a little while ago we had a visitor from china. as her visit took place when we had a long weekend we decided to brave the elements and do a little sightseeing.

luckily switzerland has a long history which of course also includes quite a few centuries where castles were important - and two of my favorites are the Chateau de Chillon near Montreux and the Chateau de Gruyeres.

The Chillon Castle is a "island fortress" on the shores of the Lac Leman, more widely known as lake geneva.  (for the more traditional pictures - please visit the chillon website with the link provided above)

it was a very wet drive from the chateau de chillon to gruyeres, therefore no stop in montreaux to visit freddie mercury but i don't want you to loose out on (in my humble opinion) the nicest butt in montreux, therefore just for you:

back on the road... yes we almost got rained out but did find gruyeres and the rain slowed down just in time for our visit - a yummy lunch - a little walk through the town and a longer visit to the chateau de gruyeres (english and german websites are being updated). this castle is set on hill in a green valley with the swiss alps as a backdrop - the cailler chocolate and the gruyeres cheese factories are both located within a stones throw of the hill. 

it was a long and full day - but fun and interesting - after a restful sunday we were off on our next adventure first thing on monday morning - today another friend joined us and our "guard-dog" minou.  the skies cleared just in time for our drive accross the brünig pass and a full day out in the ballenberg open-air-museum. 

first a couple of scenery pics from before and after the brunig pass

and now to the ballenberg - this is an open-air-museum located on the mountain side. there are more than 100 historic buildings which wer relocated from all parts of switzerland to show what life was like in the different parts of switzerland in years gone by. gardens, farm animals, old trades are shown and in many places it is also possible to ttry things out. of course the ballenberg restaurants serve only produce that is actually made here in the museum area.