Before I get into the details of my vacation, I'll fill up on the events of the days following my last blog post. Well, Amélie has been adjusting to going to school all day. It's really long for a 3 year old, especially without breaks for naps. The day before we left for Wengen, she had a complete meltdown. I picked her up from school and she wanted me to carry her out, but the parents and nannies aren't allowed to carry the kids around the school... for some reason. So I told Amélie she had to walk like all the other kids. Well. She didn't take that too well. She completely collapsed in the middle of the road screaming hysterically and sobbing and drooling everywhere. I tried everything under the moon, stars, and the sun to get her to calm down. Picking her up, talking to her, getting her to look at me, getting mad, being sympathetic, being strict -- nothing worked. Any form of attention just made it worse, so I had to step back and stand next to her and wait for her to burn herself out. Some parents gave me the evil eye for just standing there, others just gave me a sympathetic smile, and one mother said, "I've been there before, don't worry." After 15 minutes, she burned out and finally walked to the bus. But man, it was quite an experience! It'll probably take her a few months to adjust, but I figured out a tactic to prevent meltdowns. I usually let her lay down on the bus and take a short 15 minute nap until we have to get off, then she walks home and has snack time. So far, it's worked out great!
Well, Thursday came along, and it was a holiday in Geneva. Yvonne and Antoine took work off for a few days to go on a "relaxing" vacation in the mountains. "Relaxing." Ha ha ha. Amélie woke up sick early in the morning and finally fell asleep around 8:30 AM. We were planning on leaving at like 10 AM, but her mom decided to let her sleep. While Antoine stayed with Amélie, Yvonne and I went to France and went shopping. Finally, Amélie woke up and we ended up leaving around 1:30 PM and arrived in Lautterbraunn, where we took the train up the mountains to Wengen. The view was amazing on the way up. There were tons of waterfalls and when looking down, I could see the villages and farms surrounded by the lofty Swiss Alps. The villages were so green, then the cliffs were so sharp and bright, then there was Jungfraujoch, the tallest mountain in Europe. It was covered in glaciers and snow, so it was a stark contrast to the green-ness of the villages. The farms in the mountain villages were so rustic. Spotted with centuries-old houses and green rolling hills, it had such a feel to it... like I had somehow landed on a whole different world; somewhere out in the vast galaxies of outer space. It's not something you can capture in photographs or words. It is only experienced.
The hotel we stayed in was really nice and had a great view of the mountains. Since we left later in the day, we ended up walking around the village before going to bed. A lot of the farms are located on hills that are so steep, tractors can't be driven up to the fields. All the work is done by hand in the old fashioned way. The next morning, we took a gondola up the mountain to a trail that was fairly flat and easy, since Amélie wasn't feeling her best. Our initial plan was to hike straight uphill for three hours to the train station that takes us to Jungfraujoch. It's a good thing we decided to take the easy way, because I don't see how Amélie could have made it. The entire way she whined and stopped every ten feet to throw a fit, cry, inspect a rock, stare at people, et cetera. The hike was supposed to take only an hour, but ended up being about three hours long. But it was so worth it. The view of the mountains were amazing! We got on a train that went through the mountain all the way up to Jungfraujoch, Top of Europe. I got to stand on top of some of the highest mountains in Europe. There were breathtaking glaciers that glowed a soft turquoise blue. When I looked over the horizon, it was like looking down on the earth from outer space. We were so much higher than the clouds and you could see the geography so well... all the mountains, hills, and valleys. The valleys were so green and the mountains were covered with white and blue glaciers. It was the closest I could get to imagining what heaven would look like.
The next day, we went to Grindewald. We hiked straight uphill on a hike that was supposed to take an hour, but ended up being about three hours, again. Amélie just wasn't in the mood to be hiking that day ha ha. But when we got to the destination, we could see the other side of the mountains that we hiked the previous day, plus smaller, greener mountains surrounding it. There was a small pond and lots of cows grazing in the fields on the mountain... it kind of reminded me of the Sound of Music. After eating lunch, we rode up the lifts and Antoine and I went down the zipline. Then after, we decided to try out the trottibikes, which are like scooter/mountain bikes and "trotti" down the mountain. It was awesome!
Pretty much everyone was exhausted from the vacation, but it was really such a great lifetime experience! Sunday, we drove home. Amélie was complaining that her belly hurt and I kind of realized she was probably gonna throw up cause from multiple previous nannying experience, when a kid says their belly is hurting and something smells bad to them then it means they're probably getting sick. Then after a few more minutes, she started throwing fits and crying. I knew what was coming, so I just moved my stuff away from Amélie, turned my hearing aid off, put my hoodie up, held my nose, and stared directly out of the window with my back to Amélie. Not even two minutes later, the car swerved wildly to the side of the road and the parents ran out of the car. I didn't even look back cause I knew she threw up and I did NOT want to see it. I just got out of the car and stood by the side of the road and stared away with an expressionless face but inside I was completely freaking out an having a panic attack. (For those who don't know, I have a phobia of seeing someone vomit.) She seemed to feel a lot better after throwing up and didn't throw up for the rest of the day, but we drove for six hours in a freshly vomit scented car.
Despite the vomit scene, the whole trip was seriously the bomb. Maybe someday I'll go back to Jungfraujoch and climb up the glaciers to the summit... that would be AMAZING.
Well, the past four days I've been sick with this nasty cold and I'm tired of being sick!!! But oh well... It is a little better today. But I still feel crappy so I'm going to finish my chores and go to bed. I'll probably write more later cause I always think of stuff that I could write about but my focus is on zero right now so... til next time!!!
I am so jealous of you! I can totally see you having fun at the swiss alps! Glad all is going well!
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