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!