Hello, hello!

Coming at you today with a few life updates and a recap of my trip to Switzerland that I just returned from on Monday! I am definitely not a traveling expert, but I’ve had a lot of questions about what we did/saw/ate there, and I’m spilling all the details (as well as lessons learned!) below.

A Few Quick Life Updates

  • We sent my third son, Cade, off to New Zealand mid-August. He’s been in a missionary training center there, and just left (yesterday!) to his mission assignment in Wellington. His first area is Christchurch. So if any of you know anyone in that area, tell them to look out for a skinny, blonde kid doing his best to speak Tongan. 💙 Man, we miss him.
  • School started for my two youngest. It’s been an interesting school year so far. My 16-year old fractured his wrist (scaphoid bone) and had surgery the first week of school. He’s in a cast and can’t write – so his valiant cousin is his scribe for pre-calculus (thank the good heavens above that I was not called upon to do that), and he’s muddling through. He had to miss football season, and we’re praying his wrist heals well so he can get back to life like his 16-year old self wants to. He is pretty restricted in what he can do right now.
Black and white photo of young man holding foam finger in hand with cast.
Young man in shirt and tie standing in front of building with rainbow.
  • I had two skin cancer spots burned off my face (one on my nose right in the same area I had MOHS surgery before 😭) and one on my ear. Hopefully the spots heal and don’t come back, otherwise it’s a biopsy and possibly surgery. 👎🏼
  • Fall is my favorite time of year! I’m loving the cooler nights and my garden is just about coming to an end. I’ve been elbow deep making homemade salsa and trying (but failing) to use up all the zucchini still wildly proliferating.
  • Last Friday Thoughts post, I mentioned I had purchased and was trying out a BedJet. Lots of you asked for an update if it helped with sleep. Here’s my report! I returned it. 😬 I think it actually did help quite a bit with my sleeping. However, because it is air-flow driven, it was drying out my skin, and my voice was constantly hoarse. When I stopped using it (I tried this twice to be sure), those annoying symptoms went away. So. No more BedJet for me.
  • Lastly, if you come to my house on any given day and at any given time, there is a 99.9% chance, I’m wearing “The Purp” as my 16-year old has dubbed my favorite matching set 🤣 – and my Archie slides (I wear these every single day, all day of my life; they have saved my aging feet). The comfy cropped sweatsuit set is from Piper and Scoot, but I think it’s sold out now, darn it. Literally wear it multiple times a week.
Purple sweat suit set and tan slides.

Switzerland Trip Recap

This trip to Switzerland has been years in the making! My grandmother was born and raised in the Fullinsdorf area of Switzerland, and my grandfather’s family hails from the Sumiswald area. My sweet and spunky Swiss grandma told us lots of stories in her beautiful Swiss accent about her childhood there. She was also an excellent cook (the bircher muesli she made was sooooo good, among many other things.)

This picture was taken in 2012 just a short time before my grandma passed away from a heart attack. {My grandma, my mom, me, and my daughter. 💗}

Grandmother, mother, daughter and child on tan couch.

It was really amazing to take a trip to Switzerland with my mom, my sister, and my cousin. A little family history…and a lot of gorgeous scenery! If you’re on Instagram, I posted a short reel highlight of the trip here. I think Switzerland might be the most beautiful place on earth.

Where We Stayed

We knew we were going to spend the majority of our time in the alpine region of Switzerland, so other than the first night when we stayed in Bern and the last night when we stayed in Zurich (close to the airport), we rented an Airbnb in Grindewald and explored from there as our home base.

It was the perfect location (a train station below us and a station above if we wanted a heart-pounding climb to main street). And was the perfect size (slept four people comfortably). It was also exceptionally clean, and the views off the back patio and deck were unsurpassed.

We bought food from local grocery stores and ate breakfast and most of our dinners at the Airbnb. (Sidenote: the pistachio croissants we got from the Coop stores were incredible; I am sad I’ll never find the equivalent where I live).

View of Grindewald Switzerland.
Three pistachio croissants in cellophane bag.

What We Did and Saw

A quick note: Switzerland is known for it’s robust public transportation system. Most people I talked to said they would not recommend renting a car there, because the trains and buses can get you everywhere you need to go.

However, in the end, we did decide to rent a car so that we could venture off the main tourist paths and do some family history sight seeing (and visit my mom’s cousin who lives there). Driving in Switzerland was…an experience. I impressed myself. And also scared myself (and probably a lot of other drivers). 😆

We did a hybrid traveling system of driving + trains, and it worked out quite well for us so we could visit some smaller towns, but if you are visiting mainly tourist-heavy sites, a car is unnecessary in Switzerland. The train system is incredible – like nothing I’ve ever experienced, that’s for sure.

Here is a quick recap of where we went and what we did

  • Rhine Falls: This was a beautiful stop. We walked the long way around the falls, and the exercise was a great relief after the long flight.
Mel standing in front of a "We love chocolate" sign.
Mel standing in front of Rhine falls sign.
  • Chocolarium in Flawil: The house chocolates they make in this factory (Minor and Munz) are ones my grandma loved, so this was a nostalgic visit, and we all loved the tour. My recommendation would be to get there earlier in the day so there is more going on in the factory. We arrived around 4, and while we still walked through the self-guided tour, most of the machines were shutting down for the day.
  • Bern Old Town: We took the train from our hotel to Bern’s Old City. This was incredible! We walked up the hill to the Rosengarten (the views!!), saw the Bear park (kind of underwhelming, to be honest), found the Clock Tower (Zytglogge) and waited for it to chime (loved this), and spent a few hours walking and window shopping along the cobbled streets (would absolutely do this again).
Four women standing at the top of Bern Rosengarten.
  • Gruyere: This was off the beaten path to our Airbnb but it WAS on the way to see my mom’s cousin. We stopped at the Gruyere cheese factory and did the self-guided tour. We got there after the cheese making demonstrations were over, so the tour was a bit anticlimactic. But we did have lunch at the cafe there, and I ate the best fondue of my life, so the stop was well worth it. We also walked up the hill to the quaint, lovely town of Gruyere.
  • Visiting Cousins: We stopped to visit my mom’s cousin, Sylvia, and her husband, Hans who live in the Oey area. I met them years ago when they traveled to Idaho, but this visit at their home was so fun. We talked and talked, and Sylvia made us the most delicious tart dessert. After a lot of persuading, Hans pulled out his alpine horn and played us several songs. It was worth the whole trip just for this visit.
Two cousins standing together in yard of Swiss home.
Swiss man playing alpine horn.
  • Grindewald: We checked into our Airbnb in Grindewald and fell in love with this gorgeous alpine town immediately. We spent a lot of time walking up the hill (pretty steep, but great for an energetic walk!) and walking through the town window shopping and souvenir buying, eating gelato at Karte Lust (AMAZING), and grabbing groceries at the local Coop.
  • Lauterbrunnen: We stopped through here to take pictures of the iconic waterfall and walk through the town. We loved this area…but between Lauterbrunnen and Grindewald, we all far preferred Grindewald.
Three women standing at the top of Schilthorn.
  • Schilthorn: We ventured past Lauterbrunnen to the Schilthorn gondola (we all felt like this was worth it). The views on the gondola ride and at the top are breathtaking. This is also the location of an older James Bond film, and there is a museum at the top dedicated to that, as well as a gift shop.

Hilarious story: there was a school trip of middle-school aged kids on the gondola with us. We were standing behind a group of about four boys who were talking in Swiss-German and goofing around. I turned to my sister and said “I wonder if they know what skibidi toilet is” – they heard me and absolutely ERUPTED. They were shouting “skibidi toilet! skibidi toilet!” and then one of them said “that lady knows what skibidi toilet is!” We were dying. Apparently brain rot and funny middle school phrases transcends culture and language.

  • Wengen: From Lauterbrunnen, we took a train to Wengen (a car-free town). The short train ride is amazingly beautiful. We walked through the streets and sat in the shade and relaxed.
  • Lucerne: We took the 2-hour panoramic train to Lucerne and spent a good part of the day walking and exploring – Chapel bridge, Lion monument, and the Old City. We walked and window shopped through many of the cobbled streets. I had the best sandwich of my life here. The chicken schnitzel sandwich from Twiny Station. Please promise me you’ll go if you have the chance.
Chicken schnitzel sandwich from Twiny Station.
  • Cow Descent Parade: we got lucky and happened to be in the alpine region during this event (it happens over a course of weeks, but there was a parade in the Grindewald where we were staying!). Dream come true!! My sister and I badly wanted to be there for this and felt so lucky that it worked out. In many parts of Switzerland, farmers take their cows up to mountain pastures in early summer and bring them down in the fall before snow comes. When the cows come down from the mountains, many farmers adorn the cows with flower crowns and hang huge (like, HUGE) bells around their necks. You can hear the bells from far away as the cows start their descent! This was a huge highlight of the trip.
Cow descent parade in Grindewald.
Mel standing on ledge by Lake Brienz.
  • Brienz: We drove to Brienz (chose to drive so we could make a stop in Isetwald to see the pier from the Crash Landing on You K-drama) and walked around the lake, went to the wood carving museum, and had lunch at a cafe. This town is so beautiful! If I ever go back to Switzerland, I’d like to stay here for a night or two to spend more time walking on the lake.
  • Isetwald/Crash Landing Pier: You know I’m a HUGE Crash Landing on You fan, but this stop was kind of underwhelming. It has become so touristy that the line was really long to step onto the pier (and it costs 5 francs per person). Also, we happened to be there when two young women ahead of us proceeded to do a lengthy photo shoot complete with outfit changes. So…we didn’t even wait in line (it would have taken hours) and just stood to the side and snapped a picture.
  • Family History Stops: In addition to visiting my mom’s cousin, we drove through various towns to see my great uncle’s home that my mom visited when she lived in Germany as a child, as well as finding the home my grandma grew up in and seeing that area. Very special!
Two women standing in front of Swiss home.
LDS Bern temple.

At the end of our trip, we went to church in Bern and took pictures at the neighboring LDS Bern temple.

There was obviously so much we didn’t do – and so many areas we didn’t explore. I would have loved to get down to Zermatt and see the Matterhorn and fit in a lot of hiking…but that will have to wait for another trip (or another lifetime, haha).

A Few Things I’d Recommend for Traveling to Switzerland

  • We used the SBB mobile app for navigating the trains, and it was so helpful to plan routes as it told us exactly where to go, what platform to wait on, etc.
  • We also purchased the half fare card, and it was very much worth it (we got half fare on all our train rides, as well as the Schilthorn gondola and other things).
  • I downloaded and used the one free trip option in the Timeshifter app to prevent jetlag. I followed the instructions meticulously, including closing my eyes, blocking out light, and sleeping (or pretending to sleep) for 9 of the 11 hours of the flight there. I seriously felt zero jetlag effect the entire time I was in Switzerland!
  • I bought this eye mask/head rest situation for the plane travel. And although my cousin, mom and sister mocked me endlessly for it, it worked great for my flight there! My head didn’t bob at all, and I got the best plane sleep of my life.
  • We packed in carryons (no checked luggage, except for the way home to haul our chocolate back). I have this carryon. It is roomier than other carryons I’ve used in the past. I also swear by these compression packing cubes (they work best if you load them up and then compress). In addition to my carryon, I brought this travel backpack. It fits perfectly under the plane seat as my “personal item.”
  • One of you dear readers suggested the Athleta endless travel pant, and I ended up running to my local Athleta store a few days before I left to try them on…and they were dreamy. I bought the navy pair and wore them three of the days in Switzerland. They’re a bit pricey, but they don’t wrinkle, and are so comfortable!
  • I brought two pairs of shoes: these Allbird tennis shoes (I’ve had them for a year and they are the most comfortable tennis shoes I’ve ever worn, plus they wash up like a dream, and still look brand new) and these Born sandals, which are so comfortable for walking long distances.

As much of a homebody as I am, this trip to Switzerland was a dream come true. It honestly could not have gone any better. We got so lucky with the weather, travel, our health…everything. So grateful for that!

I’d love to hear any recommendations you have for Switzerland or just travel in general! Comment below! ⬇️

I’ve received so many messages from those of you that have been around for a long time and have known how badly I’ve wanted to go to Switzerland. Your excitement on my behalf has literally been the sweetest thing ever. Thank you for being here! I appreciate you guys so much. 💗