Changeable Weather

When we first moved here, one of things that struck me was how there was moss everywhere. That should have warned me that there is a lot of rain here. However, warming temperatures and rainfall have combined to inspire all of the greenery to come out and it is beautiful. There are also flowerbeds everywhere with blooming pansies and tulips.

Yesterday's adventures at acquiring furniture were successful. We were picking up a couple of used pieces of furniture (wardrobe and dresser) and decided that if we were going to rent a van, we might as well go to IKEA. So LGG and I took the train and arrived at IKEA shortly before ZDG. We stopped briefly in the sofa department and ZDG really really wanted to just pick one and take it home, but I wanted to look at some other furniture stores. We purchased a used TV last week, so we needed a TV stand for it and we also needed bookcases and other misc. objects. Now we have to assemble everything. Conveniently, tomorrow is May Day and Ascension Day and ZDG has the day off. We've been warned to avoid downtown Zürich due to the possibility of rioting anarchists, so we're staying home to build furniture and we'll watch the riots on TV.

Today, LGG and I met Little Geek Girl's Friend (LGF) and her mom at a playground in the forest near ZDG's work. We played for a while and then took the bus and tram with them into the city. Wednesday is market day at the main train station and we got a small Zopf for LGG and a fish sandwich for me (it was from the train station, not the market). We then walked along the river to the Zürichsee to feed the ducks, swans, and pigeons our stale bread. While we were at the playground LGF's mom had put some sunscreen on her and we should have asked for some, because the early afternoon was gorgeous. I guess it's time to start bringing the sunscreen and sun hats along with the umbrella and snacks and Doodle Pro. This is why there are few pictures in this blog, there's no room for the camera... Note to ZDG: this does not mean we need a newer lighter camera.

We walked back along Bahnhofstrasse and stopped at the Honold tea room for some refreshments. LGG inhaled a chocolate covered pretzel cookie. I had ordered a lemon tart, which LGG wanted a taste, and then another, and that's when I brought out the Doodle Pro so she would start drawing and stop eating all of my treat. LGG had some milk and I had a milchkaffee. We paid and went downstairs and were surprised to find that it was very rainy and very windy. I'm glad I had the umbrella because the weather changes very quickly.

Sunny Sunday

Today was a very pretty, warm Sunday in Zürich. In the morning, ZMG and I cleaned house; she really got the spare room cleaned up and proved to us that there is actually a floor in there. LGG and I planted the yellow and orange marigolds and blue, yellow, and white pansies that we bought yesterday, so one of our terrace pots has color. LGG really likes these pots - they are just the right height for her to plant in easily.

After lunch, we decided to ride down to the Zürichsee to enjoy the great weather. Shortly before we left, we got a call from our friend C, and we arranged to meet her and her daughter C the Younger (CtY) down at the waterfront. LGG and I met C and CtY a few weeks ago at the Zoo, where CtY and LGG really hit it off (it was the first time LGG asked another kid to play with her, and they did). Since then, we've met them twice to play. C is originally from South Africa, but moved to Switzerland at a young age, and has traveled a lot since then, so she has lots of interesting stories to tell.

We rode up our hill (in theory, LGG pedals her Trail-A-Bike, but in practice, I've got 50 extra pounds of bike and daughter to drag up the hill) and down to the Limmat for a casual hour's ride to downtown. Lots of people were out enjoying the weather, and the path is very narrow in places, so it was slow going. LGG was happy with her new bike accessory: a purple cow horn that she squeezed to alert folks we were coming, that we were going, that the sky was blue, that she had a cow horn...you get the picture.

Note to my cousins in California who got married last September: thanks for the bike bell favors! It turns out bike bells are required equipment here, and today I attached ours to our bikes before we set out. The little "ding" comes in handy at times...

Once C and CtY arrived, we sat together at the Zürich Arboretum, right along the lakeshore and filled with folks sunbathing; playing frisbee, fussball, American-style football, badminton, etc.; grilling; or simply relaxing with friends. We all had some ice cream, and LGG and CtY climbed trees, played tag with each other, and picked daisies for us from the lawn. C, ZMG, and I swapped stories and relaxed, and enjoyed each other's company. It's nice to be making more Swiss friends unrelated to work.

There's a small carnival in the Bürkliplatz, so the girls decided they had to go ride the big, bumpy slide, which they did twice, the second time alone (a first for LGG). Next stop: the bumper cars, which LGG wasn't all that happy with, and last the ferris wheel, from which we had a great view over the city, the lake, and out to the Alps. Finally, it was time to say our goodbyes and head home before sunset.

All in all, we had a nice relaxing Sunday with friends, following a great dinner the previous night. We're rested up for the coming week. Watch this space for driving insanity, as I'll be making trips to both sides of the Zurichsee for second-hand furniture and to Ikea for new furniture - all on the same day. Woo-hoo!

Our introduction to Raclette

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a method of eating yummy melted cheese. We were invited over to have Raclette at the home of one of ZDG's colleagues. She had a cool Raclette grill like this . In a little pan you prepare your favorite ingredients, ie pototoes and/or cured meats, and top it with cheese, and then place it in the grill where the cheese melts and browns as you like. Then you use a little wooden paddle to scrape the melted goop onto your plate. In addition to the traditional ingredients, we also had zucchini, corn, and pineapple. It's a nice sociable and leisurely way to have dinner. And, LGG liked the melted cheese.

Afterward we went for a walk along the river to make room for the Sachertorte that ZDG and LGG picked up earlier today.

I think I'll have to keep my eyes open for a Raclette grill.

It's a Small Geek World, or A Week of Minor Coincidences

This week has been a series of minor encounters that prove it really is a small world, after all.

New colleagues, old colleagues

I've got a new assignment at work: managing the project to build a new Web presence for my employer. Lots of planning has happened for this, so this week, I've been reviewing documents and meeting with people to get up to speed. During one such meeting, I found out that one of my new colleagues and I are actually old colleagues: we were both involved with the same small project more than 15 years ago, and until yesterday, we had both forgotten we had met back then. We had fun reminiscing about a dinner associated with the project in a fancy Texas restaurant.

Geek links

Today, we spent the morning with friends who are here on sabbatical for a few months. LGG really likes playing with their daughter (let's call her LGF for this post), so we met up at the Zoo for a few hours.

We're friends, so obviously we have lots in common with LGF's family. LGG and LGF are near the same age and both are doomed to be Geeks by virtue of having two scientists as parents. My friend and I met because we are both the same kind of scientist, and ZMG, Auntie Geek, LGF's mom, LGF's grandmothers, grandfathers, and at least one uncle(!) are all life scientists who study cool stuff. How cool? How about studying pandas, learning how forestry management affects amphibians partially by sticking radio backpacks on toads, or being stuck in the quonset hut out behind the main biology building because you're using a biosafety level 2 (or 3) virus as the control organism in your experiments.

The unexpected bit was meeting a friend of LGF's family who is also here on sabbatical. She and I quickly discovered we have some connections. I mentioned where I work, and she said, "Oh, yes, we have a friend who works there that we've been trying to see: X." X is my friend who also happens to be my office mate! She also knows two of my friends from my previous job back in the US, even though neither of them is working in the same field they were before. To cap it off, she works at a small US university that one of my cousins attends - and my cousin just finished taking a course from someone in the same department.

With apologies to Disney lawyers: It's a Small Geek World, after all.

Coincidence or not?

One final bit. The last time LGG and I were at the Zoo, LGG overcame her shyness and played with another little girl at LGG's favorite playground, Bug World. Her mother and I chatted and ended up exchanging phone numbers to arrange a follow-up play time. Today, she called me while I was standing in the middle of that very same playground. I was amused enough that the first thing I asked was if she was also at the zoo. She wasn't, of course, but thought it was funny that I was.

Altogether, this week reminds me of something I saw on TV in the mid-80s. A comedian was doing a routine mocking the Time-Life mystery books from that era. He said something like: "A mother burns her hand on the stove. 100 miles away, at exactly the same time, her daughter feels a sharp pain in her hand. Coincidence? Yes! That's what a coincidence is!"

Ducky Children's Parade

After the parade we wandered over to the carnival area where Zürich Daddy Geek and Little Geek Girl had a couple of rides down the big slide. Swiss carnivals are just like American carnivals, except for the food -- Raclette (stinky cheese) and Doner Kebab.

It was getting late enough that we decided to stop at Globus for dinner. While waiting for us to finish eating LGG wanted to draw, so we gave her a napkin to draw on. She loves to draw ducks, so here's her version of the Ducky Children's Parade:


The first figure is a duck playing the saxophone. The third figure is an angel duck. The fourth figure is a horse pulling a house carriage (I don't explain her, I just write down what she says).

Pretty Sunday for a Bike Ride

A brief post now, to balance the long one before...

We woke to sunny, warm weather and decided today was a great day for a bike ride. I brought the bikes up from the basement and took them to our terrace to assemble (very nice to have a place to do that kind of thing). The bike shop back in the US had done a nice job of taking them apart as far as necessary, but no further, so it was pretty easy to put them back together. A bit over an hour's work for all three, followed by lunch, and then we decided to head out for a ride with LGG on the Trail-a-bike attached to my bike.

We rode out to the Katzensee, twin lakes set in pretty countryside about five minutes' ride from our flat. There were lots of people out - hikers, bikers, skaters, horseback riders - so we took it slowly and just enjoyed the views and the sunshine. After about an hour, we turned back by a different route, this time through the woods on a small hill near the lakes. It was a nice quiet ride.

We ended up passing a bathing and picnic area at a small beach on one of the lakes. LGG saw it had a nice playground, so we stopped for a while so she could run around. We ran into one of LGG's kindergarten classmates and they played together building sand castles while ZMG and I met her classmate's parents and several of their friends. They were kind enough to invite us to sit with them and we passed a pleasant half-hour chatting in German and English about life in Zürich and the States, kindergarten, kids, and so on. After a bit, it was time to go and we literally had to drag LGG away with promises that we could return soon, and yes, we could have her friend over to our place to play.

(Side note: I was thrilled to hear LGG both call her classmate a friend and want to have that friend over to our flat. She really likes her school here, and meeting new kids helps ease her sadness over missing her friends back in the US, but LGG is still shy with other kids. Hearing her actually making friends is really wonderful.)

Another brief ride back and then it was time for showers, dinner, laundry, and watching a little bit of The Simpsons with LGG before putting her to bed. Overall, a very nice relaxed day.

Children's Parade

Zürich's leonine symbol sports the city colors during the Kinderumzug

One of the big festivals in Zürich is Sechseläuten - Sächsilüüte in Swiss German. Sechseläuten in its present form dates back to the early 20th Century, but it has its origins much earlier. In medieval winters, folks worked as long as there was light. In the summer, 6 PM was the legal end of the workday, which was marked by bells ringing in churches to tell people it was time to knock off for the day. Sechseläuten means something like "six o'clock bell ringing", and these days is a traditional festival to mark the coming of spring.

Two of the big highlights of Sechseläuten are the Kinderumzug (Children's Parade) and the lighting of the Böögg. The Böögg is a 10-foot-tall (or so) snowman who stands on a tall pyre built in the center of a square near Bellevue and the Zürich Opernhaus. The head of the Böögg is stuffed with explosives. Once the Böögg is on its pyre, the whole thing is torched. Tradition has it that the length of time it takes for the Böögg to go boom foretells the summer weather in Zürich that year: quick burning means a hot summer, slow burning means cool and wet. This year: 26 minutes, which means we're supposed to be in for a cool, wet winter. Skeptics should bear in mind that the Swiss Meteo folks have shown there's approximately a zero correlation between the Böögg burning time and the weather in the following summer.

The idea of watching a giant snowman going boom in the center of Zürich on a Monday evening is appealing in a surreal way. However, we were warned by my colleagues and our Swiss friends that it takes a long time, there are tens of thousands of folks there, and it is generally not the best place to take a young kid, so we skipped it. This was a wise choice, as it poured rain this year (which might help to explain that 26 minutes, I suppose).

Instead, we decided to watch the Children's Parade, which is held on the Sunday before the Böögg goes boom. This turned out to be a great idea - it was a lovely warm afternoon, there were good grilled sausages to be had inexpensively, and the parade was lots of fun. The parade's main feature is adorable kids dressed in traditional clothing from various eras in Swiss history, organized in chronological order with the earliest periods first. Here are some samples, not in order:






LGG was thrilled to discover that some of the adorable children give out candy:

though she decided after a while that we had had enough and should really share with the kids on either side of us.

There are also bands:



Old soldiers never die, they are reincarnated as kids wearing army uniforms from long ago:

and waving to you when the timing is right:

(those are Kyburger Dragoneers, apparently.)

At one point, a maypole came by with kids dancing. We were really impressed that they managed to dance around the pole as it was being carried down the street:


The parade also features folks representing the various guilds in Zurich (fishermen, in this case)

and flags representing the various districts of Zürich:


There were, of course, some things we didn't expect during the parade. For example, toward the end, we were treated to Chinese dragon dancers and lion dancers:


Proof, I suppose, of just how international Zürich really is.

We also learned that horses wear hats during the Children's Parade:


and that trees walk the streets of Zürich at certain times:


These fine young gentlemen would be happy to give you a trim:


but you could also escape on these cool old bikes:


You could also take a spin on an old wagon wheel, as these figures were doing while being pulled down the street:


Finally, the parade came to an end with Old Man Winter About to go Boom himself, the Böögg:

who looks rather calm given what's going to happen to him the next day.

LGG has announced that she will be participating in the Kinderumzug next year, and that she expects us to arrange a ride for her because it's a long way to walk. Her favorite period dresses were the hoop skirts during the Spanish, Baroque, and Rococo periods. That's fine with me, and I hope she still likes them when she's 14 - they'll make a handy buffer against boyfriends.

Day trip to Lugano

After the Strasbourg trip we were very busy with moving apartments, building furniture, and unpacking. Auntie Geek worked very hard and it was the least we could do to take her on another day trip. Little Geek Girl wasn't feeling so well, so we left her behind with Zurich Daddy Geek and the sisters headed south to Lugano in the Italian region of Switzerland.

It was a pleasant three hour train ride with nice views. We arrived in Lugano right around lunchtime and after finding the tourist office to pick up a map, we were ready for lunch. After looking at a couple of menus we decided to eat at the Lonely Planet's Author's Choice -- Bottegone del Vino.


We were seated at a community table, and when our neighbor was served an interesting looking dish, I decided I would have that. It was roast pork with a tuna sauce on a bed a greens with tuna stuffed mini peppers. Auntie Geek had the ravioli and we both had a couple glasses of wine. We then finished with the yummy cheese plate.

It was time to walk off lunch, so we headed towards Paradiso, a southern suburb. It's a nice walk along the waterfront.

Our goal was to take the funicular to the top of San Salvatore and walk down. In the picture below you can barely see the tower on the top of San Salvatore. Thankfully there is a funicular, because the direct route up the hill is very steep.

The walk down took about an hour and went around the backside of San Salvatore on the way down. Auntie Geek kept trying to get the "perfect" picture of Lugano, but there was always a hill, bush, or tree in the way. Near the bottom she captured the following view.


Okay, so maybe we only burned off the cheese plate with the hour walk, but we were now ready for some gelato. After gelato we walked through the city center to look for a take-away place to pick up some food for dinner. I was worried for a little while because things were closing up and we couldn't find a grocery store, but then Auntie Geek spotted the bakery and we got some sandwiches and a slice of tart for the train ride. We could have stayed in Lugano for dinner, but we didn't really want to return to Zürich in the middle of the night.

It was nice to get some sunshine and I'll definitely return with ZDG and LGG.

"What the heck, let's go to France", or An Eating Tour of Strasbourg

On the second Saturday that Auntie Geek was here, we woke up early and decided to take a day trip to Strasbourg, a city in eastern France that is one of the two homes of the European Union. It was the second trip there for ZMG and me (we visited friends there in 2000), and the first for LGG and AG. There's something to be said for living in a place where you can basically say, "What the heck, let's go to France" and then go. It also helps that AG and I are both functional in French; not fluent or even good by any means, but enough to get by.

A quick 2.5-hour train ride via Basel took us there. We wanted to get lunch, visit the cathedral and La Petite France, wander, eat, wander, and eat. We arrived a bit late for the traditional French lunch, but within 15 minutes later, we were eating open-faced sandwiches of grilled bread with jambon et fromage (ham and cheese), saumon et choucroute (salmon and sauerkraut), and chèvre (goat cheese). Yum!

Next, we wandered the streets toward the cathedral. LGG found a nice place for dancing


and chasing pigeons


We wandered on a bit further, when wonder of wonders appeared:


Of course, LGG simply had to ride the carousel multiple times. In the shot above, she is practicing her princess wave. While LGG was riding the carousel, ZMG and AG had stopped off to buy macarons, yummy pastries with two cookies cradling a creamy filling (ZMG tells me to note that macarons are not at all related to macaroons). We had chocolate and pistachio.

Time to visit the cathedral, which was just around the corner from the carousel. Here's the view from just in front of the timbered building in the picture above (just as a side note, two of our good friends lived in the tan building on the left side of the picture below when we visited them in 2000, and the cathedral bells were our alarm clock):


Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg dates back to the mid 1400s. It's a lovely Gothic church with an intricate facade and a very tall spire, which (according to Wikipedia) was the tallest building in the world from the mid 1600s to 1874! Here's a view from the foot of the cathedral:


We went inside the cathedral, where LGG and I lit a candle for my mother and one for my grandmother, and LGG asked me more questions about God. We also talked about the architecture, took pictures of the stained glass windows:


and visited the astronomical clock. It's breathtakingly pretty overall.

After leaving the cathedral, we headed over to La Petite France, a pretty section of town with canals, cafes, and traditional architecture (stopping along the way to buy chocolate ducks and some other treats). Here's a sample:


We strolled around this area for a bit and ended up at an island in the river where there was a playground for LGG, and some folks playing water polo in kayaks:


It was an oddly fascinating game to watch, with lots of ramming boats into each other to stop breakaways, whacking the ball out of the air with paddles, and the like.

We decided this was a good place for a sisters picture:


and a family portrait of The Geeks:


We wandered some more and window shopped some more and discussed coffee and beer before ending up back in the general area of the cathedral. AG, LGG, and I had ice cream as a substitute for the crêpes I had promised LGG, but had been unable to find. Happily, as we sat in a small square and ate, I spied a crêperie and ran over to see if they would make one with powered sugar, just as I had promised her.

As I was doing that, we heard music and I frantically waved everyone else over. Totally by coincidence, we had run into the Carnaval de Strasbourg and in particular the Witches' Parade. We had a spot just on the edge of the crowd, with a great view of the witches sweeping away winter:


the kids riding on the back of scary creatures:


and various other, um, things:


(Dad, what were you doing in France? Just kidding.)

By this time, we needed to get dinner, so we munched the crêpe as we headed off to a restaurant AG had read about. Once we got there, we ran right into a major difference between France and Switzerland: one can find great, cheap food in non-smoking restaurants in France. (Here, you can get great, and/or non-smoking, and/or cheap, it's just you have to pick two.) Yes, folks, restaurants in France have become non-smoking as of February 2008 -- so have been restaurants in England, Germany, Ireland, and Italy, among others. We're not holding our breath (awful pun intended) on a ban in Zürich, though some parts of Switzerland also ban smoking in restaurants.

Anyway, the restaurant was a nice brasserie which was also a student hangout, and was having Happy Hour when we got there. The four of us shared three tarte flambée, three beers, and a milk for 18 Euro, about 30 CHF. You would pay 25 CHF per person here for something similar, so this was a big score.

Tarte flambée, for those who have not heard ZMG and I carry on rapturously while drooling just saying the words, is a wonderful traditional Alsatian dish, and the main treat we wanted in Strasbourg. Picture a very very thin crust pizza, about 8 inches across. In the most classic form, it's covered in fromage blanc mixed with crème fraîche, onions, and lardons (bacon) - delicious! You can also get ones with mushrooms and other toppings, and at traditional brasseries, they'll keep bringing them until you say stop. As Homer Simpson would say, "Mmmm, very thin French pizza!"

Anyway, suitably stuffed and tipsy from the great beer, we waddled back toward the train station (stopping along the way to get cookies and other treats). Here's the last picture - evening in the Place de la Cathédrale of Strasbourg:

Hmmm, time for another trip for more tarte flambée. Or at least to the kitchen for something. À bientôt!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's raining. Again. A lot. Today we had some lightning and thunder and hail.

January and February were relatively mild. Cold, but not too much rain or snow. I know in the second half of March and April we had days without rain or snow, but they were few and far between. This past weekend we had moderate Spring-like weather, but yesterday and today the cold and rain have returned.

I've been fortunate to live in sunny places in the past, so all this rain and gloom is kind of new to me. I think it is definitely affecting my mood. I have no motivation to finish unpacking the last bits of stuff or to cook anything interesting. And how are we suppose to meet the neighbor kids at the playground when the playground is never dry?

Sunday down by the lake:

Our window sill today (Tuesday):

Bern, the city brought to you by the letter "P"

Auntie Geek and I decided to go on a day trip to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. ZDG, LGG, and I had spent almost a week in Bern in 2004 when ZDG was attending a conference so I knew that it was a very walkable city.

When we arrived at the Zürich Hauptbahnhof we were happy to wander the stalls of the weekly market. We purchased a pastry to share on the ride and enjoyed the hour-long train ride to Bern.

We loosely followed the Lonely Planet's walking tour of Bern until we realized it was way past my lunchtime. After looking at a couple of places, we decided to try the Altes Tramdepot, which was located in the same building as the Tourist Information Center near the bear pits. Yes, it is obviously a tourist trap, but it had a positive write-up in Lonely Planet, and there was beer. We shared a sampler of four beers and Auntie Geek had Rosti (hold the Speck) and I had Spätzle. We were starting to get very sleepy and warm from the beer, cheese, and calories in general and did not clean our plates (because we had to save room for pastries for the train ride home, you know).

Our next stop was the Rose Garden where we took the following photos:

Here we encountered our first "P". Let's say we ran into a fellow we thought was relieving himself, but it turned out not to be the way we thought. Later during our stroll through Bern we also encountered a protest and some panhandlers. See, not all of Switzerland is clean and orderly.

On our way back to the train station we popped into a bakery to pick up some mini pastries for the train ride home. It was a fun sisters day.

Easter Monday at Mt. Rigi

Auntie Geek was keen on sledding on Mt. Rigi, so on Easter Monday we decided to hit the slopes. This time we decided that going straight to the mountain would give us a better chance of having pretty mountain views and also give us a chance to get several runs in before it became icy (and scary).

Fortunately for me, the sledding trail that we used last time was closed, so this time we used the kinder and more gentler sledding trail. I still claimed to believe I was going to die to entertain LGG, but I knew I would survive. We ended up going on one run before lunch and then two quick runs after lunch. Normally I am the "rate-limiting sledder", but if I'm worried about missing a train I can sled pretty darn fast.

At lunchtime we were introduced to a hearty Swiss dish, Aelpermargronen. Imagine elbow macroni mixed with potatoes, cream, and cheese and topped with carmelized onions. Served with a side of applesauce.

We didn't take as many action shots this time, but here are some photos at the bottom of the hill:



The next day we learned that the sledding runs had been closed for the season, so we were happy that we hadn't waited any longer.

Introductions...

Easter Sunday morning LGG woke early, eager to get on with the Easter Egg hunt. We had a pretty easy Easter egg hunt because we didn't want to stain the borrowed apartment with dyed eggs. After the Easter egg hunt, she received a Lindt chocolate bunny from us and an Easter basket from grandma delivered by Auntie Geek. Inside the Easter basket was a My Little Pony "Toola Roola" and a cute little kitten that she named "Stripe".

LGG loves new toys, but sometimes we dread them. Why? Because whenever she gets new "buddies" they need to be introduced to each other. Thankfully we have gotten past the binomial system of introducing buddies and now we put the old buddies in a large circle and the new buddy is placed in the middle and learns everyone's names, but there are no long drawn out conversations.

I had left the apartment to go pick up a floor lamp that we were purchasing second hand and when I returned, I found the following scene:


LGG had convinced ZDG to help her with the introductions, so in the above photo they are carefully sorting the buddies by type and size.

Here they are getting ready to introduce Toola Roola and Stripe to all of the buddies.



This happens EVERY time a new buddy enters the household. Please think very carefully before sending one.

Hot Chocolate in the Shadow of a World Heritage site

A few days after Auntie Geek arrived in mid-March, we woke to a pretty Saturday. Auntie Geek had come armed with a guidebook and a list of places she wanted to go while here. St. Gallen, a city a bit over an hour east of Zürich by train, with a beautiful old center, was high on the list. So: day trip to St. Gallen for The Geeks + 1.

The train itself was interesting, because we rode on the tilting train (ICN - Inter City Neigezug). ICN trains tilt around turns, rather than remaining horizontal, so they can go faster around curves without the discomfort of being squished against the wall. So instead, you can get the discomfort of being on a banking train, which feels a bit like a roller coaster; we're not sure we'd recommend it for anyone who gets motion sick. But if you've always liked Top Gun, it's a blast.

Anyway, we arrived in St. Gallen about lunchtime, and after a quick stop at the tourist information center, we headed off to the old center for lunch and a visit to the ancient cathedral. Along the way, we saw this fountain:


which had this turtle statue that Little Geek Girl insisted I share with you:


We continued on and had lunch at Metzgerei Gemperli, which had a crowd of locals out sampling the classic bratwurst and St. Gallen sausages, both of which are yummy when served hot off the grill with bread and mustard. Auntie Geek, being of the veggie persuasion, grabbed herself a tasty sandwich and we all sated ourselves for the moment.

We wandered through the old town until we reached the UNESCO World Heritage listed Abbey complex, which dates back to the 8th century and houses a beautiful cathedral and the Stiftsbibliothek. The Baroque cathedral dates back to the mid-1700s and is lovely both on the outside:


and on the inside:


Being inside a big church isn't a completely new experience for LGG, who has been to many in Italy, but this time she had just a few questions, like "Dada, what is God?" (I always get the fun ones. Once during a walk in the woods, we were talking about LGG's great grandfather, who died before she was born. "Dada, what happens to people after we die?") We walked around the cathedral and I tried to explain things, while we enjoyed the surroundings and lit a candle for LGG's great grandma.

Soon, they set up for a service, so we headed off to the Stiftsbibliothek. Along the way, we passed a square with traditional timbered buildings:


The Stiftsbibliothek is one of the most amazing libraries anywhere. Auntie Geek and I headed inside while ZMG and LGG rested, but unfortunately you can't take pictures inside, so you'll have to go over here to see one. It's two stories tall, with lovely wood shelves, wood inlays on the floor, and pretty details everywhere. I had a problem, though: it was very easy to imagine myself standing on one of the balconies with a book in hand, wearing a dark suit, while my henchmen bring in James Bond for a little visit. Don't ask me why, but that's what kept popping into my head.

After a while, we headed off to the center for window shopping and people watching. We reached the Bärenplatz and found a group of folks standing alongside the shops, blowing bubbles. LGG chased bubbles for a bit while ZMG and Auntie Geek headed off to the nearby farmer's market to buy some cheese. Here's an action shot:


The weather was turning colder and we decided it was time to head back to the chocolate shop we passed on our walk around the Abbey. On our way, we passed a church (part of the abbey complex) with a pretty tiled roof:


Here's our view as we enjoyed our hot chocolate and coffee. Not bad, eh?


Suitably fortified, we wandered off to (of course) buy more snacks, including a pretty little tart with powdered sugar marking the shape of a bunny. LGG and I window shopped at a toy store while ZMG and Auntie Geek hit the H&M for some tights. Finally, it was time to head back to the train station for our return to Zurich. It started snowing heavily just as we got there - good timing!