July 13th

    
5countries in two days: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy.
 
We began our drive to Switzerland this morning. We added one to our party. Willie needed a ride to avoid a 14-hour train trip so we squeezed one more in the car. The drive was rainy through the Bavarian Alps. We decided to push through and only stopped for lunch. However the views of the Alps with its waterfalls, castles and little villages was spectacular.

We arrived in the tiny Swiss village of Morcote on Lago Lugano (population 740). After navigating narrow, cobbled lanes, we found our destination. Our good family friends, Chris and Marian Todd generously opened their home to our crew. The boys went for a refreshing swim in the lake until a storm cut it short. By the time they got back to the house a freak lightning storm hit. The insane rain was blowing sideways and it began to hail. We watched a giant construction crane spin around like a top and ran around closing windows. We had a wonderful home-cooked dinner and took a tour of the neighborhood after dinner. Their apartment is in a 700-year-old building. It’s been renovated with huge glass windows and ancient raw stone walls left exposed. The juxtaposition of the ancient and modern works surprisingly well. Narrow stone stairways took us to Chiesa di Santa Maria del Sasso. The views are breathtaking and the church has 16^th century frescos. We also spend time in the church’s graveyard and saw monuments that we decided were large enough to live in.