Ready for the 4th of July!! Wait, what?

What to do when it's rainy and cold in Switzerland, well basically the same thing you do anywhere when it's cold and rainy. SHOPPING! Pieterlen is very tiny and doesn't have much to do, so my wonderful Swiss friends drove me to Solothurn to go to a mall. It was kind of cool! I had no idea that Migros, the supermarket chain, had their own shopping center and was THAT big! There were all sorts of shops and ramp-escalators to accommodate all the carts. They really blew my mind when the grabbed a scanner, checked it out with a credit card and just went through the store scanning what they were going to buy! At the end, you return the scanner to its station and go over to the kiosk where you swipe the same credit card and all your purchases show up, you pay with the card and that's it. You're free to go... The trust system is apparently much stronger in Switzerland than the U.S. Of A.... Oh well. You can seriously get anything in this store: clothes, food, pharmaceuticals, shoes, luggage, you name it! I, of course, had to stop and giggle at all the USA decorations. They sell more USA items than we do in the actual USA. The Stars and Stripes are popular!!! They had Stars and Stripes garden accessories, glow sticks, craft supplies, candles, signs, cookie jars, scissors... EVERYTHING!!!! It was crazy! And what surprised me even more was that people were actually buying it!

As for the most exciting news of the day: THE RAIN STOPPED!!! So we veered off and went to the old town of Solothurn. This town is adorable with quaint shops, beautiful views and gates from the 1200's still standing. Of course, people have modernized a bit and built apartments right into the old city gates. My favorite place in town was the Läderach Swiss Chocolate shop. I didn't go in, because I would have had to spend all of my money... But all you really need is to take a whiff as you walk by. The smell is incredible! Läderach uses real gold and hand-paints their chocolates into individual pieces of art! I always worry they might be too pretty to eat, but then you try it, and believe me, it's worth the price! Thinking about it is making me think very hard over my life decisions.... Anyone wanna buy me chocolate?

Love, Alison