Camping Adventures

Rob borrowed his parents' vanagon for the first few weeks we were back in CA until he had a chance to buy himself a new (used) car. Lukas thought it was the coolest thing since it had curtains, a back bench, fridge, etc. But when we showed him that the top popped up for sleeping, he was beside himself. He BEGGED us to let him sleep in it curbside at our house. We were pretty sure that our neighbors wouldn't approve of that, so we promised to take him camping.

We headed to Butano State Park on the coast nearby. CA had been experiencing a drought, and it hadn't rained in about 4 months. Of course, the weekend we chose to camp it rained cats & dogs. But we still had a great time. I see more vanagon camping wkds in our future.


Exploring nearby Pigeon Point Lighthouse

The coast replaces the mountains.....

The coast is only a 15 minute drive from our house. It is proving to be good therapy for me whenever I am "homesick" for the beautiful green mountains of CH. It is too cold right now to build sand castles and such, but we always find fun on the beach:


Lukas finds a driftwood tree to climb


Kelp whips/snakes/tails...


Looking for creatures at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve tidepools

who needs to cook?......

Rob & Lukas dig into a good ole American meal at a local diner

We are missing CH like crazy, but are loving all of the restaurants & take out here -something that is definitely lacking in Zürich. I have cooked probably less than 10 nights since we've been back. Why bother when there is great Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, etc...... just a phone call or short drive away.

Hello California! (and Chicago)

Operation Homeland Security? Obviously not in effect on United Airlines which let Lukas enter the cockpit & be the pilot before take-off.

Lukas & I had to leave Zürich 2 weeks earlier than expected to fly to Chicago for a family medical emergency. Miraculously, everything turned out OK in the end and a scary pilgrimage home turned into a very happy family reunion.

The autumn weather in Chicago was absolutely beautiful, and we got to enjoy some boat rides, bonfires and BBQs. Lukas was a little confused that we were stopping in Chicago since we had "played up" California for awhile in an attempt to make the move easier for him. But with Oma & Opa and Tante and family, he could have cared less if our move to California was diverted.


Lukas fishing on Oma & Opa's lake. He was pretty excited to catch his first fish. I was NOT so excited to have to take it off the hook. Isn't that suppose to be Dad's job?.....

After 2 weeks in Chicago, Lukas & I flew out to S.F. to meet Rob and the unpacking began....



I thought it would be difficult to unpack with Lukas around, but moving boxes/forts/houses are the best toy ever!






Lukas using some of our house paint to spruce up his fort

Goodbye Switzerland!

It is taking me forever to write this post since I am so sad to leave Switzerland. As many of you know, we just loved, loved, loved our time in CH! I know: blah, blah, blah. But I can't just leave without at least a short farewell post. I'll miss the mountains & hiking, the green, green grass, the Swiss holidays & festivals, the great swim badis, our wonderful neighborhood where I got to know so many families at the Gemeindschaftszentrum, the travelling, walking & biking everywhere, how safe it felt for kids, riding the trams with Lukas, heisse marroni, wurst & rosti, cafes, alpenhütte....I could go on & on..... And of course, I hope to carry on the great friendships that we made there. Seriously, I can't say that Zürich is the most exciting city to visit as a tourist, but for living there as a family, it can't be beat. Goodbye Switzerland!

Is this what it would have been like to grow up with a brother?

7 am this morning: Rob was already off to work & I was enjoying dozing in bed until Lukas woke up. Sure enough, just a few minutes later I heard the pitter patter of his little feet as he made his way to our room. I thought that he was going to climb into bed with me & cuddle for a few minutes. Instead, he very purposely sat on the pillow right next to me and "tooted". He then lifted up my head and moved it onto the "toot" scented pillow. Lastly, he sat on my head and tooted again. He was laughing hysterically!


Most of you know that we are always trying hard to get Lukas to eat more. These days we can get him to eat just about anything if we tell him that it will give him toot power. Last night we had Mexican.....

Elm and Alpabfahrt

For our last mountain weekend in CH we headed to Elm. It is a sleepy little town where we had gone snowshoeing the previous year:

It had been one of our favorite trips and it turned out that they were having their Alpabfahrt the weekend we wanted to go - so it made it an easy pick for our last CH hiking adventure.

It was just as beautiful as we remembered:

We had to choose a shorter hike in order to make it to the valley in time for the Alpabfahrt. Many mountain towns have this festival in the fall to celebrate the return of the cows from grazing in the mountains down to the valley. They decorate the cows with flowers & HUGE bells and parade through the town. I've wanted to see this festival ever since we arrived in CH, but always seemed to miss it since you can't plan it out in advance - the date that the cows come down from the mountains is somewhat dependent on the weather.

Eating the ubiquitous wurst while waiting for the cows...

And here they come!

It was really fun to see, although Lukas wasn't as excited as I thought he'd be because it was LOUD:

(I'm not tech-savvy enough to know how to cut this video clip - just 10 seconds or so of it & you'll get the gist of it! )

Hiking, wurst & cows - how Swiss is that! I guess we should have had fondue at the hotel that night too! (instead I chose mountain goat - no kidding - & yes -ugh - not a good choice. Really black meat & gravy.) But other than that poor menu selection, a truly perfect last weekend in Switzerland.

Jucker Farm

Before leaving CH, we made our annual pumpkin pilgrimage to the local farm known as Jucker Farm which is just outside of Zürich. It is a great little farm that we visit often throughout the year that has pick-your-own fruit, goats, ponies & pigs, trampolines and climbing ropes for Lukas, and a great lunch with a nice view of the nearby lake. In autumn, they have the largest pumpkin display in Europe. Every year has a theme. This year it was fairy tales which was fun since Lukas recognized many of the Swiss/European characters.

Ursli

Beatus & the dragon (not really - but Lukas believed it was.)

Puss in boots

Cinderella's carriage

We were back in the Bay Area for Halloween this year so we did the pumpkin pilgrimage all over again in Half Moon Bay....post to follow

Addictions

Aaaahhh......we've FINALLY received our shipment from Switzerland. We've been living in our house for about 2 weeks now & have been making do with what we have. I've learned that I can live without beds, dishes & most of our clothes, but not without our computer! We packed it up on Sept. 23 in Zurich and since then I have had serious withdrawals. I've been waiting eagerly for Rob to bring his laptop home each night so I could check my email, blogs & various time sucking websites....

In the meantime, I've added a new addiction:



We got so accustomed to great coffee in CH that we splurged on a Swiss automatic coffee maker. It grinds the beans for each individual cup and makes each cup according to your wishes (medium, strong, coffee vs. expresso, single vs. double, etc.) with just the touch of a button without having to deal with filling grinds or water tanks. The first week that we had it, I was having 4 or 5 cups a day....it is just too easy to touch a button.

So, with the computer set up & delicious coffee just a touch away, I'm more than ready to catch up on our blog. Stay tuned...

I see excess baggage fees in our future

We carefully planned what the movers took & what we could fit in our suitcases. But today when I picked Lukas up from his last day at Kinderkrippe (preschool) he joyously ran up to me with his new going away presents:



Looks like we'll be exporting an entire penguin family (including giant papa penguin) to California!

Schlaf im Stroh

About 5 years ago, pre-Lukas and pre-before we ever knew we would be living in Switzerland, we went biking through Switzerland with my sister & brother-in-law. Along the bike route, we saw lots of signs for "schlaf im stroh". We learned that, basically, a farmer will let you sleep in his barn and provide breakfast - for an obviously much lower price than staying in a hotel. Sleeping in straw didn't seem that appealing after biking all day, but ever since then I thought that it would be a fun thing to try. I've been trying to plan a "schlaf im stroh" wkd from pretty much the first days that we arrived in CH. Many of my expat friends think that I'm crazy both A) that I even want to do it in the first place and B) I've been talking about it forever. But we finally did it last weekend!

We picked a farm that was only an hour drive away in case the whole sleeping in a barn thing didn't turn out that great. The farm also had lots of animals & looked to be in a beautiful spot.



We nervously followed the "farmer lady" as she showed us where we would be sleeping. But it turned out great! The sleeping places were in the barn that housed farm equipment. The cows and other animals were kept in another barn - so no smells or flies. This farm had 20 sleeping places, but we lucked out & got our own "stall". The other group of about 12 guys (who stumbled in around 1 am.) were sleeping in another part of the barn. We brought our own sleeping bags but the farm also provided tons of wool blankets. Good thing too - it was cold! About 5 degrees celsius! But surprising, sleeping in straw is quite comfortable.


The Wiggers family settling in for the night.

Lukas had a riot. He was so excited to sleep in his sleeping bag in the straw that he wanted to go to bed around 6 p.m.. Of course, when we finally went to bed (around 8:30) he was so wound up that he didn't fall asleep til well after 10.

In the morning we were treated to a big farmers breakfast complete with fresh milk from the cows and the best muesli I've ever had in my life. You might be wondering about how some people with allergies (i.e. Rob) might fair on this adventure. Everything I read about schlaf im stroh said that people with hayfever wouldn't be affected since you are sleeping in straw - not hay. But Rob can definitely refute that claim!:


Rob & Lukas enjoying our hearty breakfast.

Lukas was afraid of the cows, but fell in love with the farm's 2 little kittens. Every chance he had he'd be out in the barn petting & playing with them. When it was time to leave he cried - so obviously schlaf im stroh was a success with him!

We also planned to hike while we were out in the mountains. Unfortunately, it was REALLY cold and foggy so we had to cut our hike to a short one. Here's the view we had from the gondola on the way up to our hike:




The fog cleared, but it was still freezing! So just a short hike to a little capella this time.

Since our hike was short, though, we had lots of time for fun on the rodelbahn back at the bottom.

Achtung, fertig, los!


Rob & Lukas burning down the rails!

So our schlaf im stroh weekend lived up to my expectations and talking up! (But it probably is not a wkd that allergy-Rob would be willing to do again!)

There's no turning back :-(

The movers have come and gone. I thought that Lukas would be upset when all of our stuff was packed up & taken away - especially once he realized that his toys were also in some of the boxes. But he thought the whole thing was pretty fun & we played "guess what is in the box" as the movers took each box away.

We've paid our CHF 1500 to have our apartment cleaned - that's right - about $1500. It is a standard expense here in Switzerland since you need to leave the apartment in ultra clean condition. (I've heard stories about the landlord putting a white glove on & running his finger on the upper inside rim of the oven.) But our apartment passed inspection and we are now staying in a furnished apartment in Zurich for the next few weeks. Our container is scheduled to be shipped out of Rotterdam this week. I guess I can't deny it any longer... we really are leaving. :-(

Top Ten Things I won't miss about Switzerland

OK, Rob is really tired of me about now. I'm getting so mopey about leaving CH. Every time we do something now I say "oh, this is the last time we'll do this in Switzerland." or "This is the last time we'll eat here."., etc. I've also been little to no help in arranging movers, finding temporary housing or buying our plane tix back home. If nothing gets done, then we won't be able to leave, right? So, in the interest of trying to feel better about leaving I thought I'd run through all of the things that I won't miss about Switzerland:

10) Lack of customer service

CH is definitely efficient, but when it comes to friendly service - I can't wait to get back to the states. Somehow shops & restaurants here seem to think that you should be lucky to have them rather than the other way around. Often I'm at the grocery store standing in front of a shelf trying to pick something out, an employee will sternly ask me to move out of the way so that she can stock the shelf - rather than wait 20 seconds. Or they block the aisle with boxes so that I can't get by with the stroller. Clothing stores only stock about 1 of each size of item & would NEVER hold an item for you. Waiting 10-15 minutes to get served in a cafe or restaurant is not unusual.

9) Store hours/shopping

I know, I know -everyone says "but isn't it nice that since the stores are all closed on Sunday that it is a day only to relax." Ummm - NO. All it does is force me to shop on Saturday with all of the other people who are forced to shop that day. Long lines & empty shelves. I have no problem relaxing - I don't need a day imposed on me.

8) Lack of good restaurants

Zurich seems to have Swiss restaurants & Italian restaurants. That's about it. The first time we tried a Mexican restaurant here they had zucchini & corn in our fajitas & it was all smothered with a weird ranch dressing. I can't WAIT to get back to the Bay Area and the Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, "fill in the blank".....restaurants.

7) Tiniest parking spots ever

Here's our spot in our garage:

Every time I park I have to first let Lukas out. Then I have to back it in and climb over the passenger's seat to get out. Of course, by this time the automatic lights in the garage have gone off & Lukas starts calling to me from somewhere in the dark.

6) Language difficulties

I love the day-to-day challenge of speaking with the Swiss & trying to improve my German. But when it comes to more important situations I can't wait to feel totally competent . Somehow, Rob, Lukas & I all managed a visit to the hospital in the 2.5 years that we've been here. My german is strained under normal circumstances, but trying to speak German when hurt, stressed & worried - near impossible.

5) High Prices

Common prices in Zürich:

Lukas shoes - $100

2 chicken breasts in grocery store- $14

Dinner entree in restaurant - $40

Single yoga class - $30

We'll be feeling rich once we're back in the States.

4) Recycling

CH was recently named the most "green" country in the world by Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/143682. That is also one of the reasons that we love it so much - the beautiful green mountains, ultra clear lakes, clean clean streets, etc. Recycling is a way of life over here - just not a very easy one.

We have to collect our bottles & cans & then schlep them over to the recycling bins (about a 5 minute walk - 30-60 minutes if Lukas helps me ;-)

I then have to sort them according to green, brown, or clear glass or aluminum tins. Plastic bottles are also collected, but these I need to bring to a nearby grocery store. No curbside recycling for any bottles or cans here.

Paper & cardboard are also collected separately. They do pick these up curbside, BUT you have to bundle them up correctly according to strict guidelines and have them out curbside by 7am. Don't put them out the night before or mix paper in with your cardboard or you could be subject to a fine! Finally, they only collect paper every 2 weeks and cardboard every 4 weeks. I've had many stress attacks when I realized that I've forgotten that it is cardboard day & we then have to store all of our cardboard for yet another month. Remember our apartment is only about 980 SF - we've had to convert our extra bathroom into a mini recyling area (seriously.)

3) Unpredictable Weather

I love the change of seasons in CH, but it does seem like summer is REALLY short and that it is REALLY rainy for much of the year. Maybe weather is just more important to us here since we're always trying to plan weekend trips.

2) Laundry

According to the building schedule, we have Friday designated as our laundry day.


Doing laundry only once a week doesn't gel that well when you are living with Pukey Lukey who was/is also in toilet training. It has gotten to the point that when Lukas spills, pukes, or wets his pants - his first reaction is to ask me "Is it laundry day?" It also means that we often schedule weekend travel plans to start on Sat. morning so that we can finish our laundry first. Of course, I often - with heart pounding - sneak in a load on someone else's day or during prohibited hours (10pm.-7am). Ridiculous.

1) Apartment living

I will not miss our 980sf apartment. When it rains (which is often -see # 3 above) on a Sunday when everything is closed (see # 9 above) it is quite depressing staying home. Our main living space is a living room/dining room/kitchen combo so there just isn't anywhere to go to get some space. But mostly I hate that we have to be quiet & considerate of the neighbors. I actually get nervous using the vacuum on a Sunday or the handmixer in the early morning to make pancakes. As mentioned in previous posts, our grumpy neighbor has pounded on the wall for these infractions before. (of course I still do it anyway ;-) Above all I hate that we have to tell Lukas to be quiet whether he's playing one of his musical instruments or knocking over towers of legos. He's a kid & kids are just loud. In addition to asking if it is laundry day he also asks "are the neighbors home?" since he knows that when they are at work he can be loud. That's just wrong. On the plus side, I think the small apartment is an additional driving force for getting us venturing out & about Zurich & CH that much more.

Rainy Day Fun

Although we've been hoping to travel/hike as much as possible these last few weeks, the weather hasn't cooperated & was rainy last weekend. So, instead Rob & Lukas visited the Tinguely Museum near Basel. The museum has HUGE mechanical sculptures that swing, rattle, light up, thump, bang, etc. The works of art are "started" by stepping on a big red button on the floor, which of course, Lukas loved. Some of them were a bit too loud & scary for him ("I didn't like the clown one."), but he definitely was intrigued by the museum as each day since he's been remembering different aspects of various sculptures & telling me about them.

Lukas contemplates the art before setting it in motion.

Melchsee-Frutt

OK, now this wkd trip didn't start out quite as nice as Braunwald. It started with Lukas puking in the car on our drive. Nothing new for us, but this time Lukas followed up the car puke with about 4 more pukes in the gondola parking lot. We rode up in the gondola with a plastic bag at the ready - luckily we didn't need it.

Lukas & Rob washing out the "car puke bucket" in a little creek. We finally wised up with the bucket idea...only took us about a dozen or so pukes before we got a clue.

Our destination was Melchsee-Frutt. This is just on the opposite side of the mountains from Engelberg which we hiked a few weeks ago & loved. I had seen photos of Melchsee-Frutt & it looked beautiful:

When we got there though, this is what we found:

Hmm... false advertising, don't you think? The beautiful alpine lake was nearly dried up - so all we found was mud - and a bit stinky too. Even worse perhaps was that the "trail" around the lake was a paved road with loads of people. Yuck. To top it off, the clouds & wind moved in.

So after a quick lunch we decided to head up a ridge trail for better views. So glad that we did. Once we got off the paved road, the other people disappeared and the scenery was much prettier.

We hiked the ridge to the peak & then took a chairlift back down. Lukas was eager to get to the gondola restaurant so that he could play in a ball pit. He got involved in the throwing "fight" that was going on in the pit between lots of Swiss kids. He's really learning to hold his own & defend himself against the often aggressive Swiss kids. Rob & I got to enjoy coffees & gipfels as we watched the match.

Lukas could have stayed in here forever.

We ended the day with a stop at the cute little hut at the bottom of the mountain that sold local cheese. (jealous Grandpa?) Very nice day afterall.

How Swiss is this?!

Braunwald

One of our first hiking trips in CH was to Braunwald - a beautiful car-free town in the mountains.

http://momstotsipc.blogspot.com/2006/08/braunwald-hiking.html. It turned out to be one of our favorites in the 2+ years that we've been here, so we decided to go back one more time before our time in CH runs out :-(

It was even more beautiful than we remembered and of course, now that Lukas is 2 years older - he could actually hike much of it himself. Sniff, sniff....I'm going to miss CH so much!!