Eiffel Tower

Bonjour. No trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower so that's where we went today.


Amber and Ediza rode a carousel at the base of the 1,063-foot tower -- not once, but twice.


Instead of waiting in long lines to go up the tower we decided to visit a nearby playground that had the world-famous icon as a backdrop.



The Eiffel Tower is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It's 119 years old, weighs about 10,000 tons and has 1,665 steps. After the Great Wall of China that would have been a cakewalk.

'It's a Small World'

As a reward for being such a good globetrotting baby we took Ediza Rose to Euro Disney, which can be found in the suburbs of Paris.


We had an eventful day, riding the carousel...


and the teacups...


not to mention Dumbo.


One of the highlights of the day was, surprisingly, the "It's a Small World After All" ride. That's the one where you get in a boat and ride through all of these different scenes from around the world while little dolls sing and dance.


I know it sounds crazy, but it was really cool to see China and Greece and Italy and all these places Ediza has been exposed to in a way she can relate to.

France

Another week, another country.


We took four trains (five including the subway) to go from our tiny Swiss village to the sprawling city of Paris. Some of the trains were extra crowded because of the Euro Cup soccer games. All of these crazy Dutchmen dressed in orange had an impromptu parade through one of the train stations.


While I was in the bathroom with Ediza, one of them had placed an orange lei on Amber. (For some reason the photo turned out purple).

We finally made it to the Place de la Bastille -- where the storming of the Bastille triggered the French Revolution. The site now features L'Opera de la Bastille, a large and modern opera house that we can see from the windows of our attic apartment.



This is the courtyard of the complex we're staying a week at. To get to our place you have to walk up four flights of narrow, wooden spiral steps.

Here Amber is again at the entrance to our cosy apartment. You enter in the bathroom, then reach the kitchen and lastly the bedroom.


A few people have asked how we found some of the places we've stayed at. The house on the Greek island, the loft in Milan and this apartment were all listed as vacation rentals on Craigslist. We're also staying at an artist's apartment in Amsterdam we found there as well.

Alps

We went from June to January with our ascent up into the Swiss Alps.


We took an extremely steep train ride from Wilderswil up to Schynige Platte, where we spent the night. We were the only people staying in an isolated hotel at the summit. To be up there by ourselves and surrounded completely by clouds was quite a memorable experience.



The weather was very wet and cold, but that didn't stop us from venturing high into the clouds on a hike the following morning. We passed some amazing scenery in the mist and even walked by some wildflowers that we ate in our salad the previous evening.

At the top, we were joined by a large group of Japanese tourists who gave Ediza little origami presents along with Japanese chocolates. Several of them took photographs and videotaped her.

Once we returned, Amber and Ediza went down this enormous slide before going inside for a bowl of potato soup.

Glacier waterfalls

Today we trekked through the Lauterbrunnen Valley, where we explored Europe's only glacier waterfalls that are accessible from inside of a mountain.


The 10 waterfalls, known as the Trummelbach, drain the mighty glaciers of Eiger, Monk and Jungfrau. Up to 20,000 liters of water pass through them each second.


A total of 72 waterfalls can be seen in this valley, which looks very similar to Yosemite Valley except there's just a huge wildflower meadow and some old barns on the valley floor.




We took a train from Wilderswil up to Lauterbrunnen, where we had a good time checking out the town and the beautiful countryside.

We've seen lots of original homes since arriving in Switzerland, however, this one with the grass roof probably takes the prize.

Switzerland

From Milan's bustling central station we boarded a train through northern Italy and into Switzerland. We passed through some gorgeous scenery, although it was sometimes difficult to view due to a hyperactive Ediza Rose.

Aboard our third consecutive train, Ediza finally fell asleep as we rode from Spiez along Lake Thun to Interlaken. We are staying in the picturesque village of Wilderswil, just outside of Interlaken.


As we were checking into our bed-and-breakfast, our host Claudia joked that the music coming from up the street was being performed to welcome us. In fact, there was some sort of school concert complete with singing, dancing and even alphorns right in the middle of the road.


We're actually now staying at the hotel in the background for a few nights until we move higher up in the mountains. Here's a photo from the traditional Swiss room we're staying in.


The weather has been rainy, but we still managed to walk around the village and check out some sights. On our walk this afternoon, we could hear the cows with their bells on the hills surrounding us. They're needed for all that Swiss cheese, no doubt.

Milan

Milan is a combination of both old and new.


We found this out on a walk from our modern loft to the city's duomo -- one of the world's largest churches.



Practically next to the ornate duomo are shops by fashion designers like Gucci and Prada. Milan is known as one of the major fashion capitals of the world.

I feel a little out of place walking around in my black bandana and llama T-shirt while everyone else is wearing oversized sunglasses and ripped jeans they paid good money for.


In the plaza in front of the duomo, Ediza and I fed (and got attacked by) the pigeons.

We ended the day, of course, with gnocchi and tiramisu:)