Random cool idea found online

Here's a really cool idea I found at random via digg. Someone in the US tied a disposable camera to a sidewalk bench with a note inviting people to take pictures with it. He then returned later, picked up the camera, developed the film, and posted the pictures online on his blog. I particularly like the ones of the little girl with her mom(?) and the dog in the bandana.

What a great idea! I wonder what would happen if we did something like that at our neighborhood bus stop?

Of course, being the obsessive Geek that I am, I clicked through all the photos and then used one of them to figure out where the pictures were taken (rather than taking the easy way out and looking at the index page for the blog). I'm not going to tell you -- have fun working it out.

Robot Puzzle Pieces

Last night Little Girl Geek completed her first 100 piece puzzle (with a little coaching from mom and dad).  She had received it for her birthday and after a frustrated first attempt it was put away until last night.  It was a little slow near the end because every time she came across a piece that looked like this:

she would say in a robot voice "I am a robot puzzle piece."  Don't you see the antenna on top of its head and the two ears?  Sound familiar?  It's her version of "I am a robot king.  I am a monkey thing" from the movie Madagascar.  Eventually the puzzle was completed. 

It's been a lovely week with regards to the weather.  On Wednesday afternoon LGG and I went down to the Werdinsel to play in the fountain/pool there.  We're hoping the pools or lake will be warm enough to get one last outdoor water play day this weekend.  (I think all of the outdoor bathing areas close on September 5).

However, fall is definitely on its way.  The tree outside our apartment is already starting to turn yellow.

Edited to add:  The pools/beaches close on September 7 or 15 depending on location.

Back to Kindergarten

Little Geek Girl returned to school today. (Zurich Mama Geek does the happy dance). Zurich Daddy Geek walked LGG to school and I "sneaked up" on them as they approached the kindergarten. There are a total of six kids from last year and six new kids, so we're pretty happy with a class size of 12.

I went to pick LGG up at noon and she was a little disappointed I picked her up so close to the kindergarten, so I guess she's ready to walk a little further by herself. We came home and she chose a cold cuts and bread lunch and then played a little before it was time to go back up the hill.

I gave her the choice of walking or taking the bus and she chose walking. We arrived about five minutes before they opened the doors so I chatted with another mom (or tried at least) while she played a little with a couple of kids from the upstairs class. When class started I spoke to the teacher a little and she said that LGG is still not speaking German in class, but it will come with time.

Two hours later and it was time to pick her up. I've resolved to get more exercise, but after our walk down Rigi yesterday and several trips up and down the hill I decided to take the bus up the hill. This time I went down the path a little bit and hid behind the tree. I saw her come down the path so I hid, but unfortunately while she was running she fell. Fortunately I had some bandages (or plasters in British English) to stop the flow of blood until we came home.

It's now after dinner and we sent her to the playground at the back of the building. And she went by herself. We're not surprised that she came back and buzzed and asked one of us to come down, but we're impressed that she went. All steps to independence. However, she will always be my baby...

Window screens!

Here's another quick post, trying to catch up.

For some reason, window screens are not a standard feature of Swiss apartments -- honestly, they're not standard equipment anywhere I've been outside the States. We're not sure why, but it is the way things are.

It's a bit of a problem, as flying bugs are fairly common here as compared to other places we have lived before. Everything from gnats to houseflies to wasps to mosquitos are pretty common, enough so to be annoying. After LGG started getting bug bites in bed, we decided to see what we could do.

A quick trip to the Coop Bau & Hobby in Oerlikon armed me with the bits to put screens in our windows. They sell kits which include a roll of narrow velcro tape (sticky on one side, velcro on the other) and mesh of various sizes. LGG and I picked up a few boxes, along with other odds and ends, and headed back.

In the process, I violated the traditions of males in my family twice. First, I didn't have to go back to the DIY store for additional or different stuff even once, let alone the standard three times. Second, having purchased something for a minor home improvement, I actually installed it that day, rather than letting it ripen for a few weeks. Sorry, Dad, I'm a failure.

To put up the screens, you clean the window frame, cut the tape to fit, stick it on, then stick the screen to the velcro surface, stretch it, trim it to fit, and bingo, you have a window screen. The first time, it took a little while, but by the fifth window, I was able to put up a screen in 5-10 minutes. All told, it took a bit over an hour to put screens on all our windows.

What a difference that hour has made. Since mid-July, we've had almost no flying bugs in our place (except for the fruit flies that come in with our bananas - and ZMG is adept at trapping those buggers). LGG is no longer getting mosquito bites, and we're happier because now the windows can be open on warm evenings. Plus I got to be manly, install stuff, and protect my family. It's a win-win-win situation!

ZMG is proud of herself for inventing a haiku about this bit of home improvement:

We are so lucky
He put screens on the windows
Fewer bugs - yipee!

ZDG and LGG go to Basel

Most of our neighbors have stickers on their mailboxes saying "Keine Werbung", which means "no ads" (effectively: "No junk mail"). We don't - mostly we just haven't gotten around to it - so we often get random flyers, store ads, travel agency ads, etc.

Before ZMG left for Italy, we received one from the SBB, the Swiss state railways, with various discount packages that we decided to take advantage of for our explorations. One was a joint train ticket and entry to the Basel Zoo for less than the normal cost of a trip to the Zoo alone. So for our last day alone, LGG and I decided to head off to Basel and avoid the Zurich Street Parade madness.

Basel is about an hour's train ride away, with no train changes needed, so LGG and I settled in - she drew on her Doodle Pro, I read the newspaper, and we played and talked and pointed things out to each other as we passed. It's a generally pretty ride.

After we arrived and got our bearings, we walked to the zoo, grabbed a quick lunch, and then went off to explore. The zoo is really quite nice, especially for a smaller city. We saw bears, goats, penguins, rhinos, lions, apes, and on and on. Here are just some samples:

The river otters really wanted lunch

The zoo had an emphasis on African animals. Yes, they have giraffes, so LGG was happy, but they also had some more unusual exhibits. Here are two locusts making more little locusts:

LGG of course demanded the full explanation: "Dada, why is that one riding on the other one's back?" "Ummm, they like to give piggyback rides." She didn't buy it, unfortunately, but I distracted her with an ice cream and a visit to see this jolly fellow, who looks like he's trying to decide if we would make a nice snack:

Why don't you come a little closer, human?

We stayed until the zoo closed (even then, I could only get LGG to leave with a promise we would return soon) and then decided to get some dinner in Basel before heading home. We strolled along a pedestrian street toward the Rhine and found a place serving good beer and tarte flambée (this is a forestière - mushrooms, onions, cheese, and cream):


LGG wouldn't try "French pizza" when we were in Strasbourg, but this time, I convinced her to have some along with syrup while I had my beer. She ended up eating about 25% of it, which is pretty good for a picky eater. She decided it was good, but a little salty.

Sated, we walked along and enjoyed the city. I surprised LGG at one point and caught this picture of her in action:


Soon, we found ourselves at the Münster:


where I agreed to let LGG try using the camera, and she took this picture of me:


Not bad for a first try, especially considering the subject matter.

We reached the river and crossed a lovely bridge


before LGG announced she needed a bratwurst "with ketchup, not mustard, Dada!". We sat together and she ate her snack while we admired the view of the Rhine and the Basel sunset:

LGG and I had such a good time, it was hard to end it, but by this point, it was definitely time to head home. We actually ended up not getting home until over an hour after ZMG arrived, so I felt a bit guilty, but at least she got a little extra time to herself.

The capper to the day was this picture, which I think is one of the best I've ever taken of LGG. It's now the wallpaper on my iPod.

LGG and ZDG take two day trips

ZMG was right when she warned that our posts would be out of order for a while. I'm just back from a trip, but before I post about that, I wanted to write another couple of posts about the time LGG and I shared while ZMG was in Italy.

LGG and I enjoyed a series of day trips during ZMG's holiday. We first went to Technorama, a great hands-on museum in Winterthur, about 40 minutes from our house. LGG loved playing with the exhibits, with three in particular her favorites: one with with various wooden sculptures designed to act as ramps for small red balls, sometimes making music along the way; one outside where you can adjust the water flow through a hose and make it jump crazily; and especially one with a computer system hooked up to an overhead projector. For that one, you can make shadows with your hands or other items, and the system finds enclosed shapes, draws the shapes, and they drop to the bottom of the screen with various sounds. We stayed there for nearly an hour, until the museum closed and we had to leave. Sorry, no pics on this trip.

The next day, we went to Rapperswil to the KinderZoo again. LGG especially liked that, because she got to be the Big Girl Showing Daddy Around. She took me to see the giraffes


and watch the sea lion show and ride an elephant. She also wanted to ride a pony:


and show off how high she can climb up the structure:


(she's about 10 meters up in that picture) and her zip line skills:


More to come in the next post...

Neighbor Lottery

I keep meaning to post a summary about our apartment search.  We ended up taking a place outside of our desired area, but we're pretty happy with it.  I've always thought that as long as school works out for Little Geek Girl we would be content to stay here.  Part of the apartment satisfaction was due to our downstairs neighbors.  They have a baby that we would occasionally hear cry and a piano, but for the most part we didn't hear them that much and they claimed never to hear us.  And they don't smoke.  Which is important when you are the upstairs neighbor (at least for us).

Apparently they've moved out on us.  Fair enough.  However, we suspect the new neighbors will be students.  There are four different names on the nameplate.  What are our chances that none of them will be smokers?  It's not looking good, but we can always hope.  Because I really really really don't want to have to move again.  

The arrival of the Big Sofa

Our apartment is almost entirely filled with Ikea furniture.  When we moved in April, we needed a place for my sister to sleep and a place for us to sit, so we purchased a futon sofa to serve double duty.  It's not the most comfortable thing to sit on, so when the sales were going on in July we went in search of a new sofa.

Unfortunately, Zurich Daddy Geek and I are the complete opposite when it comes to shopping for anything.  We both like to do research ahead of time.  However, I like to look at all of my options.  ZDG wants to go in, make the purchase, and move on.  

We weren't really happy with any of the Ikea sofas (at least the ones in our price range) although there were a couple that would have been okay.  Our compromise was to go to one other furniture store to see if there was anything there that we would like, otherwise, we would pick a sofa from Ikea and move on.  The lucky store was Conforama, near Glatt Zentrum.

As soon as we arrived at the store Little Geek Girl declared she was hungry.  ZDG went ahead to look at the showroom while LGG and I stopped to have snack.  When we went upstairs ZDG had identified several candidates.  We considered a cream colored sofa with a chaise, but ultimately decided on the brown "Big Sofa."  It was available to pick up that day, but I was happy to pay 90 CHF and wait a month for someone else to carry the thing up two flights of stairs.

Important requirement -- large enough for napping.

Comparison of futon sofa to the big sofa.

The decorative pillows were picked out by LGG.  The elephant pillow is for me, the tiger pillow is for LGG, and the cow pillow is for ZDG.

My day in Florence

On Saturday my flight left at 7:40 pm, so my goal was to get to Florence and walk and eat until it was time to go.  I checked out of the hotel and visited the various Tabacs in Pisa to get a recharge for my cell phone, but I had no luck (actually, the Tabac at the train station had one, but I didn't realize it).  I arrived at the Florence train station a little after 10 am and purchased a cell phone recharge from the Tabac there.  Zurich Daddy Geek had told me to "go to any Tabac and they'll recharge your cell phone".  That made it sound like I would hand my phone to them and they would do something to it.  Nope.  They give you a card and you need to call a phone number and enter your phone number and the secret code on the card (that you scratch to reveal).  Fortunately the woman at the money changing office wasn't busy and she helped me recharge my phone.

We had spent a week in Florence in the Fall of 2006, so I was pretty familiar with the city.  My favorite website for restaurants in Florence is by Divina Cucina.  I had been hoping to have lunch at Mario, which we had missed on our last trip, but alas it was closed.  Now that the cell phone was recharged I called another restaurant on my list, but it was also closed.  However, Il Latini was open and they opened at 12:30 pm.  So it's almost 11 am and I had breakfast at 7 am, so it's time for a snack.  I went through Mercato Centrale and looked for a couple of the shops that we had gone to previously, but they were closed and nothing else caught my eye.  I decided to go to Forno di Ivana Bruschi to get a small piece of schiacciata (stuffed foccacia) and water to fortify myself.  

Next I headed to the Duomo, to see if Paperback Exchange was open.  And it was closed for the holiday (notice the theme).  I knew there was another English Bookstore closer to the river so I went towards it.  And on the way I passed Vivoli so I had to stop for some chocolate/coffee and vanilla/orange gelato.  McRae's English Books was open, but had only a limited supply of used books.  But I did buy a couple to keep me busy.  (Of course now that ZDG is in Iceland and LGG is still on holiday I haven't had any time to read at all.  But it's always nice to know that the books are waiting for me).  

I then walked towards Il Latini.  Il Latini is in all of the guidebooks, but it is clear that a lot of locals eat there too.  At the front of the restaurant there was a community table where there was another solo diner and shortly after I sat down another single woman also came to eat at the table.  There are menus if you want one but it's fun to have to waiter come and describe your options.  I started with a mixed antipasto of prosciutto, melon, salami, and a barley/celery/onion salad.  There was also a big bottle of chianti on the table to pour yourself a glass.  Although the pastas and soups sounded good I decided to order a nice piece of rare roast beef.  And it was scrumptious.  I didn't have room for dessert, but they gave me a glass of Spumante to end my meal.  

After lunch I decided to walk across the river and around the Oltarno area of Florence.  I thought about walking up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo and its lovely view, but decided that it was too hot (and my sandals were rubbing my feet).  I crossed the river and went to the leather school by Santa Croce.  I was pretty happy to find a small market to pick up a cold bottle of water (only 35 cents/0.5 L).  I went back towards the Duomo and eavesdropped on a guy telling his companions about how cool it was to climb the Duomo.  Dude--I climbed up there with a 3.5 yo on my back!

I stopped by a candy store to pick up some Marzipan fruit for Little Geek Girl and then I headed down to the river.  I stopped at Gelateria Le Carrozza for my last gelato (black cherry and ferrer rocher) and was quite tired, so I rested and watched the people go by at the Piazza degli Uffizzi.  My plan was to go by a pastry shop for treats and Antico Noe for a sandwich to take on the airplane, but my plans were foiled again as both were closed.  There was no sign on Antico Noe, but construction was being done on the alley where it is housed, so I hope it was just closed for holiday and not for good.  

So I went back to Forno di Ivana Bruschi to pick up another piece of Schiacciata and some cookies and headed to the train station.  I took the bus back to the airport and checked in and was soon on my way back to Zürich.  

From Zürich to Pisa

Last Thursday (7 Aug) I went on a short trip to Italy to meet up with a friend at the end of her conference.  We never determined how much it would cost by train, but when we found a good fare on Swiss we didn't think twice about booking it (1.5 hours by plane to Florence versus 7+ hours by train).

Zurich Daddy Geek and Little Geek Girl accompanied me to the airport and then I was on my own.  After clearing passport control I browsed the shopping choices, but decided that chocolate might not survive the high temperatures predicted in Italy.  I then cleared security and went to the waiting area for my flight to depart for Florence.  We boarded a bus that took us out to the plane on the tarmac.  The plane was a little late in departing, but they gave us our Swiss chocolate a little early to keep us all happy.

After visiting the ATM to supplement my supply of Euros, I went outside to look for the bus to the Florence train station.  I think I had just missed the 2:30 pm bus.  I was a little concerned that the schedule posted said that the buses came only on the half hour, but all my sources on the internet said it came at both the hour and half hour.  The enterprising Florence taxi drivers had written on the schedule that the bus was 4.50 Euro and a taxi was 20 Euro, so I was tempted to try and round up some other passengers to take a taxi.  However, the bus arrived at 2:50 pm and I took the 3:00 pm bus in to the city.  I purchased a train ticket for Pisa (5.60 Euro) and found my train.  The sign at the Florence airport said the temperature was 37 deg C, although I think that might have been elevated due to all of the concrete.  I was thankful that both the bus to the train station and the train to Pisa were air conditioned.  

I had predicted that I would arrive in Pisa between 4 and 5 pm and I arrived just after 5 pm.  We decided to meet and stay in Pisa because dear friend (DF) had a flight departing early Saturday morning.  I found the hotel and the receptionist told me DF has arrived shortly earlier.  DF had just finished a shower to freshen up and we chatted and caught up and got ready to go get a SIM card for my cell phone and our first gelato for the trip.  In 2006 we had visited Italy and purchased a cell phone which I use now with a Swiss SIM card.  Unfortunately we couldn't find our Italian SIM card in Zürich, but it was pretty straightforward to purchase one at the Vodafone store in Pisa.  Then we went to La Bottega del Gelato for gelato.  I'm a chocolate girl through and through, but the Italian fruit gelatos are also so good, so I had nutella and peach.  We then continued to wander towards the Piazza dei Miracoli where there happens to be this tall tower that everyone was photographing.   

When we left the hotel around 6 pm I had asked the receptionist to call the restaurant I had in mind to see if they were open and make a reservation.  At 7 pm my cell phone was activated so I called the hotel and found out that the restaurant was closed for holiday, but she had made a reservation at another restaurant at 8 pm.  We lingered a little longer at the Piazza and then wandered back to the hotel to get directions to Restaurant Galileo.  DF had the gnocchi for her primi and a huge piece of mozzarella with tomatoes for her secondi.  I had a baked octopus and vegetable antipasti and entrecote (steak) with balsamic sauce for my secondi.  Afterwards we walked along the river and eventually figured out how to call our husbands.

On Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then walked back towards the Piazza.  I had already purchased our ticket to climb the tower, so we went to the ticket office to pick our tickets and also purchase tickets for the cathedral.  I had brought my shawl to cover my bare  shoulders when entering the cathedral, but interestingly the cathedral also provided paper "ponchos" without hoods for those ladies with bare shoulders.  We admired the cathedral and then went to climb the tower.  

That was a strange experience to climb up and down a leaning spiral staircase.  DF noticed it more on the climb up and I was pretty freaked out about it climbing down, sure that at any moment my clumsliness would result in a fall.  Afterward we decided it was time for a gelato (mint for me).  DF had never been to Florence and it was certainly not far away, but we decided to go to Lucca for the afternoon.  2.40 Euro and 20 minutes away, it was certainly worth it.

Lucca is a walled city to the north of Pisa.   After a quick lunch (mezzaluna (stuffed pasta) in a brie/cream sauce for me) we wandered through the narrow city streets and visited a cathedral and then went for a walk around the city on top of the city walls.  From the top of the walls we could see a tower that had trees on top of it, so we decided to find the tower to climb (after a stop for gelato -- ricotta and chocolate and blueberry for me).  There was a lovely view from the top of the Palazzo Guinigi and more importantly a cool breeze.  

We took the train back to Pisa and talked with the receptionist about dinner options.  She called two places for us and they were both closed.  She then suggested we try two places that were nearby and otherwise we were on our own.  We dropped our things off in the room and yep, both of the nearby restaurants were closed.  We walked across the river and found an open place.  I had spaghetti with clam sauce, a mixed vegetable gratin, and warm pear cake with chocolate sauce.

We were pretty tired after all of the walking in the heat and climbing the two towers so we headed back to the hotel so that DF could pack for her return to the US.  And I still had another day to spend in Florence.

That was quick!

Wow!  It's been only nine days since we submitted Little Geek Girl's passport application and it arrived in the mail today.  Now she is free to leave the country.

We're in a stretch of highs in the high 60s and at most 70 deg F.  Summer may be over.  I'm not asking for scorching hot days, but I hope we have a couple more days warm enough to swim outside.  Please O Weather Gods.

Kindercity in Volketswil

I think our posts are going to be out of order chronologically for a while since ZDG is in Iceland, so I'm going to go ahead and post about yesterday and get to Italy when I get a chance.

On Monday we joined friends for a birthday celebration at Kindercity.  Kindercity is a science center for kids located in Volketswil.  I'm glad I went with German speakers because there were too many options for entrance packages.  We went with the "knowledge lane" and movie.  Since we were there with some younger kids we started off in "insect lane".  There were lots of sensory things for the kids to do.  LGG spent most of the time playing with a water feature, rearranging boards to create dams and then opening them to let balls and water flow through.  We then went up to the rooftop terrace for cake and jumping on the trampolines.  There was an overpriced train ride and I dragged LGG back downstairs to the "expedition lane" before she could ask for a bungee jump ride.  The expedition lane was for older kids and had exhibits about the human body, energy, and communication.  We were able to spend only a little time there because the movie was going to start soon.

We saw Chronicles of Narnia:  Prince Caspian.  It was in German, which in a way was a good thing because it meant I wouldn't have to explain all of the dialogue to LGG.  There were only two groups in the theater and the other group was many rows behind us so I didn't feel too bad about whispering answers to LGG's questions.  She was especially fascinated by the centaurs and other magical creatures.  

This morning the first thing LGG said to me was "Can we go back to Kindercity?"  I said that it was a special occasion place and we would go back, just not today, and we would go earlier in the day so we could spend all day there.

Transition Day

I returned from Italy last night and tomorrow ZDG goes to Iceland for field work.  He and LGG are at the pool this afternoon to give me a break so I can recover from my vacation.  They went on day trips every day and she wants to repeat them with me, but I don't think that's going to happen.

I'll post more on my trip later, but let me say that I would not recommend going to Italy in August unless you have to.  It was HOT, and a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed.  Time after time I ran into "closed for vacation" signs.  I managed to eat five gelati in my 50.5 hours and therefore walked a LOT to justify them.  

I don't have pictures from my adventures, but ZDG will be taking the camera to Iceland so you can look forward to some Iceland pictures when he gets back.

A Short One from LGG

So ZMG is now in Italy with one of her best friends for a couple of days, and I get to spend those days with LGG one-on-one.  We have a great time together - I've really been looking forward to this.

We'll post our adventures soon, but right now I just have time for this quick post.  I have the BBC World News on, and they just had a story about the Czech Republic and its relations with the EU.  To illustrate the lead-in, they had the EU flag and the Czech flag on the screen.  LGG glanced up from her milk (she was just finishing her dessert) and says, "Look, it's the Czech flag!"

I'm required now to pretend I'm not surprised, and just agree with her.  My mind's jaw, though, just dropped to the floor.  How on earth does LGG know the Czech flag...churn, churn, churn.

Oh, yeah, we had this little football tournament here in Switzerland recently, and one of the teams was the Czech Republic.  OK, so she had the occasion to see the flag a lot.  But she hasn't needed to use that knowledge up until now, and in one instant she can identify the flag.  She's scarily observant, our LGG.

More later - I have to go check her brushing of her teeth, another relatively recently acquired skill.

What we miss most (Aug 2008 edition)

Zurich Daddy Geek's time off work is going by quickly.  Today we decided to cross a couple of things off of our list.  First we went to the US Consulate to apply for a new passport for Little Geek Girl.  We're hoping to go abroad in October and would like it back by then.  That went pretty smoothly.  At our tram stop there was a bookstore and I wandered in and looked longingly.  

We took the tram to Restaurant Le Cèdre where I had met Global Librarian for lunch earlier this year.  We ordered the Mezze for two and some rice for LGG.  After placing the order, the waiter asked us a question (in German) and I said yes.  Well, to be honest, I thought he was telling us more about what we ordered, but it turns out we ordered a platter of grilled meats -- which was yummy and not as outrageously priced as I expected.  ZDG succeeded in getting some falafel and meats into LGG but she is still entirely too picky or her palate is still too sensitive or both.  

We hadn't spent a lot of time in this part of Zürich so rather than going straight to our bus stop we decided to walk a little bit.  We passed another bookstore, which had at least four or five used copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in English.  And they were priced at only 7 or 8 CHF each, which is a bargain for books.  ZDG found the new Elizabeth George in English, but it was 45 CHF and I'm not ready yet to spend that kind of dough on books.  LGG was fascinated by the covers on some of the books.

So, we've been meaning to join the Pestalozzi Bibliothek.  However, you need to have your Ausweis (residence permit) to join and we don't usually carry them with us.  However, we had taken them with us to the US Consulate so we decided to detour on the way home and join the library.  On the way there ZDG and I were talking about what we miss the most.  Earlier someone else had asked LGG about what she missed the most and she said "friends" and I would definitely agree with her.  I also wish I could read more.  I wish I could understand the mysterious household products I'm purchasing, ie cleaning supplies and anti-chalk products.  Yes, you can use a translation program, but sometimes the instructions still don't make sense.  And I miss our wonderful library back home.  Before we came here I gathered as many used books as I could find, but I've worked my way through them.  We were lucky that our temporary apartment had a big bookshelf of books for us to read too while we were staying there.  I need to check out more of the Zürich used book stores, and I think I'll check some out while I'm in Florence on Saturday.

Yep, it's time for my holiday.  A friend of mine is in Italy for a conference near Lucca and on Thursday I'm flying down to Florence and meeting her in Pisa.  She heads back to the US on Saturday morning and I'll have to hang out in Florence until my flight leaves that evening.  Poor me.  I guess I should go back to researching restaurant recommendations and such.  Because that's all I plan to do, eat and look for used books.

ZDG will have fun with LGG and may post a summary of all of the various bathing places we've been to and maybe even a little bit on our home improvement (can you say window screens?)

Oops.  I forgot to tell you what ZDG misses most.  One word:  burritos.  When he was in California in May he ate Mexican food for almost the entire week.

A Trip to Dragon Mountain

Last week, we decided to take a day trip down to Mt. Pilatus near Lucerne. Its name comes from the legend that the spirit of Pontius Pilate finally found peace on Mt. Pilatus (why there, I don't know). It also has the nickname Dragon Mountain, because legend also has it that dragons used to live high on the craggy sides of the mountain. Friendly dragons, but still dragons.

Needless to say, when LGG heard about this, she immediately decided we had to go. That was months ago, but as ZMG said, we've been a little busy. It was about time, so off we went.

There are two main ways up Pilatus: the cable car and The World's Steepest Cog Railway (TM, and used over and over and over in advertising). We decided to use the latter. This turns out to be quite an adventure, beginning with the scrum to get on board. In the States, a big attraction like The World's Steepest Cog Railway would have a long line leading to the ticket booths, and then a long, well-organized line from there to the cars, contained within ropes or something so it's basically only one person wide. Normal to an American eye.

This is not how things are done at The World's Steepest Cog Railway. Instead, there is a throng of people streaming off the boat and the train to get to the thronging point to get tickets, and then a throng of people thronging toward the turnstile to get through to The Hot and Crowded Waiting Area For The World's Steepest Cog Railway. There are no lines, just streamflow and controlled chaos. In the end, it worked out OK, but I was grumpily planning how to reorganize things for the entire hour we spent waiting for our trip up The World's Steepest Cog Railway.

Once we were released to board The World's Steepest Cog Railway, we grabbed seats in one of the cars (like this one, which is moving sideways on a special track so that they can move it out of the way of the next car - pretty cool):

and snapped a couple of semi-family portraits:

Here are various other views along the ascent - which is, in fairness, darn steep.

The Alpnachersee, where we started

We are going all the way up there - note the clouds and the pretty hillside

About 25 minutes into the 30 minute ascent up The World's Steepest Cog Railway, we passed through this stereotypical Swiss Alpine meadow (note the green grass, the Swiss flag, and some of The Stunning Alps in the background).


The meadow came stocked with several cows, who placidly munched lunch while we rolled by. They see this kind of thing every day, after all.

At the top, we stopped for a quick lunch and some pictures before heading out for a couple short walks. First, a shot to show how steep Pilatus really is:

and a portrait of ZMG and LGG holding LGG's Zak and Wheezie toy from PBS' Dragon Tales (warning: Flash used there). LGG really wanted to bring Z & W along since we were going to Dragon Mountain.

You can see Lucerne in the upper right in that picture. Also note the clouds - Pilatus has a stunning view on clear days, apparently, but it was not clear when we were there. Visibility varied from a long way to about 30 meters depending on whether or not we were in the clouds at a given moment.

After stuffing Zak and Wheezie into the backpack, leaving their heads and arms out so they could comfortably see the view, we went for a walk on two of the trails at the top. Along the way, we passed many pretty flowers - here's just one picture so that I don't bore you:


We also had a treat: many mountain goats, starting with a kid hiding in the grass on a very steep slope and culminating in this adult with great horns:


We were amazed at how close they came to the trail we were walking on, despite the fairly constant foot traffic. I guess they're used to us humans hanging around.

The storms were brewing up and we started to hear thunder, so we turned around. At about this same time, the horrible event happened at the top of Pilatus: somewhere along the trail, Zak and Wheezie decided to jump out of our backpack. Despite me searching the trail three times, and ZMG once, and asking at Lost and Found, Zak and Wheezie have found a new home. We expected LGG to have a complete meltdown, but in fact, she took it really well. We all agreed to think that Zak and Wheezie are either visiting their dragon kin or are now sleeping with one of the mountain goats.

Anyway, it was getting stormier, so we headed off down the mountain. We chatted along the way with an American from Dallas who was visiting his Swiss friend who lives in Lucerne, and then boarded the train back to Lucerne. There, we finally had a negative experience with Swiss public transit: the train broke down and we sat for about an hour before finally being towed back into the previous station. There, nobody really seemed to know what was happening, but eventually we got on another train to Lucerne, which arrived without complication. LGG was amazing during the delay -- sitting quietly, drawing, chatting with us, and being very patient. It could have been so much worse, especially after the loss on Pilatus.

We agreed it was dinner time, so we walked along the river in Lucerne until we found a British pub - a Guinness sounded just right to me. We were treated to this lovely view:


That's the Wasserturm (water tower) and Kapelbrücke (Chapel Bridge) in the near background, and Mt. Pilatus in the background on the right. Please note that the summit is now clear as a bell. Arrrrgh. Oh, well, the Guinness was great, the food was good, and we had a nice chat with the folks at the next table - one of whom turned out to come from the same town in New Zealand as a graduate school classmate of mine, and whose brother works at the same institute as several of my friends from New Zealand. It's a small world, isn't it?

We wrapped up our day with a short walking tour, including this final shot of LGG dancing in the streets of Lucerne:


It was certainly an eventful day at Dragon Mountain!

Giraffes!

When we first went to the Zürich Zoo and LGG learned that there were no giraffes, she said "this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me." We were reassured by others that there were giraffes at the zoo down in Rapperswil, but it was only open between March and October. Well, we've been a little busy, so we hadn't made it there yet. However, on Monday I received a text message from a friend saying they were going down to Rapperswil to the Knie Kinderzoo on Tuesday and we decided that it was time to go.

LGG was excited to go see the giraffes and was hoping to see them first. I had to remind her that we were going in a group and people would take turns deciding what to see. Luckily for LGG, the giraffes are immediately after the entrance. Here is a happy LGG with her friend in front of a giraffe.

You have to make sure you bring additional money for the various rides. Here's LGG on the pony ride (and I later rode on the elephant ride with LGG and friends).

And in Switzerland they have silly sea lion shows, just like in the US.

While the kids were petting the goats I noticed a display of artwork made from used aluminum. I decided that this creation was blog-worthy.

Random bits III

Here are some random pictures from recent days - some Zurich scenes, some domestic stuff.

After we returned the paddle boat, I was really hot and sweaty, so we went in search of stuff to cool off. We ended up getting ice cream from Globus. LGG loves ice cream:

especially chocolate ice cream cones while sitting in the open air under an umbrella.

Next, we decided to go up to the top of one of Zürich's hills on the Dolderbahn, see the view, and then walk down. First stop:

the very very fancy Dolder Grand Hotel. How fancy is it? It has its own seilbahn to reach it from the main part of the city, and it has a 4300 square foot suite on the top of the circular tower in the middle of the picture.

After gawking for a bit, we headed down the hill in the very warm weather, seeking shade wherever we could find it. Along the way, we passed one of Zürich's many painted cows:

LGG was very excited and wanted to pose in front of it.


On a different day, LGG announced she needed slippers for home. For some reason, we've got the reincarnation of Howard Hughes for a daughter; in other words, LGG is germophobic. We wouldn't be entirely surprised if she started walking around with tissue boxes on her feet, but I guess slippers are more socially acceptable. So:

LGG says the left one is a bunny and the right one is a mouse. She loves her slippers.

We've also had our first terrace dinner. We had used the grill before, but it had been too hot to sit outside to eat. The other night, the weather was perfect for eating al fresco on our terrace. I grilled up some steaks and corn for ZMG and me, while LGG got bratwurst and corn. ZMG and LGG set the table including yummy beer, and we sat down to this lovely dinner:

Steaks are a rare pleasure here, by the way: we paid the equivalent of about 25 USD/pound for each steak - and that was on sale.

The sweetest part of the dinner was after we had finished eating. LGG disappeared for a bit while ZMG and I talked, and then she reappeared with a damp washcloth. She had decided ZMG and I were both hot and sweating, and we needed to have our faces mopped with cool water. Very sweet, especially considering she had to walk down and up our staircase to do it.


Finally, a random picture of Zürich. LGG loves this big floating ball sculpture near the Zürichorn, which we visited after swimming in the See.

Pedal Boats on the Zürichsee

I'm on holiday this week and most of next week (I might have to go in one day next week - I'm still not sure). Since the weather has been nice most days, and as LGG and I are both fish at heart, we've spent a lot of time near, on, in, and under the water the past week.

Last Sunday, as ZMG mentioned, we went down to the Zürichsee and rented a pedal boat (pedalos) for 25 CHF for an hour. It started off sort of sunny-ish with lots of clouds, and rapidly became gorgeous - we should have brought our swimsuits, but didn't. Oh well, at least we had the camera, so I can share some photos with you:

Me at the pedals, as we leave Utoquai. Clip-on Giraffe is there in the right foreground, and the giant ferris wheel we rode on the other night is behind me.

LGG liked her yellow and orange life vest, and really liked putting her feet in the water while I pedaled.


A view of downtown Zürich from the middle of the See. That's the Fraumünster with the greenish steeple and the St. Peterskirche right behind it (both on the left) and the Grossmünster on the right. The Quaibrücke is in the center, along with one of the many cruise boats and another pedal boat.

We pedaled across the See to Enge, where this lovely fountain shoots water into the air directly from the lake. It's a dancing fountain -- the various jets get shorter or taller at different times. Pretty, and refreshing to be caught in its spray on a warm Zürich day.

Did I mention we should have brought our swimsuits?