I finially got my photos from my July trip to Switzerland online. On the same trip we also went to Sicily, and those photos have been up for a few weeks. Both can be seen at:
www.pbase.com/annforcier

Now that the floods and such are over, I'm sure the hotels and other businesses are hoping tourists will return. Maybe seeing the photos will make people realize how beautiful Switzerland is. My trip was before the rains and flooding. I was feeling sorry for myself that there wasn't more blue sky when we were there. The floods really put things in perspective.

Oh my gosh, Isabel....your photos are stunning! Thanks for sharing. What were some of your favorite places/experiences in Switzerland?

We had to cancel our July trip to Wengen and Northern Italy because my mother fell ill. I am just now in the process of rescheduling the trip for next June. I have been following the floods... how awful. We are still eager to plan our trip, however. Any recommendations, tips or thoughts as I have a chance to tweak our plans?

We are a family of 4 with 2 boys who will be 12 and 15 on the trip. We were planning 3 or 4 nights in Wengen, 1 or 2 in Milan, 3 or 4 nights at Lake Garda (Malcesine, Simione or Torri del Benaco), and 3 nights in Venice.

Many thanks!

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing.

Wondering where you stayed in Lucern? May be going next year and am researching hotels.

Thanks.

isabel,

YIIIIIKKKEEEESS!! What gorgeous photos! They should come with a warning -- "Will induce severe restlessness and strong desire to book flight to Zurich!" Wow. I'm leaving in five days for my beloved Montreux, but your pictures make me want to go to Wengen.

Thanks so much!

s

Way coolio photos!

fun4all4 - Hi. You'll have a great time. Switzerland was wonderful. With kids your son's ages I'm sure hiking in the mountains will be a big priority. One thing we did that was fun was take the cable car from Gimmelwald down to the valley floor. Since it's a large cable car (holds well over 50 people), we were surprised at how fast it went. Everyone in the car went "Ohhhhhhhhhh". The photo after the one of the cable car is the one I took from it. I don't know if the cable car goes fast like that on any of the other segments of it's route, but that one was defifnitly fun. We had hiked from the top of the funicular (which goes up from Lauterbrunnen) to Murren and then on to Gimmelwald. I've never actually spent any time in Milan (but I've passed through it alot) so can't comment on that. And I've never been to Lake Garda. I have been to Lake Como and Lake Maggiore and of all the places you are going I would think they would be the least interesting to your sons. But maybe Lake Garda is different. Venice of course is fabulous.

lenox236 - In Lucern we stayed at the Goldener Stern (www.goldener-stern.ch) which is a five minute walk from the Chapel Bridge, ten minutes from the train station. Nice quiet area. I'd stay there again.

Isabel,
Thanks! The tip about the cable car is just the sort of thing I was looking for. Hiking and such will be our main activities in the BO.

We chose Lake Garda over Como, Maggiore, and Orta because it seemed more kid/family friendly. There are a number of water sports such as windsurfing there, and it is also the location of Gardaland, Italy's largest amusement park (not sure whether I've decided whether that is good thing or not ). We will probably have a pool or beach area there, plus an easy day trip to Verona.

We are all looking forward to experiencing Venice.

You have inspired me to try to figure out how to put my digital photos into online "albums." What an amazing collection of photos you have (and even more amazing is the travelling you have done). My photos will certainly not be of the same caliber as yours, but it would be a great record and may be useful for others. Anything in particular I should know about making online albums?

Happy travels!

As expected, these are beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing them.

I have been in several of the same places and can’t help but relive these wonderful memories. I just wish I had one-tenth of your talent.

fun4all4 - putting your photos on line is really very easy, and I think people enjoy looking at photos more that way than they do with a hard copy photo albumn. I like the pbase site because it's relatively easy to use, relataively cheap, but mostly because I like the way the photos are displayed. Someday I hope to do my own website where I can have written info as well (besides just the captions) but I don't have time to learn how to do that right now. Another new site that looks pretty good is www.flickr.com. You might want to look at that.

Glad you guys like the photos. Thanks for the coments.

Those are just lovely!

Thanks!