Sunday morning in Basel...evening in Lauterbrunnen

We walked to church services this morning...all of us with our backpacks, rolling bags, etc.  We looked like a troop of gypsies, or possibly the Israelites leaving Egypt.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the members there.  As far as we could tell, every person present came by and greeted us. We felt extremely welcome!  We met so many lovely and interesting people, but I have to mention two or three in particular.

Judith is a seventeen-year-old delight who spent several months as an exchange student in Smyrna, Tennessee.  She spoke excellent English and even used "y'all" perfectly.  We mentioned that we left two seventeen-year-old grandsons at home.  (In this picture, Judith is the one on the right!)  Also visiting that morning was a young lady (Sofia) and her mother (Sheryl) from Colorado Springs.  They worship at the same congregation where Jared Hagen preaches.  Sheryl and Sofia are the other two ladies in the picture.

Holger Kock had a wonderful sermon, which he had written in an English handout for those of us who don't speak German.  Much appreciated!  The singing was beautiful, and we were familiar with the same songs in English.  After the class and worship hour we were invited to share lunch with some of the members.  Among other things, we were introduced to a Swiss carbonated beverage with an unusual flavor that could be best described as a carbonated beverage that tastes like "Smarties".  Barbara Jo liked it...others were not so enthusiastic.

In the afternoon we took the train from Basel to Lauterbrunnen.  It was a cloudy and overcast afternoon, and a bit cooler than earlier.  We walked to the chalet from the train station, and located it with no difficulty, after a steep climb.  The view from the chalet was perfect with the Staubbach Waterfall directly outside.  

It took several minutes for everyone to choose their bedroom, unpack, explore the chalet, take in the views and make a zillion photographs.  

By this time the overcast had changed to a full-fledged rain.  It was at this point we realized we had nothing for dinner.  We decided to send a couple or representatives down the hill to the store in the rain, but in the end we all put on jackets and hiked down to the store.  Actually, it was profitable, and educational, shopping trip.  We got the makings for sandwiches, and searched all over for mayonaise.  FYI:  In Switzerland mayonaise is sold in tubes, like toothpaste. 

By the time we went to the check-out counter all eight of us had armfuls of groceries.  We dumped them all on the counter, and the began taking photos of the process.  The poor lady at the checkout counter was so stressed out over the family chaos that she gave us each a piece of candy to get us out of the store.

After our hike back to the chalet, we enjoyed a variety of interesting foodstuffs for dinner. However, we had neglected to purchase either napkins or paper towels.  (Have you ever used toilet paper as a substitute for a napkin?)  After dinner everyone started contacting the children back home via Skype and Facetime.  They all seemed happy enough, Lucy was still standing, and there was some talk about a cousins sleepover at our house tonight.  But we will worry about that at a later date...or never.

We started talking about our day and the nice people we had met.  This discussion led to everyone sitting around the table sending friend requests to our new friend Judith.  She was obviously on Facebook at the time, and without giving it much thought she accepted our requests, something she may live to regret.

As darkness set in, we realized that they have lights on the Staubbach Falls directly behind the chalet.  It was indeed beautiful, and a lovely way to end our day.  Tomorrow we go back to the store for paper towels, napkins...and toilet paper.  Hopefully, there will be other adventures in addition to the grocery store trip.