy as it sounds. I wanted a “Switzerland style” sweater. My good French/American friend, Anne, nicely suggested just a nice warm fleece will do. She said wearing a “Switzerland style” sweater in Switzerland is like an American coming to Paris and buying a béret and wearing it the entire French trip. (It is a silly look to French citizens.) Ok, Ok, I took her advice and found a solid sweater/fleece pullover….at a gas station/rest stop on our way to the Millau Viaduct. This incredibly rare find made me super happy as well. Randy commented to the kids that it was my “best day ever” when I found the sweater!!!!

All aboard, and we are off! The beginning of the trip included climbing into the tops of the Alps, listening to the history of the region via their app, purchasing coffee from the coffee cart, and perfecting our technique on taking pictures through a glass window. The small villages were picturesque despite their patchwork snow blankets. We eventually found bright blue skies which gave us new shadows to behold. A Christmas tree farm was unexpected.

A window, a window, I found a way to open a tiny window in between the cars to take pictures without a glare! This was another exciting time for me. The open window did more than just allow me views without glare, it allowed me to feel the cold brisk air on my face, enjoy the top of the Alps, and be extra creative with my phone. Luckily I have a ring on the back of my phone, which gives me the ability to NOT DROP my phone when hanging outside of a moving train. 

A quick photo stop was next on the list. Back on the train we glide over the bridges and through the woods to Switzerland’s land we flow. The track knows the way to carry the train through the vast and quiet snow, oh! (Thank you Lydia Maria Child 1844) With my head out the window I had to watch for upcoming tunnels, just like classic scenes in the movies involving a train chase.

Randy took amazing quiet scenes along the ride.

Photo stories I did not expect to discover along the way…cross country skiing finish line, logging train cars, a rugged looking guy at one of the stations and a lifebuoy. Could this buoy be to rescue someone during a summer thaw with bursting streams or a symbol of a hidden bunker made during WWII?

Finally we crossover into Italy. The snow has melted. We end the trip with a spiral descent on a really cool bridge.

We exit the train and board a new one bound for Florence, Italy.

Side note: Once we returned home the kids and YL staff uploaded pictures. I am inserting them in our timeline as we travelled. Here is the catch up post!

While Randy and I traveled through Switzerland and Liechtenstein (so far in the blog) the kids were off to International YoungLife winter camp in the French Alps, near the village of Taninges, France called Le Praz de Lys. We gave them this week as a Christmas gift. The YL camp is all French speaking, the leaders are American YL staff serving in France. These pictures were actually taken the first few days of YL France Camp from the Chalet KOOP. The kids were absolutely amazed at the wondrous sight of deep snow, despite a low record of snow in the Alps this season.

Andrew a YL Leader from Kansas City, Kansas, was the kids ski group leader and Zach’s cabin leader. Zach and Andrew bonded over the KC Chiefs. Although the Super Bowl game was not aired in France, Monday morning did not disappoint and these two had big smiles.

We woke up to a foggy morning and decided to catch the train earlier than planned. No reason to stay longer in Lucerne. Not being able to see mountains when surrounded by BIG mountains is mysterious and disappointing.

Finally the sun burned off all the fog and the mountains were visible. Our destination for the afternoon was Chur, pronounced Kur. It is the oldest city in Switzerland. Since we left early we decided to try our luck and head to Liechtenstein with the possibility of Austria too. (We never reached Austria.)

I really enjoy researching odd places to visit. Our destination in Liechtenstein was the oldest and only covered bridge remaining crossing the Rhine River. One of my favorite sites had this bridge listed with unusual facts, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/alte-rheinbrucke-rhine-bridge. This bridge did not disappoint.

The inside walls bore informational billboards describing the bridge and its history. In the middle, a dividing signpost for country boundaries. I was excited for sure.

After more walking than we expected we finally reached Chur by bus and train. I took a quick stop in the Artisan chocolatier store for sights and smells. My ankle was screaming in pain! At the hotel I rested my ankle while Randy explored the car-free old part of town.

He found a wonderful place for dinner. The food was top notch. I am not a huge fan of food pictures and I started teasing Randy for taking so many. I admit that toward the end of the trip we had to reference food photos to remember each city and our experiences.

Our afternoon train rides ended in Lucerne. Lucerne or Luzern are one and the same depending on your spoken language. We walked/limped from the train station to our hotel, Hotel Des Alpes, located on the Reuss River overlooking the Chapel Bridge, an historic covered wooden bridge. Chapel Bridge is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, constructed in 1333, designed to help protect the city of Lucerne from attacks. Our balcony was beautifully situated to see the lake, bridges and mountains.

We took to the streets and bridges before sunset. The covered bridges were nice to walk across. We could only think how beautiful it must be in the spring when flowers are lining posts and rails. I had the impression that the wooden bridges had famous paintings lining the interior apexes. So after researching even more I found that after near destruction by fire the paintings, depicting the city’s history and biblical accounts, were moved to the city archive building. In my opinion the pictures today were random in nature and not my taste.

We popped into The Church of the Jesuits of Lucerne to see painted ceilings and Baroque architecture. I had not realized upon entering that there was a curtain separating the sanctuary from the small foyer until we left. The curtains were heavy and thick. It reminded me of the curtains of the temples referenced throughout the Bible.

We walked through Old Town, which was empty on a Sunday afternoon.

We replenished with food from a local brewery, Rathaus Brauerei. I returned to the hotel to rest my throbbing ankle and watch the sunset. Randy explored more of the old city.

We returned to the brewery for a late night dinner. We ended a nice night at another brewery sampling drinks from Switzerland and enjoying music from the 90’s and 2000’s. We decided no news from the kids was good news.

Our hotel had a cool (not cheesy) Swiss Alp feeling throughout the place. During breakfast we noticed the inscription on the facade was from Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. After breakfast we headed to Lac Léman a couple blocks away to see the Jet d’Eau.

The water was beautiful as I have observed most lakes to be clear and turquoise in Switzerland. Upon seeing swans up close, I realized I already missed Mazie on this adventure because she enjoys watching swans. The boardwalk was lined with interesting facts or fiction of animals seen around the lake. The “Loch Ness Monster” looking one grabbed my attention first. I think the swan’s neck is a live version of the Jet d’Eau!!! 

The jet is a site to see. I found it interesting that I could not hear the water at all. I was impressed by the crazy brave people who come to swim in this part of the lake all year round. I took a guess that most were not Americans because not one person I witnessed ever shivered or complained about the water temp. As they exited the lake we could see their bodies had turned red from the cold water.

Randy went closer to the swan to take pictures to show Mazie next week. The curious swan took to Randy and his camera. Mazie will be thrilled to see the pictures. Motorcycles lined the narrow streets on our way back to the hotel.

After the Jet d’Eau we boarded another train, this time to Lucerne. Although we traveled some of these tracks 5 months ago, the scenery changed from green to brown. Snow is typical for most of Switzerland in February, this year there is an extreme lack of snow, including the Alps. 

Day 1: Rise and Shine…and we are off

Due to my ankle mishap we altered our travel, taking trains vs driving to our first stop. After turning off the alarm at 4:30 AM we made it onto train #1. We are very used to train travel at this point and without Cody the travel day seemed like a breeze. Because we road trip a lot with various family members in the States, we constantly notice things. A fuzzy pink steering wheel cover is one of our favorites to spot in America. It is crazy we spotted one in France of all places. M says Aunt Jan would be proud!

Several hours and train stations later we made it to Cluses, France, located in the French Alps. Here we ate at a Turkish restaurant. The food was super yummy and reminded us of our time in Greece with Gyros. The owner and son were happy to receive Americans. The son was extremely happy to use his well spoken English. 

We said goodbye to the kids as they headed off to a week of YoungLife camp in the French Alps. The schedule is to mimic a typical USA YL camp except activities are related to skiing and other snow activities.

Randy and I took another train to Geneva for the night. It seemed strange to leave our kids in one country and travel to another, even though it was only 45 minutes away from them. Once in Geneva, we ate at our favorite place, Les Armures! I think this is the ONLY place to eat in the entire city. Located in Old Town, Les Armures has been a Lee family tradition dating back 45+ years! The restaurant is part of the Hôtel Les Armures, which has beautiful ceilings.

After dinner we took an Uber to Hôtel Edelweiss, located near Place de la Navigation and across the lake from the Jet d’Eau. We foresee my ankle sprain adding more Uber and taxi trips than our normal mode of transportation. The reception area was perfectly decorated for me!

Rest, Ice, Elevate are key ingredients for physical healing indeed. However, a family loving on our kids while I am waiting at the hospital and later in the week taking me out for coffee heals the heart, mind and soul. Thank you Marie and family!

The healing process takes place in various forms. Some need to replay it over and over trying to make sense of it all or to figure out what could have been done differently. Some chalk it up to it happened and keep moving forward. (This was my attitude.) Still others physically role-play the events to help them. The latter I witnessed as a kindergarten teacher on 9/11 and in a war-torn Uganda in the late 90’s. The months following the Twin Tower attack my little 5 and 6 year olds built block towers and flew toy airplanes into them. Other classmates joined in by driving toy fire trucks, ambulances and police cars to help clean the debris. Children all over the world role play with their toys. Even while teaching in Uganda during a war, internally displaced kids as well as missionary kids could be seen running around with sticks as guns and shooting people.  I am fascinated by the minute details kids observe and add to their play. 

Our hike was no exception. I received this image the next day. This is how the youngest of our “8 pairs of socks” processed the end. While I did NOT wear a dress hiking I do like the color blue and the correct ankle is casted! Also the road leading out, full of mini boulders, was “rocky.” My paramedic was holding on as we maneuvered through the winding path of the mountain, faring better than Smurf Paramedic. Later the creator of this photo artwork visited me and gave me flowers.

My ankle is healing like a sunset with trauma hues. I anticipate the daily changes of colors and wait. 

I am walking without crutches, Cody is happier. He was afraid of the metal sticks I brought in the house. Was it because they made weird sounds or because he was not allowed to bring wooden sticks in the house? (Haha) At his young age he is learning how to take care of me in his own way. Thank you Z for this photo while I napped.