travelling with mom

i've been lazy and not too interested in updating the blog lately. today i thought i'd finally post something for my die hard blog fans.
So I've been travelling with my mommy for the last week and a half. I'll just recount what we have done. We have bought Swiss rail passes and are using them to the max.
First, we went to Alstätten to stay with some friends of mom's that she met while living in Toronto almost 30 years ago. they have a really cool house. downstairs there is a gigantic work shop where Joe does his hobby staind glass work. he gives lessons which would be really cool to take. they took us to Lichtenstein where it was the king's birthday that day and there was entertainment and food stalls everywhere. then we drove to one of their favorite restaurants in Austria and had the hugest schnitzel i've ever seen! it didn't fit on the plate. Joe finished his but me, mom and Paulita ate about half and took the rest home. mom insisted on getting our passports stamped at the border but they don't really bother usually and just wave cars through.
the next day mom and I went to St. Moritz for two nights. it is one of the posh places to stay and go skiing. there is a fancy hotel there that we walked through much like the fairmont's Empress or Royal York. we stayed at the youth hostel which was still 50 francs per person! but there was one massive breakfast buffet and dinner which was included with that.
we took a rail car half way up the mountain and walked down to the bottom. it was really beautiful. i will post a pic later. we also visited a health spa where one can drink the ^healing water^ it tasted really wierd and was slightly carbonated. there is a pretty lake that the town is centered around and lots of walking/biking/horse riding paths around the area that double up as cross country trails in the winter. I could see myself living there if I spoke swiss german.
after St Moritz we went to Davos and I cant remeber the other towns name. we just stopped in them for a couple hours and walked around before heading back to my aunts house in St. Gallen.
We went to Goldach one day, one of the towns my mother grew up in. and visited some really old neighbours of hers. they didnt speak english so it was pretty boring for me. the next day we went to Rorschach and visited some second cousin of my moms. yesterday we went back to Rorschach and visited one of my mom's cousins. i met 2 of my second cousins. then we came back and had a fondue dinner with my 3 cousins and aunt and uncle. man did i feel gross after that. I ate too much cheese, drank to much wine and my clothes stunk like cheese. Miryam and I decided to go to town and have some drinks and play some darts at one of the bars. I had more elderberry wine but discovered after i'd ordered it that there is elderberry flower wine which i tried and it's even tastier. next time. i ended up getting a ride part way back with one of Miryam's friend in his smart car. those things are so cute. the spedometers max speed says 140 km/hr he dropped me off at the top of the lane but i still had to walk back in the dark rainy fog along the road to my aunts house. man that was spooky. i ran part of the way and got really wet.
today, as soon as mom gets her act together we are heading out to Flawil to visit a chocolate factory. i am envisioning myself swimming in vats of chocolate. yum yum. i'll let you know how that goes.