We got up early and drove north, stopping in Yverdon for breakfast. I have been to Yverdon numerous times before. In the beginning of my mission we were teaching a Portugese woman in Yverdon. I have a few fond memories in Yverdon. We drove through the center of town and found a bakery for breakfast. Then we drove out of Yverdon and up to Sainte Croix, a quaint little town with a museum about music boxes and automatons. Our tour was small, just us and one other man, who was kind enough to agree to a tour in English. It was fascinating to see the progression and ingenuity behind the mechanics of a music box- which also led to automatons and self-playing instruments. We wanted to buy a music box, but their selection was very limited, so someday we'll order one online.
We drove to another small town called Le Locle and my parents visited a watch museum.
Before driving back to Lausanne we drove through more of the gorgeous Swiss countryside around Neuchatel and up to a common viewpoint of the Swiss Alps, Vue-des-Alps. We were lucky it was a clear day so we could see those impressive peaks that stretch all across the horizon- including Mont Blanc.
There was randomly a Toboggan on the mountain and dad and I thought, "what the heck? why not?" So mom took pictures and I dad and I rode down the slope.
When we got back to Lausanne in the afternoon we went down to Ouchy- the lakefront part of town, which is just beautiful. Lausanne may not be a place that everyone has heard of, but it is a more significant town than you might guess. Lausanne holds the headquarters of the Olympics, and, of course, they have an Olympic museum. I got to visit it while I was on my mission, but unfortunately they started doing some renovation after I left, so they moved some of their items onto a boat to become a temporary floating museum. Even though they only brought a portion of their museum, they brought the coolest stuff: every torch and every medal from the Olympic games. Here's the good thing: when I came a couple years ago, I wasn't aloud to take pictures, but on the boat, we could! Yay!
Dad wanted to find the headquarters of the Volleyball Federation, but there was only a sign showing where the property is, surrounded by a large hedge, so he couldn't get any closer- though he tried.
As we drove back up through town we passed by some apartments and I told my dad we needed to stop. There was someone I needed to see if she was still there, though I knew it was likely she no longer lived there. I had to try. So he dropped me off and then went to find parking. The woman I hoped to see no longer lived there, but I took a walk down memory lane and I prayed that where ever she is, she is happy and healthy. Just a few doors down the complex lived a family from the church that I love very much. Sister Ruz did laundry for the sisters years. But I had seen on facebook recently that they were planning on moving, so I was hoping that hadn't happened yet. I went to their door, which still had their name- but you can't always trust that- and I rang the bell. I had no need to worry. It was Lindsey at the door. My parents walked up just after and they invited us inside. It felt so good to be with them again. Language-wise it was a complicated conversation; between Spanish and French, and translating for my mom- it was very fuddled. Dad was very happy to talk to people from Chile and they suggested that we should go to a Chilean restaurant in Lausanne, Creacion del Tata, which is owned by a member. I had heard of it on my mission and always wanted to go, but we never found it. Now we had the address from the Ruz family and we needed somewhere to go for dinner. Sounds like a plan to me. Off we went. Boy were we glad we went there. We walked inside and met Sister Nunez and her son who works with her. Dinner was amazing. You'll have to ask my dad for the names of all the foods we ate. I can tell you the empenadas are amazing, but I'm not sure I spelled that correctly.
We decided to leave her with our family picture and a postcard for San Diego (like we did with all the people we stayed with) so I went out to the car to get them. Mom didn't like the idea of me walking around alone but I assured her I'd be fine. Its my city and I know how to deal with people. The car wasn't far anyways, but I did have to walk through a group of Africans who, as expected, smile and flatter as you go by. But they are harmless. On the way back to the restaurant I passed one man walking up the street and he said hello. I returned the greeting and he took that to mean I wanted to talk. He asked if we could get a drink and he could get to know me. I politely refused and explained that my parents were waiting for me. I guess my mom has good reason to worry when I go off alone, and if I hadn't been a missionary, I wouldn't know how to react- but I got this- and its just hilarious.
After we left the restaurant we went up to the Cathedral and discovered that something big was going on. There had been signs all around the city that we had seen and not paid attention to: they were for a night of museums. If we had looked closely we would have known that most of the museums were open until 2 am and all you had to do was buy a bandanna to get into all of them. Unfortunately we couldn't go into the Cathedral, even though they were taking special tours up into the tours, carrying candle lanterns. That would have been SO fun. But maybe we'll come back someday and have an equally awesome opportunity. I love the Lausanne Cathedral and I will be back again in the future.
We did get to hear the town crier. They still have a man who shouts from the tours every hour after nine to announce the time. It was late when we decided to head home. But first I wanted my parents to experience the Lausanne metro. It is special because at each stop they play a little sound when it announces the station. I wanted to record some of them since I never did on my mission and I am a very nostalgic person. That meant that we actually rode back and forth a couple of times, but I loved it. We got home late and went to bed.
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