The morning after our hike, Marianne, the owner of the farm invited Eliza and Georgia to ride a horse. For all their horse craziness they haven’t had many chances to ride, so this was a big deal for them.
In the afternoon, our friends from Bern came out for a visit.
They brushed the small horses and donkeys and then went on a long horse ride together.
It was great getting to share the farm experience with them. Mila, the eldest daughter, worked hard to persuade her mom to plan another visit to the farm in a few weeks. 
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for her! 
On our last evening we decided to take another stroll, but this time we continued past the church. Just beyond it (I discovered when I dropped our friends off at the bus stop) was a deer farm!
As we stood in awe of the herd, the farmer came over with a bucket of dried bread and gave it to the girls to feed the deer.
He was so excited to see the girls’ interest in his deer. This is the aspect of traveling that I love most. When we stop to appreciate things that interest us, people want to share in our excitement and through that contagious excitement, we make new connections with people. 
The deer were such characters, especially the buck who was eager to get every bit of the bread.
Eliza and Georgia wanted their signature #holdhandsstandtallsisters shot in front of the herd and who should appear perfectly centered behind them? The greedy buck. Figures.
My heart was exploding with gratitude by the end of this stay. The people…the animals… the scenery, all of it made my heart swell. It was so good to get away from the toxic news cycle of the US and experience peace again.
As the setting sun ushered us back home, I realized that none of us were sad to leave. Eliza said, “Usually, when I leave animals, I feel sad, but these animals have the best life I could imagine, so I just feel happy for them and happy that I got to know them.” 
The next morning we had to say goodbye to our wonderful host Marianne. She took great care to share her way of life with Eliza and Georgia as well as our visiting friends. She explained life cycles of salamanders and dragonflies, let them feed chickens sheep and horses, gave them brushes to comb the ponies and donkeys. She was so full of love for children and nurtured their curiosity in the most beautiful way.
Eliza got up early that last morning to spend time with the animals. Kids were forbidden from going into the big horse pasture, but Marianne made an exception and let Eliza go in to play with the foal one last time. As we said goodbye to Marianne she had this to say about Eliza and the foal, “I watched them play together this morning, Eliza and the foal. What I observed was not a girl and a foal, but two foals frollicking together in the pasture and this is a memory that will stay with me forever.”
Photos courtesy of Marianne
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