A day with the ladies

The first Saturday of September, I accompanied friends from church to visit Zurich. Our friend Jessi moved to Geneva after living in Zurich for a couple of years. She is an expert on the city and planned the whole trip for us all to enjoy.

We met up early in the morning at various train stations for a 2 1/2 ride to Zurich. Unfortunately, we ended up in the very first car of the train because it had the most open seats so that we could all sit together. We found out a little too late that the reason why the car was so empty is because the first car is one of the jerkiest of the whole train. About 45 minutes into our trip, I was overcome with serious motion sickness and fought off the urge to vomit the rest of the way.

I made it in one piece and was so relieved to step out into cool, fresh air. Although I spent much of the day trying to shake off the yucky feeling, it was a fun, relaxing day.

Alma and Laura and the bottom of Bahnhofstrasse (major shopping street) with Bahnhofplatz (plaza) and Hauptbahnhof (train station) in the background

Walking up Bahnhoffstrasse

Bahnhoffstrasse was lined with these really cool painted pots that were to be auctioned off. I couldn't help taking lots of pictures of all of the different ones for Marge and Allie, the two painters in my life.

Harmony, Alma and Jennie with Fraumunster in the background

We stopped on Bahnhoffstrasse to eat lunch on the top floor of Jelmoli, a famous department store

After lunch we stopped into the famous Confeserie Sprungli to sample and buy chocolates. In their window they had towers of different flavored...

...macaroons. Here are the pistachio flavored ones.

This man was dipping oranges and chocolate cookies into this chocolate fountain for people to sample and boy was it delicious

Before some of the group headed out on a boat trip around the lake, we took some time to check out a local flea market

The majority of the group headed out on an hour boat tour around Lake Zurich. Already trying to overcome my sickness from the train, I passed on the trip as did a couple others.

After I saw these gorgeous pictures, I realized that maybe I had made a bad choice...

...but my stomach thanked me and I did a little sightseeing of my own

Fraumunster (Women's Minster)

Grossmunster (Great Minster)

The twin towers of Grossmunster

The Limmat River with St. Peter's Kirche in the background. St. Peter's has the largest clock face in Europe.

Aimee, Laura and Christina-the 3 goofballs that missed the boat ride

The group reunited for a picture in front of Zurichsee (Lake Zurich)

All over Zurich they had these cool little fountains with streams of water that you could fill your water bottle up with...I'm just not sure how clean the water in the middle was

Jessi took us to a place that is famous for its bratwurst for a mid-afternoon snack

Mmmmm, sausage

Alma, Harmony, Laura and Jennie

Jessi, Sarah, Christina and Shirlee

More sightseeing...

Zurich has quite an amazing public transportation system. It was so easy to get around...with Jessi's instructions of course.

Jessi took us to a really great Italian place for dinner. Every one's pasta looked so yummy but unfortunately my stomach still wasn't cooperating with me. After dinner, we headed back to the train station for an evening ride back home. Fortunately, we ended up in the back of the train and the ride home went a lot more smoothly.

Our friend Shirlee is amazing at digital scrapbooking. She put together this page which perfectly sums up our whole trip. Thanks Shirlee for sharing and thanks to Jessi for putting together such a fun day.

Legal

After four months, I was given my license back. I can now drive legally in Switzerland and Lichtenstein. May and June were the hardest months because the kids were still in school. July was spent in the US, where I drove to my heart's content. August was sort of a laid back month and I did cheat a few times. Just like everything else, I spent months worrying about what I would do without it and in the end it was no big deal. I thought I'd get up on my soapbox and share a few lessons learned.

1. It's ok to let people help you out
For the months of May and June, I depended on friends to help drive me and my kids to English class, church and other activities. It was not easy to constantly be asking for favors I couldn't return, but we live far out in the country and public transportation wasn't really an option. Many thanks to everyone who was so nice and saved my bacon on numerous occasions. I couldn't have done it without you.

2. It's not that bad to stay home
I thought without a car I would be bored out of my mind. Although I will have to admit that there were slow days, it was nice to cut out all the extras and just do the necessary things to get by. I did my grocery shopping online or on Saturdays when Pete could drive. I spent a lot of time playing with the kids. I got a lot of projects done that I had been putting aside. All in all, it was a really productive 2 months.

3. There is always a silver lining
Henry is potty-trained which I know would not have happened if I had not been stuck at home. For those of you who have labored to get your child out of diapers, you will know that it is not easy when you are constantly in the car running errands and what not. Being at home with nowhere to go gave me the perfect opportunity to work with Henry. I think the first day I took him to the bathroom every 15 minutes or so.

I am now on probation for a year. If I get another speeding ticket, I will automatically get a 1500 franc fine...on top of what they decided to fine me for the new infraction. They take speeding very seriously over here. Should you happen to receive a ticket while driving in Switzerland, don't say you weren't warned.

Letting go

Henry started preschool. After much deliberation, we decided to send him two mornings a week so that he could have a chance to learn French like Alex and Ruby. This was a giant step...but not for him, for me. None of the other kids have done any preschool, except for a short joy school stint Alex did when he was almost 5 and the 2 months Ruby did when we first moved here.

After dropping Henry off, I cried on my walk home. Almost a month later, he is really enjoying it and I'm finding ways to keep busy. His teacher speaks mostly in French and told me he seems to be understanding quite a bit, although he only says a handful of words- oui, merci, bonjour and au revoir.

Henry excited to finally have his own back pack

Ruby, Alex and Henry before school

Standing outside of school

Having second thoughts

Back to school

Summer passed way too quickly and before we knew it, it was time to get our backpacks ready. Although I am always sad to give up my freedom from school schedules, this year has been way better. Alex and Ruby both start and finish at the same times which is so convenient because they can walk together if I don't feel like going with them. The only difference is Ruby doesn't have any school on Wednesdays and Alex has to go in the mornings. Just like last year, I had to post a schedule on my door so that I could remember which day they had gym, pool, the bus to art class, etc. However, because we are in year two and my french has improved, I don't feel so lost. I'd also like to report that there have been no crying sessions in the morning.

This year Alex is in Deuxieme Primaire (2nd grade in the US). School here is done in cycles and and there are two years in each cycle. He is in the 2nd year of the Primaire Cycle. You keep your teacher for the entire cycle, so Alex has the same teacher he had last year. Luckily he liked his teacher so this is a good thing.

Ruby is in Deuxieme Enfantine, which is the second year of the Enfantine Cycle (kindergarten in the US). Ruby is thrilled because her teacher last year retired. Instead of having the same teacher twice she now has a new, young teacher. In the Enfantine Cycle, they put the first and second year kids together. Even though Ruby is still the smallest one in her class, because she is a second year she loves to brag about being one of the "big" kids who helps the little ones.

Henry really wanted to go to school, so he got himself a snack and lined up for his own "first day of school" picture.

Alex and Ruby in front of their school

If you look closely at this picture you can see that Ruby is wearing little slippers. Each kid has to have special shoes that they change into for the classroom. When they go out to recess they change back into the shoes they wore to school that day.

Ruby concentrating hard on her "assignment" while the teacher explained things to the parents

While the kids were at school Henry and I kept busy in our own way. I think he loved the extra mom attention, and I was reminded of what a funny little boy he is.

Yetis and yodeling?

From Sion, we drove a little over an hour to the city of Tasch. They don't allow cars in Zermatt because they don't want pollution to block the views of the Matterhorn. Therefore, the only way to get there is by train. The kids were excited about this and luckily for me it was a short trip. One funny thing on the trip up was overhearing Ruby and Alex arguing about whether or not there are polar bears in the Matterhorn. I'm sure they were thinking of the Yetis at Disneyland.

Henry, Christina and Alex on the train to Zermatt

In this picture you can see the options for public transportation in Zermatt. There are horse-drawn carriages and in the background you will notice little, electric carts which are used to taxi people to their hotels.

Do you think it's odd that Ruby (5) and Henry (2) are about the same size?

We took a few minutes to get lunch near the train station before heading up the mountain. If you look closely, in back of the building you can see...

...the tip of the Matterhorn. When I was little, my family would drive from San Diego to Orange County to go to Disneyland. My mom would always say, "First one to spy the Matterhorn gets $1!" In that same spirit, I told my kids that the first one to spy it would get 5 francs, thinking that it would be me or Pete. Obviously it ended up being Alex who said, "Pay up mom".

Zermatt is the city I always pictured when I thought of Switzerland. It is nestled in between the mountains and is so gorgeous. Because there is only foot traffic, it is not as noisy and bustling as the other cities, allowing you to really enjoy it's beauty.

The clock tower is part of the church in the center of Zermatt. Directly behind the church is a little cemetery where some who died climbing the Matterhorn have been buried.

You may find this morbid, but I was moved by some of the headstones in the cemetery.

Across the street from the church was the city cemetery and I thought this little, old lady watering was so sweet.

I didn't realize the Matterhorn would be so breathtaking

When I was this age, I was standing in front of a large replica in the middle of smoggy, Southern California

After walking about a mile through Zermatt, we took a cable car up the mountain to get an even better view

Christina and Alex inside the cable car

Alex, Pete and Ruby

Don't look down

A view out the window

We climbed pretty high and it was a lot colder outside as you can tell by the snow

The kids outside of our second cable car stop. From here Pete took Alex and Ruby even higher. Because the air is so thin, Henry was too little to go to the top, so I rode with him back down.

This is the cable car station built into the side of the mountain top. At 12,287 ft above sea level it is the highest tram stop in Europe. When we left the hotel that morning we were at 1,600 ft and Zermatt is 5,200 ft above sea level. It wasn't hard to figure out why Ruby's lips were turning purple when she got to the top and was walking up the stairs.

The Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

Ruby and Alex on top of the world...or Europe

Playing with snow in August

I don't think Crocs were meant for this kind of weather. By the end, Alex was complaining that his toes were freezing.

The backside of the Matterhorn

Alex and Ruby inside the glacier at the top of the mountain

I'm not afraid of heights like you mom!

I absolutely loved Zermatt and cannot understand why it is not in Rick Steve's best of Europe book. For anyone traveling to Switzerland, this is a must see.