Stranger in a Strange Land: A Saturday in Switzerland...

Wow! I've been on a blogging hiatus for quite some time... Sorry! It's been pretty busy around here... Within the past two weeks I've started my job teaching English at Brian's company, I started a volunteer position at a local Kindergarten where I teach them English once a week, I started my 2nd 5-week session of German classes (5 days a week, 4 hours every morning... ugh!), we went to Switzerland for the day two weekends ago, and we went to Dresden and Leipzig this past weekend... Just to name a few... :) So, needless to say, I haven't had much computer time recently... But, now that I'm a little more adjusted to my new schedule, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things with blogging... I've missed it! :)

As I mentioned earlier, we took an impromptu trip to Switzerland on Halloween Day... Our original plan for the day consisted of cleaning the apartment (or in German "Wohnung putzen") and going to the gym... But, when Maciej came downstairs and asked if we wanted to join him and Matt on a road trip to Switzerland, we eagerly said yes! :)

So the four of us headed to a little town in Switzerland called Stein am Rhine. We spent the afternoon wandering around and exploring the town. And what a cute town it was! :) It had lots of colorful buildings, quaint little cafes, cobblestone streets, a fun museum, and a gorgeous view of the lake... After spending the day there, we've decided that we're definitely going to add it to our "tour list" for when we have guests! (Our "tour list" consists of all of the "must-see" places in the area that we take all of our guests to... i.e. Meersburg castle, Birnau Church, Strasbourg, France, etc... :))

After spending a few hours checking out Stein am Rhine and going through the museum, the four of us headed to the Rhine Falls. These waterfalls have been deemed Europe's largest waterfall... We're assuming they mean the largest by volume, considering the falls themselves are not all that large... Especially considering that we live in the U.S. where we've experienced the likes of Niagara Falls and Tahquamenon Falls! :) Either way, they were very pretty... And combine that with the fact that the fall leaves were at the height of their color, it made for a very picturesque view!

Overall, it turned out to be a picture perfect fall day! :) And here's a few of the pictures to prove it... Enjoy!!

And knowing me and my love for cats, I had to take this picture! :)

A colorful fountain in downtown Stein am Rhine...

Stein am Rhine, Switzerland...

I love the colorful buildings!! :)

One of the many flower shops... The autumn floral displays were so pretty!

We checked out a museum in the city... We're not quite sure what the history of the museum is, considering all of the signs and displays were in German... However, it was just fun to wander around and try to guess what everything was... We assumed this was where they made the wine! :)

A view of the courtyard...

I love fall and all of its colors! :)

Inside the museum... We thought the floor was pretty cool! :)

A room in the museum... We decided that this was where they ate dinner... Plus we thought the ceiling was very interesting looking! :)

I befriended a bear at the museum... :)

I found this quite humorous... Switzerland is known for their cleanliness... Everything in that country is spotless! And this picture definitely shows how much they value their cleanliness... The side of the trash can says "Hund WC" (Dog Toilette) with an arrow pointing towards the trees... I can honestly say that that was the first time I've ever seen a restroom for dogs! :)