Switzerland-

We could not get home to the US for Christmas, so we decided to spend the holiday in Switzerland. Andi suggested Interlaken, south of Bern in the Alps. Sounded good to me. Once we got here, she admitted she only picked it because she thought she had heard of it before, but she probably was thinking of Interlochen, Michigan near where she grew up. No complaints!

Our first day we settled in a bit. We drove over to Grindelwald, a ski area. We don't really ski, so we just wandered around and took pictures. Grindelwald has a 15 km sled trail (10 miles!) so we thought about trying it out. That afternoon Drew and I went tubing in a local hill while the girls slept. Our hotel is actually 20 minutes out of Interlaken in Beatenberg overlooking the city. We have a great view of the alps out our window!

The second day we tried sledding nearby. We paid for two days of gondola rides to the top of the hill and a day of sled rental. They call them sledges here. They even came with kid seats on the front of the sled, but no brakes. The only way to steer is to stick your feet down. That is also the only way to stop. Neither works very well. The hill was really steep and icy, so I am glad we did not kill any family members. After 3 km of that, we decided to not try the 15 km run. Later that day we went back up with our good camera and took pictures then went tubing again.

The third day we rode up to the top of Niederhorn (about 6,000 ft) and walked down. The trail was 10 km long with 750 m of drop. The whole thing was snow and ice with sledders and skiers occasionally buzzing by. Drew walked the whole way and I carried Ellie in her backpack. Overall, it was very tiring but very beautiful and memorable.

The fourth day we drove over to Täsch to take a train to Zermat to see the Matterhorn. The hippies in Zermat don't allow cars, so you have to take a train in and walk through town to see the mountain. The cool part about the trip was the train ferry through the mountain, just drive onto a train car for a 10 minute ride under the alps.

The fifth day was Christmas. Drew realized at 2 AM Santa had come, so we were up for a bit. We eventually got the rest of our gifts opened and had a lazy day. We had a little snow on the ground and we had a cloud sitting on us all day, so it was a white Christmas.

Tomorrow I get my Christmas present: a trip to the top of Europe. Jungfrau has the highest railway station in Europe at 11,500 feet. This is one of the three peaks we see out our hotel window (when the cloud is not there).

UPDATE: We never made it to the to of Europe. 50 MPH winds stopped train service, so we went back and went tubing again. We will try early early on Saturday to make it up on the way home.

We found a few Swiss beers, and few non-swiss.

Feldschlosschen - Nothing exciting.

Bio Bier - The local Coop (grocery) had this. Actually tasted ok.

Murphys - My wife loves this one. We found it in Ireland. It is the only beer she likes.

Cardinal Lager - Some aftertaste, not great.

Ireland-

We made it to Ireland. I am getting better at this driving on the wrong side of the road stuff. We drove out of Dublin north into some mountains. We had dinner in Londonkerry and stayed in Leterkiney. The second day was very long, driving down to the Cliffs of Moher then back up to a remote hotel in Tully Cross. The Cliffs of Moher were amazing to see. The area near Tully Cross was really inspiring, with mountains and lakes and sheep wandering around. Being at the 58th parallel, it was light until 10:30 so we had light on the way. My daughter had her second birthday, so we opened presents in the Cliffs of Moher parking lot and had her cake in a pub in Tully Cross. Guinness in a real Irish pub was quite a treat. Today we drove down to Cork to kiss the Blarney stone and tour the Blarney castle. I had a Murphey's at dinner since Cork is where they make it. Tomorrow is back to Dublin.

Guinness- Always good, but somehow better in Ireland.

Murpheys- Maybe even tastier than Guinness?

Beamish- Good too. I have not seen a stout in Germany.