Einsiedeln Abbey and Goldapfel Gingerbread

Since we had gotten to bed so late the night before, we decided to plan something short and nearby for today - a visit to the nearby village of Einsiedeln, known mostly for its large monastery. Ceci had been sick during the night, but we all crossed our fingers and hoped it wasn't contagious. [Spoiler: It was.] Malorie and Ceci decided not to come along, so Joe and the kids and I headed off on our own. The kids were pros at navigating Swiss trains by now, and they were so proud to show dad how they knew the way to walk to the train station by themselves. 

Einsiedeln is a pretty small place, so we had no trouble at all finding our way around once there. First we stopped to fill up our water bottles at a local fountain.

I loved this quirky guy with his book!

Then we stopped in at the visitor center for some maps and advice on a good trail to hike with the kids. Before heading out of town though, we stopped in at the Goldapfel gingerbread museum and bake shop. It was free, and had some interesting displays showing all the equipment used to make gingerbread, including some really neat molds for different shaped breads. They also had little bowls of all the different spices used in the recipe, both whole and ground so kids could see and smell the difference. At the end was a bowl with all the spices mixed together to smell. We bought a small package of gingerbread to snack on during our hike, and then set off.

We passed a playground and the kids couldn't resist playing here first. Here's a video of them horsing around.

Katie spent most of the time playing with this fountain.

Playing on this cool thing with the monastery in the background.

Lots of playgrounds have water play - often with a pump like this as a water source.

Finally we set out on our hike - a short loop on a trail that went high on a hill with a view of the surrounding landscape.

Heading up!

Looking down on the monastery from the top of the hill! We ate our lunch on a bench here with this incredible view on this gorgeous day. 

After hiking again for a little while we decided to have a snack and try the gingerbread together. The kids were super excited and looking forward to sampling the cookies!

However, they were a little surprised to find that these were not gingerbread cookies as expected, but instead more of a tiny little bread with a ginger flavor. I love their facial expressions here! They all said the gingerbread was good though - after they adjusted to the fact that it was not really a cookie.

Another view of the monastery on our hike 

We passed some of the stations of the cross on our hike as well. 

We made it back to the monastery and ventured inside. However, the church was closed to visitors because there was a Vespers service going on, so we went inside the gift shop for awhile instead. While there, I picked up a book about the monastery, and I happened to open up to a page that read that one of the highlights for pilgrims visiting the monastery was the singing of the Salve Regina after Vespers. So naturally I sprinted back over to the church, and was lucky enough to make it there while the monks were still singing - it was beautiful!

After the service was over, the church was opened up for visitors once again, and we spent some time enjoying the magnificent Baroque interior. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted inside, so here is a link to a Google image search so you can see how beautiful the interior was.

We filled up at the fountain outside before heading home. I love love love all the fountains in Europe! Then we found our way back to the train station and rode back to Pfaffikon, where Malorie had dinner (and wine!) waiting for us.