31 October 2009

Newest CH Internetz Fun

So I didn't find this. Alison did. She's been telling me now for weeks ... "the tram will be here in 3 minutes," or 7 minutes or whatever. I'm like, man you have good eyes to see the tram stop from our window. I can sometimes make out the time. Some times. But only just barely. She's been spot on now for quite some time.

Well, she's been cheating. Using the pipes. BernMobile has to the minute times for every bus/tram stop in town. Awesome.

25 October 2009

Lots going on

On Friday evening we went to the US Embassy for a pumpkin decorating party. It was fun to hang out inside the fortress so to speak. Everyone decorated and ran around like crazies. I drank a MGD. N. had animal crackers and nilla wafers. It's nice to be on American soil from time to time. Even though the beer was awful. But then again, it's about the same as Feldschlösschen.

Yesterday we finally made it to the Ludothek. How awesome is this! It's essentially a library. Ok, it is a library. But far less official. Books, CDs, movies .. the usual. And we have one just down the street above the COOP. And ours has toys! So we can check out really big and expensive toys for up to a month for very cheap. We came home with a Playmobile zoo with something like a 1000 pieces, and a Mickey Mouse Club themed Brio train set. N. Has his first library card now. Oddly, you actually sign up the kid instead of the parents. Also in typical CH fashion, adult memberships come in 40 different varieties of books only, digital media only, books and DVDs, books and CDs etc etc.

Also made it to the book store. Picked up a few kids books for N. and I was finally able to pick up a little light reading for myself. We've been so busy it's been hard to do the book store browse.

And today we are heading off to the opening of the new bear pits. They closed them about a year ago because they were sad and pathetic. The new environment is supposedly awesome and does not make one think animal cruelty. Two cute cuddly bears were provided by nice Scandinavians.

17 October 2009

Behold, the Alpenhorn

It is getting harder and harder to type on my computer at home. I now work more on my WEIRD German/Swiss keyboard than I do on my Macbook Pro. I want to take it in and have the keyboard swapped out for the Swiss one.

Also, we just picked up a region-free DVD player to play all our American DVDs. We've been slogging along using our laptops and a mini DVD player to watch all of N's movies. We've missed being able to watch stuff on the "big screen" so to speak. But now, region free baby!

Also, Bern has a HUGE mall! It's a pretty typical mall as far as malls go. There's a movie theater, a few H&Ms, a Migros, Migros XXX (Sports), and a Migros Electronics shop. But the big news is ... daycare. CHF 2.50 an hour. Un. Be. Lievable. And it's not just daycare. It's an indoor playground with slides, climbing, movies, stories, building blocks, you name it. N Loves it. They have one at the Bahnhof as well. So for Alison and I, and N who HATES shopping, we can drop him off and then do our shopping in peace.

09 October 2009

Lordy Be

Could Fall start one of these days? It's October and we're still having 70 degree days. My Swiss chocolate keeps melting.

05 October 2009

Tuesday Night Throwdown

Not like the throwdowns we used to have in the olden days. Throwdowns Cappuccino-style at Adriano's. Jump, right, space, space, fire, fire, fire.

04 October 2009

Bern - Cheese - Bern

And with this week's installment, I bring you ... Bern-Cheese-Bern, a.k.a. Bern - Emmental - Bern. It's a fairly easy route. Although I choose to NOT climb the huge hill between Burgdorf and Bern. The steepest roads are towards the beginning leaving Worb. When you hit the Emmental region, it's nothing special. It's not like there's the biggest block of Emmental cheese or cheese parades or such. It's just a town. About as pretty as most CH towns. Which is to say that it's spectacular. But whatever.