The Hawkes in Dagmersellen

Early on Monday morning, the 30th June, the Hawkes arrived at Zurich airport. After a drive of less than an hour they were in Dagmersellen. The morning was spent settling in. In the afternoon we drove into Sursee to organise train cards for the girls (for forty Swiss Francs the girls were entitled to travel on trains and gondolas for free). We had a Swiss beer and coke at a local cafe in the Old Town. In the evening Lynelle went to Terri-Lyn's English Conversation Class as a special guest, which the class enjoyed. Darren went with Mark to a similar class with a Reiden teacher.

On Tuesday morning Bronte went into Zoe's class for a couple of lessons, and Tenealle visited Madeleine's class. The Swiss children were happy with their visitors. In the afternoon we drove to Engelberg (Angel Mountain), a small valley town that leads to Mt. Brunni and Mt. Titlis (where you can ski all year around). We took the gondola and then the chairlift to the top of Brunni, where we had our picnic lunch alongside the small lake and overlooking the magnificent views of snow-capped mountains. We walked barefoot around the lake on a path made of varying surfaces, some soft, some hard, some slushy. Unfortunately, Bronte was bitten by an anonymous insect which put her off the rest of the walk. We walked down to the gondola and on the way saw mountain views and valley views and it was gorgeous.

Madeleine, Alexandra and Zoe had a Joker-Tag from school (one of two days off they are allowed for the year) on Wednesday and we all headed into Luzern on the train. Emma and 'Dolf had invited us all to their apartment for a coffee, which was lovely. We then walked through the old town for shopping and lunch.

The Lion of Luzern monument was unfortunately under repair, but we could still see the sculpture. Lynelle bought a large cow bell as a souvenir. We had a ride on some pedal boats on Lake Luzern, and as it was very hot we were tempted to jump into the water. A short walk brought us to the Chapel Bridge, where we spent some time before getting an ice-cream as we strolled through the river-side market - before boarding the train back to Dagmersellen.

A rest day was in order for Thursday. In the evening we invited Todd, Monica and Lilian along with Chris, Christina and Amelie (amazingly these couples had met each other many years before) for drinks and to meet Lynelle, Darren and their daughters.

Mark finished work very early on Friday so was able to accompany us to the Rheinfalls (Tenealle was spending the day with Alexandra's class). As always, the falls thrilled us. We took the boat ride which takes us to the base of the falls, where we all got sprayed with the water. An ice-cream later and we drove into the old town of Schaffhausen. We had a pleasant walk through the streets, filled with their beautiful buildings.

Saturday was the day we decided to visit Mt. Pilatus via a Golden Roundtrip (a ninety minute boat ride from Luzern to Alpnachstaad, a ride on the world's steepest cog-wheel train up to the top of Pilatus, a gondola back to the base and then a bus to Luzern). At the top the Hawkes, and us, were in awe of the beauty of the mountainous panorama that was before us. We enjoyed a bratwurst each (the girls had muffins), coke and some beers. What a fantastic day.

We had heard that there was a Schwingfest at a town close to Dagmersellen, and even though it was raining we wanted to take the opportunity to see this very Swiss sport. On Sunday, we left the girls at home and Lynelle, Darren, Mark and Terri-Lyn drove to Wolhusen.

Lunch was eaten in the drizzle (Mark and Darren tried a local specialty of Bratchas - melted cheese and beer mixture poured over bread). It wasn't very nice. We watched the women's stone-throwing competition before having a look at the Schwinging - a form of wrestling where participants wear burlap shorts. Great fun.

On Monday morning the Hawkes said good-bye to Dagmersellen, taking a flight to Paris.

The Komps had a fantastic week with the Hawkes and enjoyed showing them 'their' new country.