Apparently, Austria was also involved in my European adventure this summer.

After yet another long plane ride, I landed in Switzerland. We rented a car and my dad had the joy of driving it from Zurich to Solothurn. We stayed the night in the tiny, slightly boring town. The next morning we went to visit my grandmother's cousin who is a nun living in the town. We had lunch with the relative and the rest of the retired nuns. Everyone was extremely hospitable, it was a lovely morning.

We then drove to Erstfeld, where I got the pleasure of meeting other cousins of my grandmother and their families. I met a ton of family that I didn't even know I had; it was the warmest of welcomes, too.

The next day, I saw where my family used to live and where they kept their animals. The family still owns some of the property and still has some sheep.

After we saw the sheep (and the two yaks that protect them), we had lunch. I was taught an accordion bass line. I need to edit the video before I put it up because my mom didn't know how to stop the video on my camera...

Then we went up a funicular to the top of a peak and saw a manmade lake, which was quite picturesque (agree?).

After that, we went to the Devil's Bridge, which has a legend behind it that the people that lived in the area couldn't construct a bridge, but the devil said he would do it for the price of the first soul that crossed. The people outsmarted the devil and sent a goat across first. It's also the sight of a battle between Russia and France during the Napoleonic wars. That being said, I went to Russia (because they own a small bit of land where they commemorate their victory).

Dinner was filled with family again, which was just wonderful. Everyone bent over backwards for us and were just so thrilled that we could come. It was such a tight feeling of family. It turns out that the family that stayed in Erstfeld keeps expanding in the area, and no one seems to move too far away, which keeps the knowledge of the history fresh.

This morning we said our goodbyes and headed to Windsbach, to see the town that my grandfather was born in. Along the way, we drove through Austria, which was unexpected. We also seem to have driven along the border Lichtenstein. It really is a tiny country.

Windsbach took forever to get to because the autobahn is just a bad plan. Anyway, Windsbach wasn't anything special. We walked around a bit, had a late lunch, and went on our merry way to Munich.

Yes, I notice that the dust speck in my camera is now worse than it was. I really will get it fixed soon.

Munich, so far, seems like any other city: there is a ton of new construction and too much traffic. However, there is a beer garden right down the street from our hotel... Of course, that was the first thing that we did after checking in to the hotel. Highlights of that include old men stumbling out muttering obscenities and soft pretzels larger than my head.

I plan on checking out this large, animated clock I've heard about...