The French Alps and Southern Germany

Stanley and I flew to Geneva to meet up with our friends Dan and Jon.  We travelled around the city only briefly, but one of the sights that you simply cant miss is the 459 foot high fountain in the middle of Lake Geneva.  In French it is called the Jet d'Eau, and the water leaves the nozzle at 124 miles per hour! 

Near Geneva are the famous CERN laboratories, where scientists from all over the world are studying how atoms work and learning more every day about how the universe works.  Most of the work is done underground in a 16 mile long circular tunnel, but there is some cool stuff above ground as well.  Here, Stanley is outside of an exhibit which explains all of the work being done underground.

The Alps are some of the biggest mountains in the world (bigger than the Rockies), so Stanley and his friends couldn't pass up the opportunity to hike to the top of one of the mountains.  In this picture, we are about halfway up.  The house belongs to a farmer who makes his own cheese from the cows he owns and sells it to all of the hikers going past each day.

On our way up the mountain, we got very lucky and stumbled upon some young mountain goats!  They were so curious that they got within arms length of us at times.  Beautiful animals!

Here we are at the top of the mountain!

After Switzerland, Stanley and I went to the South of Germany to visit some more friends.  This picture was taken in Heidelberg, but its not a very good picture.  There is a castle in the background, but it is hard to make out.  In any case, the first picture of Stanley and I together!

England

Hello all!!  I apologize for the delay, Flat Stanley has been very busy.  We arrived in England and headed straight for Liverpool, an historic shipping town with enough cultural history to make your head spin.  But perhaps one of the most impressive sights in (or, near) Liverpool is the beach at Crosby, where a few years ago an artist by the name of Antony Gormley placed dozens of statues all over the beach, each exactly the same.

Stanley at Crosby beach.

Each black dot in the distance is another statue.

One of the statues close-up.

Stanley's next stop was in the southwest of England, in the countryside area known as Dorset.  Specifically, he stayed in a wonderful little cottage in the village of Berwick-St. John.  The countryside is absolutely beautiful, with different shades of green covering the landscape and little patches of forest scattered throughout.

The cottage where Stanley and I stayed.

Archibald (Archie) was a constant companion.

One especially picturesque location is the famous Gold Hill in Shatesbury, about 5 miles away from the cottage in Berwick-St. John.  A bread commercial was filmed here decades ago, and it has been famous across England ever since.

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury

 No trip to England is complete without a castle or two.  In this case, Wardour Castle.  Hidden deep in the countryside, this castle is now more of a ruins than anything else, but it still attracts visitors all year round.

 After a long day of sightseeing, nothing is more refreshing than a cup of tea and some scones (complete with clotted cream and jam).

Stanley's next stop is Geneva, Switzerland!