Young Chang From the BMW museum to...

Young Chang

From the BMW museum to the Swiss Alps to the little town of

Leiderdorp where Carolyn Beaver’s father grew up, the Beaver family

had a most educational and eclectic visit around Switzerland, the

Netherlands and Germany in August.

The Newport Beach foursome -- parents Carolyn and Bill Beaver and

sons Clayton and Colin -- spent four weeks seeing sights, climbing to

famously high peaks and visiting cousins. They got their fill of

scenic moments, what with the views in Zermatt, Switzerland, and the

famous Alps and the expanses of purple and green valleys. And they

also did more scholastic things like visit the Swiss Museum of

Transportation and Communication.

“It was a great thing to do on a rainy day. They had all kinds of

different information,” said Carolyn Beaver, who retired as a partner

at an accounting firm to stay home with her boys. “The most

interesting thing was about the Swiss railway system, the impact it

made on Switzerland.”

The family also visited a museum in Amsterdam, where they learned

about land reclaimed from the sea thanks to the work of dikes and

windmills. There was also the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, where the

boys got to see some Rembrandts and Van Goghs.

“Some of the things I had wanted to see before and I wanted the

kids to see,” Beaver said.

When it came to their outdoors-y adventures, the family enjoyed

seeing the Matterhorn.

“It’s almost surreal,” said Bill Beaver, president of Alpine

Leasing in Newport Beach. “It’s better than a picture certainly ...

and the dynamics of the area -- the mix of the valleys, the steep

peaks, the wildlife and the farms all around -- it’s like its own

little ecosystem right there.”

Surrounding towns are run by hydroelectric power from waterfalls

and other water sources nearby, and what you see on the streets are

electric vehicles.

In Zermatt, the family hiked a bit and rode a cable car to an

altitude of about 11,500 feet, where they could see the Matterhorn on

one side and Italy on the other.

There was also plenty to see in the BMW museum in Munich, Germany.

Bill Beaver learned about commuter-type motorcycles and just how

extensive their motorcycle line is.

The Porsche museum was also interesting, but less exciting as most

of the exhibits had to do with the Porsche’s racing heritage.

The family did a bit of shopping too, especially in Lucerne,

Switzerland.

“The boys were particularly interested in the Swiss Army knives,”

Carolyn Beaver said.

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to TRAVEL TALES,

330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail young.chang@latimes.com;

or fax to (949) 646-4170.