Hoogeveen Vacation - June 12

We woke up around 7 and got everyone going so we could catch a train. We had a long day of train rides ahead since we wanted to go via Montreaux (on Lake Geneva in SW Switzerland) to see the Castle Chillon. The Castle is reported to be very popular and my friend Corrie said she loved it (and she's seen a lot of Europe so that's a rave review :) ). It was a beautiful day and was less cloudy than the previous day, so we got a glimpse of the Matterhorn as we were riding the train from Zermatt. Carsten did pretty well on the train, and here's a few photos of our us on the train, and I should add that Carsten has been making a lot of faces lately, especially when we try to take pictures of him:

funny face :)

very cute :)

 We made it to the Castle Chillon around lunch, so we had our lunch just outside the castle and admired the beautiful scenery. The Castle is built on an old island in the lake, so it's really in a beautiful location with the lake and mountains behind it. Here's pictures of us in the castle:

Ashley made a new friend :)

Andy did not approve as he seemed a bit hard-headed so he fought him!

I think they must have been shorter back in the day... Andy rarely fit through doorways and in this case, the room :).

beautiful

amazing

I took this one, and I love it :)

All of us at the castle!

haha....

He fits!

We really enjoyed the castle, and even thought it was a bit out of the way to go there, I'm so glad we got to stop! On our way home, Andy, Carsten, and I continued on home ahead of the rest of the group so we could get home in time for Carsten's bedtime. We left everyone else in Lausanne to go see a beautiful cathedral, and they joined us about an hour later at home after Carsten was in bed. To those of you who come to Switzerland and who make it to the SW side,  you simply must see Castle Chillon. It was definitely one of my favorite things we've done so far in Europe. And it was perfect to have my whole family there - thanks for coming everyone! :)