After leaving beautiful Annecy we crossed the border into the neutral territory. Switzerland proudly maintains its independence from the rest of the European Union. Euros are not accepted here, which I was reminded of as I tried to buy Cokes with Euros when we stopped at a gas station.

After much painful searching – the most difficult time we’ve had so far in finding an apartment to rent – we were able to find a place in Adelboden, which was in our target area of the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. We spent some time in Murren (a tiny car-free town hanging on a cliff just above Interlaken) on our first anniversary trip and really wanted to come back to the Bernese Oberland area. We spent many hours searching – Switzerland is very expensive and because it is August, places were very booked up. We lucked into an apartment that turned out to be right in the middle of this beautiful small ski town, with a massive balcony overlooking the entire valley below, as well as with a view over to the 600-meter Engstligen waterfall. Wow. We were both pinching ourselves when we saw the view. Imagine getting up out of bed in the morning and looking out the window to this? It’s what we get to do for the next 2 weeks!

We also happened to join Switzerland on August 1st, which is Swiss National Day – the major annual holiday celebrating the formation of Switzerland. We were treated to fireworks throughout the valley, viewed from our balcony, for most of the night. People here don’t just light off firecrackers. These were full-on professional fireworks. Larry even documented the neighbors just below and next to us shooting off theirs. What a great way to begin our stay!