Travel Journals: Grandparent Trilogy Part I Switzerland 2019

GRANDPARENT TRILOGY, PART I, SWITZERLAND, MARCH 2019

PAUL, CAROL AND ME

OUR LAST ADVENTURE

(Clicking on any photo will enlarge it to screen size.)

GRANDPARENT TRILOGY, PART II (GUATEMALA 2022, WITH WESLEY AND ELLEN) CAN BE FOUND IN JANUARY 2024 ENTRIES

PART III (ICELAND WITH JADE) CAN BE FOUND IN FEBRUARY 2024 ENTRIES

Carol and I had always talked about taking our grandsons, one at a time, to Europe to show them the world beyond Minnesota. It turns out that the boys (Aidan - 13, Wes - 11, and Julien - 8) have already seen a lot of the world without us. Collectively, they've traveled to Israel, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, France, Tunisia, Belgium, Germany and Ireland and maybe a country or two that I've missed. (Carol and I never traveled outside the U.S. until we were married! Times have changed.)

We weren't going to let the boys' travel experience deter us, however. So, in March of 2019, we took Aidan to Switzerland for his spring break. What a good time we had! We visited Bern, the charming capital city of Switzerland. We visited the village of Murren in the Alps, staying at the historic Eiger Guesthouse and sledding alongside the skiers. (Carol and I have never been downhill skiers, and weren't about to take up the sport at this point in our lives.) We ended up in Montreux, where we bicycled along the shores of Lake Geneva from the city into the countryside and visited the Freddie Mercury Museum. And the highlight - the castle at Chillon. Castles were on Aidan's list of most important sights to see, and Chillon was a fantastic experience.

I will tell the rest of the story of our adventure in photos, before wrapping up.

Bern - the Einstein Museum.
Carol tells Albert Einstein a thing or two.

Use your words, Aidan!

Murten's Medieval Clock Workings

The scientist and the writer

The Alps as seen from atop the Gurten in Bern

The view from our room at the Eiger Guesthouse in Murren

On the slopes

Who needs skis?

Carol Likes this beer!

Serenity (Montreux)

The view from our apartment in Montreux

Chillon Castle

Chillon

A break from cycling

In the courtyard of Chillon

Aidan doesn't like this beer!

Basking in the sunshine

View from the castle at Thun

The Medieval Ramparts at Murten

Bern, as seen from atop the Gurten

A street game. Aidan and I looked for a game in our travels,
but never found another.

Montreux as seen from a bicycle

Homage to Freddie Mercury

Old Geneva

The memory of this journey is a bittersweet one as I write this in September. We got to take our oldest grandson on a voyage of discovery, to our great satisfaction. It was, however, to be the last journey that Carol and I would take. My beloved Carol died on June 9, 2019, four years after she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Carol's life changed forever on June 30, 2015, when she received her diagnosis. She spend the next four years living her life courageously and to the fullest. She refused to act the victim or to be seen as a cancer patient. She received chemotherapy and radiation with the goal of being able to have the Whipple surgery. In January, 2016, she underwent the Whipple, a grueling nine-hour operation, and then began a long, difficult recovery from the effects of the surgery.

In October of 2016, we celebrated her recovery from the surgery by bicycling the mountainous terrain of Croatia's Dalmatian Islands. A year later we hiked in New Zealand. We took road trips to California to escape Minnesota winters. In California, we took vigorous hikes, attended concerts and an international film festival.

At home, Carol continued her active life as much as she was able, volunteering, organizing activities with friends, spending time with her family. In October of 2018, Carol and our daughter, Ellen, got to have a mother-daughter adventure in our favorite city, Paris.

Carol never had an easy day after her surgery, but one would never know. She kept active. She always had a smile for everyone.

If you wish to know more, please visit the Caring Bridge website, where you will find photos, her obituary, the eulogy that I delivered at the Mass of Celebration of Carol's Life, and remembrances of people who knew her. At the website, type in her name - Carol Purcell.