In the alps - Rochers De Naye

One of my wishes is to be in the mountains more often and so Alison will always hear me suggest - "how about going to the mountains?" So while we were planning for this sunday, we tried to figure out where the closest mountain adventure would be and we ended up with Rochers De Naye. It is a really short trip from Lausanne; short train ride to Montreux and then a 45min cog wheel train up the mountains. I must say, the train ride was magnificent and well worth the money. We went all the way to the top, above the clouds.

We then proceeded to hike down... this was the tougher part. It was really steep and not exactly a leisure hike like we planned. Kudos to my in-laws for toughing it out! Nonetheless an excellent adventure we walked away with some wonderful memories, pictures, a great story and some sore quads.

Cog wheel train (Toby & Dorothy)

Less than 2 hours later, we are above the clouds

Signs?

The great steep descent

Reminiscing the journey

Alp horn cheese aliens!

Alison, Dorothy & Toby in Gruyere

Raclette - melted cheese... mmmm

Gruyere cheese metropolis

The alp horn masters

The Giger bar where aliens dwell

Alien watching over Gruyere

The Giger museum!

Our side trip to Gruyere was great! The old town was beautifully set on a hill overlooking the area. We ate, walked and appreciated aliens in the Giger museum. I must say, it's such an odd location for a sci fi museum. Nevertheless, it was great to get out and it was fun to spend some time with the family.

Exams are over!

The long week of exams are finally over! The last exam was five hours long and I was almost in a daze afterwards. No, I was definitely in a daze. With finals over, we are halfway through the program and the next milestone will be our discovery expedition to South Africa. From here on out, we will have few classes on various topics, but mainly we will be applying everything we have learned in SA and our International Consulting Projects. They officially start in August, but we have already been spending several hours meeting and preparing to jump right in after SA.

This weekend felt like a real liberation and I got the chance once again to escape Lausanne! We took day trips to Gruyere and Rochers de Naye. Pictures to follow!