Kreisbüro and Airport all on the same day

Our residence permits expire in January and we've been waiting for paperwork to renew them.  Zürich Daddy Geek's department secretary assured us that everything would be fine.

Well, we finally got a letter from the Bevölkerungsamt today.  Since I didn't have anything better to do other than pack and clean to get ready for our trip to the U.S., Little Geek Girl and I went downtown to hand the letter off to ZDG.  Since he was interviewing prospective new hires the plan was for me to slip the letter under the door.  But that wasn't possible, so I had to hunt down the department mailboxes.  We ran into ZDG's boss in the elevator and LGG asked him why wasn't there an "A" floor.  Turns out there is one, but the military gets one floor of all federal buildings and that's why we can't access the A floor.

Anyways, it turns out that they should have sent us a form with the letter.  But they didn't.  And since we're going to be gone for almost three weeks, ZDG needs to get to the Kreisbüro when it opens tomorrow at 8:30 am to get the form, fill it out, and mail it to the department secretary so the paperwork will be waiting for us when we return.  Did I mention we have a flight leaving at 11:55 am?  We should be able to make it, but it will definitely not be good for my anxiety.  Did I mention I really really really really don't like it when things like this happen.

Even in kindergarten you have to write a letter to the school president asking permission for your child to miss school.  We figured that since this was our last year to get an easy approval and since ZDG had a conference in San Francisco the week before LGG's winter break we would all go.  It will be nice to see family, do a little shopping, and read all the library books that my sister's checking out for me.

Better than a check...

Today the buzzer rang. I answered. Someone said "blah blah blah blah". Okay, they said it in German and I wasn't concentrating. I know I shouldn't have, but I just buzzed them in because I thought it might be the heating oil guy. But they didn't come inside, so I went downstairs to look.

It was the postman and he had something for me. He said something about 90 CHF. Who sent us something that required 90 CHF duty? No, he had 90 CHF for us. I needed to sign something. And then I asked him "Was machen wir jetzt?" Oh, he gives us the cash. 90 CHF refund on our nebenkosten (Every month we pay a fixed amount for things like heating, etc. At the end of the year they determine how much we actually use and you either have to pay the difference or get a credit). Woo hoo, this means we can go another day before visiting the ATM!

An afternoon out

Well, someone must have listening to my complaining, because about a week and a half ago I found out about a performance of "A Little Princess" and the bonus was that it was performed in English! The tickets were 20 CHF for kids and 40 CHF for adults, but adult tickets were half-priced if you baked something for the refreshment table. You can guess what I did.

Little Geek Girl still fits her Christmas dress from last year and decided to wear it to the performance. Here we are before leaving for the show:


Did I mention she's a tiger?


LGG did a great job. We got there early to get seats (end of the front row) and had to wait a little bit, but she was very good. During the performance she seemed tired (leaning into me) but she was paying attention the whole time. During the "pause" I thought it would be kind of funny to pay for my own cake, so I purchased a cupcake and cookie instead. Actually, my cake had a role in the performance -- when Sarah took cake out to share with Ermengard and Becky she pulled out some slices of my cake.

We've been able to download the text of A Little Princess and now we're reading it for our bedtime book. LGG is a little disappointed that there are no pictures, but we just remember the scenes from the play.

Why we're not Christmas shopping in Switzerland

Zürich Daddy Geek's office has moved to downtown Zürich, so on Friday afternoon, Little Geek Girl and I decided to pay a visit to the new digs. ZDG has a nice view of the Limmat River and the Käferberg/Chäferberg (I've seen it spelled both ways).

Then LGG and I went to check out the Singing Christmas Tree. Before the kids started singing, LGG had a ride on the tiger on the little carousel. LGG these days believes she's a cat, a tiger specifically, so when she saw the tiger she definitely wanted to ride on it. Then we met ZDG for dinner and went to the Hauptbahnhof to look at the Christmas Market and the Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was quite beautiful, covered in Swarovski crystals and lit up. At the base of the Christmas tree were numerous examples of Swarovski figurines.

As we wandered through the market, we ran across a booth selling novelties, and this little guy:


Now, considering Saturday was the 6th of December and the day Samichlaus visits kids in Switzerland, I made up an excuse to separate from ZDG and LGG and went back to purchase it. However, at first I wasn't going to, because it was CHF 15. As in 12.40 USD. But, I knew LGG would love him and I decided to try not to think about it too much and just buy it. I have purposely avoided searching on the internet to see how much it would be because I just don't want to know. But that is why we're waiting until we get to the US to do our Christmas shopping.

So, apparently organized parents arrange for Samichlaus to come to their house or meet him in the forest on the 6th of December. The other option, and the one went went with, is to leave your boots out the night before. Amazingly when she woke up, she had forgotten about them and we actually had to point them out to her. It was pretty funny actually. "My leg hurts, I can't walk." And then she saw the boots and miraculously could walk again.

When she found the tiger duck she was thrilled. "Samichlaus knew the right kid to give this duck to. Because I'm a tiger. Roar."

On prime numbers and maps

Now for a little bit about the geek portion of the blog.  Little Geek Girl is, we think, a pretty normal 5.75 yo girl.  She brings home sticks and rocks from kindergarten.  She likes to play with her My Little Ponies.  Sometimes you think she is so grown up and then the lack of impulse control kicks in.  But then, sometimes she is suuuuuuuccccchhhh a geek, and I lay most of the blame on Zürich Daddy Geek. 

I don't remember how it came up, but yesterday she started talking about prime numbers and asked me to list them for her.  I started listing them and then decided it might easier to find something on the wonderful internet.  Well, it turns out 1 is not a prime number.  I, as an adult, can accept rules like that.  But LGG is really bothered by the fact that 1 is not a prime number.  "But mama, what times what equals 1?"

Later in the evening we were watching the The Simpsons.  I am not a supporter of this habit, but is has long been a tradition with her and ZDG and when given a choice she'll always want to watch the Simpsons.  At some point Nepal came up.  "Mama, will you show me where Nepal is on the map."  I tell her to go look for her paperback atlas and I also decide to use Google Maps or Google Earth.  "Mama, I want you to show me on the map.  Not in the book, not on the computer, on the map!"  I think to myself, "What is she talking about?"  Then I remember those old-fashioned things that came in our National Geographic magazines and I pull out our world map.

Tuesday afternoon a specialist came to evaluate the kindergarten class students for their German comprehension.  He gave them instructions to draw things or to manipulate a doll and asked them questions.  LGG did fine.  Both he and her kindergarten teacher think that at some point soon the switch will turn on and LGG will start speaking German all of the time.  Apparently more and more frequently she lets her guard down and responds to the teacher in German.  When ZDG asked LGG if the man spoke in English or German, she replied "He spoke in German, but that was so the other kids could understand."  

The amazing herding abilities of kindergarten teachers

Yesterday Little Geek Girl came home with a flyer in her message tube.  The upstairs and downstairs kindergarten classes were going to a play and they needed to be at school by 8:15 am or they would have to go back home.  Normally, kindergarten arrival time is between 8:10 am and 8:35 am and we usually get her there between 8:20 and 8:25 am.  To make things easier we picked her clothes and packed her snack last night so we could get out the door by 8 am and her to kindergarten by 8:10 am.

Normally Zürich Daddy Geek walks with her to school in a timely manner, and then we walk home together, with her mostly dawdling (stepping on all of the snow, balancing on all of the rock edging).  Since I wanted to get her to school on time I was holding her arm and pulling her steadily.  I meant to give her a pep talk on remembering her hat and gloves, but I forgot.  The knit gloves would be easy to replace because we got them here, but she didn't like any of the Swiss hats (too itchy) so the one she wears is from the US.

On my way home I was trying to decide whether to go back to the kindergarten or to meet them at the train station.  I decided to meet them at the train station, and there they were, two teachers, one parent, and 25 - 28 four to six year olds.  Most of the kids were sitting on the two available benches, but some of the kids were standing and LGG was one of them.  I said hi to the teacher and then I went to give LGG a kiss and a reminder about her hat and gloves.  She kind of shooed me away, because I guess mom's weren't supposed to be there.

I walked away and watched in awe as the three adults herded the crowd onto the train.  They're going to see a play about the First Christmas which means I'll get to field a bunch of new questions this afternoon.  Yesterday's questions were, who brings the presents in Switzerland and what's an angel, etc. etc.  I was worried when she came home at lunch talking about what present she was going to get since it was the first day of Advent.  However after calling a friend and asking another kindergarten mom I decided that they must have been talking about opening the first door of the Advent calendar and she was confused about getting a present.

Brrrrr... The zoo can be cold

Yesterday morning Little Geek Girl decided that she was a tiger and needed to go see the other tigers at the zoo.  It was also a good opportunity for Zürich Daddy Geek to see the penguin walk.  In the winter, if the temperatures are less than 10 °C, the Zürich Zoo penguins are taken for a stroll through the zoo.  So, we split up, ZDG and LGG went ahead to the zoo and I ran a couple of errands.

Since I had only had dessert for breakfast and lunch, I decided to take the Seilbahn Rigiblick to the top and walk across the Zürichberg to the zoo to bask in the sun and get a little exercise.  It was a sunny, but hazy day.  I met up with ZDG and LGG and we growled at the tigers.  We then visited the new baboon and ibex exhibit and then went to play at bug world.  Note to self:  if there's snow on the ground and you're going to a playground, bring the waterproof mittens.  LGG did a good job of not getting herself cold and wet.  But even though we were dressed in layers, it was cold up there on the top of the Zürichberg.  The high was around 3.5 °C and we decided to head over to the rain forest, which was a very comforting 24 °C.  It was also high humidity and my glasses fogged up immediately and stayed fogged up for quite a while.  But it was nice to defrost and watch for bats and lemurs and other creatures.

Afterwards we headed down to the city to meet a friend and her daughter for coffee and then we went out to dinner.  ZDG leaves for India tonight, so today we visited the pool in the morning.  It was nice to go when it wasn't too crowded and we had the diving pool to ourselves.

Dessert for Breakfast

I think my favorite part about holidays is dessert for breakfast. A big feast, scrumptious desserts, a good sleep, and then wake up in the morning to dessert for breakfast.

Our Thanksgiving Raclette menu:

Deviled Eggs
Breadsticks

Green salad with pomegranate seeds
Cornbread and gorgonzola dressing (gorgonzola melted at table)
Raclette fixings (cheese, potatoes, turkey, bresaola, prosciutto, pickles)

Creme Caramel
Dutch Apple Pie

Here are the adults after the kids have finished their pasta and been sent away. A piece of bresaola is being warmed on top of the grill, and I'm scraping some melted cheese onto my plate.


We had to end the party at 10 pm when the almost 7 year old fell asleep. Remember, he had a full day of school. There was a break between dinner and dessert for viewing the local Christmas tree and throwing some snowballs.

Fun on the ice and in the snow

This past weekend a lot of snow was forecast, but it didn't come when predicted.  Friday was cold and rainy.  Saturday morning we woke up to snow, but really only a light dusting.

On Saturday we went to the local ice skating rink.  Inside an ice skating competition was being held, but outside, the rooftop rink was open for lessons and free skating.  We've been taking Little Geek Girl ice skating for several years now, but it was only last year that she was confident enough to start standing on her own.  This past weekend, she really wanted to use one of the push bars, but we convinced her to try standing on her own, and after a while she was able to do it again and gain her confidence back.  While we were at the rink, it would snow shower on and off again and that evening it started to snow again.

On Sunday we had planned to have a stay at home day.  However, we woke up to no cable/internet (the horror!) and no hallway/laundry room lights.  So we decided to go up to the Uetliberg for a snowy day walk.  We were up there by 9:30 am, which is the earliest we've ever made it up there.  We went along the Planet Walk, brushing the snow off of the planet models as we went by.  LGG enjoyed making bear foot prints in the snow for us to follow and making footprints in the snow.  We were home before 3 pm, so it was nice to have been out, but still have time to nest at home a little bit.

Most of the snow came on Sunday night, but we were pretty impressed at how quickly the streets and sidewalks were cleared.  However, getting LGG to and from school takes a lot longer when there's snow on the ground.  

Don't touch the switch!

Apologies to anyone who is using Google Reader (or equivalent program) and got to see the very early draft version of this post.  Anyways, now that I'm frustrated that I lost my post, I'm just going to make it short and sweet.

Swiss Appliance lesson of the day.  Don't turn on/off unknown switches.  After the refrigerator and freezer were serviced back in September, I noticed that the switch on the left in the photo below was off.  So I turned it on.

And then we entered into the ice age in our freezer.  It turns out that switch is only to be turned on for the first 30 minutes when you turn on the refrigerator.  Oops.  Oh well, all is better now and since it's been so cold recently I decided to take advantage of the cold balcony and defrost the beast.

How to travel from Zurich to Germany via India in under eight hours

This was a crazy day for The Geeks.

LGG and I walked to school where I dropped her off.  I then went to get my Swiss driver's license.  In order to speed things up compared to ZMG's experience, I went to the office in person with all my documentation.  I could get used to visiting government offices here -- it took 10 minutes from start to finish, and the folks helping me were friendly and polite.  (Note to the California DMV: It can be done!)

After that, off to work for a whirlwind of meetings before picking LGG up at school and getting her home for lunch before returning her to school and returning to work.  Oh, and in between seeing ZMG for 10 minutes...

Then we get to the title of this post: how to travel from Zurich to India to Germany in under eight hours:

1. Get on a train at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof and ride to Bern (elapsed time: 57 minutes).  
   
2. Buy a Bern bus ticket and ride to the Indian Embassy (80 minutes).
3. Visit the Indian Embassy, which is technically Indian soil, and pick up your passport complete with your shiny new Indian visa (90 minutes).
4. Buy another Bern bus ticket, return to the Bern train station, and get on a train back to Zurich (2 hours).
5. Get lucky, make a 2-minute connection at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof, then another 2-minute connection at your local station, enabling you to be home in time for dinner (3.5 hours).
6. Eat dinner, pack, talk with your wife, play with your daughter, read a book to her, then run to the bus stop for a bus to the train to the airport (4 hours, 45 minutes)
7. Board your plane to Berlin at the Zurich airport and then sit on the ramp for 30 minutes before pushback because you and your fellow passengers were too fast and Berlin isn't ready for you yet (6.5 hours)
8. Fly to Berlin and meet your colleagues for the taxi ride to the hotel (7 hours, 55 minutes).

Step 9 is ride to the hotel.  Step 10, of course, is post to the blog.  Step 11 is collapse.

And of course, while I was doing steps 1-5 above, ZMG was picking LGG up from kindergarten, getting her home for a snack, running her back to her gym class, and running back home to cook dinner.  Eep.  Tuesdays are like this for The Geeks.

The final part of the craziness is more personal.  A member of one of our extended families is in the hospital back in the States and we're trying to keep up with the situation there, knowing there's really nothing we can do but send good thoughts that way.  Nothing more can be said here about that.

A little bit of culture maybe...

Little Geek Girl likes to see live performances.  In 2006 she saw Go, Dog. Go! and Dragon Tales Live and last year she saw Alice in Wonderland and Jack and the Beanstalk.  This year we've been slacking a little bit.  

Last month we saw a flyer for a kids musical called D'Schatzinsle, or Treasure Island.  We've been considering going to see it, but haven't gotten around to buying tickets for it (and probably won't be able to if you see below).  Andrew Bond, an English-Swiss singer/songwriter whose songs are played in the Swiss kindergartens will be performing next Friday night, but we'll be celebrating a Raclette Thanksgiving with some friends.  So, I looked at the Zürich Opera website and saw that they were going to perform the Magic Flute for Kids -- a kids length opera.  According to the website there were very few tickets left, but we thought maybe it was a glitch in the system because it was behaving very slowly.  So on Saturday afternoon I went down to the Opera House to ask them myself.  And all of the kids' performances are essentially sold out (and I think that included Treasure Island).  Yesterday I followed up and called about Wagner's The Ring Cycle for kids, and that's sold out too.  However, the ticket seller said that they might be adding some kids performances in January, so now I get to check the Zürich Opera website every day to see if there's a new performance we can attend.

Who would have thought The Ring Cycle for kids in July would already be sold out!  So, we're very slow at getting tickets in this town, there are a lot of people here and a percentage of them want to go to cultural events like this, and/or they don't put on enough performances to satisfy demand.  Who knows?  Now I have to determine how to find out about these events ahead of time.

Other than that we had a relaxing weekend.  Friday night we had some Swiss friends over and Zürich Daddy Geek sent LGG to her room to play and she actually stayed there until dessert.  While I was at the Opera House on Saturday, ZDG and LGG tried out a new pool.  On Sunday we all went to another pool in the afternoon.  LGG spent most of the time jumping off the diving board and ZDG and I took turns swimming laps.

Growing Up

Earlier this week we took Little Geek Girl to the doctor for her flu shot. She's gained almost a pound in a month!

Here she is at 115 cm (4 ft 9 in).  Oops.  That should be 3 ft 9 in.  She is not only 5 inches shorter than me.  Yet.  


And being silly. She's showing you her "hand snakes". They go everywhere with us. (Along with the Easter Bunny, the chocolate powder bunny, the alien, and her other "friends".)


She is also officially reading in English. It's kind of nice. She can pick up a book and read to herself while I cook dinner. And then she won't stop or respond to you when you speak to her, just like her mother. Here she is reading Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary.

Ten months later

We've now been in Zürich ten months.  We survived apartment hunting, Zürich Daddy Geek's job seems to keep changing, and Little Geek Girl is mostly settled in kindergarten, even though she refuses to speak German of any sort.  I run around like a chicken with its head cut off to keep things running smoothly, but that's probably because I spend too much time on the internet and then leave not enough time to get things done.  

Yesterday we went for another walk in the woods.  We decided to visit the ridge on the eastern side of the Zürichsee and walked the Zürichsee Panoramaweg from Rehalp to Küsnacht.  Nice views of the lake and the Uetliberg.  The last part of the walk was pretty cool because we descended into the Küsnachter Tobel--a steep V-shaped gorge.  Rather than continue on with the trail, we headed into town and took the train home.

Räbeliechtliumzug

For the last couple of weeks I've noticed some gigantic turnips at our local grocery store.  Like twice the size of a softball (I'm not quite a Valley Girl but I think I am dating myself).  I wasn't sure what they were for, but today we found out.

Last night on our bus home I noticed a lot of kids in the next neighborhood walking with lanterns.  I wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the "Swiss Narrative Night" that was being held at our nearby primary school.  I have to confess that we did not attend.  After an afternoon in the city and then home for dinner, I wasn't sure how well-behaved Little Geek Girl would be attending readings in High and Swiss German.

Then tonight I heard a loud racket outside.  I went to our balcony and called LGG to join me.  The procession started with adults carrying tall candles, followed by men carrying yokes with huge cowbells, and then followed by children carrying lanterns and a wagon carrying lanterns and more children.  They stopped briefly right in front of us so the police could stop traffic on the main drag, and then continued on.  I tried taking pictures but they didn't turn out.

At that point I figured it was time to call someone to find out what was going on.  The event is called Räbenlichtliumzug and the event it to commemorate the harvesting of the last crops.  Turnips are carved and turned into lanterns, there's a procession, and there's sometimes singing involved.  Here's the link to the German Wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.

So Zürich Daddy Geek arrives home after his flight from Edinburgh and I tell him what he missed.  Apparently he told me about this a couple of days ago, but I guess I wasn't paying attention.

Dress Up

Last night we had some friends over and the girls ended up playing dress up. Here are some pictures of Little Geek Girl in her finery. She wanted to know why the wings were so small. Because the wings are almost three years old and you've grown!

How to get a Wedgie

1. Go to pool with 5.5 yo Little Geek Girl (actually almost 5.75 yo if you're counting).

2. Allow LGG to convince you to go up to the 3 meter springboard platform, "just to look".

3. Think to yourself, "I'm not going to jump off that".

4. Believe LGG when she says, "If you jump off it, I will too.  Daddy will never believe it."

5. Realize that your daughter thinks you're a scaredy cat and if you want her to be brave, you need to do some brave things also.

6. Jump.

7. Instant wedgie.

Note:  LGG did not jump.  Sitting on the side of the pool, practically blind without my glasses, I watched her go to the end several times, but she wouldn't/couldn't do it.

On a lighter note...

I'm on the road again, this time in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.  I'll be here for a few days, my first visit since 1994.

I've had what I think of as a stereotypical Scottish evening.  It's misty, cold, and dark.  I've had a pub dinner with a great warm beer.  I took a walk along the Royal Mile in the mist and cold, listening to a saxophonist playing sad jazz - OK, if it were really stereotypical, that would've been bagpipes, right?  I watched a football match on TV (Celtic vs. Manchester United).   One thing that seems out of place: lots of American students walking along and chatting.

Apologies to any UK readers out there who I have just offended.

It's also Guy Fawkes Night (aka Bonfire/Fireworks Night) in the UK, so there are scattered fireworks going off around the city.  I overheard two American students talking about the fireworks; Student #1 asked what was going on, Student #2 tried to explain.  The friendly UK students at the next table chimed in with more details.  It was actually pretty interesting to listen in and hear lots of little details I didn't know about.

Time for bed.

What a day!

Wow, what a day!  As ZMG said, we voted weeks ago.  We were both pretty excited (and nervous) about the outcome, and spent much of yesterday obsessively refreshing the news sites.  Of course, time zones being what they are, we went to bed before the polls closed.

Which meant that I got to wake up early, go fire up the laptop, nod, smile, and go back to our dark bedroom.  ZMG opened one eye to ask; I got to speak two words:

President Obama.

We both smiled and went back to sleep.

This is an amazing day for the United States, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it, even 4000 miles away.  Why?  Because in just 54 years, we've moved from Brown v. Board of Education to President-elect Obama; in 51 years, from the Little Rock Nine to President-elect Obama.  As several news commentators have said, The Dream is still not fulfilled, but this is clearly one of the pivotal moments in American history -- and we got to be part of it.

Not that there isn't plenty more to be done.  What were 52% of California voters thinking?

But let's finish this on a positive note:  

President Obama.

Amazing.

Some Zürich headlines

By many bus/tram stops there are stands of free newspapers for reading during the commute.

Some headlines from this mornings' papers.

Dear Mr. President, a lot of work waits for you


High turnout brings Obama's victory


Obama almost certainly president


You can also see that last night was the Swiss premier of the new Bond flick Quantum of Solace.

Halloween Pictures

Kids and pumpkin.


Kids in costumes.


Kids ready to bob for apples.


Ready.


Set.


Wet!

Halloween Recap

Halloween isn't a big deal in Switzerland.  However, we were happy to hear from our friends that there was trick-or-treating over at their apartment complex and they invited us over for trick-or-treating and other Halloween fun.

They picked us up and we stopped off at an Asian market to pick up a HUGE pumpkin.  Zürich Daddy Geek started things off by cutting off the cap and leading the kids in scraping out the seeds.  Then it was time for the kids to get dressed up for trick-or-treating.  There was a skeleton, a teenage mutant ninja turtle, and a couple of princesses.  The dads took the kids out to trick-or-treat and the moms carved the pumpkin and watched the baby.  The kids came back with fruit, peanuts, kid candy, and pretty good adult chocolate which has been properly sequestered for later consumption.  

Afterwards we observed some Irish Halloween Traditions.  We had Shepherd's Pie for dinner and money was hidden in the kids' servings.  Then it was time for apple bobbing.  We ended with slices of cake with treasures hidden inside.  Little Geek Girl picked the piece with the ring in it, which is a sign of impending romance or continued happiness.  

After breakfast this morning LGG asked when she could have some candy.  We said after lunch.  Around 11:15 am she told us she was hungry and ready for lunch.  Keep in mind that normally we have to convince her to eat lunch because she'd rather have a snack.  Hmmmmm... can anyone guess why she wanted to have lunch early?

We forgot the camera, but hopefully friends will send us some pictures and they can be posted later.

Happy November!

Due to the snow, operations will be irregular today

Following up on ZMG's post, here's the "saga" of my morning commute today.

LGG and I walked up the hill together in the snow, which LGG just loves. She loves making footprints, jumping in the slush, getting hit on the head by snow falling off a tree branch, throwing snow at Daddy, etc. OK, so the walk took a little longer than normal today due to the other activities, but we had fun. "Due to the snow, operations will be irregular today."

Her teacher is very thoughtful: she's warming the kids' gloves on the radiator so they will be comfortable on the way home.

After leaving LGG and greeting the other parents coming in ("Schönes Wetter heute, ey?"), I headed up the hill to work, deciding to take the bus rather than deal with snowy uphill trails. The first bus to reach my stop drove by completely full, and the bus which came about one minute later was 95% full, but did stop. Normally, buses come every 5-10 minutes on this route and are nowhere near full. "Due to the snow, operations will be irregular today."

Once I squeezed on just far enough for the driver to close the doors, I saw the message on the videoscreen that gives this post's theme. Among the irregular operations, I ended up being a support post for the older woman next to me who had no secure handhold (she apologized very politely for holding my shoulder as the bus slogged its way along), and two of my coworkers' buses couldn't even make it up their hills and had to take very wide detours up gentler slopes. (One of them very honestly said, "I could have gotten off the bus and walked, but I felt like being lazy!")

Here's the view from my office window this morning (sorry for the poor quality, but it's the best I could get from my mobile phone):

We have about 4 cm on the ground outside my building. Something tells me all The Geeks operations will be irregular today.

I'll close with a gratuitous German lesson:

der Schnee: snow
Es schneit: It is snowing.

and a hint for ZMG:

Wenn es schneit, ist Älplermagronen gute zum Essen!

It stuck

The view this morning:


Zürich Daddy Geek and Little Geek Girl on their way to kindergarten.


On their way up the hill.


We have turned on the under floor heating.

And we didn't have to shovel the driveway!

Snow

It is definitely snowing now. It's not sticking. Yet.

Brrrrr...

It should be fun doing the Parental German Class Little Geek Girl hand off tonight at 8 pm. Not!

Our final night and day in Lugano

After we said our goodbyes to our friends, we went back to the hotel for a little rest. We walked back to Lugano for dinner. On this trip I wasn't as motivated as I usually am for researching restaurants, so I had Zürich Daddy Geek pick the restaurant. However, when we found it, it was rather quiet and that's not the best environment to bring a 5 year-old. Originally we had decided to save another restaurant for our Saturday night dinner, but we decided to go there rather than dilly-dally about deciding on another restaurant.

La Tinera was an excellent choice for Friday night dinner. It's a grotto style restaurant, so we entered at ground level and smelled the wonderful aromas and then walked down the stairs to the restaurant. The restaurant had several families and was almost full, but there was a table available for us.

One of the specialties for a wild game charcuterie platter and at first I objected to ordering it, but I'm glad we did. There was pheasant salami, dried deer meat, wild boar proscuitto and cotto, and another preparation of deer meat. And Little Geek Girl ate it! For our mains, ZDG had osso bucco with risotto, LGG had spaghetti with marinara and I had the special which was grilled fish, veggies, and potatoes. When we had looked at the menu the day before they had venison stew listed, but we hadn't realized it was a daily special. Lesson learned, if something on a menu sounds good, go that night. We then walked to the main square to get gelato for ZDG and LGG and headed back to the hotel.

Saturday morning the blue skies were gone. We took the bus to the train station to put our bags in a locker and then took the funicular down to the city center. On our way through the city we found a stand selling "fritters" which we could not walk by without trying some.

Nutella, apple, lemon, and raisin filled doughballs sprinkled with sugar.


In the middle of the main square some musicians were playing, so we stopped to listen.


We decided to take a boat ride to Gandria for lunch and a walk. As we were waiting for the boat, ZDG snapped a photo of a Swiss seagull. At first we thought only the Ticino seagulls "wore headphones", but we have since confirmed that Zürich seagulls also wear headphones.


During the cold boat ride we had a nice tour of the lake and the "towns" on its banks.



When ZDG purchased the boat tickets he asked the saleslady for a recommendation for a restaurant in Gandria and she suggested Locanda Gandriese. ZDG and I each had bowl of delicious squash soup. Then LGG had spaghetti with marinara (she was not interested in the lasagna or schnitzel available for bambini), ZDG had venison stew with polenta (the stew also had grapes in it), and I had polenta with gorgonzola.

Here's a photo ZDG snapped from the balcony of the restauarant. The balcony must be a lovely place to dine in warmer weather, but after the boat ride we were happy to be inside.


We then walked through Gandria on our way to Castagnola. If we didn't have LGG with us, we probably would have walked all of the way to Lugano, but we didn't want to totally wear her out. (Sometimes it's useful to have her along).

Walking through Gandria.


A cool spigot.


We caught the bus back to Lugano and stopped at the playground at the city park.

Then it was time for some last minute shopping and snack. ZDG and LGG went to the tea room at Münger bakery to get some treats. I went to a shoe store to pick up some socks. Aren't they cute? However, they have some Angora so they're supposed to be hand wash only. Don't send me shopping on my own.


When I joined ZDG and LGG we ordered some drinks. ZDG ordered his espresso and I thought that LGG and I were getting a hot chocolate to share. Somehow I missed the ordering of the Ticinese specialty, Cioccolata Densa. This also came with a generous helping of whipped cream. Yummy!


Originally we had reservations on the 7:40 pm train heading back to Zürich, but we were all tired and decided to try to catch the 6:40 pm train. That required an okay but quick dinner (at Argentino) and then a consultation with the ticket agent at the train station to confirm the train was not full.

We were able to find seats (after a sprint from one end of the platform to the other because the sign had first and second class reversed) and settled in for our ride back to Zürich. ZDG and LGG watched a movie on the iPhone and I napped and read.

Beautiful scenery and delicious food. I think Locarno will be our next city to visit in the Italian part of Switzerland. Ciao!

San Salvatore

Friday was a beautiful day. Sunny, blue skies and a light wind. We took the bus to Paradiso and were dropped off right in front of the Migros, so we purchased some supplies for our picnic and walked towards the funicular for Monte San Salvatore where we met our friends in the parking lot. We knew H and A when we lived in San Diego, and now they live in Edinburgh. They had spent the week in Porlezzo, Italy at the east end of Lake Lugano.

We purchased our tickets and rode two funiculars up the side of the mountain. We wandered over to the terrace and staked out a table to settle down and have some coffee and milk.


Oh, we also looked at the gorgeous view of the Alps.


We sent the kids off to the playground and admired the view and chatted. Then we walked up to the top of the hill and climbed the steps to the top of the chapel to look at the view and take pictures.

Family portrait of the Geeks.


Little Geek Girl and J, age 5, and D, age 2.5. Baby E was comfortably carried by mom.


And a view of Melide and Swiss Miniatur. The smudge in the back is Milan, Italy.


We came down from the top of the chapel and stopped to have lunch. On our way back to the funicular the kids had fun picking up leaves and throwing them off the side of a walled terrace, where the wind would pick them up and they would fly up. We then took the funicular down and went in search of gelato. We found a gelato shop on Via San Salvatore just south of Via Giuseppe Cattori and Zürich Daddy Geek and LGG shared a dark chocolate and vanilla, and I had cinnamon.

We walked down to the lake. At one point ZDG was entertaining the kids with Simon Says and leading a duck parade. Little D really liked seeing the boats on the lake and the little tourist "train" that kept passing by us between Paradiso and Lugano. Alas, the kids started getting tired, so we walked them back to their car and said our goodbyes. ZDG will be in Edinburgh next month so he'll be able to see them again soon and hopefully LGG and I will visit Scotland soon too.

Swissminiatur Melide

This month there was a great deal on Railaway. Roundtrip train tickets from Zürich to Lugano/Melide and entrance to Swissminiatur for half price. Even if we didn't go to Swissminiatur it would have been a good deal. The afternoon we arrived was overcast so that seemed like the right time to go look at miniatures.

The coolest part of the park is all of the operational miniature railroads and cable cars surrounding the miniature buildings. It was also fun to see miniatures of places we've been to and be inspired to go to other parts of Switzerland. Here are some pictures from our visit. Right now I can't find our handy dandy guide to all of the buildings so I'm going to just have to wing it.

The two buildings on the left and the building on the "lake front" are all in the Lausanne area. We would love to go see them in person.


This was a preview for our visit to the top of San Salvatore the next day. In the foreground is the model of the tower at the top of the mountain and next to it is the mountain itself.


Here's a model of some cable cars and a bobsled run.


Another cable car and miniature train in the background.


And Little Geek Girl practicing her Godzilla growl.


After walking through the miniatures several times, riding the little train, and riding the boats, we went next door to play at the playground. We then took the S-bahn back to Lugano and walked down to the city center to find dinner. We ended up at the Spaghetti Store for an okay dinner of pizza and pasta, went in search of gelato, and then headed back to the hotel.

Hoch-Ybrig

The weather in Zürich this week was predicted to be cold and dreary, so yesterday we headed for the mountains for sunshine and views. Hoch-Ybrig is a ski area south-southeast of Zürich which is open in the summertime for hiking. Yesterday was the final day of summer season for Hoch-Ybrig, so we decided to go there. The webpage has already been changed from summer to winter information. The immediate landscape isn't the most interesting (hills of grass that you can imagine skiing down), but the views are amazing.

We left our apartment yesterday morning at 8:35 am to get ourselves to the Hauptbahnhof. We purchased tickets and took a train and S-bahn to get to Einsiedeln. At Einsiedeln we purchased a ticket package for the bus ride to the resort and unlimited rides on the gondola and chairlifts. The bus was full of other travelers on their way to hiking around the Sihlsee and our final destination. It's pretty easy to figure out what to do on adventures like this -- you just follow all of the other people.

We took the gondola from Weglosen (1035 m) up to Seebli (1465 m), and then the chairlift from Seebli up to Sternen (1811 m). These are the reasons why Little Geek Girl likes chair lifts: "You get to sit down. You can see the ground. There's nothing between you and the outside." From Sternen we had a nice view of the valley, but we decided to go up to the viewpoint to see what was on the other side of the ridge.

We started up the path towards Kleine Sternen and there we were stunned by the view of the Alps, most notably Tödi (3614 m). Unfortunately in our rush out the door we had forgotten the camera, but the sun angle was wrong anyways, so no pictures of the mountains. You'll have to go see them yourselves. At first I wanted to keep going up the path, but then I realized that it was a series of false summits, the trail was pretty muddy, and it was best probably to turn back. However, we decided to watch a group of paragliders launch, and it took a while to convince LGG to leave. We stopped off at a bench to have our picnic lunch.

We then went for a nice walk along the ridge towards Spirstock. At one point Zürich Daddy Geek scrambled up to a peak, but it was mostly cross country and pretty muddy, so LGG and I kept going. She is such a good hiker. She also talks a lot while she's hiking, but I'd rather have her talking and hiking, than not hiking. We got to the base of the Spirstock and at first we decided to walk around it, but LGG wanted to climb up it, so up the many stairs we went to the Spirstock (1771 m). Here we took a break for a snack and a family portrait with the iPhone:


LGG was ready to take the chairlift down the mountain, but we wanted to get a little more walking in, so we convinced her to continue on and that we would take another chairlift down. The route we walked down alternated between boring service road and interesting detours throught the forest. Unfortunately at one point I slipped on the gravel road and skinned my knee and tore my jeans. We found our way to Laucheren (1483 m) and stopped at the restaurant for refreshment. ZDG and I had coffee and LGG had cold milk. They were out of apple strudel, so we tried the spice cake. LGG is a strictly chocolate girl, so after a bite of spice cake she asked for more Pringles. She then jumped on the trampoline for a little bit and then we took the chairlift down to the bottom to catch the bus back the train station.

Earlier in the day, as we were drving through Einsiedeln, ZDG and I both noticed a beautiful building -- the monastery (I also noticed that there were a number of bakeries open on a Sunday!). On our return, there were many people in the city. It turns out that Einsiedeln is the most important place of pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary in Switzerland. It's supposed to also have a pretty good Christmas Market, so we may be returning soon.

Zürich to Lugano

On Thursday, October 16, we woke up to rain in Zürich.  Hopefully the weather would be better in the south.  We took the bus and tram to the Hauptbahnhof with plenty of time to catch our train (every once in a while Zürich Daddy Geek will humor my need to not arrive with one minute to spare).  We picked up a newspaper and new sudoku book and went to find our reserved seats.

One minor complication.  Someone was sitting in Little Geek Girl's seat.  As in the forward facing window seat.  She doesn't like to sit backwards and she doesn't like to sit next to strangers.  Yes, we need to convince her that she can't always have her way, but when we can we try to see what we can do.  (Yes, this means we have stood on a bus/trolley for 20 minutes due to lack of appropriate seats.  She will sit on a parent's lap next to someone, but that's not fun for the parent.  Sometimes she'll sit on her knees facing forwards in a backwards facing seat--if one of us is next to her.)  The gentleman in her seat insisted that it was his seat, his company had reserved it for him, he spoke to someone on the train and they told him it was his seat.  ZDG went to look for train staff to help out, but couldn't find anyone.  The rest of the car was full of people already in their reserved seats.  I explained to him LGG's seat preferences and if it wasn't absolutely critical that he have the window seat facing forward, could he please move to the window seat facing backwards.  Otherwise, LGG would probably be very unhappy and whining for most of the three hour train ride.  He conceded that what was most important to him was to have a window seat and he then changed seats.  Fortunately he spoke English so we were not required to dig into our dictionaries for this exchange.  

The rest of the train ride was uneventful.  I had purchased rub-on decals especially for the train ride, so LGG happily colored and transferred decals.  ZDG and I worked on our German homework.

We arrived in Lugano and it was overcast, but at least it was not raining.  Because we had a travelpack and LGG with us, we decided to take the bus to our hotel.  We were staying at the Hotel Colorado (yes, our last US state), which was offering 50% off the second night's stay during the month of October.  Originally we had hoped to stay in Lugano for three nights, but we changed it to two nights after looking at the hotel rates.  The hotel was not that full so we were able check in right away and drop off our stuff.  

We walked down the hill to the lake front and were greeted by the following statue:

It was about a 10 - 15 minute walk into Lugano proper and we looked for a place to stop for lunch.  We decided to go to the same place where Auntie Geek and I ate back in April, Bottegone del Vino.  After about a ten minute wait we were seated.  ZDG had rabbit, polenta with porcini mushrooms, and green beans, LGG had some pasta, and I had tuna tartare.  The waiters there were really nice about trying to find a comfortable chair for LGG.  At first they brought a high stool, but her knees ended up hitting the table, so they brought her two seat cushions.  Also, they did not charge us for her pasta or her milk.  At the end of our meal there was no sign of our waiter so we ended up asking for the bill from another waiter.

Afterwards we walked through the town to the funicular back up to the train station to catch the S-bahn to Melide for our visit to Swissminiatur. 

Lovely Leeks

Leeks are very long here. There's plenty of light green and white parts. Here is a lovely specimen:


I might be remembering incorrectly, but in the US, the leeks are a lot shorter and consequently there's a lot less light green and white bits.

I used this one in variable roasted vegetables from Just Hungry. I used butternut squash, fennel, leek, broccoli, and garlic. About ten minutes from the end I added some diced smoked sausage and before serving topped with Pecorino Romano. Eaten with some pumpkin seed bread.

We do have pictures from our Lugano trip, but right now we're trying to get through the busy part of the week.

Failure to Communicate

Fall Holiday is over, but there was no school today due to teacher training.  This afternoon Little Geek Girl and I went for a walk in the woods and as we approached our apartment building we saw German Neighbor Girl and Swiss Neighbor Girl.  German Neighbor Girl asked if LGG wanted to play, but LGG wanted to have a snack first.  I suggested having the snack in the yard, but she wanted to go inside to get rid of her gum.  I thought I told the girls that we were going inside to eat but we would be back in five minutes.

We go inside, eat the granola bar and drink some milk and go back outside.  No sign of German Neighbor Girl.  Swiss Neighbor Girl is there, but acting pretty shy.  We end up following her around to the front of the building and then German Neighbor Girl's mom comes out on her way to the store.  She kindly goes back inside to see if German Neighbor Girl wants to come back out to play, but German Neighbor Girl wants to stay inside to watch TV.  Obviously my attempt to explain to German Neighbor Girl what we were going to do failed miserably.

Everyone says that kids at this age learn new languages easily.  Well, our kid is quite stubborn and we think that she's waiting until she's perfect before she'll speak.  Often times she's worried about other kids "asking her questions that she can't answer", but frequently she'll want me to tell them things for her.  Hopefully one day she'll see the light and realize that if she wants to communicate with the other kids, she better do it herself if she wants it done right.  And hopefully I'll be able to do it too eventually.

Junior Card

We're leaving tomorrow morning to spend some time in Lugano. We plan to meet up with some friends who are in the region on holiday from Edinburgh. The last time we met these friends was in San Diego, and the time before that, was in Paris. Who knows where we will meet next?

It's about a three hour train ride and even though we might not need them, we wanted to get seat reservations. Little Geek Girl is still pretty light, but she is long and poky, and neither of us wants her on our lap if the train ends up being full. Since LGG is still five, she doesn't need a ticket, but in order to make a seat reservation for her, she needs a Junior Card. For 20 CHF a year, a Junior Card allows a child between 6 and 16 to travel for free with a paying parent.

We were wondering if we would have to choose a parent to get the card. It turns out both parents get the Junior Card. So now we have the ability to make seat reservations for longer trips, and we were going to need the card in another four months anyways when she turns six.

Four to a Box

Before we even moved here I had learned about Luxemburgerli -- the scrumptious mini macarons. The first weekend we were here, Zürich Daddy Geek purchased a small box. He said that was the smallest box available. The smallest box holds about 12 and while Auntie Geek was here, we worked our way through all of the flavors, three at time, for the four of us.

Now, Little Geek Girl would happily eat four Luxemburgerli at a single sitting and for special occasions it's okay for the rest of us. However, I'm trying to exercise moderation these days. I haven't gained the expat 15 lbs (we live in the land of cheese and chocolate, you know), but I think I have some pounds that would not be missed, so I'm starting with portion control rather than eliminating any particular foods.

Yesterday we stopped off at Sprüngli to pick up some chocolate for some friends we're meeting in Lugano and of course LGG was eager to have some Luxemburgerli. I decided to ask if it was possible to purchase only a few, and hooray, there is now a box that holds just four perfectly. LGG lucked out and was offered one for the road, so she had a chocolate in the store and two for home, I picked a pistachio for ZDG, and for me, the flavor of the month, Bailey's. Yum. I also picked up another cookie for each of us. See, that's kind of moderation, right?

Our ballots are here! Our ballots are here!

I've been checking the mail frequently and this morning I found what I've been waiting for.  Our ballots have arrived.  Zürich Daddy Geek will be watching Little Geek Girl at lunch today so he can fill out his ballot then and then LGG and I can go to the post office this afternoon.

By the way, LGG wants me to point out that she is a "big girl".  I guess she can read some words over my shoulder.  Usually she claims she can't read.  

Another trip to the Basel Zoo

Have we mentioned that the Zürich Zoo doesn't have giraffes.  And that Little Geek Girl loves giraffes?  So on Saturday, we took the train to Basel and spent a nice day at the zoo.  A minor flaw in the plan was that they working on the giraffe enclosure so we weren't able to get that close, but it was nice to see some horned, spotted, and long-necked creatures.

After the zoo we walked towards the city center.  LGG climbed the sculpture by Paddy Reilly's and then we stopped for a drink elsewhere and a snack of Tarte Flambee.  We went up to the Münster to look at the Rhine and the view and then headed back to the station, stopping for a quick dinner on the way back.

On the way to Basel, our German neighbors were on the train (continuing on to Hamburg for the second week of Fall holiday) and on the way home one of Zürich Daddy Geek's colleagues sat with us.  We were quite surprised that the Saturday 8 pm train from Basel to Zürich was so full, but were happy to get seats.

Anyways, here are some photos so you don't forget what we look like.