Appenzell

We got out of St. Gallen today (Sunday)! We took the Appenzeller Bhanen (train) to the town of Appenzell (it's also what the region is called).

We started to day with going to church, as it was an English translation Sunday. We learned today not to miss the bus down to the train station. There isn't another one for 20 minutes. In that amount of time we can walk to the train station, so we did. So we got to church a little late. Unfortunately, Jo was not so keen on the nursery today. She burst into tears as soon as we walked in the door. She was well behaved throughout most of church and spent the majority of the time in Daddy's arms. Kind of amazing.

We had a picnic lunch with us- the reason we missed the bus. So we went straight from church to the train station and headed South. Appenzell is a pretty touristy town- lots of Swiss souvenirs. 

     We've decided it will be a great place to bring my family too when they visit in December. As we walked through town we discovered that in a couple days Appenzell is hosting the Tug of War World Championships- how awesome is that!?

     We ended up taking a path up a “hill.” You've heard of cowbells, right? Well, it turns out they are not just for awesome SNL skits, but also for cows! As we walked up we could hear the clinking of bells from all over the hillside- pretty cool. We met a lovely older couple who were hiking down. They gave us a suggestion on a path to take so we wouldn't have to backtrack. We didn't take their suggestion. Whiny kids + not knowing how much farther we needed to go = turning around. But turning around meant Kenny got an Appenzell beer and I got Alpine butter. I don't think I'm enough of a butter connoisseur to appreciate it's alleged greatness. 

       A note on the Swiss: they are really outdoorsy. Cycling, mountain biking, Nordic walking, swimming, football (soccer)- of course. Do you know how big soccer is to the rest of the world? It is a HUGE sport everywhere but the U.S. I watched women's soccer from Korea on TV the other day. I don't get it- but I don't like watching any sport on TV.

      Back to the Swiss. They are all about get out and do. All over the place there are yellow signs and yellow diamonds that indicate walking paths- wanderwegs- where the path will take you and how long (maybe even 3-4 hours away). On our hike today, these signs would direct people through the middle of a pasture. There would be a little gate in the fence and we could see trampled grass to indicate a “path.” We stuck to the pavement.

   I'm wondering how much more we'll get out of the city. Keeping kids entertained on a train is difficult and there isn't much we can do when we get their that holds their interest. And so far we just end up really tired and beyond frustrated. Maybe we just need to be better planners. We get our residency cards on Thursday which means we can leave the country without problems getting back in, so maybe we can shoot for another country next time.