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.