Nebeneinanderstellungen

Riding through the Emmental in the morning, through towns that have names like Worb, Grosshöchstetten, Zäziwil (my second favorite after Utzigen). Spending the afternoon at Dählhölzli ... watching Law and Order, Arthur, Martha Speaks on the BBC. Gramma calls us on the vonage.

It's like nothing has changed really. Just the spelling.

Expat Advice

Vonage. We ordered it last month and have had it now since Alison returned from the US. They send you a little modem-type thing. Plug'er in, plug in a standard US phone and you're good to go. We now have a 651 area code number that rings in Switzerland. We can also take the modem thing with us wherever we go. As long as people remember the 7 hour difference, everything works out pretty swell.

Living in CH with a 3 Year Old

At times I feel extremely limited in my ability to get out and see CH. When you have a 3 year old, their only real desire is to head to the Spielplatz and swing or jump or slide. To them, that's fun. Not spending four hours on a trans-alp train, or visiting a museum, or hiking even. So we've had a lot of good family time - definitely not a bad thing.

But I learned from a co-worker about an "easy" hiking trail called the Muggestutz. Basically it's a hiking trail for children and you can follow along with a story about some Dwarfs as you walk the trail. And along the trail are places the kids can investigate, climb on or through or whatever. It looked pretty cute. And it looked like a good opportunity to join in the typical Swiss pastime of hiking.

Long story short, the "theme" of the trail does not quite match up with the skill required to navigate the paths. We made it, but barely. I ended up carrying a sleeping and bruised boy for a third of it. Kids were biffing it all over the place. I watched one boy do a complete face plant at one point. It was some rough walking at times.

But along the way were picnic spots where families were cooking meats and such. One family had two strollers. No idea how they got them up there. We saw cows up close, horses, drank from the fresh mountain water fountains, snuck into little huts, climbed up ladders. It was a hoot. We had a blast and were VERY tired by the time we mad it back home.

So enough of the verbiage. Here is our story in pictures.



We rode to the top in 3 gondolas: 1 large one that leaves every 30 minutes and 2 smaller ones that run continuously. Basically the mountain is a ski resort and the trails go up and down the ski mountain.



After reaching the top we decided that Noah was due some well-earned play time - we had survived 2 trains and 3 gondolas. Luckily, right at the top of the hiking path is a fairly nice Spielplatz. All the parents were doing essentially the same thing - letting their kids blow off some steam for making it up the mountain in one piece.



After 15 minutes or so we decided to head off down the trail.



After not very long, we had survived a few stumbles and pinches and trips and came across a picnic area. The expert Swiss families had brought all sorts of delicious meats for grilling. But really we didn't stand out much at all - every family had their share of crankiness. The cows just sat by and were pretty happy everyone was grilling pork. There was firewood stacked for people to use, and maybe 6 or so fire pits. You could get seriously up close to the cows. Them are some BIG cows. We ate our sandwiches, drank our Ovo drink and went on our way.



Right after our food break we came across this little Zwergenhaus. Noah loved it. Except for banging his leg on a rock at one point. It didn't last long though. He was up and climbing around inside the house soon enough.



The view was spectacular. Did I say how awesome the view was? Wow. It was good.



And after making it out of the Zwergenweg we stopped by the restaurant by the gondola and had a drink and a well-deserved popsicle. I was very surprised how good of a mood he was in after being carried asleep down 1/3 of the hike. Truth be told, we actually ditched the hiking path when we could see the chalet and a normal utility road that crossed the Wanderweg. Cheating? I think not. It's hard to carry a 40-pound sleeping lump down a mountain.



After riding the gondola back down the mountain, of course, we spent a little time in the playground. There was a zip-slide and Noah rode it probably 1000 times before we headed back to the train station to head home. He fell asleep hard this evening.

Mille et Un Fromage

Saturdays have turned into farmer's market days. We started going a month or so ago - zip down there, run through and grab local fruits and vegetables for the week. Slightly cheaper than the grocery stores, way more delicious. Also somewhat entertaining for Noah for the morning. Our neighbors though told us about the "fancy" farmer's market. It's really part of the same thing, but just behind the Zytglogge are the fancy vendors on Munstergasse - meats, cheeses, olives, more meats, more cheeses. We grabbed all the usual stuff - garlic, potatoes, blueberries, spinach. We also purchased some goat cheese from "1000 et Un Fromage". Best. Goat. Cheese. Ever. I think I want to start in on the meats soon as well - try out a few different snausages. Now that we've found the fancy place, we're going back.

And coming in at #2 ...

... is the Zopf. I could eat one every day. They come in multiple sizes from single serving to loaf and are available in grocery stores and bakeries. Butter + goodness. There's a deli down the street from work that bakes them fresh every friday - stefs. I usually buy a loaf every week to use for sandwich bread. Sometimes, I just eat it. It's true.

Guilty Pleasures

A looooong time ago I spent a year at what was at that time called the Institute of German Studies (brought to you by the Lutheran goodness of Concordia College). It was 9 months of staying in the camp-like environment of Waldsee. Stuck out in the woods with pretty much nothing to do but speak German, we managed to get into all sorts of trouble. All we did, all day long, was learn and do German stuff. It was a crazy idea that preceded MTVs Real World idea - the only difference was that we didn't have cameras. Same idea though - kids, nothing to do, chaos ensues. I wish I had some pictures to post - my time there preceded the digital camera era. It actually was a lot of fun.

And one of the most awesomest dinners we ever had was of course wiener schnitzel. The kitchen made it by hand, and it was delicious.

Thus, behold ... "Coop Schweinefleisch paniert nach Wiener Art". Turns out, you can buy a 1kg bag of schnitzel to have in your home! Not the best schnitzel on the planet, but when it is your favorite all time guilty pleasure, it is a 1kg bag of heaven. Just add ketchup. Wow. Yum. Put it on a stick and pretend you are at the State Fair it's that good.

Now if only I could get Noah to like it. If only I could get Noah to eat meat?!? Maybe if I tell him it's just a different kind of toast ...

Our Own Private Gurtenfest

Today we headed up the Gurten again. This time, we were able to relax a bit more due to the fact that we've now been here for a few months instead of a single week. Noah remembered the place pretty well. This time though we decided to climb the tower (Eiffel Tower as Noah called it). While were were up there, a glider buzzed the tower - if you can call swooping by virtually silently buzzing. Crazy. Noah and I were acting like little school kids. Cool! Wow! Did you see that? We ran around a ton, climbed the climbing thing, did the mechanical ball thinger. He barely made it home he was so tired.

Now he's sleeping on the couch.

FYI - the tower wobbles. Very unnerving.

And ...

... the popularity contest begins.