The Devil's Bridge

There are a few dozen 'Devil's Bridges' throughout Europe, two of which are in Switzerland, and one of which I got to cross.

There are different stories behind each of the bridges but they all have similarities. First, the bridge is built over a big river with lots of rapids. Second, the Devil always demands the first living thing to cross the bridge. And third, the first living thing is always an animal.

Here is a short version of the Swiss story:

A Swiss herdsman who often visited his girlfriend had either to make his way across the Reuss River with great difficulty or to take a long detour in order to see her.

It happened that once he was standing on a very high precipice when he spoke out angrily, "I wish that the devil were here to make me a bridge to the other side!"

In an instant the devil was standing beside him, and said, "If you will promise me the first living thing that walks across it, I will build a bridge for you that you can use from now on to go across and back. The herdsman agreed, and in a few moments the bridge was finished. However, the herdsman drove a chamois across the bridge ahead of himself, and he followed along behind.

The deceived devil ripped the animal apart and threw the pieces from the precipice.

Lucerne with the sister

Lucerne is one of the bigger cities in Switzerland.

We went there for a day of shopping and site seeing. It didn't exactly turn out as planned. All of the stores close at 4 on saturdays, so we only go a few hours of shopping done, and it wasn't very nice out, so the city was not at its prettiest, we still had a lot of fun though :) And I got to explore some new things. I had Maroni (roasted chestnuts) for the first time. There are maroni stands all over the place here. They were super yummy!

I got to walk across The Kapellbrücke("Chapel Bridge" in English). It was built in 1333. As you cross it you can see these cool captioned triangular paintings from the early 1500s that show the city's history. The paintings feature St. Mauritius and St. Leodegar (the patron saints of Lucerne).

Apparently the Kapellbrücke was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1993 (the year i was born!) and a lot of what stands today is simply restoration.

We also went to the Lucerne cathedral, known as the cathedral of St. Leodegar. It was originally built in 735, and then it was modified in 1633 with a Renaissance style. The cathedral is known locally as Hofchile (in German it is Hofkirche).

After that we just walked along the water and had lunch.

we ended up finding a ferris wheel and tood a ride before heading home.

It was a  wonderful day :)

fathers

No matter where you are in the world or what nationality they may be... dads are all the same.

Last night:
Me and simi about to walk out the door...
"Girls..." says papa M
We turn to look at him...
"We know... no drinking, no drugs, no sex!"
"That's right."


:) :)

Bellinzona

 This city is famous for its three castles- Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro, which are protected by the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Last Wedneday we took a road trip :)

Simi, Me, Mom and Christine (a friend of the family)

Castelgrande was a fortification in Medieval times, and then a ducal fortress during the Renaissance period. During the restoration of it (1980-1992) not only  the castle was restored, but also the entire hill on which it was built, to make it accessible to the town.

 

My favorite thing about Switzerland is the architecture. No matter where you are you can always find these gorgeous buildings that have so much detailing.

It took two hours to drive there, which in Switzerland means it was REALLYYY far away.

Switerland has the pink boarder, if you look right above zurich, you will see Aarau (my home), then if you go south south south and a little west, there is Bellinzona.

We stayed in a youth hostel for the night. ^

As you can see, the castle is right behind it. From some windows we actually had a pretty good view of the castle at night when ti was all lit up by lights.

Vitra.

Simi, Mamma El, Me, and a friend of moms all drove up to Germany to go to the Vitra Design Museum last weekend. It is a very unique building, inside as well as out, and was filled with furniture and designs that were very unique as well.

 The inception of the Vitra Design Museum dates back to the early 1980s. With the aim of documenting the history of the Vitra company, Vitra CEO Rolf Fehlbaum began collecting the furniture of designers who had influenced the company's development.

 

The Museum opened on November 3, 1989

It is internationally known as a cultural institution that has made a major contribution to the research and popular dissemination of design. The museum presents a broad spectrum of topics on design and culture, with a special emphasis on furniture and interior design.

Lantern Festival

Every September there is a lantern festival in Aarau, my city, where children of all ages create lanterns, usually at school, and walk with them in a parade of people around the city limits of Aarau. It is a wonderful sight. Me and my mom went together. There were so any different styles, colors, ad designs of lantern. It was really amazing.

I am not 100% sure what the festval represents, but this is what i think... The festival takes place after the artificial stream that runs through Aarau has been cleaned and has fresh water running through it from the Aare (a big stream that runs along Aarau). I know that it has been customary for at least 150 years.

The Parade was followed by a firework show. It was a lot of fun, and good to see some swiss traditions.

Holiday.

¦FASHION WEEK¦

right now i am on a three week holiday :) which means nooo school :)

last week i took a fashion class to fill in some time. it was a lot of fun, and was deffinately a good way to get to meet some new people.

i made a dress... which i am very proud of :)

pictures from our "photoshoots" and some of our pieces, like my dress, will be on display when we get back from break.

Another thing that we did was go to Yverdon Les Bains, which is in the french part of switzerland.

There was a museum there that was supposed to have a really good fashion exhibit. Unfortuately though, the exhibit was temporarily replace by a wedding dress exhibit. It was still interesting though. and we got to walk around the town. I learned the white wedding dresses didn't come about until queen elizabeth. There were some black wedding dresses in there that were from the 1800s.

The town was founded in 1260, when a castle was built on what was then the lakefront to defend against attacks from the east.

We got to go inside of this castle.

Rhein Falls

Me, Mamma El, and Simi went to Rhein Falls on Tuesday. It is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to. We had to drive through part of Germany to get there, but it is in Switzerland still. The day started off cloudy and foggy, but cleared up right before we arrived. It was perfect. The water splashed up to make an amazing rainbow at the edge of te falls :) We took a boat over to the other side of the water, and we got to be right up by so close that the water even sprayed us a little.

We walked through an old building, which had displays about the history of the Falls and facts. Apparently the falls were formed 14-17 thousand years ago after the ice age. It is the largest waterfalls in western Europe. 70 feet high, 400 feet wide.

SO AMAZING!

so far...

This last weekend I had on orientation camp with all of the other exchange students around my area.

I took a train to get there.. my very FIRST train ride :)

The camp consisted of different worksops (like how to meet new people/get involved and how to make the most of your experience), games (to help everyone bond), and lots of good food!

The other exchange students were from Italy, Russia, Hungary, Czech Republic.

It is so amazing being able to meet people from all over. We all exchanged emails and numbers so that we can meet up later on. I cant wait to see them again.

MY GERMAN IS GETTING BETTER :)

I study throughout the day.. everyday! I make new lists of sentences to study every few days. German is ridiculously hard to learn. But I have learned more here, than I ever did back home in the classroom. Learning a new language is so much better when you hear and use what you lean on a daily basis.
The most common german i use is still 'Es tut mir leid. Mein Deutch ist schlecht.' (Im sorry. y erman is bad.) though. Then people understand why I look at them like an idiot when they come up and talk to me. and they usual repeat themselves in high german (the swiss speak their own dialect of german which is completely different) and speak more slowly. This makes it way easier to understand.