From February 3rd to 10th we were in Château d'Oex, Switzerland. We drove down on Saturday, the 3rd. It was about a 7 hour drive. Dragonheart was very well behaved in the car. He spent most of the trip asleep, either on C's lap, or curled up on the seat behind her. He had water, food and a litterbox, but he didn't make use of any of them, even when we stopped for a break at lunch (one of us stayed in the car with him the entire time.)
When we arrived in Château d'Oex, we discovered that our chalet was up on the mountainside, and that our chalet was on the top floor of the chalet building. It was a very nice chalet, with a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and the valley below. There was a bedroom, with two single beds, a bathroom, kitchen, and living room, as well as a fireplace. The living room had a sofa bed, which is where we slept, so that Dragonheart wouldn't have to choose one of us to sleep with. We had a fire in the fireplace every evening. Although it was very warm while we were in Switzerland, it was still nice to sit in front of a fire. Dragonheart really enjoying the fireplace. He liked the warmth, of course, and seemed to be mesmerized by the flames.
It's a good thing that we aren't skiers, because none of the ski slopes in the village where we were staying were open, due to a lack of snow! The weather was great for us though, warm and sunny for most of the trip. It rained on the Thursday, and the rest of the trip we had great weather.
We went running twice while we were there. It was impossible to find a running route that didn't involve a large number of hills, so we got some good hill training in, which is good for building leg strength. We went horseback riding on the Wednesday (English/hunter seat) for a trail ride through the countryside around the village, and we went paragliding on the Friday.
Paragliding was amazing! Such an incredible experience, to soar through the air like a bird. We each did a tandem paraglide, with an experienced pilot strapped behind us. It was very cool to fly through the air. Just an amazing, incredible experience.
You can check out some photos from our trip below. The first set of photos are all of Dragonheart in Switzerland. The second set are of the entire trip, the chalet, us out horseback riding, and the road from the chalet to the valley below.
On Wednesday, we visited the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst (Egyptian Art Museum). They have a diverse selection of pieces from the early, middle and late kingdoms, including several mummy sarcophagi and a papyrus copy of the Book of the Dead. Some of the stone tablets with hieroglyphics were out in the open, not behind glass, so we were actually able to touch them! It was very cool actually touching something that old. It was also neat to see the mummy sarcophagi, and to see the inside of one, with all the decoration inside (you can see it in one of the photos in the collection.)
(Click on the photo below to view all the photos we took during our trip to the museum.)
Here are some photos from Christmas this year. Here is a photo of our Christmas tree. We decided to just buy a small tree for the three years we'll be in Germany. We have a large tree with lights pre-installed, but of course we can't use it here in Munich with the different power supply. So we decided to just go with a small tree.
Here are some photos of Dragonheart in his Christmas sweater (C crocheted it).
For a while, Dragonheart was more interested in watching the birds outside than in opening presents and playing with ribbon and toys.
Dragonheart enjoyed helping us unwrap our presents.
Here are a couple of photos of Dragonheart with his presents. One of them is a rustle tunnel that makes noise when he walks through it. The other is a ball track.
Here's a short video of Dragonheart playing with his new ball track: (If you can't see the video, click here.)
You can view more Christmas photos by clicking on the small photos below. The first set of photos features Dragonheart, the second set features K and C. by Caylynn
Here are some photos of Dragonheart and our Christmas tree. Our large Christmas Tree from Canada has lights pre-installed on it, so it won't work here in Germany, due to the different electrical power system. So we decided to just have a small tree for the three years we will celebrate Christmas in Germany. Not all of the presents are under the tree yet - Dragonheart enjoys playing with the ribbon a little too much!
So we bought Dragonheart a sweater on Friday. It's not cold enough out yet for him to need it, but when the time comes, he'll have a sweater to help keep him nice and warm. Doesn't he look cute?
