R returns

R has made it home with only minor injuries.  The trip was probably almost what you would expect of an eighth grade trip.* There were issues with accommodations, a drama queen, a mysterious disciplinary crackdown, a wild animal encounter, etc. More unexpected were some of the surprisingly dangerous activities in which, there being no permission slip, R definitely did not have my permission to participate.

R will be making the full post Sunday night.  Tonight it is to bed as early as possible for all of us because we have an interesting weekend planned.

* There were no openings for R in seventh grade. Things will go back to normal next year.

The young photographer

We went back to the farmer's market today. I'd like to try some of the other markets, but Burkliplatz is so incredibly convenient and pretty.

When we got off the train this morning the stroller was making a strange noise.  I think it could be the brake not disengaging completely, but I pumped up one of the tires just in case. To do that I had to take out both kids. When I was done L scrambled up onto the front seat as fast as she could. I don't think she especially likes it since she is always more restless there, but she took it anyway. That caused a problem. T is too big to sit underneath and complains about walking. He eventually stopped whining about walking to the market when I promised he could sit in front and use the camera when we got there.

Here are his pictures - all front page material with his captions. Click pictures to enlarge!

I took this picture because I want the leaf to be a surprise.

I took it cause I like the bag.

It's a nice color.

I like radishes cause it looks so reddy.

I like carrots because they're orange and that's my favorite color, too.

I like this so much because I wanted to put it on the shelf.

That looks so funny. I want to show people my eyes.

I like a carrot.

Go figure

R's field trip is real! E went with her to the station to make sure she made it to the meeting point.  The station has several levels and can be a little disorienting. He was the only parent there.  All the other kids had come on their own. I love that! R has only been in school for a week, and she is completely confident on the trains.  Also the trams, it seems. She told me that some of the kids in her class have to ride a tram to another school for gym class.

R called to let us know she had arrived. The kids were given a couple of hours of free time and she and her friends did a little hiking. At least that is what E understood. Who knows? Setting the kids free on a mountain doesn't make sense to me, but this whole trip has been a culture shock. She was definitely on a mountain top enjoying the weather and the view.  If we can trust wiki, it's something like this.

Roman Daze

E, S, and T went to the Roman festival at Augusta Raurica ruins near Basel today. The weather looked iffy at the time of departure and L was too tired to face hours on the train, so she and I stayed home.  R also stayed in order to relax and get ready before her field trip, which involves a long train ride tomorrow.

 T earned his helmet. Thanks to a small language barrier issue he mistakenly lead a kids' simulated battle charge a bit early, surprising the men who had been waiting behind shields. Until the other kids decided to join in he was running and screaming alone across the field with his stick poised and ready to attack.  The crowd loved it, and T thought he must have done a good job.

   

S and T learn rock carving.

 

S and T ride a chariot. T plans new battle maneuvers.

A playground to satisfy T

Every day T wants to go to a playground.  Most days he does go, and afterwards  immediately asks me to take him to another one. When we are on trains he asks, "Are we going to a playground?" or "Why aren't we at a playground?" So I figured that since we had to go as far east as possible to avoid rain, today would be a good day to bring him to Madrisaland at Klosters. Klosters is where the British royal family is known to go skiing. Our trip there did nothing to weaken my theory of resort demographics.  There were lots of English people there, including one incredibly friendly family and their beautiful dog Bob.

Another playground with a view.

Madrisaland has slides, swings, slack lines, zip lines, climbing walls, climbing nets, a petting zoo, a bouncy castle, sling shots, playhouses, etc. We got there around 11 a.m. and stayed for hours until it started to rain. There was a big picnic firepit, too.  We are always forgetting about the firepits.  Maybe next time.

The slide has no attendant, no warnings, and no instructions other than a picture telling you to get on a mat.

I guess there's really not that much to explain.

The main attraction for R was the "slide of death." I went on it and wasn't a huge fan.  The time spent in the tube seems very long when you are free-falling through air rather than actually sliding.  Then you hit the bottom of the slide just long enough to be directed out. The next thing you know, you've slammed into a pillow made of garbage bag material and are rolling down into the dirt.  You ride down on a felt mat with an envelope at the end for your feet.  So when you land you aren't free. It's like you're stuck in a bag.  I felt like a potato being harvested and packaged. I'm very glad I did it, though. It would have been awful to wonder.  And it is possible I just had a bad ride, since R and E liked it enough to go on several times.

All caught up!

So I am actually writing today's blog post today! I spent the morning catching up and I will spend the evening adding pictures.  I don't want to include pictures or info that could identify the kids. They are too young to have embarrassing pictures on the net! But I will be setting up a flickr account or something sometime and I will let friends and family know when I do.

This could be anyone!

Kiddie cars

I took the littles up to Gurten today.  It is the local mountain for Bern and has lots of things for little kids at the top.  And we took a funicular up and down, which I thought would interest T, but instead fascinated L.  She sat right at the bottom end and loved it.

T enjoys a ride

At the top there is a mini train, a little climbing area over the mini tracks, a larger play area with a slide, a little water play place with some playground bouncers and a raft, and electric kiddie cars.  For some reason, although the place seems intended for pre-schoolers to maybe age seven it was overrun with older kids.  About a dozen teenagers had commandeered the structure with the slide.  I had to take T and L away because it was dangerous.  And T had to wait forever for a free kiddie car.  Big kids were swarming them, crashing them, pushing them when their franc ran out and the car didn't run on its own.    It was very stressful watching for a car to come available and seeing some huge kid run to it when T had obviously been waiting longer.  I could live with it.  I know those kids were having fun, too. But I did want to kick the big teenager with a moustache who pushed by T so he could crouch into a car and slam into everyone.  I felt like yelling, "You're old enough to drive a real car, Fool!"

Does it look like there is a fountain behind the top of the slide? 

I was surprised when L slid down soaking wet.

Internet day

This is the day we finally regained our connection to the world.  Homework can be done, blog can be written, email can be read, weather can be checked, calls can be made. Thank goodness!

Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet day.  I wanted to stay home and be here when the kids got home from their first half day.  L was very happy to have a nap.  She sleeps in the stroller when we are out and around, but it just isn't the same.  I think we are going to have to cut back on some of my plans and alternate days in and out so she can rest.

It was well that I was home, since E and I had to contact R's school.  She came home with a strange notice.  At the top was a photo of a person dressed in some monstrous folk mask.  Below we were told to send R to the train station on Monday for a week long school trip in Saas Grund and there was a list of what to pack and a mention of cost.  That's all R and I could make of it.  There was no permission slip, no contact forms, nothing about how to pay.  Only a phone number with a typo. And R insisting that everyone was going, just send her to the train on Monday and no big deal.

Now that's a farmer's market!

Look at the size of the gladiolas compared to the bike!

Bürkliplatz at the tip of Bahnhofstrasse is everything I thought the Oerlikon market would be.  I was shy about taking pictures, but I won't be the next time I go.  I really want to go with Rose someday before school.  There was every type of fresh vegetable and fruit.  We got reine claude plums, mini cucumbers, little strawberries (T's only request) and little buns in the shape of hedgehogs for our picnic. The flowers at the market were incredible.  They had the biggest gladiolas I had ever seen, every type of sunflower imaginable, and dahlias everywhere.  The prices for arrangements were absolutely reasonable and I saw many people leaving with just armfuls of flowers.  There were also bakers, cheese stands, Italian charcuterie. Persian dried fruits, and a trout van.  I am bringing the good camera next time and just making a trip of it rather than a quick stop. T was incredibly impatient the whole time we were there since I had promised him a tram ride.  He was only quiet when he was getting his freebie "prizes" from the vendors: a bread heel, dried apples, and a big carrot.

First day of school

I should really let the girls write this post.  But I do want to comment on their schedules.  S goes to school from 8:10 until 3:20 most days.  Except for Wednesday which is a half day that starts an hour early and Thursday when she goes to the local pool at 8:10 for swimming and comes home an hour late.  They do not learn math every day, but they have time for three hours of home ec/shop every Monday morning.  Also, she comes home every day for lunch for an hour and a half.  That's kind of nice for us, but not for parents of little kids who have to walk their kids to and from school four times a day.  For someone who lives 20 minutes away that would be more than two and a half hours a day walking, and in such a way going to work would be impossible.

R's schedule is crazier.  First, she had to skip into eighth grade in order to find a place in a school.  In eighth grade here the kids do not move from class to class.  Rather, the class stays together and different teachers come in for different subjects.  R is not required to take Latin or English so there are gaps in her day in addition to the usual weird gaps her class has.  I hope she can use them to focus on languages (she is three years behind in French in addition to not speaking German) and keep up with her math class at home.  R starts school at 7:35 everyday, except for Friday which is later.  She has to leave the house at 6:45 to catch the train to Zurich.  School ends at 4:40 on Monday, 3:45 on Tuesday, 11:15 on Wednesday, and 5:30 on Thursdays and Fridays.  She will get out earlier on Thursdays and/or Fridays if she does not sign up for FF classes which have described to her as extra curriculars and sports.  In that case she could get out at 2:50 and 1:05 on those days. If she does Friday FF she would have a 3 hour lunch/study break before FF.  So it seems like aside from the optional FF classes, her class gets 2 half days a week.  How do they learn enough in that amount of time?  In summary, R gets 3 full days and 2 half days of instruction during which she has a 1 or 2 hour open campus lunch break and doesn't take 2 of the scheduled classes.  It's hard to understand and accept. It's just as well she will be in eighth grade again next year.

Lovely Luzern

We didn't see much of Luzern today.  Everything in old town was closed, which made us not want to spend much time there.  But we saw enough there and on our way to the lido to decide that Luzern is the prettiest city we've seen here.  It reminded us of France. We want to go back very soon.

It's a little like Paris: iron balconies, art nouveau statue, street cafe, and a pharmacy.

We try hiking again

After our first hike, we chose this hike very carefully.  It was the Toggenburg sound trail.  It is an easy walk with built in stops which were different musical instrument and sound installations along the way. Also, there was a cable car halfway through if we wanted to stop.

L needs more cowbell!

The lido

The view

We had been to the lido before now, but it wasn't in my notes.  The lido is the kids' favorite place in town.  It isn't really a beach.  It's a beautiful park on the Lake Zurich with a swimming area.  It takes about twenty five minutes for us to walk there.

When you walk in there is a long perfect lawn stretching to the lake.  On the left running toward the water is a restaurant/snack bar and a long partially covered patio with tables and chairs. On the center lawn there is a beach volleyball court and a place for people to play paddleball. Closer to the lake and on the right people lay out their blankets.  There are big sycamore trees in rows so you can choose sun or shade.  There is a small partially covered kiddie pool with a slide and a big sandbox.  Finally, there are two lake swimming areas.  One is cordoned off for little kids and has a small slide.  The other is stairs leading down to the open lake  There are two large sunbathing rafts, a diving platform with a medium high dive, an anchored surfboard to climb onto and jump from, and an anchored log.  Somehow the log rolls a bit and you can pretend to be a lumberjack on it.

Our favorite spot, R from the high dive

Oldy timey with the oldy people

We went to Stein am Rhein because I thought it would be fast and easy.  It wasn't fast. And the old town section that we wanted to see was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  What was there was pretty and interesting, but I wouldn't recommend the place to people with kids.  There just wasn't enough.  Old people on the other hand seem to love it there.  It's easy to see everything, everything is cute, it is cool and pretty by the river, no big hills to climb.

That is something I have noticed here.  Each town seems to have its own tourist demographic.  Grindelwald had so many Japanese tourists that they had their own special tourist office.  Stein am Rhein is an elderly hot spot.  I've seem women wearing abayas and veils in Luzern but not in Zurich or Bern. Bern has some group I can't identify that seems eastern or southern European.  Maybe this is all just my imagination?

The little zoo

Monday was spend doing laundry and unpacking.

Tuesday was a little bit of a waste, too.  I waited for someone to come and install cable and internet.  He never came.  There was a little mix up that resulted in us not having anything connected until the night of the 21st.  That's why the blog is being written a week late.

We did get out Wednesday.  We went to the Knies Kinderzoo in Rapperswil.  It really is a kinder zoo.  It's very small and easy to walk and doesn't have very many animals.  The highlights for S and T were their ride on an elephant and the sea lion show. L loved the pygmy goat petting area.  It was swarming with tiny goats and an occasional pot bellied pig.  There was also a fairly large playground there with what looked like a dangerously long and steep kiddie slide.  L loved it and went down dozens of times. She has no fear at all and will go down any slide she can.

Moving day

Back to Männedorf to take possession the the apartment.  I guess there isn't much to say about the apartment other than that it is beautiful and has absolutely everything we need.  There is a computer, toys for the kids, an electric bike for long rides to the cheap grocery store, a yard with fruit and flowers, a huge soaking tub, maps and guidebooks, a washing machine, and even a storage room which is also the buildings bomb shelter.  The location is excellent.  It is only a few minutes from S's school and from the train. The couple renting to us has been incredibly helpful, thoughtful, and generous.  Our landlord showed us everything so thoroughly that by the time he left we had no questions and felt completely at home.

We are out of shape

Grosse Schiedegg. remember to click to enlarge pics!

We got up very early and took the bus to Grosse Scheidegg where we would start our hike.  The bus ride itself was an experience.  Up and up and up we went.  I had thought the road to the hostel was narrow and winding. This road made it look like I-70 through Kansas.  The driver has constantly blowing the horn as he approached turns.  In one place the bus had to pass some cyclists.  They had to stop and move to the side of the road and let the bus go.  The road was between two steep inclines there and the bike riders had nowhere to go but the shoulder.  I am sure that the bus was so close to one man that it brushed against his stomach as we passed.

Grosse Scheidegg was beautiful.  Craggy black mountains with snowy white tops stark against a perfect blue sky and emerald green fields running down to the valley traced through with streams and waterfalls.  Fresh air and the sound of cowbells.  The kids were full of energy and immediately scrambled up a huge boulder for a view.  We begged them to save energy, but they were hyper.

We started the hike, confused in a couple of places whether we should take a high trail of the low one.  We chose low since it was paved and we wanted to be sure footed with L in the baby backpack.  Maybe should have followed the crowd up.  It was a beautiful hike, but not very varied since we seemed to be following the same valley.  And we very quickly became tired.  It was very hard to carry L, T was walking on his own and complaining, and the whole things was embarrassingly hard.  I think we were discouraged, too, by the fact that it was supposed to take an hour and a half and after two and a half hours there was no sign of our destination.

A happy birthday

the view from our hotel in Grindelwald. click to enlarge!

E moved most of our luggage over to the apartment's storage area on Thursday night.  But since we couldn't move in until Sunday, we decided to leave the Männedorf hotel and spend a couple of days in Grindelwald.

The plan had been for me to go down early with the kids (since we had to check out) and hike somewhere until it was time to check into our new hotel.  That didn't happen due to: rain and the logistics of hiking with a 3 year old and a 1 year old in the rain, my complete misjudgment of how close Grinelwald is to the stroller friendly hike I wanted to do in Lauterbrunnen, and crankiness caused by train

Jet lag strikes

It rained all day.  After a quick walk down to the grocery store for lunch and snacks, I left the kids in the girls' hotel room with every electronic thing and charger we have and I slept.  It was only supposed to be for an hour or so, but R and S let me sleep until dinner.  They are so good!  I felt bad about not bringing them somewhere, but there were a couple of hours in the afternoon when I don't know if I could have stayed awake.  I was starting to have mini hallucinations.  Maybe E is right when we says exhaustion hits on the second day. I was exhausted.  The trip was the first time I've ever gone a full 24 hours (or more) without sleep.  Even in labor with the kids I always managed to catch some sleep.

A slow start

Well, we had our GA travel cards which let us travel pretty much anywhere in Switzerland, other than privately owned rails, gondolas, funiculars, etc.  But no one was really raring to go anywhere after our long trip.  So while E went to handle administrative stuff and then work the kids and I went to Oerlikon where I had read there was a big market.  That seemed perfect - a direct train for us so we could get our bearings, some lunch which we would not get at the hotel, and maybe we would find something special  that we'd never see at home.  It might have been a good plan, but we arrived only a half hour or so before the market closed, so maybe some stands were gone, or maybe it's better on Saturdays.  We did get a few nice things for lunch, but nothing exotic.  We were slightly constrained by the fact that our bank card didn't work that morning for some reason and we had only a few francs E had leftover from his last trip.

The trip here

It was a hectic morning getting all the luggage together and out the door.  A few last minute things were forgotten in the process, the worst of which were my wedding and engagement rings.  I usually don't wear them because they are so loose, but I wanted to have them.  E will get them when he goes back for work.

The trip itself was fine.  The best part, by far, was the trip to the airport.  We hadn't thought through very well how we would get all the luggage there.  Luckily my mom, dad, and step-mom told us we were crazy to consider renting two minivans and all chipped in for a limo service.  So we rode to Dulles in a huge suv limo with a sofa, bar, video screen, and star lights in the ceiling.  The kids were ecstatic, and everyone arrived at the airport happy and rested.  A good thing, since our trip door to door took about 23 hours.  I could go on and on about what a good idea the limo was, and how the kids liked every part of it, including people turning their heads and wondering who was inside.  Obviously not bachelorettes or a wedding party on Monday morning!