tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42737623473726619642024-03-14T09:27:08.787-04:00What's Under My Couch?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.comBlogger176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-73074865944261658362009-08-01T13:40:00.002-04:002009-08-01T14:03:19.341-04:00A Letter I Wish I Could SendDear Heathrow:<br /><br />Hi! I don't think you'll remember me, but I'm one of the many thousands of people who passed through on July 1 and again on July 31. I have brown hair, blue eyes, and was with my husband and two children. I was flying to and from Basel, Switzerland, if that helps. Well, I suppose it really doesn't matter.<br /><br />I don't really know how to say this is a nice way, so I'm just going to come out with it. As an airport, you suck. I have been in a lot of different domestic and international airports during my 40+ years and you are the worst of them. Oh, I know you're clean and shiny, with lots of nice shops and restaurants, but dressing up in pretty clothes just doesn't hide your true nature. You suck. I'm sorry to be blunt, but there's just no denying it.<br /><br />Here's the problem. Normal airports work this way: you pick up your boarding pass, either on line or at the counter, and it tells you the flight number, time the flight leaves and the gate where you will board the plane. It's a really simply process -- flight number, departure time, gate.<br /><br />Ever since the World Trade Center bombing, I know you airports have had a lot of security. I'm not complaining about that, I think it's great and it makes me feel safe. But it has meant that instead of me arriving 30 minutes before a flight, it's become necessary for me to sometimes arrive as early as 2 hours before the flight. There's the line to check baggage, and then the security check, and then you usually want a little time to sit down and relax before the plan boards. Me, I like to relax in one of the chairs handily provided right in the gate where my flight will depart. Sometimes I even buy a cold drink and a magazine to read while I'm waiting.<br /><br />Sadly, I can't really do that while waiting for my flight from you, Heathrow. Now don't give me that innocent look, you know the reason. Both times when I arrived at Heathrow, my boarding pass gave me the time of departure and the flight number, but no gate. Now, that wouldn't be a problem if your terminals were small with a central hub and a few gates around it, but you know quite well that in some terminals it can take 20 minutes to walk from the hub to the actual gate. And YET you don't actually let us know the gate number until about 20 minutes before boarding.<br /><br />Do you do it for your own personal entertainment? Do you think it's funny to watch all the little travelers milling about the shopping mall in the center of the terminal like little confused ants until they suddenly have to make a made dash for their appointed departure gate? Are you just sitting back and laughing in your sleeve at us? It sure feels that way.<br /><br />Other airports just don't do that, Heathrow. LAX is just as pretty as you are and probably just as busy, and definitely has gates just as far away, but it tells me my gate RIGHT AWAY. Even if I happen to get there 4 or 5 hours early for some reason, LAX tells me my gate. That means I can wander around looking at LAX's nice rotating art display, check out its stores and restaurants, and then head through security and stroll to my gate, all well before the plane is ready to board.<br /><br />You should really change your ways, Heathrow. I've already decided to avoid you in the future if at all possible. I can only compare my time with you as time in some kind of nightmarish hell. I won't even go into your disappointing lack of air conditioning in some areas right now, although you know I could.<br /><br />Check your attitude, Heathrow.<br /><br />No longer a customer,<br /><br />Wendy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-21499536407672917612009-07-29T08:49:00.003-04:002009-07-29T09:12:02.295-04:00Thoughts About SwitzerlandI took the kids to their favorite park today -- Kannenfeldpark. While they were playing, I worked on my sweater and thought about our trip. Here are the random things was thinking:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things I'll Miss:</span><br /><br />1. The beautiful scenery, especially the mountains and the gorgeous old buildings.<br /><br />2. The excellent public transportation system.<br /><br />3. Chocolate made with real milk.<br /><br />4. Coop Hazelnut yogurt.<br /><br />5. Fresh croissants every morning.<br /><br />6. Opportunities to practice my German.<br /><br />7. The huge selection of playgrounds and family-friendly destinations.<br /><br />8. Kinder Eggs.<br /><br />9. Maid service.<br /><br />10. The way the air smells in the mountains.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things I Will Not Miss:</span><br /><br />1. The outrageously high cost of living.<br /><br />2. The lack of air conditioning.<br /><br />3. The dearth of ice, especially when one orders ICED tea. Seriously, who serves that without ice? The Swiss, that's who.<br /><br />4. The $18 per load laundry.<br /><br />5. Living in one room with 2 small children.<br /><br />6. Altitude sickness.<br /><br />7. Being without access to a car.<br /><br />8. Lack of access to American television, or even English speaking television.<br /><br />9. $50 meals at Mcdonalds.<br /><br />10. Hard water.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things That Remain Inexplicable to Me:</span><br /><br />1. What the heck IS air freshening?<br /><br />2. Why don't the Swiss use screens in their windows?<br /><br />3. Why don't they serve ice in their drinks, especially "iced" drinks?<br /><br />4. Why is Basel so extremely clean and well maintained, and yet tons of graffiti can be seen everywhere?<br /><br />5. Why don't they have a better yarn selection here? Hell, it's the world's most popular ski destination and they have places with snow 365 days a year. Don't they need sweaters, hats and mittens?<br /><br />6. Do they have a much greater water supply here than most countries? Because they always have sprinklers going, but are otherwise very earth friendly and conservationist here.<br /><br />7. How do they get their children to be so quiet and well behaved in public?<br /><br />8. What is in the strange green plastic bales we saw in the fields near Zermatt?<br /><br />9. Why do so many people stop for a glass of beer at 10 am?<br /><br />10. What was the red and black haired woman screaming at me on the tram that day?<br /><br />Seriously, we did have a lot of fun here, mixed in with the bad and uncomfortable. Jack's favorite thing about Switzerland is: "Having ice cream when we get back." Lily's favorite thing about Switzerland is: "I don't know, maybe everything but walking." You can tell this trip and all of the gorgeous places we traveled have REALLY left an impression.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-39840872405919383652009-07-27T07:30:00.011-04:002009-07-27T11:29:21.886-04:00Zermatt and the GorngergratAs many of you know, this weekend was our big finale -- a two day trip to Zermatt and the Matterhorn. I've been looking forward to this trip the most, especially since we went to Mt. Pilatus and saw the gorgeous view. Also, we decided to book a hotel and stay overnight, so I was looking forward to that as well.<br /><br />The weather on Saturday was sunny, cool and just all around gorgeous. We started out the trip as usual by taking the train to Visp, passing through Bern, Thun and Spieze, just as we did when we traveled to Interlaken and Grindewald. This time, we went through a long tunnel in the Alps and came out on the other side in Visp, and then headed from Visp up to Zermatt on the local train. Here are a couple of pictures of our first glimpses of the high alps. <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5DhLYY5yd8DMTtoVrAvGgzFDPDFPWDGjSKMhT6Yj2OXrKmoS-ENyWsfDXGlXCwmiZpPhv9SpXEtsXBjMXEWzkKMcIVQh0dijQhuMdESQr8MHXj-VGFprbPV_jemcJCREYaih9ws_fyk/s1600-h/IMG_4507.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5DhLYY5yd8DMTtoVrAvGgzFDPDFPWDGjSKMhT6Yj2OXrKmoS-ENyWsfDXGlXCwmiZpPhv9SpXEtsXBjMXEWzkKMcIVQh0dijQhuMdESQr8MHXj-VGFprbPV_jemcJCREYaih9ws_fyk/s320/IMG_4507.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363146932455682290" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6kzYlZmtXppqrWJlTXecWZkE5kpa6L_KrNgJ33RvDqUZ-umlko-0obGqtzH7z0uQNO7E2dx1x_iaTUld-cxXVhXMic6gHJeIPaO4kmUEjeec7xjoFuIAQk58e8zAUHL9hyntDGXz_wA/s1600-h/IMG_4510.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI6kzYlZmtXppqrWJlTXecWZkE5kpa6L_KrNgJ33RvDqUZ-umlko-0obGqtzH7z0uQNO7E2dx1x_iaTUld-cxXVhXMic6gHJeIPaO4kmUEjeec7xjoFuIAQk58e8zAUHL9hyntDGXz_wA/s320/IMG_4510.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363146922625371074" border="0" /></a>We arrived in Zermatt at about 2pm, in time to have pizza for lunch ($52.00) and look around a bit. We stayed at the Hotel Schwiezerhof, which I can highly recommend to anyone traveling to Zermat. We were able to get a junior suite at about 1/3 of the cost through one of those discount travel sites (sorry, can't remember which one). It featured a double bed with down pillows and comforters and an adjoining sitting area with a couch, two chairs and a coffee table -- the couch turned into a double bed for the kid. The hotel has 5 (no, I'm not kidding) different restaurants, ranging from a casual cafe to fine dining. It also has an indoor pool, a tanning room, hot tubs and private saunas, as well as lots of spa treatments for guests who enjoy that kind of pampering. Our favorite part was the blacony, which gave us a gorgeous view of the garden and the mountains in the distance.<br /><br />Our small sitting area:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYUy9CtV5jnoLxpzzy-H1vRKLOrvsvfdgQP_TQEYu5OkTorZqEilZrxgUj8QM36UUqq9OzbgZKwhgS1ghz9XWRLyXIU3tto4QPWUuhN_wcXkQeDCMfl5CWfYNRIicuPtjlHIYV4VApdE/s1600-h/IMG_4530.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVYUy9CtV5jnoLxpzzy-H1vRKLOrvsvfdgQP_TQEYu5OkTorZqEilZrxgUj8QM36UUqq9OzbgZKwhgS1ghz9XWRLyXIU3tto4QPWUuhN_wcXkQeDCMfl5CWfYNRIicuPtjlHIYV4VApdE/s320/IMG_4530.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363146914420549874" border="0" /></a>Our bedroom:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Np66BbNMUs7X6cpgC6uiVIZTGYQwhDt683L02Ui2obNZ3l04zs3LELu3Z351Tv-ZjQHh5awAsS2mtDshoolbIRmF-L4KOG8MhuH4hZFfQQ5V0IX5sZ2zhW-_6vNP_UeDzxLZjLUCaIQ/s1600-h/IMG_4529.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Np66BbNMUs7X6cpgC6uiVIZTGYQwhDt683L02Ui2obNZ3l04zs3LELu3Z351Tv-ZjQHh5awAsS2mtDshoolbIRmF-L4KOG8MhuH4hZFfQQ5V0IX5sZ2zhW-_6vNP_UeDzxLZjLUCaIQ/s320/IMG_4529.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363108439612891586" border="0" /></a>Jim sitting out on the balcony:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYc_AP-y_csf84d5RShKiMKlozkRj7MkI27RIPrI7ok-9D_DKHqNfswPmRGDZGUgL_Esz45vgiHLg2XWAx-MsJSWA9ClpbSZp9NoG19JYILBKYhOKLBcJHJ-IYAqG63EFdAX4Yd8_uLU/s1600-h/IMG_4536.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYc_AP-y_csf84d5RShKiMKlozkRj7MkI27RIPrI7ok-9D_DKHqNfswPmRGDZGUgL_Esz45vgiHLg2XWAx-MsJSWA9ClpbSZp9NoG19JYILBKYhOKLBcJHJ-IYAqG63EFdAX4Yd8_uLU/s320/IMG_4536.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363108435400433650" border="0" /></a>A picture of the view rom my chair:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixKzir9FdBPwLAbFASxUEUCD-iz1RcGr11ff2RQ7s9WUvJ2XMnqTXTPuzCfKTpBWyIepjvNgI_qPxbBvA99JjxBoBqyKbAsxZbzrFq6Ad_xw7giWw6ssdaICA_L1ujJjTCn_1vLLmzcU/s1600-h/IMG_4538.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjixKzir9FdBPwLAbFASxUEUCD-iz1RcGr11ff2RQ7s9WUvJ2XMnqTXTPuzCfKTpBWyIepjvNgI_qPxbBvA99JjxBoBqyKbAsxZbzrFq6Ad_xw7giWw6ssdaICA_L1ujJjTCn_1vLLmzcU/s320/IMG_4538.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363108430420740562" border="0" /></a>The town of Zermatt is very Swiss Mountain, with twisty side streets and lots of traditional buildings. There are no gas cars in Zermatt -- transportation in the downtown is available in horse drawn carriages or these funny, square electric taxis. The next series of pictures give you an idea of what the town is like:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyG2K4gsbS5ScXHV-piNPkUNrNwP1fwSC73xbPPY-En1r_HPbv3T6nRVtUinnKf__4jPcugae_p_5nXbIkwEJ6Z6vnGV7lPsesTXgHi_t6eZv25pgnYowhHYwWe9kQu8IfHpmessdWZQ/s1600-h/IMG_4545.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyG2K4gsbS5ScXHV-piNPkUNrNwP1fwSC73xbPPY-En1r_HPbv3T6nRVtUinnKf__4jPcugae_p_5nXbIkwEJ6Z6vnGV7lPsesTXgHi_t6eZv25pgnYowhHYwWe9kQu8IfHpmessdWZQ/s320/IMG_4545.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363108425472598322" border="0" /></a>The church:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__COhxC5jA9703Uu4jM4WUq53rAueM4za5pGdZemIMuJVWebswreBfXI_p1XMt_emJedpv5GzZ2Kr4G62Rof0xm6e_3ojtmFylFC4wDMQ8ojUypb8Y56tRH6x7N5fecNVO2sIlEAHitc/s1600-h/IMG_4550.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__COhxC5jA9703Uu4jM4WUq53rAueM4za5pGdZemIMuJVWebswreBfXI_p1XMt_emJedpv5GzZ2Kr4G62Rof0xm6e_3ojtmFylFC4wDMQ8ojUypb8Y56tRH6x7N5fecNVO2sIlEAHitc/s320/IMG_4550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363108422342254690" border="0" /></a>One of the horses:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0aF2HQbc-rnBXvE_0P9IDlRvOUPTlUFUtLqKJetiNzkGnl3hwajyZQBPDGko_puMRJNEPmOCBDezfP_iIcbXkjRRFcGq8RYEmM_UNpqXL6Oc8NaY1jeBtzOKx9OAVyikPXerafhjoUY/s1600-h/IMG_4556.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0aF2HQbc-rnBXvE_0P9IDlRvOUPTlUFUtLqKJetiNzkGnl3hwajyZQBPDGko_puMRJNEPmOCBDezfP_iIcbXkjRRFcGq8RYEmM_UNpqXL6Oc8NaY1jeBtzOKx9OAVyikPXerafhjoUY/s320/IMG_4556.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363107307361302754" border="0" /></a>A view down the main drag:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz3I0S7EvlRcN-hPUA6XrGyGss2u7aP_lxwtVD93q1BGxVCaOke6PXgkupSEAbivhLYdN3JZdoOhtWJA_poLJtLhwPdZu9bnGVTlKl7pCxywMdLbj5Gp_Zb7jqtB0IT_Tb_bn59XZEvc/s1600-h/IMG_4558.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwz3I0S7EvlRcN-hPUA6XrGyGss2u7aP_lxwtVD93q1BGxVCaOke6PXgkupSEAbivhLYdN3JZdoOhtWJA_poLJtLhwPdZu9bnGVTlKl7pCxywMdLbj5Gp_Zb7jqtB0IT_Tb_bn59XZEvc/s320/IMG_4558.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363107302100914914" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFMRvwDIWZJOgwz-LGhtfC1JjJGEy2QWP3R7T7YTNR3biT0aA8EkspqqKrNcj_cwm0E5IeNhitvhaw70OJNu2bTZf6PvXaO-CQGacId9Sp3SmTGOKOI9Cv6cMnSM6xQIrtX6k604q12g/s1600-h/IMG_4559.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFMRvwDIWZJOgwz-LGhtfC1JjJGEy2QWP3R7T7YTNR3biT0aA8EkspqqKrNcj_cwm0E5IeNhitvhaw70OJNu2bTZf6PvXaO-CQGacId9Sp3SmTGOKOI9Cv6cMnSM6xQIrtX6k604q12g/s320/IMG_4559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363107298211656898" border="0" /></a>We had a lot of fun checking out the area, and then we all went for a swim in the pool. Everyone enjoyed that a lot! We picked up some food from the grocery for dinner, and that's when the gastro-intestinal gurgling I'd been having all day turned bad. I ended up spending the evening, all night and part of the morning dealing with that. Fortunately, the apotheke opened around 9:30 am on Sunday, so Jim was able to pick me up a familiar medication (Immodium) and a strange Swiss medication prescribed by the pharmacist to straighten out the level of "flora" in my intestines. The combo worked -- by noon, I felt well enough to head out for our trip to the Gornergrat, a viewing summit across from the Matterhorn.<br /><br />Lily wanted to wear ponytails that day, and Jack begged for one in his hair with a green rubber band. Jim told him his hair was too short and he was really upset, so I managed a small ponytail for him:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4ayLJUhz01i_Zv4kP5nv1ftcT-ee3qxtRZgZuC9qZYManq1aXs0VWYy98QOf6xHAhIqgqOcL8kuVP8UOVCczWAyHbAayw-miDoxCQikaZshsqqdVzG8qOx7xVcWeE5iKd65C4Gn-HKY/s1600-h/IMG_4561.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4ayLJUhz01i_Zv4kP5nv1ftcT-ee3qxtRZgZuC9qZYManq1aXs0VWYy98QOf6xHAhIqgqOcL8kuVP8UOVCczWAyHbAayw-miDoxCQikaZshsqqdVzG8qOx7xVcWeE5iKd65C4Gn-HKY/s320/IMG_4561.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363107294978052434" border="0" /></a>He totally thought he was the bomb! The Gornergrat Bahn was right next door to our hotel, and we were able to hop right on to the noon train. It was a twisty ride right up the side of the mountain with tons of switchbacks. At times, it was a sheer drop right from the side of the train tracks to the valley below. The views were incredible, though.<br /><br />Here are the kids with their Gornergrat maps at the beginning of the ride. Because we had our Swiss Pass, we got to travel for half price -- the round trip was $76, and the kids rode free. It was well worth the extra cost.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4Ocy-Dy0t54Mq_8lEMaCBweiWWC82PVGu8E6QTeQUsWoco_9FziZgIHfJvP32bQbGtd9Znane7E8pY7ellNbhDEnvrFXCjyJCBi7zsbdF60O7rO1FpAsZ-QhnjrC60CPs1c-Jv672tg/s1600-h/IMG_4565.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4Ocy-Dy0t54Mq_8lEMaCBweiWWC82PVGu8E6QTeQUsWoco_9FziZgIHfJvP32bQbGtd9Znane7E8pY7ellNbhDEnvrFXCjyJCBi7zsbdF60O7rO1FpAsZ-QhnjrC60CPs1c-Jv672tg/s320/IMG_4565.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363107290757808898" border="0" /></a>This is a view from the side of the train down into one of the valleys:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuL5putN4syVNODjF1jP0yDVsZtddDzcGOr-JkugAUwDmcWa1v7ZKnQIm4zc6BPmsxPPhJVC0LP0WqDkOPUcowemH_nzbrKAnIE_8-Jh_uL0980vHHtUZB-1w7PIPm9-CxkEX95eFIRs/s1600-h/IMG_4567.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuL5putN4syVNODjF1jP0yDVsZtddDzcGOr-JkugAUwDmcWa1v7ZKnQIm4zc6BPmsxPPhJVC0LP0WqDkOPUcowemH_nzbrKAnIE_8-Jh_uL0980vHHtUZB-1w7PIPm9-CxkEX95eFIRs/s320/IMG_4567.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363106210920467266" border="0" /></a>The kids were impressed:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0FYufOvFObzPARMrmG4T1vVuRnzx25T421Y-71M7m6PiODYJ9NdiLzO5dXO-nfmEDhJEflaESnBLCxb0BGeC3Cf_94VWr9RDFCZyS2vFjQQqdMcFr1BqinV8GIkpluFqAkCmzFwjshU/s1600-h/IMG_4569.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0FYufOvFObzPARMrmG4T1vVuRnzx25T421Y-71M7m6PiODYJ9NdiLzO5dXO-nfmEDhJEflaESnBLCxb0BGeC3Cf_94VWr9RDFCZyS2vFjQQqdMcFr1BqinV8GIkpluFqAkCmzFwjshU/s320/IMG_4569.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363106207573890290" border="0" /></a>Eventually, we made it up to Gornergrat.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxKnymWsq5lnymdI6_jo7s-Zj7zmuAJMPFwfNIWukjodiMPIk4KD_VeyXJAgBJGC5ZXr0rEIcZIoIYQyL1gx4ipZo0bcg4yb7ptolGr984Q3jtMXsRmyqa2mhO-eansyNrf3Tb8Sj_FY/s1600-h/IMG_4576.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzxKnymWsq5lnymdI6_jo7s-Zj7zmuAJMPFwfNIWukjodiMPIk4KD_VeyXJAgBJGC5ZXr0rEIcZIoIYQyL1gx4ipZo0bcg4yb7ptolGr984Q3jtMXsRmyqa2mhO-eansyNrf3Tb8Sj_FY/s320/IMG_4576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363106198795124354" border="0" /></a>The elevation at the train station is 10,132 ft. I think I mentioned before that I've been having problems with altitude on this trip. Ever since my heart failure, I've noticed that really high plane flights cause my feet to swell and my chest to feel tight. I also noticed it here at Grindelwald and Pfingstegg, but attributed the chest issue to asthma. It was even worse at Mt. Pilatus. By that point, I had done a little internet research and learned that it was probably Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). I know, never diagnose from the internet, but I was kind of worried that I was slipping back into heart failure, so I did a little researchbefore panicking.<br /><br />Where was I? Oh yeah, I was a little worried about going to Gornergrat because of how bad I felt at Mt. Pilatus. I felt a little less concerned when we decided to make it an overnight trip because I knew I would have that time to acclimatize before going up to 10,000 feet, the highest altitude by a HUGE amount that we've done here. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here is a brief chart:<br /><br />Melrose: 133 ft<br />Basel: 843 ft<br />Grindelwald: 3392 ft<br />Pfingstegg: 4567 ft<br />Zermatt: 5,276 ft<br />Mt. Pilatus Kulm: 6995 ft<br />Gornergrat: 10,269 ft (at its highest point)<br /><br />My feet were a little swollen when we got to Zermatt, but I got adjusted fairly quickly and the swelling was gone by the time I went to bed. They blew up like balloons on the train to Gornergrat, but weirdly, I didn't have that tightness in my chest this time. It was harder to breathe if you were walking up the steep paths, but I felt no need to use my inhaler like the last two times. I did feel kind of light headed and spacey, but that might have been the aftereffects of being so sick the night before. Who know? I really do think that staying overnight before doing the high altitude (which was recommended for people who had signs of AMS) really made it better for me, though. The kids noticed nothing, but Jim admitted he was breathing pretty hard walking up even a small incline.<br /><br />There is a huge stone viewing point, restaurant, hotel and observatory at Gornergrat:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpf2NtBdze_BB8yekWl3TQ-OuCxIsuZTb1zhGl1p_ny_P0V-wSpHGFDCWi44GHNSNGNRINMU2B7Ey9OseQgL3e1QzDR1Nw42StZnx22v_zSJvmd_nZpI7FBEOhtYbIN6WAbRA4NaGpWdQ/s1600-h/IMG_4577.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpf2NtBdze_BB8yekWl3TQ-OuCxIsuZTb1zhGl1p_ny_P0V-wSpHGFDCWi44GHNSNGNRINMU2B7Ey9OseQgL3e1QzDR1Nw42StZnx22v_zSJvmd_nZpI7FBEOhtYbIN6WAbRA4NaGpWdQ/s320/IMG_4577.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363106198151251554" border="0" /></a>As an aside, consistent with his usual difficulties pronouncing foreign (especially German) words, Jim continually referred to Gornergrat as either "Gorgomott" or "Gorgonaut" during most of our trip! I told him Gorgonaut sounded like the name of a Transformer toy or something. The name is actually pronounced exactly as it is spelled "Gor-ner-grat."<br /><br />At the viewing point, they had these gorgeous St. Bernards with casks of whiskey on their necks available for photographs -- at 15 francs a shot. I tried to get a good picture of the dogs and thought I succeeded, but realized after I downloaded them that this is the best one I took. I'm telling you, the thin air made my thinking really wonky up there...at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQlhhWPlaWlMavib7rEuZm8MEQE5wTAng4UUR07ZZXdVDomsjOnminyN5awG2Ej1teeJnmV37P3LBs_-791SkYM2BnoIaYUd82IcY8sdpODRDSel8VonfFedcpr5m5dCrpnzeGnRfhFbs/s1600-h/IMG_4579.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQlhhWPlaWlMavib7rEuZm8MEQE5wTAng4UUR07ZZXdVDomsjOnminyN5awG2Ej1teeJnmV37P3LBs_-791SkYM2BnoIaYUd82IcY8sdpODRDSel8VonfFedcpr5m5dCrpnzeGnRfhFbs/s320/IMG_4579.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363106190625081618" border="0" /></a>Because it was almost 1, we headed up to the self-serve buffet restaurant and ate at a table overlooking the Matterhorn. This is the view from our table:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwLWPa1Rqcci0lSVnH_crmgMB_HGpXGd8qbXqDctL31_6phl9H4AmQ-RUDbC4BV16khVtfWkYRKZzYdF2WwO6qrMAtDAjKYtL36KNKNbWMmKvB5t_ufBLzwsP6tXGeBYjRIIpM09_8Ys/s1600-h/IMG_4586.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwLWPa1Rqcci0lSVnH_crmgMB_HGpXGd8qbXqDctL31_6phl9H4AmQ-RUDbC4BV16khVtfWkYRKZzYdF2WwO6qrMAtDAjKYtL36KNKNbWMmKvB5t_ufBLzwsP6tXGeBYjRIIpM09_8Ys/s320/IMG_4586.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363105411895768050" border="0" /></a>It was windy and a little cool, but you warmed up quickly in the sun. We bought a plate of pommes frites and two hot dogs, some apple struedel and hot cocoa for the kids. Jack said "I love hot chocolate!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnMOY6W3qMVWBTcxRPPqQtV-IoHCSrdcQLjJ9Z7hEhHMD4CusG7IjL00YTZNhBDHdylOmTqBFogkfEq9dXdzPBgIpsnnnMkI9Kh6pLB23x6r-p0YZHh53Me0RtVAPpE-kdJ3CCzOExsQ/s1600-h/IMG_4591.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnMOY6W3qMVWBTcxRPPqQtV-IoHCSrdcQLjJ9Z7hEhHMD4CusG7IjL00YTZNhBDHdylOmTqBFogkfEq9dXdzPBgIpsnnnMkI9Kh6pLB23x6r-p0YZHh53Me0RtVAPpE-kdJ3CCzOExsQ/s320/IMG_4591.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363105409635480130" border="0" /></a>Lily gave it a thumbs up review:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOfBaAhEDUMOSbttRvxGnGYQwiXfWT6-0d5DT7CzfzEsZrN2jbydfN8Tk2mUxH3GBB0JnRVmJFH65GbklzGKjGGEqZ4uqCVgNhmr7wQYH3mSBshz4GIEuCKhSCCuRfW6qPhvOED_1k3c/s1600-h/IMG_4597.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOfBaAhEDUMOSbttRvxGnGYQwiXfWT6-0d5DT7CzfzEsZrN2jbydfN8Tk2mUxH3GBB0JnRVmJFH65GbklzGKjGGEqZ4uqCVgNhmr7wQYH3mSBshz4GIEuCKhSCCuRfW6qPhvOED_1k3c/s320/IMG_4597.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363105406447456482" border="0" /></a>Here are a few shots of the Matterhorn with my zoom feature:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn-asuKmfHzwyZxaLdpbvpOIj1ZFjaFMyxsWGLFsI4euDcGh2n3yvsBIVsDsmkF5tTWxgu4GD7fMgZBqBFDzX0iTZArfQTehAL3nowAYbf8z1YOWDBDzsdLgKwXlP2PQ1I4bT8LWKjNA/s1600-h/IMG_4599.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn-asuKmfHzwyZxaLdpbvpOIj1ZFjaFMyxsWGLFsI4euDcGh2n3yvsBIVsDsmkF5tTWxgu4GD7fMgZBqBFDzX0iTZArfQTehAL3nowAYbf8z1YOWDBDzsdLgKwXlP2PQ1I4bT8LWKjNA/s320/IMG_4599.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363105400699683890" border="0" /></a>These are some snow covered peaks to the left of the Matterhorn. The view at the top was amazing because we were surrounded by snow capped Alps. I took almost 100 pictures that day!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ay1EXEvJ2ls0kX6GQf2FDt27k-6spn9OLcsLTH1CNLoFU6UPII2fZkMDYhwOuyREi7YLtTCwFicYPMEsVTdo0rw2NcOvJHq8S9WQz3xAdoURjQGtT-1mWqMfDs9dbhSoMBrbjVzgj2U/s1600-h/IMG_4600.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ay1EXEvJ2ls0kX6GQf2FDt27k-6spn9OLcsLTH1CNLoFU6UPII2fZkMDYhwOuyREi7YLtTCwFicYPMEsVTdo0rw2NcOvJHq8S9WQz3xAdoURjQGtT-1mWqMfDs9dbhSoMBrbjVzgj2U/s320/IMG_4600.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363105392908146674" border="0" /></a>The obligatory shot of the kids and me in front of the Matterhorn:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVzy7nt0I8qoc_u6HBVWPsezGcZ6U5vpkLbdO_onLW7Zlm_MMCq7F0y70rV1tp8LQkELkQxDlnd7cQyeSdGYCG3FyE8eJIWnExuANqXrF8ENMlc6Lx1KmHuVHVU8E7PRDN6Q8hYJvwuE/s1600-h/IMG_4605.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVzy7nt0I8qoc_u6HBVWPsezGcZ6U5vpkLbdO_onLW7Zlm_MMCq7F0y70rV1tp8LQkELkQxDlnd7cQyeSdGYCG3FyE8eJIWnExuANqXrF8ENMlc6Lx1KmHuVHVU8E7PRDN6Q8hYJvwuE/s320/IMG_4605.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363104603385672546" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAOrBtXFlGAhRY8g4pGA6swyBTkIzhHQHK3eoxTpvuTmU7iIT4y9lUa4jZTkMte1d5-sYsjP7nysgESEWYjFHGDNpvLCyjXEhIgH4cC-45yy2wWZ5qvPTAzPPnSOSRBjcJOw9Z_jU9to/s1600-h/IMG_4607.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmAOrBtXFlGAhRY8g4pGA6swyBTkIzhHQHK3eoxTpvuTmU7iIT4y9lUa4jZTkMte1d5-sYsjP7nysgESEWYjFHGDNpvLCyjXEhIgH4cC-45yy2wWZ5qvPTAzPPnSOSRBjcJOw9Z_jU9to/s320/IMG_4607.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363104598373022450" border="0" /></a>They have a small church next to the observatory:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNTsRJhLAN8F7bzd24qvj6koGlikXvGjZ8DEQOkLWUmvzBIsT3TYVuNsNBQz91NHI82KBBSvWXyCaWSb4E8LAOnXsbc2AkK_tLyUsyB7-Ip-HnqCsoXP03ozqmO6HB9L_olUp8HYppGw/s1600-h/IMG_4587.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNTsRJhLAN8F7bzd24qvj6koGlikXvGjZ8DEQOkLWUmvzBIsT3TYVuNsNBQz91NHI82KBBSvWXyCaWSb4E8LAOnXsbc2AkK_tLyUsyB7-Ip-HnqCsoXP03ozqmO6HB9L_olUp8HYppGw/s320/IMG_4587.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363104588403256594" border="0" /></a>It has a beautifully painted wooden ceiling, wooden pews and a lovely carved grouping behind the candles, which you can buy and light for a franc each. The kids were really impressed -- Jack especially. He pointed at all of the candles and said "Oh, look Mama, fire!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlqiNLAQ0IHal65zx5w3ZF336QyR63I-uE7iDS8xrfchCd6JD-GZPlahWWa5DyFzQoH8tBGR8CA_dOuWQmqF3XvOPUKa7XbbKfZRDlVjnlhNOvIFk3y_sJkoi73lI9WLiR344brvPdaE/s1600-h/IMG_4610.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlqiNLAQ0IHal65zx5w3ZF336QyR63I-uE7iDS8xrfchCd6JD-GZPlahWWa5DyFzQoH8tBGR8CA_dOuWQmqF3XvOPUKa7XbbKfZRDlVjnlhNOvIFk3y_sJkoi73lI9WLiR344brvPdaE/s320/IMG_4610.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363104583385966530" border="0" /></a>Here is a view of another peak visible from Gornergrat:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5GF4IRv5oKhkBU6_QVhry7VP-ateFXVVD3Buwgogyjrzk2BEQZ6LRTBpk-mgcsWN80YrWylWCFM_PK-w1IhXBd4ckRWKBj4QS8rGrXl1QMeacVGd1ESDR9Afbn3EmBFOW0ua1Z0V7UE/s1600-h/IMG_4612.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5GF4IRv5oKhkBU6_QVhry7VP-ateFXVVD3Buwgogyjrzk2BEQZ6LRTBpk-mgcsWN80YrWylWCFM_PK-w1IhXBd4ckRWKBj4QS8rGrXl1QMeacVGd1ESDR9Afbn3EmBFOW0ua1Z0V7UE/s320/IMG_4612.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363104580857058882" border="0" /></a>And a view of Jm in front of the Matterhorn on a walkway over the train station.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVSTnKRSrKE2JvmoJle1c6AhrbG0xdnfeXD6B-c-Au-aBPKE-aUpEkJTETvMSbFQbGfM41V67hWlzFOxjwKD86aYeHi1wLqMx3yq1hqps5jlVkycSsTZn7PkI7xDT0hyGuLkURLdL6ds/s1600-h/IMG_4618.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAVSTnKRSrKE2JvmoJle1c6AhrbG0xdnfeXD6B-c-Au-aBPKE-aUpEkJTETvMSbFQbGfM41V67hWlzFOxjwKD86aYeHi1wLqMx3yq1hqps5jlVkycSsTZn7PkI7xDT0hyGuLkURLdL6ds/s320/IMG_4618.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363103821540731202" border="0" /></a>A fourth view from the observatory:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaMaBihcSOyKpszOO3kG-bkTgYfFnXUV5U_aJjB5d2MDgaS6ZsczRISw1MDVrpYoemL3PeY0ZaAqxGJlIDDrIjSwS-JsGLJulY_yPebRfUpi7khk5SodD4RPunP9ECDq-EJh9z7dRTW8/s1600-h/IMG_4620.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjaMaBihcSOyKpszOO3kG-bkTgYfFnXUV5U_aJjB5d2MDgaS6ZsczRISw1MDVrpYoemL3PeY0ZaAqxGJlIDDrIjSwS-JsGLJulY_yPebRfUpi7khk5SodD4RPunP9ECDq-EJh9z7dRTW8/s320/IMG_4620.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363103813096621138" border="0" /></a>We spent about 2 hours at the peak and then took the Gornergrat Bahn back to Zermatt. Here is a picture of the train pulling into the station with the Alps in the background:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdhzIRqUNiqzS63FoHRw4t_BkAv-nBJRRp10PWJbFLXrnd4IGCNJQZysYVSn9J5XJUpe6qVGzNZgHxuGWJ0RzsGwo_t1meN7KLMHcyZGkoLTdQMpINtQuBG-D-6zSIL44iiMlBgicjcE/s1600-h/IMG_4625.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdhzIRqUNiqzS63FoHRw4t_BkAv-nBJRRp10PWJbFLXrnd4IGCNJQZysYVSn9J5XJUpe6qVGzNZgHxuGWJ0RzsGwo_t1meN7KLMHcyZGkoLTdQMpINtQuBG-D-6zSIL44iiMlBgicjcE/s320/IMG_4625.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363103808379604194" border="0" /></a>I snapped some shots on the way down because we were on the "good" side of the train (we sat on the "bad" side on the way up). Here are some hikers. There are about 100 different hikes you can take from the Gornergrat, of all different experience levels. It seems like everyone in Switzerland hikes and carries special poles for hiking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOAH1HavgIq8Hq2DjdbUqp_LwlLHZI5cB6irTgw_l7VEe7CthZiWtzpCLizzMWiOFnQoDSHJTUo64jWebOe8gmj4VJfupPXhHYZozdtbuklmb9kdDvUCUel7DE0-vrZ3GPZgOurOiZkM/s1600-h/IMG_4626.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZOAH1HavgIq8Hq2DjdbUqp_LwlLHZI5cB6irTgw_l7VEe7CthZiWtzpCLizzMWiOFnQoDSHJTUo64jWebOe8gmj4VJfupPXhHYZozdtbuklmb9kdDvUCUel7DE0-vrZ3GPZgOurOiZkM/s320/IMG_4626.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363103801725126114" border="0" /></a>Another view from the train:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV25J0JL8GKbmSIE5DjkW061oustneFE5MUnOinLlAzDkWG2KuN-N-5d3Sj5at3Icw6ZWOsWqAFgLYXtpn5k-cmhCiMU8ZNRggnbCCOuIWxoMbhVM7Lc2UnH0-KN3tcDZhXNahM47-h8w/s1600-h/IMG_4628.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV25J0JL8GKbmSIE5DjkW061oustneFE5MUnOinLlAzDkWG2KuN-N-5d3Sj5at3Icw6ZWOsWqAFgLYXtpn5k-cmhCiMU8ZNRggnbCCOuIWxoMbhVM7Lc2UnH0-KN3tcDZhXNahM47-h8w/s320/IMG_4628.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363103794292165234" border="0" /></a>A closer view of the Matterhorn:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABx4K_WSfcjulzqq79XgwGgydeNz4ZMsPadTzw_6kbEZh9cXIJ_RoggXjh3KN4wfizxMJRnLKsdfcDUZpZLe_0F5KzqqYxFayJpZCBjhf8sOpnmOZEanlp3Tl0ke4stNELTURXS_Mqmo/s1600-h/IMG_4632.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABx4K_WSfcjulzqq79XgwGgydeNz4ZMsPadTzw_6kbEZh9cXIJ_RoggXjh3KN4wfizxMJRnLKsdfcDUZpZLe_0F5KzqqYxFayJpZCBjhf8sOpnmOZEanlp3Tl0ke4stNELTURXS_Mqmo/s320/IMG_4632.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363102720457935362" border="0" /></a>A parasail. Cute story: on the ride back down, Jack kept telling Jim he saw a "flying lamp." Jim finally figured out he was talking about the parasailers! They have several different places in the Alps where you can parasail.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCVbUEUBILqjCbrjdfxOh0pnTawQ2X46BG6O_V_sR85AKOAX0go9msXHLSZwqbzXH-lu8B3ESpMSV628dF2WWNw1FseiT1-u624X9j06Hjpk0k7PpJCTlMfWzpPcbZ2Z8WSYL4_Paq2s/s1600-h/IMG_4639.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCVbUEUBILqjCbrjdfxOh0pnTawQ2X46BG6O_V_sR85AKOAX0go9msXHLSZwqbzXH-lu8B3ESpMSV628dF2WWNw1FseiT1-u624X9j06Hjpk0k7PpJCTlMfWzpPcbZ2Z8WSYL4_Paq2s/s320/IMG_4639.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363102718760343810" border="0" /></a>Another view of the Matterhorn from a different angle.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXG9MniZ9fP8WewakVdxs3Fr7m_gotNikNnMopHnH_eIJT7DYFgV717SZFf8lCyKHAdvgbpk85aahiZtdevJv_eNlmNy5w1SLY0w3PqmT2qCVljnA0cWfExD3FJDw3MfjHFFDvWC3U8o/s1600-h/IMG_4646.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXG9MniZ9fP8WewakVdxs3Fr7m_gotNikNnMopHnH_eIJT7DYFgV717SZFf8lCyKHAdvgbpk85aahiZtdevJv_eNlmNy5w1SLY0w3PqmT2qCVljnA0cWfExD3FJDw3MfjHFFDvWC3U8o/s320/IMG_4646.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363102707550019010" border="0" /></a>A couple of views of the mountain towns we passed through on the way to Zermatt. Again, the Matterhorn in the background.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Neu4OgyjlfrpUe82TaiklkYQ5aqQm00citNv001LUKSeIXcT_OZooZAG5bPGfCFhiAJ16H8whetiqE4DTlrhq8eYw4BnciVRyLINfOF6MGcqh0cPBSzhyphenhyphen_9xMVXzPnGjCk2EjtDIbEg/s1600-h/IMG_4652.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Neu4OgyjlfrpUe82TaiklkYQ5aqQm00citNv001LUKSeIXcT_OZooZAG5bPGfCFhiAJ16H8whetiqE4DTlrhq8eYw4BnciVRyLINfOF6MGcqh0cPBSzhyphenhyphen_9xMVXzPnGjCk2EjtDIbEg/s320/IMG_4652.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363102702039446578" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9xlkwqeNxSL03cFFUSqbddGFaCSXeyREcpYMzSFxMzPX34i3LzhthGlwF2e0JJXO0DSNhKz6RRURblyfQUYEn5JCVKezgfwxnQb2jJ79V0jq7STsTOnT1vh-qBKKsMCwlkPGmpajKoY/s1600-h/IMG_4655.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9xlkwqeNxSL03cFFUSqbddGFaCSXeyREcpYMzSFxMzPX34i3LzhthGlwF2e0JJXO0DSNhKz6RRURblyfQUYEn5JCVKezgfwxnQb2jJ79V0jq7STsTOnT1vh-qBKKsMCwlkPGmpajKoY/s320/IMG_4655.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363102701471705026" border="0" /></a>We left for Basel about an hour after we returned to Zermatt. We made sure to get a seat on the good side of the train so I could get some more pictures on the way home. Here's an unusual church we saw:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7Mr2xWeVZgCHqkmjTW1SY-KgxzTti2Y71MaGqhyXI9RY9nsPKqmypx3IbLAEQnSRTqaxjE76RkpShB_EMRbnCG03yKYAe0bCcYdi5Sm8XW4YVaNdQPhf-N-3xHeWrvzd4DrP9pEcNFU/s1600-h/IMG_4658.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7Mr2xWeVZgCHqkmjTW1SY-KgxzTti2Y71MaGqhyXI9RY9nsPKqmypx3IbLAEQnSRTqaxjE76RkpShB_EMRbnCG03yKYAe0bCcYdi5Sm8XW4YVaNdQPhf-N-3xHeWrvzd4DrP9pEcNFU/s320/IMG_4658.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363101781149494114" border="0" /></a>And a gorgeous bridge spanning a huge gorge:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhp7odBdtew8JZZbHR26U-BYCJ81gi6cX56DhecUbALcDNAPMvjxw7QdsT8R4w7tL6tGsydoUPlRqmUHKHCp8GrYRr9zmoCsJUpLHQ44YowpdOUP552CxM0WM8TfBYjeZwetQT-jNkdhE/s1600-h/IMG_4667.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhp7odBdtew8JZZbHR26U-BYCJ81gi6cX56DhecUbALcDNAPMvjxw7QdsT8R4w7tL6tGsydoUPlRqmUHKHCp8GrYRr9zmoCsJUpLHQ44YowpdOUP552CxM0WM8TfBYjeZwetQT-jNkdhE/s320/IMG_4667.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363101776574471890" border="0" /></a>The lake at Thun -- the water is an amazingly bright blue, even on gray days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGlEBmGr-ugsPhSW-_5PVxwrWZQqI_QcwtXxRSQKhOYSPaeoLhrSprzwhRDmYdO4pz9I_BN-63clW-QIc9rElzS6-i6yU1QuEqwoJ9iuY9AzCxRNR_P-egZRVRhAG9mbVsgdsMIWdXmw/s1600-h/IMG_4672.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGlEBmGr-ugsPhSW-_5PVxwrWZQqI_QcwtXxRSQKhOYSPaeoLhrSprzwhRDmYdO4pz9I_BN-63clW-QIc9rElzS6-i6yU1QuEqwoJ9iuY9AzCxRNR_P-egZRVRhAG9mbVsgdsMIWdXmw/s320/IMG_4672.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363101770804044466" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKfNWWuL0BUbJkp48yS-3K6OwTdTTrJipBT-QCX8T2EILu425fvTeiVopsqsIq2M6ommb-IE8e6zq0GEHojqtG6LfolDYQR-Y9NF8k1zZCtY4J5DyJPBx69wJKOTQF2ZQ_ihyphenhyphenyA8sLQQ/s1600-h/IMG_4673.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKfNWWuL0BUbJkp48yS-3K6OwTdTTrJipBT-QCX8T2EILu425fvTeiVopsqsIq2M6ommb-IE8e6zq0GEHojqtG6LfolDYQR-Y9NF8k1zZCtY4J5DyJPBx69wJKOTQF2ZQ_ihyphenhyphenyA8sLQQ/s320/IMG_4673.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363101761155519330" border="0" /></a>And, as a final shot, the kids playing Uno on the train. Jim bought them Uno Jr., and even Jack has been enjoying the game! He gets a little confused, but is generally able to pick the right cards to play and actually won a few times. Lily has a bandage on her hand because Jim let her try out the orange peeler on his Swiss Army Knife and she immediately cut herself on it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWR3wmqILc94bpIW73MPlj6t2pAWmCIJaV47edL7kuWWwe6IHjCu3lWfkdWnNLhpkQZEvbOuA13lCkBBiJsruHWuV6kZ04QIyx2FKXmEa5c2b-y83YNC_J0Y9uxmh-SOhpZWpCtJ6PXQ/s1600-h/IMG_4679.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsWR3wmqILc94bpIW73MPlj6t2pAWmCIJaV47edL7kuWWwe6IHjCu3lWfkdWnNLhpkQZEvbOuA13lCkBBiJsruHWuV6kZ04QIyx2FKXmEa5c2b-y83YNC_J0Y9uxmh-SOhpZWpCtJ6PXQ/s320/IMG_4679.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363101760157574338" border="0" /></a><br />We got home around 8:00 pm. I really loved this trip, and only wish I'd been able to walk around the town and explore with Jim and the kids instead of staying close to the bathroom in the hotel!<br /><br />We will be returning to Massachusetts soon. I think both the kids and I are ready to be in our own house with our own beds and all of our dear friends around us. Switzerland is so beautiful, and I've loved seeing everything, but home is best!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-60958262880512062772009-07-20T15:41:00.009-04:002009-07-20T16:30:37.249-04:00Lucerne and Mt. PilatusWe decided that for our second travel day this weekend, we would do a trip with fewer train transfers and something more kid-oriented. After researching our trusty embassy brochure, we decided to go to Lucerne and take a tour of Mt. Pilatus.<br /><br />Because Lucerne is a direct, relatively short train ride from Basel, we were able to take the 10am train rather than an early train as we've done for our other trips. Although I hoped we'd have time to look around Lucerne a bit, the schedule required us to take a local train directly from the Lucerne station to Alpanstad, where we would then get on the "steepest cog rail" in the world to go to the top of Mt. Pilatus.<br /><br />The weather here has been trying, and our last two train trips were a bit rainy and cold. We checked the weather for our Lucerne trip and saw that it promised to be sunny and cool, so we were really excited. As we left Basel, however, the weather was still gray and rainy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMKJC6u0Ro4zREFzhtEhPcP44XDUMJKf0hGHdsTQO5yDsbaEhRQBjRAxnDTHGd_oo_AhEm1P9idAPQ9iW7pKgy3j3Da1sjz4aOzOJPTVAfCpwM65u-ac6PmRO-AQQLsQmv04x5NTbKtY/s1600-h/IMG_4447.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMKJC6u0Ro4zREFzhtEhPcP44XDUMJKf0hGHdsTQO5yDsbaEhRQBjRAxnDTHGd_oo_AhEm1P9idAPQ9iW7pKgy3j3Da1sjz4aOzOJPTVAfCpwM65u-ac6PmRO-AQQLsQmv04x5NTbKtY/s320/IMG_4447.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360634098819441250" border="0" /></a>By the time we reached Mt. Pilatus station, the sun was just starting to peek out of the clouds. Our Swiss Flexi Pass got us to the cog wheel train station for free, but to do the actual mountain tour, we had to pay 50% of the ticket cost -- about $60 US (the kids were free, as they are for most things in Switzerland). Since there were quite a few people in line ahead of us and the train runs regularly, we decided to grab lunch first and then go up the mountain.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSH2xuv5nA0ytsqO3Phy4XN-yjCHijq-rHLyJztdGJyErtdwMjS_tI0FEb9XJPm6Y2guvhA_neYHta0elH_r5TTngjXH499pKxZMiJ5DaGv-23wwHXtWX9VBotZ-zSA3la4Wi8w6wMhc/s1600-h/IMG_4448.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitSH2xuv5nA0ytsqO3Phy4XN-yjCHijq-rHLyJztdGJyErtdwMjS_tI0FEb9XJPm6Y2guvhA_neYHta0elH_r5TTngjXH499pKxZMiJ5DaGv-23wwHXtWX9VBotZ-zSA3la4Wi8w6wMhc/s320/IMG_4448.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633800788991682" border="0" /></a>We ate at the Cafe Chalet Restaurant across the street from the Pilatus station. Since it was still a bit cool outside, we ate inside the restaurant, which had plain pine walls and rustic tables. Jim ordered weinerschnitzel, I ordered macaroni and cheese with applesauce and the kids split a weiner and pommes frites platter -- it came with two weiners and plenty of fries, so they were thrilled.<br /><br />I often joke with my friends that if I was limited to eating food of one color, I would pick white -- cheese, bread, pasta, cream, apples (the inside), potatoes -- anything that was white/off white in color suits me fine. The macaroni and cheese I ordered was the ultimate in all white meals! It was Emmentaler cheese over pasta and potato chunks, with applesauce in a side dish. I told Jim the next time he makes mac and cheese at home, I want him to do it the same way. Delicious!<br /><br />After the meal, I took the antsy kids outside. They both picked seats on some stones in the garden next to the restaurant.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt_s2NvZJc-eX8cuyXNgtt48mg0WQ6Wjof0RRWEErmnjZEsfnAmgNJai0RT-YiPAT_wOBc_dV0M-K7Jxc3V3RwQEMUoNkfwytQmuW6K9Xbg2XjagMZS7R2CVf1x4dh4FixTLClkxUD60/s1600-h/IMG_4449.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt_s2NvZJc-eX8cuyXNgtt48mg0WQ6Wjof0RRWEErmnjZEsfnAmgNJai0RT-YiPAT_wOBc_dV0M-K7Jxc3V3RwQEMUoNkfwytQmuW6K9Xbg2XjagMZS7R2CVf1x4dh4FixTLClkxUD60/s320/IMG_4449.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633794618273026" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrRZDvNX1qQvV5dATqNd2x5R_L_xbgX_i4lHCuwPu-KuX9YBHCmJbVJQ5cP-PMqDfazCzin_Q2kwgcZJ4lww-J_q2X7B2pTlVOK-UTw_TUxIPOHKsvkVIkt2qxm27fyovKErHW2Ztccg/s1600-h/IMG_4450.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrRZDvNX1qQvV5dATqNd2x5R_L_xbgX_i4lHCuwPu-KuX9YBHCmJbVJQ5cP-PMqDfazCzin_Q2kwgcZJ4lww-J_q2X7B2pTlVOK-UTw_TUxIPOHKsvkVIkt2qxm27fyovKErHW2Ztccg/s320/IMG_4450.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633789276551330" border="0" /></a>Then we headed over to the cog wheel train. It's built like a stair case -- each car of 8 people is a "step" up from the next car, so that even though the train is practically heading straight up the mountain, you are able to sit upright.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0Le0pWt-j2P_JBeD2JZDmRfa7mw16XzDpMklyyCdHyCdfEmYv2ASWSrnDDctmZsOBm4PZIxJpqXPwQ9xUMhsklnD3XG-wu6UHWF8pvejCDU3jPrpvxRAtyHpsmiQVsM9KKTYjIUCBdQ/s1600-h/IMG_4454.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0Le0pWt-j2P_JBeD2JZDmRfa7mw16XzDpMklyyCdHyCdfEmYv2ASWSrnDDctmZsOBm4PZIxJpqXPwQ9xUMhsklnD3XG-wu6UHWF8pvejCDU3jPrpvxRAtyHpsmiQVsM9KKTYjIUCBdQ/s320/IMG_4454.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633785233965874" border="0" /></a>Once we started going, Jack was thrilled. From his seat, he could look straight up the train at the track ahead!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6armnUARoKvQSfCyfoC-Pmz1MP7-ovoXB2oi9U7REGgll7DcgxqTn1Cl_bpsHg7GOA1ciQvZYTa6zNyRfxzOt-zJEOlRi0u1RHLXWePJIvFYADioq5KhWBCLNACtr-IpqhyphenhyphenPsgNp7eDA/s1600-h/IMG_4457.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6armnUARoKvQSfCyfoC-Pmz1MP7-ovoXB2oi9U7REGgll7DcgxqTn1Cl_bpsHg7GOA1ciQvZYTa6zNyRfxzOt-zJEOlRi0u1RHLXWePJIvFYADioq5KhWBCLNACtr-IpqhyphenhyphenPsgNp7eDA/s320/IMG_4457.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633777217146946" border="0" /></a>As we first left the station, this was our view:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_yyLlZ1Ypfn_Eu47jzKUThpkpBRUVfLNnMhpUnwOtHxMNKdee1vGgACjbZpYuHWddRQ8v63n9v6tOdNbyAWpjjHEvpXYBEwfsQ171Ao3LixrMTl45VLZ2HjX-JDYse1cBS1QkCH7s60/s1600-h/IMG_4459.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_yyLlZ1Ypfn_Eu47jzKUThpkpBRUVfLNnMhpUnwOtHxMNKdee1vGgACjbZpYuHWddRQ8v63n9v6tOdNbyAWpjjHEvpXYBEwfsQ171Ao3LixrMTl45VLZ2HjX-JDYse1cBS1QkCH7s60/s320/IMG_4459.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633165061954146" border="0" /></a>After a few minutes, the sun really started to shine. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfxB3LqYe_JwHvR8IamKn2aJSylpwy4fVGdspLZOtYZIuE9dvhRqDzje1AziQfmSPaB7S5BSC6E0ByJ2Ebz8ewMXIh5CJS0LPX8xebt1SePKVfpJs0go9Kz7MJylzuIlwVxWnOB72fVY/s1600-h/IMG_4467.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqfxB3LqYe_JwHvR8IamKn2aJSylpwy4fVGdspLZOtYZIuE9dvhRqDzje1AziQfmSPaB7S5BSC6E0ByJ2Ebz8ewMXIh5CJS0LPX8xebt1SePKVfpJs0go9Kz7MJylzuIlwVxWnOB72fVY/s320/IMG_4467.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633160756304434" border="0" /></a>The ride up the mountain was something I'll never forget. The scenery was beautiful and there were places where the mountain just dropped away right next to the train. A couple of times, there were cows grazing so close to the tracks that I could have reached out the window and touched one. And...we had to travel through several tunnels in the mountain where the rock sides of the tunnel were close enough to touch. It was really unforgettable. Unfortunately, this is where I realized my camer battery was getting low, so I didn't take a lot of pictures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3M5Knf2ZcAw8a2F-Smjo4OKDKHs5wlaeQp4zZRdHSgG2e7PLxE08qwOwXwOhXb5Oi_Gh7xmHfcyhXceJbFlCHcJEO28-EZdt-Uf5ILrcR6KpD8jDp2D7gNSUTdQlFVpCg4avIN_Ay0_Y/s1600-h/IMG_4476.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3M5Knf2ZcAw8a2F-Smjo4OKDKHs5wlaeQp4zZRdHSgG2e7PLxE08qwOwXwOhXb5Oi_Gh7xmHfcyhXceJbFlCHcJEO28-EZdt-Uf5ILrcR6KpD8jDp2D7gNSUTdQlFVpCg4avIN_Ay0_Y/s320/IMG_4476.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633152701162690" border="0" /></a>At the top of Mt. Pilatus, there are two hotels. This is a view of the Pilatus Kulm Hotel. We stopped into their panoramic cafeteria for some hot drinks and dessert shortly after we arrived at the top.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8J1InsWQzPBnEkOiwK6THWU180VXnwvdkuxHmNpP92_-KZ40DlSaZOxBxi1nHC9YWJXt2kosZmtEm10JGyeHVv6y_sRq3BE3edjXs8kWqBEDcmcTI35Bd6aljPx41_S9ffHkh-xFKzmE/s1600-h/IMG_4471.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8J1InsWQzPBnEkOiwK6THWU180VXnwvdkuxHmNpP92_-KZ40DlSaZOxBxi1nHC9YWJXt2kosZmtEm10JGyeHVv6y_sRq3BE3edjXs8kWqBEDcmcTI35Bd6aljPx41_S9ffHkh-xFKzmE/s320/IMG_4471.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633148827255170" border="0" /></a>Here are Jim and the kids at the top. We were up in the clouds and it was pretty cool with the wind up there. Below is a view from near the Hotel:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaKMTBD3SgwuQ2qurg19TALMpqFKKt9bSouVLY9tS1lNoUvPXSEDQ0NynnPpz08WYjkqBwRezz2ubZ5Lq6zw_vomPbLodmwANVadp2Q34pccglFl4WeZF73AHKkr4xsKJc7GL3Ux9788/s1600-h/IMG_4472.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaKMTBD3SgwuQ2qurg19TALMpqFKKt9bSouVLY9tS1lNoUvPXSEDQ0NynnPpz08WYjkqBwRezz2ubZ5Lq6zw_vomPbLodmwANVadp2Q34pccglFl4WeZF73AHKkr4xsKJc7GL3Ux9788/s320/IMG_4472.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360633141749309714" border="0" /></a> There are a number of hikes and walks that you can take from the hotel area. We chose to explore the "Gallery" which was a tunnel through the side of the mountain with various "windows" that opened up to see views of the opposite side of the mountain. This is the door to the Gallery.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbSTIolPOBqU69gAxPIgVP840YqEqNccBayDX2p4Jk9Hc1dcbHBoLdbjhqN2_tr3EWtCtqVe-_qAjwsWFS5E0IcTTqsL27Zr73ijlo4gZlPt0xZxhHx5RTTgcwsVTFODaYSMQcCBGkp4/s1600-h/IMG_4473.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbSTIolPOBqU69gAxPIgVP840YqEqNccBayDX2p4Jk9Hc1dcbHBoLdbjhqN2_tr3EWtCtqVe-_qAjwsWFS5E0IcTTqsL27Zr73ijlo4gZlPt0xZxhHx5RTTgcwsVTFODaYSMQcCBGkp4/s320/IMG_4473.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631797074793650" border="0" /></a>Unfortunately, most of the cloud cover was on that side of the mountain -- here is a picture where you can see some lines from the mountain disappearing into the clouds. As we explored the cave, the clouds started to move over the mountain top and into the little cave with us.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4cLiaMjiBuG1g_BYvmQfH-u4Bgd6QrpmZXgwQm8D9qccHpBZ615hwC6iZSaFmwb16wXFiC_De4Q5ZPI7Fzov4rZjv5Oia7DJR4rmh0fGT_bfAt-irdXLTGt-y8Z_8Tv77KDeFyXJ3EY/s1600-h/IMG_4474.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw4cLiaMjiBuG1g_BYvmQfH-u4Bgd6QrpmZXgwQm8D9qccHpBZ615hwC6iZSaFmwb16wXFiC_De4Q5ZPI7Fzov4rZjv5Oia7DJR4rmh0fGT_bfAt-irdXLTGt-y8Z_8Tv77KDeFyXJ3EY/s320/IMG_4474.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631788594440578" border="0" /></a>Here is a picture of Jim and Jack inside the cave by one of the window views, with the clouds rolling in.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrp02U5Cw5GhZSSEzTtOS6ZGz9SbnkMA9OYFcn9xq6NULEM7jnohEQDY4I_tJ9rv6FWvKq6pxwiogm18aoNh7oTx2JpkMMgcm4Ga-Z1ZeBKOoXqFh09uKCuRiEJza9_dGGwnbNIyFx8fY/s1600-h/IMG_4475.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrp02U5Cw5GhZSSEzTtOS6ZGz9SbnkMA9OYFcn9xq6NULEM7jnohEQDY4I_tJ9rv6FWvKq6pxwiogm18aoNh7oTx2JpkMMgcm4Ga-Z1ZeBKOoXqFh09uKCuRiEJza9_dGGwnbNIyFx8fY/s320/IMG_4475.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631780952735426" border="0" /></a>After spending some time at the top, and shopping at the little souvenir store, we took a large (30 person) cable car down to the next mountain level, where they had a ropes course set up and a Rodelbahn, or summer toboggan. Jim seems to be making the tour of Switzerland's Rodelbahns, because our sole purpose for stopping there was so he could take the kids on a couple of rides. As we headed down the other side of the mountain, the weather finally started to clear on that side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLASEzu1I9eReNLcGKTOF10LQlFsqg3UG6ahx0SMiZ0S4GVASfpr8J3BzDM-eMw80rNu-ZFkSRXqr8KrnxJM8TK6W6UZ9XkfuZJ6jWlKl3bLCT6dBEnjTazIP6tv-VRLk9d4zJTsfnHk/s1600-h/IMG_4477.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLASEzu1I9eReNLcGKTOF10LQlFsqg3UG6ahx0SMiZ0S4GVASfpr8J3BzDM-eMw80rNu-ZFkSRXqr8KrnxJM8TK6W6UZ9XkfuZJ6jWlKl3bLCT6dBEnjTazIP6tv-VRLk9d4zJTsfnHk/s320/IMG_4477.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631773965306898" border="0" /></a>This is Lake Lucerne from the first cable car stop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRjsgk8LJhRLQnJ6Gq7jN49MwGbkuAnWPYgEqZp6MbpRR4wsk_L3sXpoAnrFKWZMR3mydqbgCu_VAgA2jlTq3m_0BnwBSSf-7Fxnu-LK1w1W-fC3Eq3tEzefWjr6XpzFqNDp3ZDRIWBw/s1600-h/IMG_4479.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRjsgk8LJhRLQnJ6Gq7jN49MwGbkuAnWPYgEqZp6MbpRR4wsk_L3sXpoAnrFKWZMR3mydqbgCu_VAgA2jlTq3m_0BnwBSSf-7Fxnu-LK1w1W-fC3Eq3tEzefWjr6XpzFqNDp3ZDRIWBw/s320/IMG_4479.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631765404439554" border="0" /></a>This is a view of part of the city:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7tFZLflog2KklKEsU-djx2MheB3nNkxGREJGkSKJMYm6hJjYDiD0ald5HuB1OmV5M8eArnLvoCdGqVHmstSTbcQW7sNzNdXLCMBEfIPwcPkGkOTFaVt4yWd53ildq4cpZlvrz9bmPSs/s1600-h/IMG_4480.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7tFZLflog2KklKEsU-djx2MheB3nNkxGREJGkSKJMYm6hJjYDiD0ald5HuB1OmV5M8eArnLvoCdGqVHmstSTbcQW7sNzNdXLCMBEfIPwcPkGkOTFaVt4yWd53ildq4cpZlvrz9bmPSs/s320/IMG_4480.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631097313592338" border="0" /></a>And this is an overhead view of a part of the Rodelbahn, which is apparently the longest in Switzerland.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvXQgougq9HGa0_SI3SSlHoJ8xmkJlZSVb_iX-tkGcEun_Ux_F5Ojg389necjf3qms1qlDpb0wWyJSSuUMx4foZNRaQe0Ph03zMnqMQiwBt2p3o0smgi8x-nJodxTmPlmtYN5T2ZNaMQ/s1600-h/IMG_4483.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvXQgougq9HGa0_SI3SSlHoJ8xmkJlZSVb_iX-tkGcEun_Ux_F5Ojg389necjf3qms1qlDpb0wWyJSSuUMx4foZNRaQe0Ph03zMnqMQiwBt2p3o0smgi8x-nJodxTmPlmtYN5T2ZNaMQ/s320/IMG_4483.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631087120138338" border="0" /></a>Jim and kids bought tickets to the ride and I settled down at some tables near the start of the Rodelbahn. The sun finally came out to stay. Here is Jack in his Swiss Military cap (his souvenir choice).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5k2pRP_Ac6FT1583WYYYiiLzOO0e9rCQLipp8tKjP_hPZvT8AyGu7rF8TpmMnEc9dtY1A88U-6L-OtEauU6PR_TOJdJ3Bz08LbrxlA8y7oyM4ZWqIAco-sHb9mm2YL4jPrhlCtC2Dms/s1600-h/IMG_4484.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5k2pRP_Ac6FT1583WYYYiiLzOO0e9rCQLipp8tKjP_hPZvT8AyGu7rF8TpmMnEc9dtY1A88U-6L-OtEauU6PR_TOJdJ3Bz08LbrxlA8y7oyM4ZWqIAco-sHb9mm2YL4jPrhlCtC2Dms/s320/IMG_4484.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631077519564530" border="0" /></a>I snapped another picture of the lake when the sky brightened up:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloioAJLt_vCskSTHT_3vaojwZF2qldGgVBSuOTsvRJGSFboMUonn-bhwz3bsFZUaGI5AUU1Amv9awI-rouHw_yyV-ZNV3cXheRn1-KM1i8D-geUrmIiNgj6hlEuqGE0Lhz2Tiv4wqxaI/s1600-h/IMG_4485.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloioAJLt_vCskSTHT_3vaojwZF2qldGgVBSuOTsvRJGSFboMUonn-bhwz3bsFZUaGI5AUU1Amv9awI-rouHw_yyV-ZNV3cXheRn1-KM1i8D-geUrmIiNgj6hlEuqGE0Lhz2Tiv4wqxaI/s320/IMG_4485.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631069565445906" border="0" /></a>The kids (including Jim) really enjoyed the Rodelbahn. After they took their rides, we got into the smaller gondolas and headed to the next level, which featured a children's playground.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2f_o2qmNiHOuNxWhHGSR-ky2bZfhyphenhyphenPrDlryvCA4J4e1EZoxfvoYgslv_BtorEW21F_N0s7yDgTzntbeI1SlDQLCwaKyohF3J95QdpBEi_cC7tbmiZh8PiikfFy6ABVwHrYGp1Ujbqoz8/s1600-h/IMG_4486.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2f_o2qmNiHOuNxWhHGSR-ky2bZfhyphenhyphenPrDlryvCA4J4e1EZoxfvoYgslv_BtorEW21F_N0s7yDgTzntbeI1SlDQLCwaKyohF3J95QdpBEi_cC7tbmiZh8PiikfFy6ABVwHrYGp1Ujbqoz8/s320/IMG_4486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360631037443890258" border="0" /></a>Here's Lily checking out the view:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PY2DOwAh0a9uaqXjc_QANUYJO6OSxzv3iirW_2uKFehDiPnYEVPRJF7nq_U_8tFh-8H45Ht2VIIbutQ8D_F-Ea4qm2toZVcvSG9nlbTDT1UubrellB4_6MNk9eV8g1e-bcyMujrbcHU/s1600-h/IMG_4487.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PY2DOwAh0a9uaqXjc_QANUYJO6OSxzv3iirW_2uKFehDiPnYEVPRJF7nq_U_8tFh-8H45Ht2VIIbutQ8D_F-Ea4qm2toZVcvSG9nlbTDT1UubrellB4_6MNk9eV8g1e-bcyMujrbcHU/s320/IMG_4487.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360630394646549122" border="0" /></a>The playground was absolutely amazing. It had a castle playhouse with all sorts of nets and ladders to climb, an underground "cave" complete with gnomes, a small brook to splash in, and a ton of other play equipment. Needless to say, the kids had a blast.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8qVxFqPWAGpPsPTRiBwK8iOTzbyolUCKdFOLquUz6nSGJY5QbDOcCXMMxegPvcg7iy8fNCDy8cVpOEiIbmoJ9ybJPpOEx5AI6Bdfs74sxXHYglNvHmyoMMyq-L2goY9IzHWsmXvW3GY/s1600-h/IMG_4488.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8qVxFqPWAGpPsPTRiBwK8iOTzbyolUCKdFOLquUz6nSGJY5QbDOcCXMMxegPvcg7iy8fNCDy8cVpOEiIbmoJ9ybJPpOEx5AI6Bdfs74sxXHYglNvHmyoMMyq-L2goY9IzHWsmXvW3GY/s320/IMG_4488.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360630386058097746" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN99_sAc_HmRV_GkX11j4UxckLqdc9bWLvX26Z82k7MXrpxN2LiKIOvGX2ua42ygST9jXJxqN3_1STAlKPYso5JKO4nJEQK5pAYxYRVjOsrDSFg7EsBDVNoqieMHQFddd6h9ZWCfkcsY/s1600-h/IMG_4489.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN99_sAc_HmRV_GkX11j4UxckLqdc9bWLvX26Z82k7MXrpxN2LiKIOvGX2ua42ygST9jXJxqN3_1STAlKPYso5JKO4nJEQK5pAYxYRVjOsrDSFg7EsBDVNoqieMHQFddd6h9ZWCfkcsY/s320/IMG_4489.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360630378976928562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr-_STLMI8MmMuzWa5rXT0tKzj4jjjWpooVFIOvuYh0fRyvq_3g-t-peHodAhGU-mwOTL5YaMTJPKu-6Yk_IDNfSGJyTr-4lUm_8zagkZBdTWsJowKqwyxVeFGzmQTqo8ja4Nb8eLQ7k/s1600-h/IMG_4490.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr-_STLMI8MmMuzWa5rXT0tKzj4jjjWpooVFIOvuYh0fRyvq_3g-t-peHodAhGU-mwOTL5YaMTJPKu-6Yk_IDNfSGJyTr-4lUm_8zagkZBdTWsJowKqwyxVeFGzmQTqo8ja4Nb8eLQ7k/s320/IMG_4490.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360630376187428530" border="0" /></a>After they played for about and hour, we got on the small gondola again and descended to the bottom of the mountain. Here is the last shot I got on the camera before it died.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9S6oO7cB4sGCLg27gisxWEW5YRJfmVvYgPHd86oH2sj6Si4PFLTW2HhbnR0p1rkuzFhoIbHQ5bdsP5SNmtjs90YELFH_vr_XVEZtef6uIn42DJ17-FQEeFNGzy8XRvX0JjDzGqD75jo/s1600-h/IMG_4491.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9S6oO7cB4sGCLg27gisxWEW5YRJfmVvYgPHd86oH2sj6Si4PFLTW2HhbnR0p1rkuzFhoIbHQ5bdsP5SNmtjs90YELFH_vr_XVEZtef6uIn42DJ17-FQEeFNGzy8XRvX0JjDzGqD75jo/s320/IMG_4491.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360630369071659858" border="0" /></a>Jim got a number of great shots on his iPhone, too, so we'll have quite a collection for the family album. Once we arrived at the foot of the mountain, we took a quick 5 minute walk to a local bus station and went back to the train. We were home by 7:30. What a great trip!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-88150089879054155772009-07-20T07:06:00.011-04:002009-07-20T08:23:21.214-04:00Gruyeres and BrocThis week, we spent Saturday doing something that the travel brochures from the Swiss Embassy calls "the Greedy Tour." We visited the town of Gruyeres and toured a cheese factory, and then we went to nearby Broc for a tour of the Nestle factory. Needless to say, this has been the best trip so far as the kids are concerned!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBikm94s4H-NxnZ7rk_TUpe5si-nuMSnHOGSby7cY_bTXC5cTWha7d2jgbEdxJJXgm5If5lMyJI4IQZNnPJs-wox1kVTNYuObg86rOCXw6aI6fHXHI3vVXDCUOCKdED2pvWig2woI4ks/s1600-h/IMG_4378.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpBikm94s4H-NxnZ7rk_TUpe5si-nuMSnHOGSby7cY_bTXC5cTWha7d2jgbEdxJJXgm5If5lMyJI4IQZNnPJs-wox1kVTNYuObg86rOCXw6aI6fHXHI3vVXDCUOCKdED2pvWig2woI4ks/s320/IMG_4378.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360503142795038722" border="0" /></a>We planned this trip very carefully because it takes almost 3 hours one way to get to Gruyeres, what with the various train changes from inter-regional to local. We left our apartment at 7:00am and arrived in Gruyere at just after 11:00am. Our first order of business was getting lunch at the restaurant attached to the cheese factory. The interior was very rustic with a number of carved panels showing various cheese related scenes and phrases:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQslnn0JpXCvx5MkkHgHXZ-zwxRzL4KPvPHQxtnmeJeMMVRkF2v9A145axNrlUHKsZ5nfl1gtEg6myAMEJC6Q6FUZ1lkZHVWPxUhxtacOQcI81cI6jtBYvYWrXk7q4MOtDhOrxmUwdYY4/s1600-h/IMG_4360.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQslnn0JpXCvx5MkkHgHXZ-zwxRzL4KPvPHQxtnmeJeMMVRkF2v9A145axNrlUHKsZ5nfl1gtEg6myAMEJC6Q6FUZ1lkZHVWPxUhxtacOQcI81cI6jtBYvYWrXk7q4MOtDhOrxmUwdYY4/s320/IMG_4360.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502915380970402" border="0" /></a><br />The kids were just glad to eat, as breakfast was just some bread and orange juice on the train.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7bxM62Rl7Lh71GBLUMQzD_25Z3SqAjueHayyzpUrGLAsv0rsUQWH1iUJZHaUuIUzZL7wbBPV8JbCwxRwvU0BcRoxGkZAZsq6ztXZGs1G1Nz7jIFVotxjR_8omgqU2SYsRaxNIA5IKp4/s1600-h/IMG_4359.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7bxM62Rl7Lh71GBLUMQzD_25Z3SqAjueHayyzpUrGLAsv0rsUQWH1iUJZHaUuIUzZL7wbBPV8JbCwxRwvU0BcRoxGkZAZsq6ztXZGs1G1Nz7jIFVotxjR_8omgqU2SYsRaxNIA5IKp4/s320/IMG_4359.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502641711226162" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNK5ZsnyINne_TIBy8KOsTAIY0qMD8gaYjs1Vm7z1x4Nmpk4qpyg4jGpbBOfJBOt8TcHJgffTNf0PRysGV9jwP6Ksk1afhXegulmH4pt6irRLDI1LyXotTkyiyw-7D5VxdN1MYL4MJpgk/s1600-h/IMG_4362.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNK5ZsnyINne_TIBy8KOsTAIY0qMD8gaYjs1Vm7z1x4Nmpk4qpyg4jGpbBOfJBOt8TcHJgffTNf0PRysGV9jwP6Ksk1afhXegulmH4pt6irRLDI1LyXotTkyiyw-7D5VxdN1MYL4MJpgk/s320/IMG_4362.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502631726944226" border="0" /></a>The kids shared a weiner and pommes frites -- the portions are so large, we've just been ordering one meal for them to share. I got the local specialty, rosti (similar to hash browns) with pears and gruyere. It was delicious.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeSlRA42-7UbQEppjXNKFk_TBBNfRo4Xv7txkQ-73jWLFAQN30CzIZ-C5rWMIvTnOSds1ozZoXo_8ZrEN6JJq_SBUdgr0E1mUrR_fVPLQpSEqgLWL6COqfed6fONXy-syw2QB6N5oc5g/s1600-h/IMG_4364.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAeSlRA42-7UbQEppjXNKFk_TBBNfRo4Xv7txkQ-73jWLFAQN30CzIZ-C5rWMIvTnOSds1ozZoXo_8ZrEN6JJq_SBUdgr0E1mUrR_fVPLQpSEqgLWL6COqfed6fONXy-syw2QB6N5oc5g/s320/IMG_4364.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502630982295778" border="0" /></a>Jim opted for the fondue of Gruyere, of course. It came with potatoes and bread.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5nqesntxT9TZS3fuClYcQwbCpASOLHV14P6sqk-vUK3Vo0JwTyaTnlST7xY4mQbLEyir2b8e4LXH-ervJeYpNKRU5Sik9IQIVR-y9i8w9OqdZJIQbPQDoD5vCLpK1bVfQzMo1dC4eYc/s1600-h/IMG_4366.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp5nqesntxT9TZS3fuClYcQwbCpASOLHV14P6sqk-vUK3Vo0JwTyaTnlST7xY4mQbLEyir2b8e4LXH-ervJeYpNKRU5Sik9IQIVR-y9i8w9OqdZJIQbPQDoD5vCLpK1bVfQzMo1dC4eYc/s320/IMG_4366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502626254155426" border="0" /></a>Here are Lily and Jack posing in the sign at the entrance of La Maison du Gruyere, which is what the factory is called. It is conveniently located right opposite the tran station.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dT7U6UTDXcbNaKGLr2VvF_coYLNJJHoZnz_Nivraw5rB70AWod2jV0ML9rx8T3mJJPrtRRT7ir7zqmvk8UciZ7Hyu96_AEuOfPHyH0yDFQAepRrebikMpO6hmDjuv4KAHT7zv-qdRIU/s1600-h/IMG_4375.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dT7U6UTDXcbNaKGLr2VvF_coYLNJJHoZnz_Nivraw5rB70AWod2jV0ML9rx8T3mJJPrtRRT7ir7zqmvk8UciZ7Hyu96_AEuOfPHyH0yDFQAepRrebikMpO6hmDjuv4KAHT7zv-qdRIU/s320/IMG_4375.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502621453826946" border="0" /></a><br />These next pictures are somewhat out of order, for reasons I will explain later. Before you go into the factory tour, you can view the cheese caves from a glass viewing area. Since the cheeses need to be turned frequently, they have a robot that goes down the aisles and flips each cheese over. This is the robot:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj5ekW9AiZGYu0hrQb8PPak_KCsAnNCAKjcEd7_PCIA7I8XhbTekq89N6yCYE5kXFD5_iXg4Sp0738dvt0ZS30aXxBQOwEUGl9OmgNmwUlo_lDmbFSm3LxqcxhwVWL-KXKLYd9c_PoqHk/s1600-h/IMG_4372.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj5ekW9AiZGYu0hrQb8PPak_KCsAnNCAKjcEd7_PCIA7I8XhbTekq89N6yCYE5kXFD5_iXg4Sp0738dvt0ZS30aXxBQOwEUGl9OmgNmwUlo_lDmbFSm3LxqcxhwVWL-KXKLYd9c_PoqHk/s320/IMG_4372.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502134572724834" border="0" /></a>All of the cheese are stamped on the sides, and they also have black letters and numbers pressed into the top on one side to identify when and where they were made. They are about as large as a big pizza, and about 3-4 inches thick.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtSyNUNIBESQt88sTwZnxCokgy8xKomy7UQ1E-UPJfR3w4TqckhksyKykBhC7hSVtmjTc9hyphenhyphenf9t_h1lu3WKvWK3hKzcbu_LP9mTzF7pHEBVNpOCKDG_WqAHBpJxvhFYWHXnR-mMkHXUI/s1600-h/IMG_4374.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHtSyNUNIBESQt88sTwZnxCokgy8xKomy7UQ1E-UPJfR3w4TqckhksyKykBhC7hSVtmjTc9hyphenhyphenf9t_h1lu3WKvWK3hKzcbu_LP9mTzF7pHEBVNpOCKDG_WqAHBpJxvhFYWHXnR-mMkHXUI/s320/IMG_4374.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502133248707250" border="0" /></a><br />We got into the tour for free because our Swiss Flexi-Pass for train travel includes free entrance to most museums in Switzerland. Every person received a free cheese sample with their entry -- slices of cheese aged very young, medium and very old so we could taste the difference. Yum!<br /><br />The tour was narrated by a sort of phone that you held to your ear, and the speaker told us she was a cow named Cherry. She had a British accent, which seemed odd, since she is supposed to be from Gruyeres, which is French speaking Switzerland! There was a lot to see -- old prints and pictures of cheese making in early times, scent stations to smell all of the plants and things that flavor the Gruyeres cows' milk, and old-fashioned cheese making paraphernilia.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCPiSEPcsnFMmJFADe86Ufdbggryi5s2JgDPm2r8e0qGnVj9Ly9DbfD7rtrzI5-duImeOWgWaop-iSjTrheTmzYHo8iOd439Q0rMKc8_YOBgRkMtKNwqiObGfJlQUZpFdkqXT5koeEBY/s1600-h/IMG_4390.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMCPiSEPcsnFMmJFADe86Ufdbggryi5s2JgDPm2r8e0qGnVj9Ly9DbfD7rtrzI5-duImeOWgWaop-iSjTrheTmzYHo8iOd439Q0rMKc8_YOBgRkMtKNwqiObGfJlQUZpFdkqXT5koeEBY/s320/IMG_4390.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502124835712450" border="0" /></a><br />Then we got to view the cheese-making process from a gallery above the factory floor. This is the milk and other ingredients mixing in a big brass vat.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxnwCBOmW4VkKbGF-HbkTnhKl0fAqw5JpEpAH2WasnbhpZmXyvbtHtgtCN3kcp5j0cOZNx8QIRtSAmRGGrYlqFYzdopPtCoWfreNo4hpA1cLL20mnU15XMhMLqa-4TYAPcJxMjcUS0GQ/s1600-h/IMG_4394.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxnwCBOmW4VkKbGF-HbkTnhKl0fAqw5JpEpAH2WasnbhpZmXyvbtHtgtCN3kcp5j0cOZNx8QIRtSAmRGGrYlqFYzdopPtCoWfreNo4hpA1cLL20mnU15XMhMLqa-4TYAPcJxMjcUS0GQ/s320/IMG_4394.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502116719103554" border="0" /></a>That is the Cheesemaker removing the paddles so that the cheese can drain into the presses. The containers start out huge and over time, the cheese is pressed to its final size. Afterwards, they soak the cheese in brine and then age it. It was interesting to see.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPznDH5aFNWdUV-XvRfOyHbMysfHwcpp37PWgQJyLAgciPWaTHQ1Jcdp_C0ouNq4ZKXgxNdyJS08surpIdj80flzGOrK-FbhoTWe5VQKgoSAOIljZoylkpyTYRMg5jue0IKpIQ3r-Chk/s1600-h/IMG_4396.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPznDH5aFNWdUV-XvRfOyHbMysfHwcpp37PWgQJyLAgciPWaTHQ1Jcdp_C0ouNq4ZKXgxNdyJS08surpIdj80flzGOrK-FbhoTWe5VQKgoSAOIljZoylkpyTYRMg5jue0IKpIQ3r-Chk/s320/IMG_4396.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360502113590038594" border="0" /></a>Now here's the part you don't know from looking at these pictures. Our original plan was to eat at Gruyeres, take the tour, take the 12:58 local to Broc, tour the factory, and then return home. The reason for this plan was that the Nestle factory closes at 4 and the next train after the 12:58 to Broc was at 3.<br /><br />What happened instead was this. After lunch, we decided to skip the Gruyere tour in favor of doing the Nestle tour earlier, and then coming back to Gruyere and taking the cheese factory tour before heading home, since our itinerary required us to return to Gruyere anyway. The kids were impatient to get to the chocolate factory, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.<br /><br />Sadly, we got to talking with an older couple and their adult daughter, all from New York State. Then all 7 of us proceeded to get on the train in the wrong direction. By the time we realized what happened, we had to get off in the middle of nowhere, at a station called Neirivue.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovtngJsHUC2KK1JvEH52qbm8VJ11Z9eHhFOrDgUUn36WpsZ_2odIopapHEWalfU02abDZIoxLk2DifIAv1N9NH-ulCo02BFeWGgIRNuPmgD_cJn23UCZ8OJXox_eROkQaCli2vqzkbqw/s1600-h/IMG_4384.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhovtngJsHUC2KK1JvEH52qbm8VJ11Z9eHhFOrDgUUn36WpsZ_2odIopapHEWalfU02abDZIoxLk2DifIAv1N9NH-ulCo02BFeWGgIRNuPmgD_cJn23UCZ8OJXox_eROkQaCli2vqzkbqw/s320/IMG_4384.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500932553372658" border="0" /></a>The town was so small, its station wasn't even open! We were stuck waiting there for 40 minutes for the train we were originally on to come back. At that point, we were stuck with the 3pm train to Broc as our only solution.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZjlxX1J6d0_76d1CxKeewoaRG1i-5ICpqLFPphAboXmuZBIZ48nasl95cVUmSkAjBy_a8rfDx6MDt2ppEJCkmVzT8phZrVyQWk4Hg-f0tCUD0VPubdTQ3ouWj9RscpIeYNsHeCFvT6s/s1600-h/IMG_4383.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNZjlxX1J6d0_76d1CxKeewoaRG1i-5ICpqLFPphAboXmuZBIZ48nasl95cVUmSkAjBy_a8rfDx6MDt2ppEJCkmVzT8phZrVyQWk4Hg-f0tCUD0VPubdTQ3ouWj9RscpIeYNsHeCFvT6s/s320/IMG_4383.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500924225551954" border="0" /></a>So... we ended up going on the cheese tour first, and then waiting for the 3pm train. Foolishly, we entertained the kids by giving them ice cream:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXD5sb0JLSnXKA7AI2dlzMnjtBb0VWZGlVbzGAw2E1ts9Hi5mhlV0ZVokSez5QsKmn85EcuTyFxwkI7oF04y9XKVQ5M1c1UuiikPYffO-WEWxgQ3PxjnSClEZtz43BZSZISJshsPhU70/s1600-h/IMG_4401.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXD5sb0JLSnXKA7AI2dlzMnjtBb0VWZGlVbzGAw2E1ts9Hi5mhlV0ZVokSez5QsKmn85EcuTyFxwkI7oF04y9XKVQ5M1c1UuiikPYffO-WEWxgQ3PxjnSClEZtz43BZSZISJshsPhU70/s320/IMG_4401.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360501292647584658" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaClcd_iJWxF6x-3WBM6-7Lx1lN2ClVFShk9yldKfaJYo8h9heflTWByuNthcUbll8g39tpSjP9KUqDmVVj7ViVjU56qV-oOIOt35jKOLDWxMLiM2YEz9alYkh0sDlE3LytTyMN_VVGtM/s1600-h/IMG_4400.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaClcd_iJWxF6x-3WBM6-7Lx1lN2ClVFShk9yldKfaJYo8h9heflTWByuNthcUbll8g39tpSjP9KUqDmVVj7ViVjU56qV-oOIOt35jKOLDWxMLiM2YEz9alYkh0sDlE3LytTyMN_VVGtM/s320/IMG_4400.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360501287200563154" border="0" /></a>...thus ensuring that they would be good and wired for the next leg of the journey.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Broc</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzZUgC2Po3mUOJU1JIoPeD0Kh6l06m6NBUnKQyLaORkXhAHHDVeohoIcXpZmMlq61Xdx6zWpM-Upadc-feN5HieN9KwCqQsSrpbW07I-mdaJTi-f1kJGyLHwvCJGPB6SjsO3LjmckvvY/s1600-h/IMG_4424.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirzZUgC2Po3mUOJU1JIoPeD0Kh6l06m6NBUnKQyLaORkXhAHHDVeohoIcXpZmMlq61Xdx6zWpM-Upadc-feN5HieN9KwCqQsSrpbW07I-mdaJTi-f1kJGyLHwvCJGPB6SjsO3LjmckvvY/s320/IMG_4424.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500433955124290" border="0" /></a><br />There are two stations in Broc -- Broc Village and Broc Fabrique, a stop expressly for the factory. It's about a block from the station to the main bulding.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57X1ekq5vu0B0l8PMcbMiOw9vi5BzMo4HU-Hoj5B3smJy6kGmoD-LqFgj3bjsvrhMNiBk8H24H2wcYZ1PfdgfrFKgQjCa9CVAsFJrI6XrXEjPEdmeqWXpQjQ_fAk3doKdrP4_VXUMgvI/s1600-h/IMG_4429.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57X1ekq5vu0B0l8PMcbMiOw9vi5BzMo4HU-Hoj5B3smJy6kGmoD-LqFgj3bjsvrhMNiBk8H24H2wcYZ1PfdgfrFKgQjCa9CVAsFJrI6XrXEjPEdmeqWXpQjQ_fAk3doKdrP4_VXUMgvI/s320/IMG_4429.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500428297778754" border="0" /></a>The rest of the village looks like the above.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTv8E0BLqZKW_f0OGB-adeY9_EvTgAX340G4RsAf6uQzIS1tQQT6yg0APeZ4CEx_n18GCjTRmgaow_bdRWNIx1-N2PT5rxui_8A6TfaX8QNdAPxM6Z8ycjGKsr0uk1dnNwVGqAaD23iM/s1600-h/IMG_4425.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqTv8E0BLqZKW_f0OGB-adeY9_EvTgAX340G4RsAf6uQzIS1tQQT6yg0APeZ4CEx_n18GCjTRmgaow_bdRWNIx1-N2PT5rxui_8A6TfaX8QNdAPxM6Z8ycjGKsr0uk1dnNwVGqAaD23iM/s320/IMG_4425.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500425419781826" border="0" /></a>The little local train we took is old fashioned and very small. The kids loved it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjecU7Yf8MgSqIRmBKrw7kF8xFbcCCOZQYXoNLgALu3D-Oih2j4Ho5vXmzy0TVyI25CptxEFWsf4Po2dXqsJizsKg_7K5_Hu7H-mzO5-ZdKr5Mj28uH6ebnK_jY27q01TCg1Bf6WxmWY/s1600-h/IMG_4427.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRjecU7Yf8MgSqIRmBKrw7kF8xFbcCCOZQYXoNLgALu3D-Oih2j4Ho5vXmzy0TVyI25CptxEFWsf4Po2dXqsJizsKg_7K5_Hu7H-mzO5-ZdKr5Mj28uH6ebnK_jY27q01TCg1Bf6WxmWY/s320/IMG_4427.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360500417261401810" border="0" /></a>Once we got to the factory, we walked right in to the tour, which was the second to last of the day. The tour and the chocolate tasting at the end is free to everyone if you can believe it! If I lived in Broc, my kids would be sneaking off to that tour every day.<br /><br />The first part of the tour was a theater that played three old movies showing the factory tours in the days when people were allowed to actually walk around next to the production lines. Today, they don't allow that, for health and safety reasons. The movies were probably from the 30s and 40s. Jack was captivated but Lily said they were boring.<br /><br />The net part of the tour showed the old fashioned chocolate molds they used to use, and a lot of the old advertising posters.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YvelZ1MNC76SFugRI5MLvObTQTCX69e-WGI0Qu-zVJfzGg4Bq96Ng4sF4nGw9OapfSXilYzRBQe4oBK9KrPj_Ng85sDYrX1fMD5Ys711fflCK7r0PcRZLZgw1UpXDVv2LmVvgGvfq6Y/s1600-h/IMG_4403.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YvelZ1MNC76SFugRI5MLvObTQTCX69e-WGI0Qu-zVJfzGg4Bq96Ng4sF4nGw9OapfSXilYzRBQe4oBK9KrPj_Ng85sDYrX1fMD5Ys711fflCK7r0PcRZLZgw1UpXDVv2LmVvgGvfq6Y/s320/IMG_4403.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360498580042605314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBgRYFGI7vSS0KS7f4H2tyZ_KE-dZl4J7NiilXJ9p_Ck6F795QYG5Sw7wFekXR2u67q8J9JMTgqGhZhl-etU3EW81-HYc_x2rBqlqVWNEJWs32eMm0lruNaXPEZJb4ioEpMOgxCF2_6c/s1600-h/IMG_4402.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBgRYFGI7vSS0KS7f4H2tyZ_KE-dZl4J7NiilXJ9p_Ck6F795QYG5Sw7wFekXR2u67q8J9JMTgqGhZhl-etU3EW81-HYc_x2rBqlqVWNEJWs32eMm0lruNaXPEZJb4ioEpMOgxCF2_6c/s320/IMG_4402.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360498571497150082" border="0" /></a><br />Next, we went through a room where a worker described how the cacao beans are processed. Since she was talking in German, we basically just breezed through.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHOim69QxvKaSjZLgzcSc4Qn1XZMzfzbvKj_qZ6_0PGCHspsRnW5EZcmLnHA5tmlJmdBDiR6Eq6N3WRkImTUqaQgapokllWhZywRGR_ns5KBYYuzyVqTLy0h-QDNpzw4SahTcG0TlFvw/s1600-h/IMG_4408.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHOim69QxvKaSjZLgzcSc4Qn1XZMzfzbvKj_qZ6_0PGCHspsRnW5EZcmLnHA5tmlJmdBDiR6Eq6N3WRkImTUqaQgapokllWhZywRGR_ns5KBYYuzyVqTLy0h-QDNpzw4SahTcG0TlFvw/s320/IMG_4408.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360498583343737778" border="0" /></a>Next, we went through a series of rooms with video and audio displays discussing the choclate making process. Some of the rooms featured films shown on the floor and the kids really enjoyed those!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK6sZ7h9VWtLTujCGJVaGPY53UU5RX5mcGpcbDh0huqzNwGwTAJID-lNth2qR6RQL2-_W8Y3YBv4oMZ6YpU7fO7OI_Ienn7GpWn0l9T9hRc1lyphMlsVqr091n3v1Ej5Wz-PEtIiXqUk/s1600-h/IMG_4410.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvK6sZ7h9VWtLTujCGJVaGPY53UU5RX5mcGpcbDh0huqzNwGwTAJID-lNth2qR6RQL2-_W8Y3YBv4oMZ6YpU7fO7OI_Ienn7GpWn0l9T9hRc1lyphMlsVqr091n3v1Ej5Wz-PEtIiXqUk/s320/IMG_4410.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360499549556187954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Then we came to the part of the tour that the kids were really looking forward to -- the chocolate tasting! It was set up on what looked to be about a 12 foot long counter. Trays of chocolate pieces and individual fancy chocolates were set out and replaced immediately when the trays got empty by two workers behind the counter. They had milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and hazelnut, different grades of chocolate, and all sorts of fancy chocolates.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYMCS1OofJiUB2MDVuxI_VPBy3AipZJvE6amg2lRLiH7es9B2oaf7FkD7QqsjAhipClRlV4Kecop5qjIh97wRq7D9xU4E0LjwIfBzuvJIG4S9WKnb5GDzean-pP4ppUiAHrlzatp2gPo/s1600-h/IMG_4414.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYMCS1OofJiUB2MDVuxI_VPBy3AipZJvE6amg2lRLiH7es9B2oaf7FkD7QqsjAhipClRlV4Kecop5qjIh97wRq7D9xU4E0LjwIfBzuvJIG4S9WKnb5GDzean-pP4ppUiAHrlzatp2gPo/s320/IMG_4414.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360499566314694610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyaLRDqC6S_DZVOakdtWcFtOa-dcto9jeLbtoqVEPDuvyepmgUqcv54Ys9fmDJTKfiMY8or13H1caRe1Jqkd4eHxmSOh1GxAhbLNtowEZj-BcVuPXQAewXVwA3FsrpRf_2KWgmN4QCKao/s1600-h/IMG_4413.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyaLRDqC6S_DZVOakdtWcFtOa-dcto9jeLbtoqVEPDuvyepmgUqcv54Ys9fmDJTKfiMY8or13H1caRe1Jqkd4eHxmSOh1GxAhbLNtowEZj-BcVuPXQAewXVwA3FsrpRf_2KWgmN4QCKao/s320/IMG_4413.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360499564487103106" border="0" /></a>Jack was just cramming chocolate into his mouth like he hadn't eaten a bite in 2 years. Jim finally had to pick him up to keep him from overeating!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDH784rjHxTKX5OiMiqdn2x4Keq0ZP6wmCYiijdhXzimtGGJ5yQl7AfbqPoJHNvI3mahytP4tWrlr2_om6NReWvEU45j5Z29p-KKRGyHPWLYF02-Bu8MurBwcWiryddUDw6Ckx91VF7E/s1600-h/IMG_4411.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDH784rjHxTKX5OiMiqdn2x4Keq0ZP6wmCYiijdhXzimtGGJ5yQl7AfbqPoJHNvI3mahytP4tWrlr2_om6NReWvEU45j5Z29p-KKRGyHPWLYF02-Bu8MurBwcWiryddUDw6Ckx91VF7E/s320/IMG_4411.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360499554663921490" border="0" /></a>The above is a view of just a portion of the giant chocolate buffet. The rule is that you can eat all you want, but you have to finish eating it in the buffet room and you can't take anything home.<br /><br />After the tour, Jim bought more than $60 US worth of chocolate in the factory store, which sells everything about about 50% what we would pay in the US. A lot of people are getting chocolate as a souvenir when we get home, assuming that Jim doesn't consume it all before then. I had about 7 pieces of chocolate and I still feel like I won't be trying chocolate again for a while. It was just way too much. The European chocolate is made with real milk, and tastes richer than US chocolate, and eating a bunch at once was a little sick-making.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiek5pBMqqY-Rjjh9vcoghIG4HFHXh-rCPeANfEDoRb5TAvBMDBWAzNeyXZn46IA5wx9Ktke3fhvWxxCeqCAGTqx9e26cc8BmKxkUwKi1wFM5vCovzbFBDPrz7vrfgmCcB6Cw8jamv1Z1E/s1600-h/IMG_4436.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiek5pBMqqY-Rjjh9vcoghIG4HFHXh-rCPeANfEDoRb5TAvBMDBWAzNeyXZn46IA5wx9Ktke3fhvWxxCeqCAGTqx9e26cc8BmKxkUwKi1wFM5vCovzbFBDPrz7vrfgmCcB6Cw8jamv1Z1E/s320/IMG_4436.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360498567190315922" border="0" /></a>We had an epic journey home. Jack fell asleep on the little local train from Broc to Bulle. Instead of heading back to Gruyeres, we opted to stop in Bulle and take 30 minute bus ride to Fribourg. From there, we took a train to Bern, and then switched onto a train to Basel. Lily drew on the ride and Jack just enjoyed the view.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1jSL3cDCBb7wpuQ2rev-55uPT9Edwgu60PNH9Pyae7P3aQBLLX3jgyFwlAGk17uyWRDcEbYWG0DxauYCRe_0Xh_bGEAQmE115MWeHOg9HfMMzmkstPyhRBwsJF26DATkBYtUiyQ88IA/s1600-h/IMG_4442.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1jSL3cDCBb7wpuQ2rev-55uPT9Edwgu60PNH9Pyae7P3aQBLLX3jgyFwlAGk17uyWRDcEbYWG0DxauYCRe_0Xh_bGEAQmE115MWeHOg9HfMMzmkstPyhRBwsJF26DATkBYtUiyQ88IA/s320/IMG_4442.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360498556524463986" border="0" /></a>We skipped dinner that night because everyone was loaded up on chocolate and kind of feeling sick! More later on our second day of travels this weekend to Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-42877165605780547072009-07-16T11:00:00.002-04:002009-07-16T11:02:14.501-04:00An Explanatory Map of the Tinguely Death March<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXII27QQZhGH6PXqD41Og_XhTy7ZGMYBlgUPQQ2adhZHIyaNg6m-ZLN12L-ZePVUAdinjXX8sa13M71VdB1s5T0m8Ctk2VgkoYPcigSRVQuZRDQsP1y8HjpvYgWo3Qpz2yl7_cEuiQJo/s1600-h/mappa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXII27QQZhGH6PXqD41Og_XhTy7ZGMYBlgUPQQ2adhZHIyaNg6m-ZLN12L-ZePVUAdinjXX8sa13M71VdB1s5T0m8Ctk2VgkoYPcigSRVQuZRDQsP1y8HjpvYgWo3Qpz2yl7_cEuiQJo/s320/mappa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359073438141247618" border="0" /></a><br />I just want to make sure you understand how crazy our trip was today:<br /><br />The two blue dots are where we are staying (left) and the museum (right). The red lines represent places we took a bus or tram. The grayish line represents the death march walk.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-79679412497543139132009-07-16T07:36:00.006-04:002009-07-16T08:34:00.421-04:00Death March to Tinguely MuseumI had a terrible day yesterday. Without going into the gory details, which would just lead into a lengthy rant about the Swiss and air conditioning, suffice it to say that there was a whole lot of pooping in pants, by BOTH children (no, I'm not joking), humidity, sweaty tram rides, damp laundry draped about, and fights where kids were touching each other. At the end of the day, I would have paid someone a million dollars to just take me home.<br /><br />At the end of that terrible day, I said to Jim "Maybe tomorrow will be better." Apparently, the travel gods heard me and decided to strike me down.<br /><br />The plan was beautifully simple. Everyone has raved about the <a href="http://www.tinguely.ch/en/index.html">Tinguely Museum</a>. It has a lot of kinetic sculptures built by Basler Jean Tinguely, and many interactive exhibits. Although we were told it was great for a rainy day, a brilliant thought suddenly occurred to me. Air condition is banned in Basel, but cars, some trams and some buses still have it, so clearly there are exceptions. And everyone knows that museums are temperature controlled, right? Aha, I gloated to myself, let's visit the Tinguely tomorrow when we know it will be hot and we can stroll leisurely around in the cool air conditioning. Best of all, it will be FREE because the children are under 16 and I have a Swiss Pass!<br /><br />I believed I had been to the Tinguely before -- at least, to the outside. There was a pool with lots of kinetic water sculptures in it next to a big building that I believed was the museum. I checked the website quickly but didn't really understand the directions -- they mentioned a bus, but I clearly recalled walking there the last time. So, the kids and I set off at about 10 am and got on the No.6 tram to Barfusserplatz, planning to hop onto a No.3 tram, which I believed would stop at the museum.<br /><br />We got on the No.3 and within about 30 seconds passed the place I thought was the museum, so we hopped off at the next stop and walked about 5 blocks back to where the museum was. We stood for a while in the shade and admired the sculptures.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEx2edTyAWNoHBSqwW5kDpOGLKpSLEhXLtBSz3yiwUHbt7RyaekxwsAB4QtQkAB4DCQYYM7c0phy8mqtOPPpV2F8ctv-0mLt2QeT3KLw05MP5iAahET8rL8wVx0j70pYx8BqFYlufrwc/s1600-h/IMG_4326.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEx2edTyAWNoHBSqwW5kDpOGLKpSLEhXLtBSz3yiwUHbt7RyaekxwsAB4QtQkAB4DCQYYM7c0phy8mqtOPPpV2F8ctv-0mLt2QeT3KLw05MP5iAahET8rL8wVx0j70pYx8BqFYlufrwc/s320/IMG_4326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359023122694879538" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7F_rKGRuRhqMhDgzoYCgJgLRhDOczA5v1UAsqOJXLGM5gDYg1c3AHJomSzg7dlvPRrwCOCfZS0K7grujRNfbd-gFx_YulnXUO5uymfPbPEJpTYDDyDgPfOugep_2CuJNI4ErdLfn-yS4/s1600-h/IMG_4329.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7F_rKGRuRhqMhDgzoYCgJgLRhDOczA5v1UAsqOJXLGM5gDYg1c3AHJomSzg7dlvPRrwCOCfZS0K7grujRNfbd-gFx_YulnXUO5uymfPbPEJpTYDDyDgPfOugep_2CuJNI4ErdLfn-yS4/s320/IMG_4329.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359023116990706130" border="0" /></a><br />After about ten minutes, I started to lead the kids toward the entrance of the large building behind the pool and noticed a giant sign announcing "Theatre Basel." Yes, sadly, the scuplture pond was done by Tinguely for the theater and had nothing to do with the actual museum.<br /><br />No problem, I thought. Basel is a relatively small town and almost everything is within walking distance. I vaguely remembered the the museum was near the Wettsteinbrucke (a bridge across the Rhine), so we hopped back on the No.3 and went ahead for a few more stops. Unfortunately, I could see we were heading away from the river, so we hopped off again and worked our way through alleys and back streets towards large bridge. Sure enough, as we approached the road to the bridge, there was a sign for the Tinguely Museum directing us straight ahead.<br /><br />By this time, we were all getting hot from walking for about 20 minutes in the heat. The kids were already whining about when we could get a drink, and I promised we would get a cold drink at the museum as soon as we arrived. We walked about 4 blocks and saw... the bridge. No sign of a museum, nothing. I was confident the bridge was in Gross Basel and the bridge was leading us to Klein Basel (where our apartment is). I figured we would cross the bridge and see what the signage said on the other side. If there was something pointing us to the museum, we'd follow that, otherwise, we'd just head home.<br /><br />It was nice and cool on the bridge, so that part of the walk was good. When we got to the other side of the river, there was a sign for the museum directing us to walk down the stairs to the path next to the river. We all rejoiced "Yay! We're at the museum!" By this time, we'd been walking for about 45 minutes -- that's a long time for two kids.<br /><br />When we got to the bottom of the stairs, there was a sculptural playground. "This must be the museum playground!" said Lily. "Let's hurry up and go to the museum for our cool drink," I said (because I wanted to get in the AC as soon as possible). We wandered around the area for 10 minutes and saw nothing remotely resembling a museum. Then I glimpsed a small sign directing us toward the museum along a path by the Rhine.<br /><br />"It's over here!" I said and we started down the path. We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. My shirt front was soaked with sweat and even the kids were sweating. Periodically, we would pass a sign that directed us to the museum. We passed the hospital where Jack got his medical care, which I must note is about 5 blocks from our apartment. We kept going. "Is DIS the museum?" Jack asked every time we approached a new building. The answer was always no. After about 30 minutes of trudging, we came to a river boat landing that said "Tinguely Museum." "We're here!" I said. We looked around for a few minutes and found nothing but apartment buildings. "Let's walk up ahead," I said. "Is DIS the museum?" asked Jack. "Not yet," I said.<br /><br />We trudged another 10 minutes and came to something called the Solitude Park. The river path ended abruptly. There was no sign suggesting where the museum might be, and the only buildings in sight were a preschool and Roche. "I'm really dizzy," said Jack. "I know," I said, "Let's see if we can find some place to get a drink." We walked across the park (the kids paused to go down a slide) and came out on the street, which turned out to be a four lane highway. There was nothing that looked like a museum or a place to get a drink. I saw a Roche security guard standing at the gate to the building and went over to him. I asked him in German where the museum was. "You go through the park," he said, pointing in the direction we came from. "Is DIS the museum?" Jack said. "No!" I said, "We have to go through the park."<br /><br />We walked across the Solitude Park and came to a building -- a preschool. We walked a bit further and came to a middle school. We walked through some trees and finally Lily spotted a kinetic sculpture. "It's over here!"<br /><br />When we got inside, it was mercifully air conditioned as I hoped. I showed my Swiss Pass when we approached the ticket counter and we were admitted for free. "Let's just go down to the restaurant and get something to eat." $52.30 Francs later (no, I'm not kidding), the kids having eaten a hotdog and fries and me having eaten quiche, we were ready to see the exhibit. The kids were really excited. I was just happy for the air conditioning.<br /><br />We saw this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9LWivIK0k7Hnzib5kZH3rrqJChyphenhyphenZDxr56tvKfHCQiI9b5Gi10ShPjaeKGAHL-VdssjZ1LKsoGoY89jnAzVyQjP8SPnXeUgP7V0jGJ1-q6Jb_wvy70kcjub92W25rBUuAkQn7-0zKI9k/s1600-h/IMG_4331.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9LWivIK0k7Hnzib5kZH3rrqJChyphenhyphenZDxr56tvKfHCQiI9b5Gi10ShPjaeKGAHL-VdssjZ1LKsoGoY89jnAzVyQjP8SPnXeUgP7V0jGJ1-q6Jb_wvy70kcjub92W25rBUuAkQn7-0zKI9k/s320/IMG_4331.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359023113284027970" border="0" /></a><br />and a few other non-moving exhibits of a similar nature. "Dis place is COOL," said Jack. Then we went up to the next floor and entered a room featuring a series of kinetic sculptures that you operated by stepping on a switch near the exhibit. The room was lit so that giant shadows of each sculpture were cast on the walls.<br /><br />"Dis is a little SCARY," said Jack:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SrXWbPrpQ_U9Mgwjs3wvAfRMDyt75rxSkq6-KzBdZyjQMkNKwPFA4m2SF-VMY032sddOet2h1kc-IXpjz8jgd3V4ZMZzVnHn8YfoZGkOq9DWciGl-U-pXHSGPyAOegqLwG-lIYPNn9c/s1600-h/IMG_4334.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-SrXWbPrpQ_U9Mgwjs3wvAfRMDyt75rxSkq6-KzBdZyjQMkNKwPFA4m2SF-VMY032sddOet2h1kc-IXpjz8jgd3V4ZMZzVnHn8YfoZGkOq9DWciGl-U-pXHSGPyAOegqLwG-lIYPNn9c/s320/IMG_4334.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022691602364130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrxzyMQhfp1ZJyahQe1xibduSiHtMVQJTcTIAilUgMgPXjAXe2kMWVgDtHQ5cPLfUXz258d49dC8gbfmx-JfbdiPdIaxFoKdGFENKtPZzDoXME4Ts3ZIi1cctPqI6tlCEKYo3JAVO-nM/s1600-h/IMG_4335.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrxzyMQhfp1ZJyahQe1xibduSiHtMVQJTcTIAilUgMgPXjAXe2kMWVgDtHQ5cPLfUXz258d49dC8gbfmx-JfbdiPdIaxFoKdGFENKtPZzDoXME4Ts3ZIi1cctPqI6tlCEKYo3JAVO-nM/s320/IMG_4335.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022681284121394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLQdrW_zJ57bHZ4Ntyd7iDcmSOx_92xq6EIDnoV32BKWLeWxAjvZeYqUCIWSYcF0aT3D1MOSLTD3NbnYulT6V0FOYK3hDbPEmFs17ry7w3CvvzjC0MWf_E6qg4fQPujKohYCXi2w2BMU/s1600-h/IMG_4336.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLQdrW_zJ57bHZ4Ntyd7iDcmSOx_92xq6EIDnoV32BKWLeWxAjvZeYqUCIWSYcF0aT3D1MOSLTD3NbnYulT6V0FOYK3hDbPEmFs17ry7w3CvvzjC0MWf_E6qg4fQPujKohYCXi2w2BMU/s320/IMG_4336.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022676865168466" border="0" /></a><br />"I want to go to another museum!" said Jack when the last sculpture (shown above) began to whirl around. We headed downstairs to the next exhibit, which was a series of elaborate sets of armor and equally elaborate dresses.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgvgtEE79noTwf99GvBesn2Pu7aliBPqgTfIJRZmno66t5ky6xg20016errjOCr1Fx6yaQFeuO41ANlLy6TWLx1VgGfFt0GQ7Y9RaH8FVmudlSFCHPuoKKEIW_2nA9egOrYLRzRTTTkg/s1600-h/IMG_4337.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgvgtEE79noTwf99GvBesn2Pu7aliBPqgTfIJRZmno66t5ky6xg20016errjOCr1Fx6yaQFeuO41ANlLy6TWLx1VgGfFt0GQ7Y9RaH8FVmudlSFCHPuoKKEIW_2nA9egOrYLRzRTTTkg/s320/IMG_4337.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022675913805122" border="0" /></a>"I don't like DOSE guys" said Jack, referring to the armor posed as if it were riding horses (above).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQVLuj_X-m6Er4NasaDennORlIHQnD2R80fSELW3IpxUQWj5FItFU1CV5YdVEsG4z3QMAoYnwib5UIycL7KDsgLjZLp1jcUoqzgjizBDVvpSxdppRLXzz84hVhQob5QkZmdefXFfWZrE/s1600-h/IMG_4339.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQVLuj_X-m6Er4NasaDennORlIHQnD2R80fSELW3IpxUQWj5FItFU1CV5YdVEsG4z3QMAoYnwib5UIycL7KDsgLjZLp1jcUoqzgjizBDVvpSxdppRLXzz84hVhQob5QkZmdefXFfWZrE/s320/IMG_4339.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022663519167826" border="0" /></a>"DAT is SCARY!" said Jack when he noticed the mural of skeletons that went along the entire length of one wall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtN0UvVGItMh5_9OexA4ON5DYZzsZbSnQUd1ZTifODba6t9aPTJPa_MeCSr85lfKNmJ5qSzsp1U3QFLZ-KEP2HkKyJZLziZm4nbtUgA5e5jGGoUILLUG0VfJO4r9WQP4uytxhFI-cTj5k/s1600-h/IMG_4342.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtN0UvVGItMh5_9OexA4ON5DYZzsZbSnQUd1ZTifODba6t9aPTJPa_MeCSr85lfKNmJ5qSzsp1U3QFLZ-KEP2HkKyJZLziZm4nbtUgA5e5jGGoUILLUG0VfJO4r9WQP4uytxhFI-cTj5k/s320/IMG_4342.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022271478242770" border="0" /></a>"What DOSE guys doing, Mama?" he asked fearfully when we saw the group of armed men. "They have spears," I said. "I don't LIKE them. What is a SPEAR?" "A pointy stick," I said. "I want to go in another kind of museum," said Jack fearfully.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CETLpaMCYrk0xdEeGw-NhoZOOA1_JPJRzCxGUDB2stAcxI5RIlyzqodXQgcamQFYR_cJh-XTKPMVKJYBpmzXQKwb8HHruPZvLI1FFG5nQNty6Zg2UKSCZqCp_d5hQ2mhRcCTETb4rVQ/s1600-h/IMG_4343.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-CETLpaMCYrk0xdEeGw-NhoZOOA1_JPJRzCxGUDB2stAcxI5RIlyzqodXQgcamQFYR_cJh-XTKPMVKJYBpmzXQKwb8HHruPZvLI1FFG5nQNty6Zg2UKSCZqCp_d5hQ2mhRcCTETb4rVQ/s320/IMG_4343.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022261710730178" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9wzbCuuXl4qMvZc55jZ3slQaqulFkImuY-rmcN2oWZPccY5oZ4XZwXxlLYFwn1Lmgd7LfdIommp438R1oYZg8Nojm8x-bzAk_38hSYPgLQwMzZI_W51ZZHZxmAFOmiuLfUo-OaoATME/s1600-h/IMG_4351.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9wzbCuuXl4qMvZc55jZ3slQaqulFkImuY-rmcN2oWZPccY5oZ4XZwXxlLYFwn1Lmgd7LfdIommp438R1oYZg8Nojm8x-bzAk_38hSYPgLQwMzZI_W51ZZHZxmAFOmiuLfUo-OaoATME/s320/IMG_4351.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022251098310994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9w8KDxJ0NhZ4SEpSY1MqUdcFbgXqyXfLGcoWdug3_yDtBASmmJ4opmk1S8rZKXBeUDuwaBDjj0EMfw3f5c46O1w5K0t0M2_IZ7z9giaQJHzoERHf-PSjqLxIsaLUpX_jvWVgaDa-Y_sg/s1600-h/IMG_4340.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9w8KDxJ0NhZ4SEpSY1MqUdcFbgXqyXfLGcoWdug3_yDtBASmmJ4opmk1S8rZKXBeUDuwaBDjj0EMfw3f5c46O1w5K0t0M2_IZ7z9giaQJHzoERHf-PSjqLxIsaLUpX_jvWVgaDa-Y_sg/s320/IMG_4340.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022249141051314" border="0" /></a>"I think these dresses are GORGEOUS!" said Lily and she asked me to take several pictures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6BS-xRGiSXo7cUCVj0EOOGh234QAUnwJS5d-2c5lZe-zCE3FqMUO4kaXrrgRUrSnNC641QiSBUArSAofKg7jnL2o4uLwdO8buxXWcP7Otn6GYsifUGa4eN-90noWZy2uiVxWX66hkxI/s1600-h/IMG_4345.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6BS-xRGiSXo7cUCVj0EOOGh234QAUnwJS5d-2c5lZe-zCE3FqMUO4kaXrrgRUrSnNC641QiSBUArSAofKg7jnL2o4uLwdO8buxXWcP7Otn6GYsifUGa4eN-90noWZy2uiVxWX66hkxI/s320/IMG_4345.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359022238186418402" border="0" /></a>We both liked the red one.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVFYVDJ9pQXgtHBE0UjysubOio4fOCgHD13-CfdZH3NLTB0wOnEX9ulcHJSYPYVuTPSWktXoG-SFeL8VXNW9JdRcxj_ypZVQhczYx0FYvVx92G5kr78lZ1KNDv6rFL19pQ9zxTWb_FzM/s1600-h/IMG_4347.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkVFYVDJ9pQXgtHBE0UjysubOio4fOCgHD13-CfdZH3NLTB0wOnEX9ulcHJSYPYVuTPSWktXoG-SFeL8VXNW9JdRcxj_ypZVQhczYx0FYvVx92G5kr78lZ1KNDv6rFL19pQ9zxTWb_FzM/s320/IMG_4347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359021409723362850" border="0" /></a>Lily posed in front of a few.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigi2Ch0yt-S8Uxuc4H7EKMbGPCfT5L93dYwFMKrIWLrTj8zvmVc54HwYlJJyFiMTro5H6bscuQB8aL8N0XyTtlMxhdBiLAZgyKTwVNF5Zz0HLeFh_0EA4MHa2qQPhEyC3H1jkiSYB3g68/s1600-h/IMG_4352.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigi2Ch0yt-S8Uxuc4H7EKMbGPCfT5L93dYwFMKrIWLrTj8zvmVc54HwYlJJyFiMTro5H6bscuQB8aL8N0XyTtlMxhdBiLAZgyKTwVNF5Zz0HLeFh_0EA4MHa2qQPhEyC3H1jkiSYB3g68/s320/IMG_4352.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359021408918092978" border="0" /></a>Jack just kept asking when we were going to go to another kind of museum, so pretty soon we went to the bottom floor. The first two rooms had several sculptures that made noise. One of them was made out of a lot of drums. Jack screamed and ran when Lily started it up, so there was no time for me to take any pictures. We raced through the two rooms and ended up at the last room, where they had a series of sculptures set up that featured what looked like carnival lights.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOLwhNab1_s5DSa5MxYy1CdGlrCwLrvnN_uySLS89Evsi2qOIOIg5t2r8UcCuXuBcv1QibRZVLt0zQBlSqnK6M9uWctkLVs46zg1toLDJJSjNgyqxwiCv2LG5pI5VaHD__BnldQQNdwo/s1600-h/IMG_4355.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOLwhNab1_s5DSa5MxYy1CdGlrCwLrvnN_uySLS89Evsi2qOIOIg5t2r8UcCuXuBcv1QibRZVLt0zQBlSqnK6M9uWctkLVs46zg1toLDJJSjNgyqxwiCv2LG5pI5VaHD__BnldQQNdwo/s320/IMG_4355.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359021396966153810" border="0" /></a>Jack jumped about 3 feet and grabbed my hand when Lily made this giant hand move.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Inm5Eu03ds97mmhCN4GW3SEx9_O0Nc278hYPkXlpdU-HXJbHyCN5F2Ti3Z4Rvf3KGSsTIPGKhY1eU4xUnbHZCUyOUHU4k0Dd-ILo5iVK3zoKIbnFGeqSNIEn9D3DdgoeM1h7GpsKpe0/s1600-h/IMG_4356.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Inm5Eu03ds97mmhCN4GW3SEx9_O0Nc278hYPkXlpdU-HXJbHyCN5F2Ti3Z4Rvf3KGSsTIPGKhY1eU4xUnbHZCUyOUHU4k0Dd-ILo5iVK3zoKIbnFGeqSNIEn9D3DdgoeM1h7GpsKpe0/s320/IMG_4356.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359021392653659586" border="0" /></a>He kept a wide margin between himself and this horse sculpture. Lily wanted to climb up it and watch from inside while it moved. I knew Jack wasn't going to touch it with a 10 foot pole so I said no.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEmsymaizQl7EqWlQYNLcmMDedT8uz6iEpRQgwwBS3X8k-EecBjcEiMLyN2JX16hfZRKWWAdiZLlqZ6sEHInDhjlth4jxX_eO_yXy-73Lz8feIsZg1ueSo6f5MMEUMxO-RKY7L6V7K4Y/s1600-h/IMG_4357.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEmsymaizQl7EqWlQYNLcmMDedT8uz6iEpRQgwwBS3X8k-EecBjcEiMLyN2JX16hfZRKWWAdiZLlqZ6sEHInDhjlth4jxX_eO_yXy-73Lz8feIsZg1ueSo6f5MMEUMxO-RKY7L6V7K4Y/s320/IMG_4357.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359021387136752626" border="0" /></a>Jack's final comment: "I don't even KNOW what kind of fing DAT is," pointing to the scultpure above, that was hanging from the ceiling. "Can we go to a different kind of museum now?"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-43009201844261987602009-07-13T16:33:00.011-04:002009-07-14T12:08:26.573-04:00Interlaken, Grindelwald and PfingsteggSorry this post took so long to put up, but there are a lot of pictures!<br /><br />Last weekend, we bit the bullet and bought a five day Swiss Rail Pass for about $560 US. It allows Jim and I to travel on any train we like, anywhere we like, on five specific days we get to choose. We also got a Family Pass (included for free) so Jack and Lily can travel with us for free. The pass also gives us a 15% discount on most tourist activities and allows us in all museums for free.<br /><br />For our first day of travel, we decided to mimic one of the package trips we saw in a brochure Jim picked up at the Swiss Embassy in New York. We got up bright and early, bought our pass, and hopped on a train to Interlaken Ost, a town at the foot of the Swiss Alps. The kids loved the train!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbC_qUqiou_tpg-8XLbhQFOK7mbBro9rF2CB3HB0vxWZs4mtsHIWUAzaGZEcllLUIL0-hnrJtQEm7Rq2Mpyg-kDeP0dsqyM1RRQYNRIPGhni6rxuJg1K3VEseWAvvhJhcIdh1_gKooDQ/s1600-h/IMG_4253.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbC_qUqiou_tpg-8XLbhQFOK7mbBro9rF2CB3HB0vxWZs4mtsHIWUAzaGZEcllLUIL0-hnrJtQEm7Rq2Mpyg-kDeP0dsqyM1RRQYNRIPGhni6rxuJg1K3VEseWAvvhJhcIdh1_gKooDQ/s320/IMG_4253.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358281166807300066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sygUpWV1volUg-_VM6UzBzMEmMEt0eoOn7q1ImlRchJv6RnbWpAet5pQlHy1w19AeDaRPQUxifEUPgO70UeCPp-grQENExMjNQIPVYguECno4BGajD1rmZchg-Nzw7HaKAbbUOxxPIw/s1600-h/IMG_4251.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sygUpWV1volUg-_VM6UzBzMEmMEt0eoOn7q1ImlRchJv6RnbWpAet5pQlHy1w19AeDaRPQUxifEUPgO70UeCPp-grQENExMjNQIPVYguECno4BGajD1rmZchg-Nzw7HaKAbbUOxxPIw/s320/IMG_4251.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358281158464948018" border="0" /></a><br />The train journey was about 2 hours, figuring in all of the stops in between, and we all enjoyed looking at all the sites out the windows. I think Jim got some video, but my camera doesn't capture moving scenes well, so I didn't bother to take pictures.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interlaken Ost<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNouyiXEtVfZbpNzWfYwOuzCmvbNwW7knBCwP3SUZjWZ2IVOgx2awT1hbZRhzmmK2ru1MP6TAfN0mdvp72fFJjd1DxXuCG-dXooZksScGWMGbol1l20eHHx2gQmmc7uVKw_CNFswuWB6s/s1600-h/IMG_4256.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNouyiXEtVfZbpNzWfYwOuzCmvbNwW7knBCwP3SUZjWZ2IVOgx2awT1hbZRhzmmK2ru1MP6TAfN0mdvp72fFJjd1DxXuCG-dXooZksScGWMGbol1l20eHHx2gQmmc7uVKw_CNFswuWB6s/s320/IMG_4256.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358281152537355362" border="0" /></a>We arrived at Interlaken Ost around 10 am. This is a picture of the railway station. Our first stop was a local cafe so we could get some breakfast -- it was too crazy trying to eat on the train because the choice was to eat in the dining car (and potentially lose our seats in the crowded 2d class compartment) or wait for the dining cart to come by (our choice, but the cart never came to our car). After eating, we stopped at the Coop (a chain of cooperative markets) and picked up so food and drinks for later so we wouldn't get stuck without food again.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje783axT8tDod2JL34HDUftzO5kF9g5CD9fu34pJS-SN5Ku21dtNqIN9jMCMaicOEhsdf3GLwVNkCOVV3BMNW2Qm5c8wnd166yxeeMIsv3MdAGyL8y0OfozifFuUbd9qDcAG1JBSClkDM/s1600-h/IMG_4258.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje783axT8tDod2JL34HDUftzO5kF9g5CD9fu34pJS-SN5Ku21dtNqIN9jMCMaicOEhsdf3GLwVNkCOVV3BMNW2Qm5c8wnd166yxeeMIsv3MdAGyL8y0OfozifFuUbd9qDcAG1JBSClkDM/s320/IMG_4258.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358281147927165442" border="0" /></a>This picture is a beautiful fountain in the square near the train station. A thin layer of water flows over the top and down the sides. Jack was fascinated by it!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grindelwald</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA6yuIzzt6tX0WP0vvNubtdJ77cdWyQrVUE2E4ESgBRmACfIP5CkBBlnvqEqKo5Wf5-JK_0Bu8YDlmRtmo3GkKdKCTdN5EKJXhNlgVh3_oyrRw8-dYzD6pd8e8iYD0iRXOoJ3fHuTKAQ/s1600-h/IMG_4259.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA6yuIzzt6tX0WP0vvNubtdJ77cdWyQrVUE2E4ESgBRmACfIP5CkBBlnvqEqKo5Wf5-JK_0Bu8YDlmRtmo3GkKdKCTdN5EKJXhNlgVh3_oyrRw8-dYzD6pd8e8iYD0iRXOoJ3fHuTKAQ/s320/IMG_4259.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358281144018797138" border="0" /></a>Our pass allows us to just get on any train without reservations or tickets, so we hopped on the next train to Grindelwald, which is at the base of the Alps. I couldn't get over how stereotypically "Swiss" everything looked there, and wondered which came first -- the look of the town or the outside world's stereotype of a Swiss mountain village. Probably a bit of both! The above picture is a view from the train station towards the Alps, which were obscured by some low clouds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAH5VAgNwezMxXjVEOe4HqT-ql-ZtkPKiRcBTEHBhcVOmzSqNg1mZzEp2opMLUXpz-YYmCXKriitN9C6QY7viNSFmznh57QZPJb88hya9mR9JmmKTbLcnLgtuVfwINNpstX5VbOBiD8I/s1600-h/IMG_4260.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAH5VAgNwezMxXjVEOe4HqT-ql-ZtkPKiRcBTEHBhcVOmzSqNg1mZzEp2opMLUXpz-YYmCXKriitN9C6QY7viNSFmznh57QZPJb88hya9mR9JmmKTbLcnLgtuVfwINNpstX5VbOBiD8I/s320/IMG_4260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358280541892953010" border="0" /></a>We had to walk about 15 minutes to get to the next leg of our journey, which was a cable car to an outlook point on the mountain above Grindelwald, called Pfingstegg. I took a few pictures on our walk. The above is another view as we walk towards the Alps.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP5Hi0W7i0ws2DYph8TCSeq__hPCqbmPC831fJPHxgj1mqsl03PZan3aEiadxrA0fyTSM-R98Z8PSVktrH8UQxek2hEEQRGSROTYhyphenhyphenHen61Eznm1BBYaW06F8Z0oaaD6DBlw5XG83vn4/s1600-h/IMG_4261.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVP5Hi0W7i0ws2DYph8TCSeq__hPCqbmPC831fJPHxgj1mqsl03PZan3aEiadxrA0fyTSM-R98Z8PSVktrH8UQxek2hEEQRGSROTYhyphenhyphenHen61Eznm1BBYaW06F8Z0oaaD6DBlw5XG83vn4/s320/IMG_4261.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358280539450132322" border="0" /></a>And another view as we got closer.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdXllSS3M1bNr4mrq2RsMutO9uSVqr0aEgYk2c6KHRsONxllfofuUIe7TGCBfzOsFAQfdjrNrfDJ6etsFIYV0eA2vu8vqV9fAhTMorGMTamyJeiK7-8N0cuCJI7JAfQgELxPJamD6Op8/s1600-h/IMG_4264.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdXllSS3M1bNr4mrq2RsMutO9uSVqr0aEgYk2c6KHRsONxllfofuUIe7TGCBfzOsFAQfdjrNrfDJ6etsFIYV0eA2vu8vqV9fAhTMorGMTamyJeiK7-8N0cuCJI7JAfQgELxPJamD6Op8/s320/IMG_4264.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358280530146719986" border="0" /></a>I loved this little chalet because it had the stereotypical window boxes filled with bright flowers and a big row of Swiss cowbells hung on the porch. Lily and I ended up buying a small bell for our Christmas tree. It has nostalgic significance for me, because when my Aunt visited Switzerland when I was small, she brought a similar bell home for me.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkl5TgWC4wDHflgXXNiezvzvEZoIbFcSi1waHhh6pGfNrwS67YqGX-b3VzxOMPqiV618OCzXW_pe2ix1WY7FRJek3CE4cj13SnDx9aieSJhkGxrHN3LZZ5rXrX0QUNS9xj9tMPhoNlnE/s1600-h/IMG_4265.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkl5TgWC4wDHflgXXNiezvzvEZoIbFcSi1waHhh6pGfNrwS67YqGX-b3VzxOMPqiV618OCzXW_pe2ix1WY7FRJek3CE4cj13SnDx9aieSJhkGxrHN3LZZ5rXrX0QUNS9xj9tMPhoNlnE/s320/IMG_4265.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358280522032062290" border="0" /></a>This is the church that was our landmark -- we walked until we came to the church and then we turned right. I love the architecture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZZbDIWpztWEq8KUNd2mECE9gE_Pqy6N022-N56b99-Dz2Wv4M6rXPl5pNsOLQMOLtn0e8o4ciFvAV9AIds21N7CNBA3VXOGCAhuF3KEplOmwcdXkSvoqjZsGKA_lGUgLlV-LBj3gA78/s1600-h/IMG_4266.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZZbDIWpztWEq8KUNd2mECE9gE_Pqy6N022-N56b99-Dz2Wv4M6rXPl5pNsOLQMOLtn0e8o4ciFvAV9AIds21N7CNBA3VXOGCAhuF3KEplOmwcdXkSvoqjZsGKA_lGUgLlV-LBj3gA78/s320/IMG_4266.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358280512022629234" border="0" /></a><br />As we got closer to the cable cars, I was able to get some better shots of the mountains.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitm2CJGwWjzym20GDCq3r66krYG_YUiYVudiCUqyrgmTlTv-17tFM2yLmyMqUf9HxZLB-s8lnA4sjrLhYMt8ZhHRW9VdcnY2KKb1jIX8DlwtBiqUrnrSmx8Dt2lbg5NQeVQAWRjib1yk/s1600-h/IMG_4268.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiitm2CJGwWjzym20GDCq3r66krYG_YUiYVudiCUqyrgmTlTv-17tFM2yLmyMqUf9HxZLB-s8lnA4sjrLhYMt8ZhHRW9VdcnY2KKb1jIX8DlwtBiqUrnrSmx8Dt2lbg5NQeVQAWRjib1yk/s320/IMG_4268.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358279955036293026" border="0" /></a>I wish the weather had been better, but we've had a lot of cloudy days here. Jim's coworkers have told him that July is the nicest month for weather here, but that this summer has been unusually cloudy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYfmtw36j6oXX1I3pvTLwi35LO38uzitSj_DYe43AuZ9Qbb0hr8-ysQaI1os1Vb0K-0o03BwfZ6wn8C2x67MNmzKhJSRYlFXiBrrQCAE-DBgVJfLh-VTsNzF_k_Bw6DFPR8irmf_QUGQ/s1600-h/IMG_4273.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLYfmtw36j6oXX1I3pvTLwi35LO38uzitSj_DYe43AuZ9Qbb0hr8-ysQaI1os1Vb0K-0o03BwfZ6wn8C2x67MNmzKhJSRYlFXiBrrQCAE-DBgVJfLh-VTsNzF_k_Bw6DFPR8irmf_QUGQ/s320/IMG_4273.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358279950879804386" border="0" /></a><br />Here we are about to get on the cable car at Grindelwald.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7JIat4_9oa8FbgERiLNwffTSCyDqKXcOjayy9b54QCNhz0B18aQi4_YtEEbcLvX48PSWEJVyg4hvQQwrqW68kANjS6elbWpTZWqn0tZjQJs3KK05iM2UuV5ZcSOQDXEf8IR6wk3eFOo/s1600-h/IMG_4278.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl7JIat4_9oa8FbgERiLNwffTSCyDqKXcOjayy9b54QCNhz0B18aQi4_YtEEbcLvX48PSWEJVyg4hvQQwrqW68kANjS6elbWpTZWqn0tZjQJs3KK05iM2UuV5ZcSOQDXEf8IR6wk3eFOo/s320/IMG_4278.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358279941738484002" border="0" /></a>The kids loved this part of the journey, too!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pfingstegg</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgfUcQTfqjQ8SqPyoxTG3vYeYFek7iEalYFr0sLEjVpBZIVSTJ65rq7t4B27MFjEkbbUoZYiKVLfavFWLK-gGQKe5NRvNX8jp9Emq8pGk1bxdFjK28tX70vaRMHKMXN_taoZ-apJyyxg/s1600-h/IMG_4281.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgfUcQTfqjQ8SqPyoxTG3vYeYFek7iEalYFr0sLEjVpBZIVSTJ65rq7t4B27MFjEkbbUoZYiKVLfavFWLK-gGQKe5NRvNX8jp9Emq8pGk1bxdFjK28tX70vaRMHKMXN_taoZ-apJyyxg/s320/IMG_4281.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358279937087980898" border="0" /></a>Once we arrived at the outlook, Pfingstegg, we took a quick bathroom break. The signs on the building and on each door were hilarious. It's hard to see in this picture, but the mens' room had a picture of a man facing away, as if he were peeing, and a woman with her skirt lifted squatting! I felt a little weird photographing it until I saw several other tourists doing the same.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdJh4VODwdzolcjTyVV__vKVmzrjXUFsQswmbeYm0M2NbuK4mFKfEwvh5kSx3rtqNOuVL09b0X1JKkAB6u9Fg4sE4ow5jzt0CLnMi89G7_sofOn_moMvyXmK266fPblYGdDkByE_CphU/s1600-h/IMG_4288.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdJh4VODwdzolcjTyVV__vKVmzrjXUFsQswmbeYm0M2NbuK4mFKfEwvh5kSx3rtqNOuVL09b0X1JKkAB6u9Fg4sE4ow5jzt0CLnMi89G7_sofOn_moMvyXmK266fPblYGdDkByE_CphU/s320/IMG_4288.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358279934305386082" border="0" /></a>The primary reason Jim wanted to go to Pfingstegg was to ride on the Rodelbahn, which is a summer bobsled. This sign and weird carved face showed us the way.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICNrGRrDe42UrM-seZvGNTiWJJijt6r6ePpyz12JV_yxN2u3F3cbRqG2Yk1nPlyEdZaBE97bf8LS1MkudAaQMXY0Z33joOXeDEdgkBXiIJioSwX-wWuxXxRoUavlAclpZw7WaC758ltI/s1600-h/IMG_4289.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICNrGRrDe42UrM-seZvGNTiWJJijt6r6ePpyz12JV_yxN2u3F3cbRqG2Yk1nPlyEdZaBE97bf8LS1MkudAaQMXY0Z33joOXeDEdgkBXiIJioSwX-wWuxXxRoUavlAclpZw7WaC758ltI/s320/IMG_4289.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358047839975628578" border="0" /></a>As well as a small restaurant with a terrific patio view of the valley, Pfingstegg had lots for kids to do, including a trampoline, a slide, a swingset and a sandbox. I had some other pictures to post of those, but apparently they didn't get uploaded here. There were some pigs that lived up there -- Lily loved them and was excited to see them, but Jack was a little afraid. I carried him up near the pigs and he said "Too close!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijldBR556nKATxG0CXA9bgioWS1REDe6xbdR_eKZJEHAqRFYS0ULqes9EVt-s_CYlMZi6rRA5y3JOMsDQcSf5J2-MBAUaS03bxG1hyGiInZUI-rA_1CAFP4Pyz8XRFTP5l3Zedu34X2Q/s1600-h/IMG_4295.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijldBR556nKATxG0CXA9bgioWS1REDe6xbdR_eKZJEHAqRFYS0ULqes9EVt-s_CYlMZi6rRA5y3JOMsDQcSf5J2-MBAUaS03bxG1hyGiInZUI-rA_1CAFP4Pyz8XRFTP5l3Zedu34X2Q/s320/IMG_4295.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358047822810875458" border="0" /></a>Here are my little kid and my giant kid on the Rodelbahn. There wasn't a good vantage point to get a picture of them when they were cruising around. This is at the very beginning. Jim bought 4 rides -- two adults and 2 children. Since both of the kids wanted to go with him, I waited at the top. Jim had so much fun, he bought 4 more rides and they did it again. I was kind of relieved not to have to go!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3gww0M3O7UlqfoHPyt9_RChVgUupkGL-XnO6TZIVGUxEeNKwv25CLVlVR2tOFnQ_CuTeA7cvK9OF929fZF44cs-n4C8kkx5RzNYlSmPAOyFlhV8Rt2jEjRPQqQs82RzZokWkZCJNu9c/s1600-h/IMG_4294.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3gww0M3O7UlqfoHPyt9_RChVgUupkGL-XnO6TZIVGUxEeNKwv25CLVlVR2tOFnQ_CuTeA7cvK9OF929fZF44cs-n4C8kkx5RzNYlSmPAOyFlhV8Rt2jEjRPQqQs82RzZokWkZCJNu9c/s320/IMG_4294.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358047817250574754" border="0" /></a>This is Lily pretending to be Cocolino. Cocolino is a cat with a fried egg eye patch who cooks with his little brother and sister. They are apparently characters in a popular series of books called Kuchen mit Cocolino (Cooking with Cocolino) - the books present a series of simple recipes for children. They had a little Cocolino play area next to the Rodelbahn that featured a place you could play Cocolino's theme song and add percussion. The theme song part was broken....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUsbUTDlDxNjCDYA6EV_U-9uWAcIc-xNyEfH-YqT9A8d9IA3Y3ISYamcYzWmjHhWm2RQA_U8X1Af3hABtA3bQOxeWnDYeS-9OJMHYcekPDSyBW-v4mdyEzKAp9HrWegJ8orNughzwAnE/s1600-h/IMG_4293.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUsbUTDlDxNjCDYA6EV_U-9uWAcIc-xNyEfH-YqT9A8d9IA3Y3ISYamcYzWmjHhWm2RQA_U8X1Af3hABtA3bQOxeWnDYeS-9OJMHYcekPDSyBW-v4mdyEzKAp9HrWegJ8orNughzwAnE/s320/IMG_4293.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358047811683423570" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAG6qVMijOutCywBTLsYYC15vUg2iZ8oFKKuU1B4X8QTlhAWx5HuTkLJiongzt58oPLvPh1G9A_cdnE8Yfyt-1L9Q3e_Ooh3BRT19tP59AVwMJYAgSwqmY5pAaWPVdOcuvcG8gji3QQU/s1600-h/IMG_4300.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAG6qVMijOutCywBTLsYYC15vUg2iZ8oFKKuU1B4X8QTlhAWx5HuTkLJiongzt58oPLvPh1G9A_cdnE8Yfyt-1L9Q3e_Ooh3BRT19tP59AVwMJYAgSwqmY5pAaWPVdOcuvcG8gji3QQU/s320/IMG_4300.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358046695741720946" border="0" /></a>...but that didn't stop the kids from playing percussion!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2VYc1bf8cNIjx_mg8BzUazengM7Vvtrqq9MH2yjqxzbDxVQWH4RupMIfNOpTHSPmeZmoPVSyC97PXM2CPWFR_9Cfo2ZoAlWna_r4LSeMdRlVqd9LZ3Rg8F9Hxw_eatcGZSkU7g2z8uk/s1600-h/IMG_4301.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2VYc1bf8cNIjx_mg8BzUazengM7Vvtrqq9MH2yjqxzbDxVQWH4RupMIfNOpTHSPmeZmoPVSyC97PXM2CPWFR_9Cfo2ZoAlWna_r4LSeMdRlVqd9LZ3Rg8F9Hxw_eatcGZSkU7g2z8uk/s320/IMG_4301.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358046690814088306" border="0" /></a>After investigating all of the activities at Pfingstegg, we took a break and had cheese, fruit and cold drinks on a little bench set up overlooking the valley. This is Lily posing in front of the view.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud09TVgvLZfq8K8wWYCVr0_MkUC5iiFclnt3UaDrQ9wcZnbHc7Cak3HfR7IG3NuQAb8hUj6Icd9SB3d9uiDXcCgr0uPh2TUaLEvausHV2aKCKhw-7MuLY9rnwZyW3HMRyuMTJq59bIYM/s1600-h/IMG_4302.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiud09TVgvLZfq8K8wWYCVr0_MkUC5iiFclnt3UaDrQ9wcZnbHc7Cak3HfR7IG3NuQAb8hUj6Icd9SB3d9uiDXcCgr0uPh2TUaLEvausHV2aKCKhw-7MuLY9rnwZyW3HMRyuMTJq59bIYM/s320/IMG_4302.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358046679427629954" border="0" /></a>And here's a view of the mountaintops from our bench.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS2bxZfxJAONGLlx_ugIJ6w8r6f1uhyRpl5_6LmecHFxJVhq7F5jMXnNXktO62h8uJZiXyM61z2_a7tTD9rtTt7urJlJ3q0s1ij3SBAanNMzO3baVTqiseFXrOd0f-XfmeUGNx7avwvE/s1600-h/IMG_4303.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS2bxZfxJAONGLlx_ugIJ6w8r6f1uhyRpl5_6LmecHFxJVhq7F5jMXnNXktO62h8uJZiXyM61z2_a7tTD9rtTt7urJlJ3q0s1ij3SBAanNMzO3baVTqiseFXrOd0f-XfmeUGNx7avwvE/s320/IMG_4303.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358046674039921554" border="0" /></a>The town of Grindelwald from the bench.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCkISQ-ONtZgVwebLJNiTRt35VX6PJ-84UWbsInkSat3v5v9QVnRb_59e9-22eGZLHsf9Lxmcz6MTcqGbcPz2S1FZ7wRRlCHLpfLew_IboMKf4DWFHbtevXNmarAZl-1JrE4FrMlIwzA/s1600-h/IMG_4307.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCkISQ-ONtZgVwebLJNiTRt35VX6PJ-84UWbsInkSat3v5v9QVnRb_59e9-22eGZLHsf9Lxmcz6MTcqGbcPz2S1FZ7wRRlCHLpfLew_IboMKf4DWFHbtevXNmarAZl-1JrE4FrMlIwzA/s320/IMG_4307.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358046667373966290" border="0" /></a>And, last but not least, my feet to give you and idea of how close we were to the edge.<br /><br />All in all, it was a fun trip. We have so much flexibility with the train pass that we could pick and choose when to get our next train connection. That allowed us to take our time and really look at things without worrying about a deadline. The trains between Grindelwald and Interlaken Ost, and Interlaken and Basel run fairly frequently all day long.<br /><br />I did check out a yarn store in Grindelwald, but it carried a rather boring stock of Regia, Opal and Lana Grossa. So no yarn purchases for now. Jim did pick up a jack knife (Swiss Army, of course). It has an orange peeler as one of its many features. Jim commented on how handy that was, and my response was "Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've been out alone with just an orange and a regular knife and thought 'Gee, if only I had an oranger peeler and could get this orange open!"Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-62055629209991999392009-07-06T14:47:00.004-04:002009-07-06T15:21:28.709-04:00Out and AboutEating our $50 McDonald's Meal:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwbyUNaD905jpfmS_pbYD4K-PYYxl7NEcP3VZLFbzI2CrqWFsDMAjYAiqafZarD_WrAtViqZw0kM7H7bymiu2ex8Eiw3hU4lkN5R77Ebt-Tjj1Bz3TzK6LUsp04rmj4xdTzkfCqSsxi3s/s1600-h/IMG_4212.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwbyUNaD905jpfmS_pbYD4K-PYYxl7NEcP3VZLFbzI2CrqWFsDMAjYAiqafZarD_WrAtViqZw0kM7H7bymiu2ex8Eiw3hU4lkN5R77Ebt-Tjj1Bz3TzK6LUsp04rmj4xdTzkfCqSsxi3s/s320/IMG_4212.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423012549181554" border="0" /></a><br /><br />They do provide a better healthy choice with the Happy Meal here -- apple slices and grapes, with NO caramel dipping sauce! The kids enjoyed smiling with apple rind teeth.<br /><br />Jack Bustin' a Move:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuh4H8fAOBSuFZ-QBplIKc9YTUWwsqXpXN2Amcn_j1CNLdhYviSnPh_X9OJHEdjaW87seayQ2jhRYFwvezbi6i1OWCCR9U5tWr6DY6yaAjpr32VGycVNMw3_Agk77VePVxgMKU6eTMnNM/s1600-h/IMG_4190.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuh4H8fAOBSuFZ-QBplIKc9YTUWwsqXpXN2Amcn_j1CNLdhYviSnPh_X9OJHEdjaW87seayQ2jhRYFwvezbi6i1OWCCR9U5tWr6DY6yaAjpr32VGycVNMw3_Agk77VePVxgMKU6eTMnNM/s320/IMG_4190.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423004698006066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7H0H6dGn9nw05OzuDt8uH0FAYQnXouixVuxbg6VPQUTNTypxf4t2zWUKn0MFWP0B8JjdEXx-YCFEb-J_mt0Ol26rJdguEr0zTzzLXNob59UZyxHIXo9C9gOoKykEV-WQx1Sp8h4nE_w/s1600-h/IMG_4189.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7H0H6dGn9nw05OzuDt8uH0FAYQnXouixVuxbg6VPQUTNTypxf4t2zWUKn0MFWP0B8JjdEXx-YCFEb-J_mt0Ol26rJdguEr0zTzzLXNob59UZyxHIXo9C9gOoKykEV-WQx1Sp8h4nE_w/s320/IMG_4189.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355422999648977890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All I wanted was to take a picture of the two kids in front of the plant. I'm not sure why Jack felt it was necessary to gangsta rap.<br /><br />The Tram in Clarastrasse:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1RtBqX47QCh8yB2112kQI4-G00PGZEfWhKdDewGOTLwmOXm-nEihppJCWRAkp3NXYorcmk6JCXgCskMT-ZSgknpyR6Sg9bZqCPT9xaSyA5UV3jd-y3jGOcldZkm21ACSKcuPFWup4oE/s1600-h/IMG_4192.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1RtBqX47QCh8yB2112kQI4-G00PGZEfWhKdDewGOTLwmOXm-nEihppJCWRAkp3NXYorcmk6JCXgCskMT-ZSgknpyR6Sg9bZqCPT9xaSyA5UV3jd-y3jGOcldZkm21ACSKcuPFWup4oE/s320/IMG_4192.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355421884256903794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_NNaBVafUoKrJuoIH6gYWPsw8bcLuwlwJYAhBZ9Hxr-PAv_Aw3WLJC5_kZZJ1WvmIR11CrYqgM5r7d8CnEyQU6Ve9jkeNbsQNC73_PvE2q4AazgWWM3ztBuTLEocLBXCA276Eq7JQwY/s1600-h/IMG_4188.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_NNaBVafUoKrJuoIH6gYWPsw8bcLuwlwJYAhBZ9Hxr-PAv_Aw3WLJC5_kZZJ1WvmIR11CrYqgM5r7d8CnEyQU6Ve9jkeNbsQNC73_PvE2q4AazgWWM3ztBuTLEocLBXCA276Eq7JQwY/s320/IMG_4188.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355421875751728770" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We can get just about everywhere in and around Basel by tram. All visitors to Switzerland are given free "mobility passes" to use the trams. Most of the trams are just plain green, but some have ads and other decoration painted on them. This is the "I Love You" tram. Clarastrasse is the station nearest our hotel, and we can catch several trams from there. We are also within walking distance to Claraplatz, a big shopping area (they have H & M there, for example) and a major tram hub.<br /><br />The Claramatte Park:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2tD8neh_AwOLgfxBbUENmPbifCqkmIzZ0iGSlSWPERj62IRBZ6fSrKE8xIYC75zY_k41fCk01_5_5fHwj83CbpwfJfabS_gncjuDFy7ji8YbESjxHMmmesyY_8lLZyVAuYFJfLOKdV0/s1600-h/IMG_4176.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh2tD8neh_AwOLgfxBbUENmPbifCqkmIzZ0iGSlSWPERj62IRBZ6fSrKE8xIYC75zY_k41fCk01_5_5fHwj83CbpwfJfabS_gncjuDFy7ji8YbESjxHMmmesyY_8lLZyVAuYFJfLOKdV0/s320/IMG_4176.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355421867769443074" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvZhx30O9HQegh5rUJVFENags1M6IUmBNJ_iXQQ2CN_zX9MEqbXpYID4vHoPMeP36BgZs_ixTnlyGItrkbUCY8hK74ip72-RHb1UQPhsBMGE_HIVqZ6Vqibj-nb8QWcr90uM7QzyJqZY/s1600-h/IMG_4175.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvZhx30O9HQegh5rUJVFENags1M6IUmBNJ_iXQQ2CN_zX9MEqbXpYID4vHoPMeP36BgZs_ixTnlyGItrkbUCY8hK74ip72-RHb1UQPhsBMGE_HIVqZ6Vqibj-nb8QWcr90uM7QzyJqZY/s320/IMG_4175.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355421861455677138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcc3aobhjJeS8THHJKAVde-8JZYHm6h2q8v9LmK9BmlIAJaoDo0VIuARZClCpem_A23p5yuFnCdyzps80OtszjZKVWai5lCAMiwIbIzDKLRF3Q7OvrAXyhP7r4CMbX9ZaVM0fdEcKiXk/s1600-h/IMG_4177.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcc3aobhjJeS8THHJKAVde-8JZYHm6h2q8v9LmK9BmlIAJaoDo0VIuARZClCpem_A23p5yuFnCdyzps80OtszjZKVWai5lCAMiwIbIzDKLRF3Q7OvrAXyhP7r4CMbX9ZaVM0fdEcKiXk/s320/IMG_4177.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355421855970792194" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This park was recommended to me by one of the Ravelers in the Swiss Knitting group I joined. It has a huge wooden play structure with rope ladders, slides, several different kinds of swings, and all sorts of hidey holes. The kids just love it. Iy also has a wading pool with water spouts, but I'm not sure how often that's open. It was on the first day we went to the park and hasn't been on since.<br /><br />Toy Museum:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VT7YPHA7xWM2RIWYjpGrlOpuNlAniV5kpdFfRlJcRTr4GUf88ieUIBZc_NiS5jA0NZfJ_Fqbq1mN8cm3zb419dsoklmwldvU-KBa8jlkHPzXDLuTW9b8YlwdeXa9eOB_1ZezJSWaGfM/s1600-h/IMG_4249.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VT7YPHA7xWM2RIWYjpGrlOpuNlAniV5kpdFfRlJcRTr4GUf88ieUIBZc_NiS5jA0NZfJ_Fqbq1mN8cm3zb419dsoklmwldvU-KBa8jlkHPzXDLuTW9b8YlwdeXa9eOB_1ZezJSWaGfM/s320/IMG_4249.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423019778678338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFfcQKITIKe4h65AkXXtqSGjU_bzGefWSr0Gpem854QgrQReStnPQROGUA-PLmSe24n8hzHoDil603j-Op9LkSlpqQYiBp7A0Jul7S3d5W1wABQeOmK3f-bimTHT7by2bVijdA5Eabck/s1600-h/IMG_4239.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfFfcQKITIKe4h65AkXXtqSGjU_bzGefWSr0Gpem854QgrQReStnPQROGUA-PLmSe24n8hzHoDil603j-Op9LkSlpqQYiBp7A0Jul7S3d5W1wABQeOmK3f-bimTHT7by2bVijdA5Eabck/s320/IMG_4239.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423739709020002" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFFKomdxO-uJKtYBMCiYg3Lp4PKoBguDp1tYcnxWiFjwl4FZoo-NK-fwH6RTfyYJlE2gPpwO8-z41BhyphenhypheniMW1fCekHoUeXC17BvEzZCUqr2xGkhLwQByjTI8QcX20UsDfiJb-rqX7clEU/s1600-h/IMG_4238.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFFKomdxO-uJKtYBMCiYg3Lp4PKoBguDp1tYcnxWiFjwl4FZoo-NK-fwH6RTfyYJlE2gPpwO8-z41BhyphenhypheniMW1fCekHoUeXC17BvEzZCUqr2xGkhLwQByjTI8QcX20UsDfiJb-rqX7clEU/s320/IMG_4238.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423735686686338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0LmcFeR8xjfSDU2S8PCLF5Q84PWyX3lXhiNdqrFMI2LHrCa_HxuG9VBRmQ44q-ovujuhyphenhypheniL4IBNVK-O9H_w5H7JdNVKqTGalqiSN9kUH5bf1JIWrMC3ni2vDJrsk7O_hjm0M5V8SUqE/s1600-h/IMG_4228.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU0LmcFeR8xjfSDU2S8PCLF5Q84PWyX3lXhiNdqrFMI2LHrCa_HxuG9VBRmQ44q-ovujuhyphenhypheniL4IBNVK-O9H_w5H7JdNVKqTGalqiSN9kUH5bf1JIWrMC3ni2vDJrsk7O_hjm0M5V8SUqE/s320/IMG_4228.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423726008487810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_dlNSx7F3ZVZggSZsP_g1fRzuR0uvOSELN9AuRxPznNk8Iv_1HgAxad_PTuQbAiidNRUcoCjYJ7FUzyt2xitS2aF1uf0rCkUlKObJpC1MeXcXR7SSO9IiIzZ0Q0EGNFlJuM8TrOMPBI/s1600-h/IMG_4226.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_dlNSx7F3ZVZggSZsP_g1fRzuR0uvOSELN9AuRxPznNk8Iv_1HgAxad_PTuQbAiidNRUcoCjYJ7FUzyt2xitS2aF1uf0rCkUlKObJpC1MeXcXR7SSO9IiIzZ0Q0EGNFlJuM8TrOMPBI/s320/IMG_4226.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423717866975314" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjhxAcSPa86oFvZDo8YjXVhjB3LixM17i8sDG9bCmU7xfXeBeEYoDAmDxnnAmpBF5er4eoxwuR0D3Hol8Z6ZJ1TLSLRFlmUo9VadOa-40i-7os6BoPoBBeCtnvw5y-VPHpKyuBBHdRMM/s1600-h/IMG_4222.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjhxAcSPa86oFvZDo8YjXVhjB3LixM17i8sDG9bCmU7xfXeBeEYoDAmDxnnAmpBF5er4eoxwuR0D3Hol8Z6ZJ1TLSLRFlmUo9VadOa-40i-7os6BoPoBBeCtnvw5y-VPHpKyuBBHdRMM/s320/IMG_4222.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423715946765410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJKWBfPEzmx3gogtx5lyU7dKhP7Z9wYh4rfIo2RsBoHt9DLVdz5O6yGajnu0sfbevkzSU3AytvphtPvJust9BRc6u70zYUIATIjwhthAuQLsV78CvBf4fV3Vc_C_CVTb5mkaXuduzgMo/s1600-h/IMG_4220.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJKWBfPEzmx3gogtx5lyU7dKhP7Z9wYh4rfIo2RsBoHt9DLVdz5O6yGajnu0sfbevkzSU3AytvphtPvJust9BRc6u70zYUIATIjwhthAuQLsV78CvBf4fV3Vc_C_CVTb5mkaXuduzgMo/s320/IMG_4220.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355423027796162514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />These are all photos of the Toy Museum we visited. It was a 20 minute tram ride out of the city. We saw a lot of beautiful farms and little towns on the way and the kids really enjoyed the ride. The museum shows toys from the earliest times -- made from bone, sticks and stones -- all the way up to some modern toys. It was a very nice place with two play rooms on different floors set up with toys for kids to actually play with (probably to give moms and dads a chance to actually see the exhibits). It is housed in a big manor house with stone spiral stairs and these gorgeous tiled fireplaces and painted walls.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-61133980610413593752009-07-05T12:28:00.005-04:002009-07-05T13:37:06.275-04:00We Now Live in an IKEA DisplaySeriously. If you came in here, you would look around for staff in the blue and yellow aprons! Here are some pictures so you know what I mean:<br /><br />Living Room:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtstZnZuPX8NLgal4YTQ1-Vp0O59pruCl_gtoDRGtFhHH7RGHejYkciBNH2XFmtWDFyHBJP68W7-6sqiJAV2KufpTnNnhNGFlc53-nTr41O5QMlNS4iBEeSvSwuJoFEAXQIrU4lslK6s/s1600-h/IMG_4202.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtstZnZuPX8NLgal4YTQ1-Vp0O59pruCl_gtoDRGtFhHH7RGHejYkciBNH2XFmtWDFyHBJP68W7-6sqiJAV2KufpTnNnhNGFlc53-nTr41O5QMlNS4iBEeSvSwuJoFEAXQIrU4lslK6s/s320/IMG_4202.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355020392626978402" border="0" /></a><br />The couch has a trundle bed underneath that pulls out, and combined with the seat, makes a double bed. That's where the kids sleep. There's a nice flat screen TV in the corner, but we only get two English language channels: BBC News and BBC One. The kids really like watching German language cartoons, though, especially SpongeBob SquareKopf.<br /><br />Desk/Dining Area:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDINhBEeWZz-eVVPzy36-ZGjyARkiAMYJtNELOrWnr9fYtf_U-pIkgZ_fwYsy68tC4me5i3XtSs4q-UUocD4zqBrEAQc5hnAfHUj74TpIfIB2GwvVhLpcIli5QOdCQlqcTDkbxL4fNaY/s1600-h/IMG_4207.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDINhBEeWZz-eVVPzy36-ZGjyARkiAMYJtNELOrWnr9fYtf_U-pIkgZ_fwYsy68tC4me5i3XtSs4q-UUocD4zqBrEAQc5hnAfHUj74TpIfIB2GwvVhLpcIli5QOdCQlqcTDkbxL4fNaY/s320/IMG_4207.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355022763002167842" border="0" /></a>You can see that next to the couch there is a small desk with two chars tucked under it. It also has a small table that fits right underneath it. We pull it out into the room to eat. We use the two chairs provided with the desk and two more folding chairs kept in one of the many closets. That's one thing to be said for this apartment -- there is a lot of storage space. Kind of like IKEA...hmmmm. Also, that curvy chair behind the wall is soooo uncomfortable and such a temptation for children to climb. We'd love to have it taken out of here, but I don't think they would have anywhere to put it.<br /><br />Kitchen:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9wg1uwO1KRZwqcZMjOfTB0PYohsfO82bKC8NW_Micnt0Brivd8WJ1AqvwUEdcAboTwZH-FYHpaP1FdqBoKrs0dTOc-11g-YZmI_xxU82mGZMxPCqn3gb_23SUcI32bsyGWxI43DVXmtg/s1600-h/IMG_4201.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9wg1uwO1KRZwqcZMjOfTB0PYohsfO82bKC8NW_Micnt0Brivd8WJ1AqvwUEdcAboTwZH-FYHpaP1FdqBoKrs0dTOc-11g-YZmI_xxU82mGZMxPCqn3gb_23SUcI32bsyGWxI43DVXmtg/s320/IMG_4201.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355020382308828034" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eCJimLY7Aqvy9V4YjqzKeYAKi7rOQgrEVesu8KAV7gClnSD0sqoRz3Evi1e7RZZwxn9NrEviwNouVE2Gpdb7uM5pANV6Tw8Pr16ISqX22CS5bsUd2f6jbOvnsX4mb-HoVL4G78SeAR0/s1600-h/IMG_4200.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eCJimLY7Aqvy9V4YjqzKeYAKi7rOQgrEVesu8KAV7gClnSD0sqoRz3Evi1e7RZZwxn9NrEviwNouVE2Gpdb7uM5pANV6Tw8Pr16ISqX22CS5bsUd2f6jbOvnsX4mb-HoVL4G78SeAR0/s320/IMG_4200.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355020379428758306" border="0" /></a>Here are two views of the kitchenette. It is cunningly made for such a small space. The top photo shows the stove top, which has a storage cabinet overhead and a drawer and cabinet underneath. To the right of the stove is a refrigerator (the big gray cabinet) and an oven that works both as a microwave and a convection oven. There is also another stroage cabinet over the oven.<br /><br />The lower picture shows the sink area. The garbage and compost waste is stored under the sink and there's a tiny little dishwasher next to the sink (you can't really see it here). It's the cutest little thing you've ever seen, and designed to easily fit the cooking utensils and dishes dirtied by a family of four. The cloth you see hanging on the door is hanging on one of two hooks that are there just to hang your cloths.<br /><br />Bedroom:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfEaIzBjYrtFHTPDm6zNlduVxGHOgkfMo0TpTzzCnCqIWaUGhMlntw_MRZPRRqQMQ1FuLaxG6w-khpoD67IraKTBlAgpaeEvIgFovuX-oFF0Pxwf3KM0V9qcpyqLsUXXVtgqybDnF09Q/s1600-h/IMG_4203.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGfEaIzBjYrtFHTPDm6zNlduVxGHOgkfMo0TpTzzCnCqIWaUGhMlntw_MRZPRRqQMQ1FuLaxG6w-khpoD67IraKTBlAgpaeEvIgFovuX-oFF0Pxwf3KM0V9qcpyqLsUXXVtgqybDnF09Q/s320/IMG_4203.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355020396460183058" border="0" /></a>There's not much to say about the bedroom. It's two separate beds pushed next to each other, which sounds uncomfortable but is actually kind of nice. They don't seem to move around or gap in the middle, so it's possible they are attached to each other. Since I don't have to make the beds (yay for maid service), I have no idea. The good part is that we each have our own sheets and blankets. Aside from the bed, there's not much more than two bedside tables and a closet in there.<br /><br />Tub and shower area:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyuLFp4cKX1TMhheV_zC0j-9iwrY6AGAKfraUqlwFXO5yu03Bu170u1eRdsJALM9dZTQtT8dzqT-qkiTttQW3Avs6tlyBQ6YXaLgk_kCiBchBYjStkHecttkpnRcFvuAVla1Xj2fSByA/s1600-h/IMG_4208.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyuLFp4cKX1TMhheV_zC0j-9iwrY6AGAKfraUqlwFXO5yu03Bu170u1eRdsJALM9dZTQtT8dzqT-qkiTttQW3Avs6tlyBQ6YXaLgk_kCiBchBYjStkHecttkpnRcFvuAVla1Xj2fSByA/s320/IMG_4208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355020403813829826" border="0" /></a>The separate toilet/tub and shower areas were heavily advertised as a feature of this apartment. This is the tub and shower area. The tub is really deep and the kids love bathing in there. The curvy sink is pretty but kind of impractical. The shower, which you can't really see, is tucked in the left corner. This room is quite large and a comfortable place to get changed after you bath.<br /><br />Toilet area:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fQatK0fAe-jH-8-3rk0Oc2Jx-nO-CBorjj_bwU4kYMiVYhdU-UuxZ8x9Ejsqyu5_VObDszXlD8yjrftPVcTj866Iv6oVC2j8pfRxwMA0m-zwU0fUG5ULMTh-7eW3B3PDzlnUgo4Wo_A/s1600-h/IMG_4209.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fQatK0fAe-jH-8-3rk0Oc2Jx-nO-CBorjj_bwU4kYMiVYhdU-UuxZ8x9Ejsqyu5_VObDszXlD8yjrftPVcTj866Iv6oVC2j8pfRxwMA0m-zwU0fUG5ULMTh-7eW3B3PDzlnUgo4Wo_A/s320/IMG_4209.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355022771425628930" border="0" /></a><br />This room is very, very small. In fact, I don't really like being in there with the door shut all the way because it's a bit claustrophobic. The toilet has two options: small flush for when you pee and big flush for when you do something else. It also has it's own little wash basin, which is nice. You can sort of see Jack's potty on the floor in the foreground there. He's been doing great with peeing, but he had a little poop accident in his underwear this evening. Fortunately, it was Jim's turn to clean up the mess.<br /><br />View across the street:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_bvSS3xSO80PVBpCgvzk1yElVT3-maS36c_T3fgDkiCf56pqG_zm5cuzvsUHNIhgx-AWtCUF6nwJXKILPeKU5zFSHzZ0siHO3-pRgn6fyv3JPpRzRCFGDUmHbJnDF1CJDeJ3Q8_sZ8Ko/s1600-h/IMG_4205.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_bvSS3xSO80PVBpCgvzk1yElVT3-maS36c_T3fgDkiCf56pqG_zm5cuzvsUHNIhgx-AWtCUF6nwJXKILPeKU5zFSHzZ0siHO3-pRgn6fyv3JPpRzRCFGDUmHbJnDF1CJDeJ3Q8_sZ8Ko/s320/IMG_4205.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355022745594073858" border="0" /></a>This is the view from our living room window. See all the shutters? They appear to be metal. Almost all of them have been pulled down since we arrived, but there are clearly people living on some of the floors who open theirs. I'm not sure what they're for -- they look kind of like hurricane shutters.<br /><br />View down the street:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXX9YMAbazHw2TMf3c7f8PgelWFdqvMvQj0yAdDxVb7kP5Oy_Jw47FXNfJ10v0T0mbJvSTpEtK_aIX_PLH98F9Z0EO36ilB7L2dAgsXxdnqZh_eH7KR5MKg1trs9MgVDRB1IHON97mzr0/s1600-h/IMG_4206.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXX9YMAbazHw2TMf3c7f8PgelWFdqvMvQj0yAdDxVb7kP5Oy_Jw47FXNfJ10v0T0mbJvSTpEtK_aIX_PLH98F9Z0EO36ilB7L2dAgsXxdnqZh_eH7KR5MKg1trs9MgVDRB1IHON97mzr0/s320/IMG_4206.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355022751380978322" border="0" /></a><br />This is the view down Hammerstrasse. There's not much to say about it.<br /><br />Anyway, if you want a 3-D tour of our apartment, you can check it out <a href="http://www.adagio-city.de/basel/basel/aparthotel-basel_winter-urlaub_462-1_fp#">here</a>. Click on the oval that says "virtueller besuch" underneath the photo on the page, and then click on "die wohnungen" to get a drop down menu. Make sure to choose the second option for 2 zimmer-wohnung -- the first one is a different style of apartment from ours. The second option gives you a 360 degree virtual tour of an apartment like ours -- you will really get an idea of how small it is!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-38560173094717490182009-07-03T04:04:00.003-04:002009-07-03T04:16:23.582-04:00Death MarchAfter a nightmare 18 hour trip, we arrived in Basel yesterday afternoon. The good thing about our trip: the kids were very well behaved, considering they had very little sleep during that time. The bad things about our trip:<br /><br />diarrhea<br />6 hour surprise layover in Heathrow, the Airport of Sweaty Doom<br />sleeping on a stone floor<br />pulling what was basically an all-nighter at the age of 42<br /><br />And this isn't even a comprehensive list.<br /><br />The apartment is nice but compact. VERY compact. I could take a picture of the entire kitchen, bedroom and living room while sitting on the couch. Also, they don't exactly have air conditioning in Switzerland. They call it "air freshening." So far, the difference seems to be that the room eventually gets cool, but remains very humid. So, there's a lot of sweating if anyone moves around too much. Fortunately, the dainty size of the accommodations makes it nearly impossible to move around too much.<br /><br />We have no food, so I have to try and find a supermarket today. We think there's one right down the street, but I have to go inside to tell for sure. We had italian for dinner last night. The owner spoke mostly Italian, a smattering of German and very little English. We only made it a part of the way through the meal when we realized the kids had to go home and get in bed, so I took the kids and left Jim to deal with the check.<br /><br />Anyway, we have internet now, I have about 30 francs in my pocket and I've got to figure out how I'm going to feed the kids today, so I'm off. I'll try to post some pictures of the apartment and our street later. If we can get rid of this jet lag thing going on....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-48296381143489784592009-06-30T22:08:00.003-04:002009-06-30T22:15:42.600-04:00ProcrastinationI don't really feel like packing!<br /><br />The kids are really excited about the upcoming trip. Jack believes that Switzerland will really like his light saber and his hair. Lily told her friend today that Switzerland is a place with really good chocolate stores. I hope they don't end up disappointed.<br /><br />Jack made up a new word this week -- "slurb." He initially created it to describe a strawberry coolatta from Dunkin' Donuts. He took a sip and said "This is a really tasty slurb." He expanded the definition two nights ago while scraping up the cheese sauce from his macaroni and cheese, saying "I'm getting up all this macaroni slurb." I'm really into the word myself. It just sounds cool.<br /><br />I really can't put off the rest of my work any longer. Catch you on the flip side, folks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-82224567310197382982009-06-28T19:08:00.003-04:002009-06-28T20:00:51.198-04:00Half Way to 5KSo...Week 5, Day 3<br /><br />I ran for 20 minutes today with no walking. I feel like superwoman. If you had told me 5 weeks ago that I would run for 20 minutes and enjoy it, I would have laughed in your face. That first day of running, 30 seconds seemed like a lot! But today, I just went out and did it! And it didn't kill me, either.<br /><br />I am still trying to get over the Cold of Eternity, and had to take a 4 day break between Week 5, Day 2 and the big run on Day 3. It was well worth it.<br /><br />We are busy planning for our big adventure, so I can't much for now.<br /><br />20 minutes! Wooo-hoooooooo!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-87956051066947353372009-06-16T08:52:00.002-04:002009-06-16T08:59:36.920-04:00Week 4, Day 2Great run this morning with no problems. I stupidly peeked ahead to next week and found out that on Week 5, Day 3, I have to do a 20 minute run. With no walking. I'm already dreading it, even though I suspect by the time I get to it, it will go just fine. Running 5 minutes at a stretch seemed very easy today.<br /><br />In other news, Jack pooped on the potty...FINALLY. He got a "light saver" (light saber) as his reward, but was upset later in the day because he wished he had bought an "MP3-O" (C3PO) figure instead. <br /><br />He also had his evaluation for speech at the preschool yesterday. We decided to have him checked out because of the squeaky voice thing and the weird way he talks. Some of it has been resolved by the acid reflux meds he's been on, but we thought it was worth having checked. He did just fine and nearly talked the ear off of the evaluator. Sadly, she was not a voice pathologist, which is what we needed for a proper evaluation. We'll have to get a referral from his ENT after we get back.<br /><br />He told the evaluator we were going to Switzerland and she checked with me to see if he was telling a story! He also told her that when you're sick, you need to eat jello because it makes all the germs go away down into your stomach.<br /><br />Things I learned from running today: It isn't that bad to go running when it's raining lightly. It's actually kind of nice.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-25259228566108829742009-06-14T20:45:00.002-04:002009-06-14T21:12:03.131-04:00Fat Girl RunningHey everyone! I am back for now because I finally have something to say. First, I'm going to blog about my whole fitness thing because it keeps me accountable if I think people are paying attention. Second, we are going to Basel, Switzerland, and I want to keep you all in the loop with our doings while we're there! So, back to blogging for me.<br /><br />For those of you not in the know, my cardiologist pronounced my peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) officially healed in April. I am not off the hook yet -- he would like to see one more normal echo before taking me off certain restrictions, but he did approve me to do more than light exercise. I will be seeing him again next year after an echo. He promised that if the echo was normal, I will not need to see him again unless I have some problem or future echos are wonky. I will have to get an annual echo for a while, though.<br /><br />After discussing a few fitness plans with my cardiologist (he nixed the fitness bootcamp and anything requiring push ups or weightlifting), I settled on doing the Couch to 5K plan from the <a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml">Cool Running</a> web site. After 3 years of inactivity, doing something promising to gently take me from couch potato to 5K runner sounded pretty good. Also, it's inexpensive -- it only requires shoes and some flat running ground. So I started it up 3 weeks ago.<br /><br />The first week alternated 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. That gave me about 8 minutes of actual jogging out of the 20 minutes. (I also do a 5 minute warm up walk and a 5 minute cool down walk, which brings my total exercise time up to 30 minutes). It went okay, but it was kind of hard to get into a natural run.<br /><br />The second week alternated 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking. That bumped me up to about 9 minutes of running. That week was hard because I started to get shin splints and this incredible knee pain like I never had before. After a couple of days limping around in pain, Jim convinced me that it would be worthwhile to stop in at <a href="http://www.marathonsports.com/locations/melrose/">Marathon Sports</a> and have them fit me for the right running shoes. I was skeptical, but the pain drove me to go there. It turns out that my wonderful bargain Asics from the outlets were completely wrong for my pronation problem. You see, I had read that Asics were considered the best shoe for my problem, but didn't understand that I needed to buy a specific STYLE. I just assumed they were all the same. Anyway...they fit me with some "extreme support" Asics and the difference was immediately noticeable.<br /><br />The third week switched up the routine to 90 seconds jogging, 90 walking, 3 minutes jogging, 3 minutes walking (repeated twice), for a total of 9 minutes jogging. I was ridiculously scared of running for 3 minutes, but it turned out to be okay.<br /><br />That bring us to today -- Week 4, Day 1: 3 minutes seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes jogging, 2.5 minutes walking (2 reps) for a total of 16 minutes of jogging. Yikes!! I dreaded this run, but it was also fine. My legs didn't hurt at all during or after the run, although they did feel pretty tired during the last 5 minute jog.<br /><br />So, yeah, I'm running and sticking to the program. Next week, I'll be half way through. I'm actually curious to see if I can make it through the 9 week program without having to repeat a week, which is what you have to do if you find one of the workouts too tough. I thought this week would be too hard, but it wasn't, so maybe this will actually work!<br /><br />P.S. I'm still knitting -- one pair of socks a month plus whatever else amuses me. I'll have to do a photo montage the next time I post.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-3791146995960342012009-02-01T20:51:00.003-05:002009-02-01T21:10:39.337-05:00I'm BAAAAACK!I'm not going to give some long apology for my absence from the blog. I've been busy and nothing interesting has happened to me. End of story.<br /><br />I did have an incident on Friday that was a great source of amusement for my family. My mom wished she could have a picture, so I have drawn a series of diagrams to illustrate the incident.<br /><br />THE STORY: Lily and Jack were dancing in the living room. Lily asked if we could play ballet school, so I said "Sure!" We stood together and I showed her all of the ballet positions and how to plie. She showed me how she twirls. Everyone was smiling and having fun, including Jack. Let me tell you, nothing is more amusing than watching Jack plie. But I digress....<br /><br />It was about at that point that I said "Do you want me to show you how a real ballerina twirls?" Of course, Lily and Jack were thrilled and moved out of the way. I set myself up to do a turn on one leg as shown in Fig. A. below, and started to twirl.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWVSLfFP0I4ZECIf7GqlDNAhzxXOKCwdXe7ZqbRfCoqs9cxlyOSw3eCmzvCTFLn6dyYcnf8FlWuTSUG01kx34tO7wXM4x4Meww6FL6dIJagTqG-z8q2W2kLBKm433MboazR6mjBlsEcs/s1600-h/figa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKWVSLfFP0I4ZECIf7GqlDNAhzxXOKCwdXe7ZqbRfCoqs9cxlyOSw3eCmzvCTFLn6dyYcnf8FlWuTSUG01kx34tO7wXM4x4Meww6FL6dIJagTqG-z8q2W2kLBKm433MboazR6mjBlsEcs/s320/figa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298015830128094706" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately, I haven't twirled in some time and after turning about 180 degrees, I started to tilt on my axis, much like a planet. See Fig. B. below. As shown in the diagram, once I started to tilt, I knew I was heading for disaster.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlYf1Pl5Lf3iwFJWvRwPB78NHzbeOv6CdiNezlNSpYOgn0SwufCma5-_LySSqyPGH2kE9OVWM7Nwdb17NLRKoSWBQBCdt-T2tEvmeVnHAT5QweIOiiNlnfPRuPy5DNx7j0aKVgw840rY/s1600-h/figb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMlYf1Pl5Lf3iwFJWvRwPB78NHzbeOv6CdiNezlNSpYOgn0SwufCma5-_LySSqyPGH2kE9OVWM7Nwdb17NLRKoSWBQBCdt-T2tEvmeVnHAT5QweIOiiNlnfPRuPy5DNx7j0aKVgw840rY/s320/figb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298015830736056178" /></a><br /><br />In what seemed to me like slow motion, I started to fall sideways to the floor. At the same time, I continued to turn another 180 degrees and my left arm flew out to the side and caught on a chair seat. See Fig. C. My other hand reached to the ground to try and break the fall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ggcOlymSLYP5cbp77Le-0kUZtKcssyoK_cHKWbnIPDG0QoUfo-_9G5c_tBv9Vb5e9O-iIwE_UWqRpFKgIS-SE4tKkvjAYa-dockmBKLty0-mlDV-lzVEwTZNjqdJ5b4LjNAYEmw8pdM/s1600-h/figc.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ggcOlymSLYP5cbp77Le-0kUZtKcssyoK_cHKWbnIPDG0QoUfo-_9G5c_tBv9Vb5e9O-iIwE_UWqRpFKgIS-SE4tKkvjAYa-dockmBKLty0-mlDV-lzVEwTZNjqdJ5b4LjNAYEmw8pdM/s320/figc.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298015833723203954" /></a><br /><br />As I hit the floor, my arm remained hung up on the seat of the chair. It is really hard to diagram, but I ended up on my stomach with my right arm out in front of my and my left arm caught raised up behind me on the seat of the chair. See Fig. D.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK9q-SXlJQeVhQZe7jBeSYbVm4g4AHltMWoxjbvHavtBOv3E_2HQf9ez2XgVN50j6msvmV_mXAaPKvFVNY2FU7dwKHpH8lBPHNfh-qpMabAexNAa8-MC1qP-HhrjYPMZsCfDFvRF2jzk/s1600-h/figd.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 286px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuK9q-SXlJQeVhQZe7jBeSYbVm4g4AHltMWoxjbvHavtBOv3E_2HQf9ez2XgVN50j6msvmV_mXAaPKvFVNY2FU7dwKHpH8lBPHNfh-qpMabAexNAa8-MC1qP-HhrjYPMZsCfDFvRF2jzk/s320/figd.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298015831687895906" /></a><br /><br />The pain was immediate and unbearable. As I lay writhing on the floor and moaning, Jack came running over and jumped on top of me, saying "Make a slide, Mommy!" Lily was laughing. I could only croak out the words "Don't touch me! Mommy's hurt!" Right about then, the phone rang. It was my mother. I told her what happened, and Jack piped up in the background "You should be more careful."<br /><br />I seriously thought I would need to go to the ER, but after icing my arm for about an hour and taking Ibuprofen, everything was okay. It's pretty stiff and sore, but it only really hurts if I try to put it in the position it was in when it got caught on the chair. Since I hardly ever walk around with my arm up in the air behind my back, it barely bothers me.<br /><br />Once I got out the ice pack, the kids both tried to hurt themselves and demanded ice packs for their "injuries." Lily actually purposely hit her head on the floor. Shne said "I want to be like you, Mommy!"<br /><br />Needless to say, I won't be doing any fancy ballet moves in the near future...or ever again.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-78859358048017256272008-12-05T20:37:00.003-05:002008-12-05T20:53:58.140-05:00Get Thee on the Crafty Bus!If you're on Ravelry, check out my new group "The Crafty Bus." My knitting gal pal (I've always wanted to use that phrase) Sheila and I came up with the idea, and with a little help from the Crafty Mamas (you know who you are), we put together a list of 24 patterns for a Year of Socks. Well, to be fair, it might be more like 27 patterns, because we sometimes gave 3 suggested patterns if one of them must be purchased. Anyway, you can knit either 1 or 2 pairs of socks per month (or more, if you come up with more patterns) and bust that sock yarn stash.<br /><br />Why the Crafty Bus? Sheila invented the phrase one day. If I remember correctly, she was talking about how her mother was pretty crafty, and how surprised she would be to find out that Sheila was now, as she so vividly described it, "on the Crafty Bus." I can't explain why the phrase struck me, but I've used it ever since. I've been on the crafty bus for a long, long, time. Once you get on, you never get off!<br /><br />Why a Year of Socks? I am sad to admit that I have an addiction to Dream in Color Smooshy. In fact, I have enough Smooshy in my Level 1 stash right now to do the Year of Socks. I also have a lot of other sock yarn. It's soooo tempting to buy a skein because it comes with a built-in project. One skein usually equals one pair of socks. No math required, and those of you who know me know that I would move heaven and earth to avoid doing math if at all possible. The other thing about sock yarn? It comes in lots of pretty colors. Kettle dyed, hand painted, self-striping...I could go on and on. All of these things conspire against me and practically force me to buy lots of sock yarn.<br /><br />Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it, anyway....<br /><br />There are also a lot of free sock patterns on the Internet, and on Ravelry in particular. Like sock yarn, the variety of patterns is endless. Cables, dropped stitches, lace, unique construction, you name it. Thousands of pretty socks that take just the one skein of pretty yarn. And it's a relatively quick project once you get into the habit of knitting socks. And sock projects are very portable.<br /><br />My pledge is to knit down my stash of sock yarn during the Year of Socks. I'm committing to 12 pair for sure, and if it goes well, I might push for 24. On the other hand, I have a few projects planned for 2009, including the February Lady sweater, so I'll probably wimp out and do 12. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-86623612723683296372008-12-02T21:42:00.002-05:002008-12-02T21:56:01.850-05:00The Social Life of a 5 Year OldAt dinner tonight, we were treated to a long explanation of the kind of social interactions kindergarteners engage in. It was very enlightening, to say the least. I wish I had it on tape, because it was hilarious. Sadly, I can only paraphrase here.<br /><br />You see, Lily is friends with everyone in her class, except for Joey. Joey told Lily that he didn't like her, because there was a puzzle everyone was doing and he wanted to do it. Also, did you know that Joey doesn't even like girls? He only likes boys. But the boys all think that Joey really does like girls, so when he tells them not to like girls, they just ignore him.<br /><br />The good thing is that Lily's friend Alex helped her tell the teacher what Joey said, and Joey got a yellow flag. That's bad. If you're at the top of the yellow flag, you can make it back up to green, which is good. If you're at the bottom and you keep being bad, you can get to red. You know what happens if you get to red? They call the principal and you get a letter sent home to your parents and they might even make you go home! Lily wasn't sure because so far no one has gotten the red flag in her class. Lily has only gotten one yellow flag and all the rest were green because she's good at school.<br /><br />Her boyfriend is Matthew. Actually she has two boyfriends, Matthew and Patrick from her old school. Actually, she has three boyfriends, Matthew, Patrick and Kevin in the third grade. Those are her boyfriends. Alex doesn't have a boyfriend right now, but tomorrow, she's going to try out Nicholas L. She already tried out Luke and Hooper and Nicholas T. but none of them wanted her, so she's just going to have to keep trying out new ones until she finds her boyfriend. She doesn't even know who her boyfriend will be yet! You get a boyfriend when you ask a boy if he wants to be your boyfriend and he says yes. Boys can ask you to be their girlfriend, too. Four different boys asked Lily to be their girlfriend, but she told them all "I already have 3 boyfriends! I can't have any more!" Matthew's other girlfriend is his sister, Ella.<br /><br />On the playground, she likes to chase Kevin. If you see girls in a group, Kevin is probably with them! That's when Lily says "Kevin is in trouble!" That doesn't mean Kevin did something wrong, it just means that something bad is going to happen from those girls. Kevin has a friend named Colin and he always steals Lily's hat and calls her "chicken." She doesn't know why he calls her that. He calls Sydney, Alex, Savannah and Lily chickens. The other girls chase him, but Lily tells them to stop. Even though she tells them to stop, Colin takes her hat and calls her a chicken, too! Who knows why he does that?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-64823465267195809362008-11-23T14:28:00.003-05:002008-11-23T14:44:51.555-05:00Tis' the Season......for holiday memes! Here's the latest, sent to me by Ms. Can't Stop Knitting. It's everything you didn't want to know and didn't bother to ask me about what I do at Christmas! Actually, doing the meme got me kind of excited about Christmas -- we'll be getting our tree next weekend, most likely.<br /><br />1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags, baby.<br /><br />2. Real tree or Artificial? Real, especially Douglas Fir.<br /> <br />3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving, usually.<br /><br />4. When do you take the tree down? Some time after New Year's Day. <br /> <br />5. Do you like eggnog? Only if there's rum in it!<br /> <br />6. Favorite gift received as a child? Raggedy Ann (and I still have her)<br /><br />7. Hardest person to buy for? Daddy.<br /><br />8. Easiest person to buy for? Jack. He's 2 and he Just. Doesn't. Care.<br /><br />9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a primitive wood set that the kids love.<br /><br />10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. <br /> <br />11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I'd rather not say in case that person ever read this blog!<br /><br />12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story -- "You'll shoot your eye out!"<br /><br />13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Any time I see something appropriate.<br /> <br />14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think I've regifted a bottle of wine.<br /><br />15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chili Egg Puff.<br /> <br />16. Lights on the tree? Only if they're the small white twinkle lights that don't blink.<br /><br />17. Favorite Christmas song? Santa Baby as performed by Eartha Kitt.<br /><br />18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home, please. At least until the kids are a lot older.<br /><br />19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, if I sing the song! <br /><br />20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. We have a tall red glass tree topper <br /><br />21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning.<br /> <br />22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Those Salvation Army workers that ring the bells and ask for donations. They're everywhere and the bell ringing makes me crazy.<br /><br />23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like the Victorian style glass ornaments.<br /> <br />24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My special mashed potatoes.<br /> <br />25. What's on your Christmas wish list this year? A new wedding band in platinum.<br /><br />26. What do you want for Christmas this year? A peaceful holiday with friends and family close by.<br /><br />27. Who is most likely to respond to this? Why, everyone! Who wouldn't want to talk about Christmas and kick the season off?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-44480046066044150672008-11-19T17:39:00.002-05:002008-11-19T17:45:37.291-05:003's About MeAnother email meme that I thought would be fun to answer on the blog.<br /><br /><br />Three places I have lived: Minnesota, California, North Carolina<br /><br />Three shows that I watch: NCIS, Top Chef, Dexter<br /><br />Three places I have visited: Italy, Switzerland, France<br /> <br />Three places I have been this week: Yarn & Fiber Company, Trader Joe's and the pediatrician's office.<br /><br />Three people who e-mail me regularly: My mom, the Crafty Mamas and Knitting Daily<br /><br />Three of my favorite foods: mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and broccoli<br /><br />Three places I'd rather be right now: Emerald Isle, Antigua or a cruise to nowhere<br /><br />Three people I think will respond: Who knows? <br /><br />Three things I am looking forward to next year: Rhinebeck 2009, the March bonus check and Emerald IsleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-49879504376552118812008-11-18T16:20:00.002-05:002008-11-18T17:03:27.541-05:00It's Either Sadness or EuphoriaRemember a few weeks ago, when I got the bad news from my GP about my echo results? I ended up doing a follow-up stress echo to get more information. The news was GOOD. My heart measurements were all normal, both at rest and under stress. My EF was normal (and up 8% from the "bad" echo, so that little dip was just a normal variation, I guess). <br /><br />The only thing that looked bad was my blood pressure. It was low at resting and bottomed out at 70/35 after the test. Did you know that having a BP of 70/35 will make a lot of alarms go off? There was much flurry and concern, especially when my pressure was still 80/50 after everything else went back to normal. There was also some confusion as to why the low pressure wasn't bothering me in the least, at least until I explained that my resting BP was usually around 80/60. After that got straightened out, they let me leave.<br /><br />My doctor brought it up when he was discussing the results with me on Friday. He told me, and I quote "It's not good to have pressure constantly that low." Oh, really? Because my pressure has been that low for almost 3 years and I've expressed my concern about that to him at least twice that I can remember. In fact, it started right after they put me on the BP medicine after my heart failure. Coincidence? I think NOT! Seriously, though, I was a little taken aback that my cardiologist and the staff doing my stress echo didn't seem to put together the facts that (1) I had low normal BP before my heart failure; (2) I was put on medication to lower my BP to help my heart rest; and (3) now I have unusually low BP. After I told my doctor how crappy, tired and dizzy I felt all the time, he said "let's try going without it for a while and see how you do."<br /><br />So I am officially heart/BP medication free! Whee! I was a little afraid at first, but now (4 days later), I feel pretty darn good. I haven't felt the bone-crushing exhaustion that usually hits me around noon for a couple of days. I also started feeling a lot less depressed on Sunday, which led me to wonder if the BP meds could have been contributing to that as well. A quick tour of the internet revealed that low BP can cause depression, as well as forgetfulness. I've been dealing with both since Jack was born, so I'm curious to see if the med change will make a difference.<br /><br />On the other hand, I might just be really, really happy and relieved after 3 years of taking meds that made me feel sick and 3 years of worrying that my heart would never get better. So, I'm withholding my judgment about the effect of going off the BP meds until I've had some time to get used to being a person with a healthy, normal heart again.<br /><br />Oh yeah, tip to those of you who might have to take a stress echo in the future. Find out before you go in what kind of exercise you'll be doing. It won't make a difference in how hard they push you, but at least you'll be mentally prepared. I was expecting to "ride a stationary bike." I was a little confused when I got into the exam room when I didn't see a bike. It turned out that the "bike" was actually pedals mounted on a table. I had to lie flat on my back and pedal from that angle. When it was time for them to do the echo, the table rotated sideways at a 45% angle. Have you ever tried to pedal a bike on your back while tilted sideways? In the words of the echo technician, "They don't call it a stress echo because it's a walk in the park." No kidding!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-68876994576203107112008-11-15T21:15:00.003-05:002008-11-15T21:41:55.103-05:00Potty TrainingWe are trying to train Jack. This summer, he self-trained for about 3 days at my mother's house when she gave him some "big boy" underpants. After the novelty wore off, though, he reverted to the pull-ups. Since he left daycare this fall, I've done intensive training several times. He usually pees in pair after pair of underpants until I give up. On the other hand, every time he takes a bath, he asks to pee on the potty before he gets in and does it successfully almost every time. So, we know he CAN train, but he seems to want to do it on his own time.<br /><br />He has a potty chart right now where he can earn a black licorice dog when he's successful. Every single dog was earned at bathtime...until tonight.<br /><br />I was knitting a pair of socks and half-watching a movie. Both kids were asleep, but suddenly, I heard "Mommy! Mommy!" I thought it was Lily at first, but then I heard "Mommy, pee started coming out and I have to use the potty!" Apparently, he suddenly woke up and had to pee!<br /><br />I went into the hallway and saw Jack standing in the hall, wearing his blue footie pajamas and holding a black plastic gun. He said "Pee started coming out in a pullup! I need a potty!" He was waving the gun for emphasis. I took him into his bedroom and unzipped him so he could take his pullup off. We went into the bathroom and he sat down on his little potty.<br /><br />Nothing happened. After a few minutes, I said "Are you done?" "I need a little more time," he said. I said "Would you like to read a book while you're waiting?" and he said "Yeah!" Then he pulled the bathroom stool towards his potty and laid the plastic gun on it. "I'm jus' gonna put my gun here," he said.<br /><br />I went to his room and came back with a book, which he took and opened. I said "I'm going to go into the living room. Just let me know when you're all done." "Okay, Mommy!" A minute or two passed, and then I heard "Mommy! Come here, Mommy!" I went into the bathroom.<br /><br />"Where did THIS come from?" he asked, holding up a small plastic dog. "I don't know," I said. "Are you finished?" "No, I need a little more time." I left the room again. Pretty soon, I heard "Mommy, come here, Mommy!" I went back in. "Are you finished?" "No, I need more time. I'm all done my book," he said, handing it to me. I took it and left.<br /><br />Several more minutes passed and then he appeared in the living room, naked from the waist down with the bottom half of his pajamas trailing behind. "Come look! I peed! I gonna get a licorice dog!" I gave him his dog and took him to his room to get his pullup and pajamas back on. "I felt a pee coming out and I went potty!" he said. "Good job!" I said and turned off the light.<br /><br />"Mommy?" I looked back in. "What?" He sat up in his bed and said "I need my gun."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-90073163333116125672008-11-11T16:08:00.002-05:002008-11-11T16:17:25.923-05:00What's Under My Couch This WeekIt's been a while, but rest assured, I have been cleaning under the couch. Life has just gotten in the way of posting about it lately. This is what I found last Tuesday:<br /><br />Yoga Ball pum<br />empty 2 liter bottle of Orange Dry soda<br />2 small pumpkins (one was slightly squashy)<br />paper crown liberally decorated with gems by Lily<br />sucker ball<br />1 marker<br />paint brush<br />toy walkie talkie<br />2 binkies<br />2 halves of Jim's favorite yoyo (Jack took it apart)<br />book of stickers<br />felt witch hat from the pumpkin Jack decorated on the 18th of October<br />1 matching pair of socks<br />a piece belong to Lily's magic set<br />2 golf balls<br />Christmas napkin ring<br />3 magnet blocks and the entire set of cards showing different designs<br />silk daisy<br />harmonica<br />1 penny<br />letter from MGH reminding me of the date for my echocardiogram<br />2 Hotwheels cars<br />toy fishing rod<br />part to the old vacuum cleaner<br />cow doll<br />playdough tool (looks like a jackknife with lots of playdough shaping implements)<br />party blower<br />glass suncatcher<br />1 gigabyte thumb drive<br />1 card from the Wild Things themed UNO game<br />1 Good Times token<br />1 stitch marker<br /><br />The two golf balls were the inspiration for Jack's latest song called "My Two Balls." Some of the priceless lines from the song "I got two balls" and "Eat my balls" (the second line was sung while he tried to shove one of the golf balls into his mouth).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-33453774420040994262008-10-22T08:04:00.005-04:002008-11-01T18:13:11.541-04:00Rhinebeck, Baby!We had so much fun. I'm already looking forward to next year. If you love yarn and the fiber arts, you really should go. Come on, Rhinebeck 2009!<br /><br />FRIDAY:<br /><br />After my cardiology appointment, which went fairly well, I drove home and met up with Lisa of Can't Stop Knitting fame. We drove out to Northampton to stay with her parents. We made it to Webs about 15 minutes before closing but we each still managed to pick up a few items. I was buying Malabrigo chunky for two friends, so I picked up a skein for myself and also managed to reach out and snag some lovely handpainted sock yarn. Of course, none of this came out of my Rhinebeck budget because we weren't at Rhinebeck yet.<br /><br />The Webs bus was scheduled to leave at 7:30 am. Lisa and I set our alarms for 5:15 am. We were both overly concerned about missing the bus. We each set our phone alarms and then we set the alarm clock in the guest room where I was sleeping. We also got a little panicky and worried it might be daylight savings time. I ended up checking it out on the internet. Afterwards, when cooler heads prevailed, we both realized that daylight savings time always starts at midnight on a Saturday night, so it wouldn't have affected us. As I write this, I also realize that we "fall back," which means that instead of missing the bus, we would have been an hour EARLY if daylight savings time was in effect. All of which just goes to show you how excited we were to go on our trip.<br /><br />SATURDAY:<br /><br />After a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts (I run on Dunkin' iced tea), we arrived at Webs well before the bus. In fact, we would have been well before the bus even if we arrived at 7:30 because the bus driver had a little trouble finding us! Lisa noticed a tour bus driving past the entrance to Webs, and speculated jokingly that it was our bus missing the turn. A few minutes later, the same bus drove past going the other direction. Eventually, the girl from Webs who was running the tour went out to the main road, met up with the driver and then rode back with him to give him directions.<br /><br />Once we were on the road, the group leader from Webs asked several trivia questions. The winners got prizes ranging from Webs water bottles to pretty knitting bags complete with either the materials for drop spindle spinning or knitting a project! Lisa immediately won a water bottle. I stunk at the questions, so I won nothing. As we pulled up to the fair, the group leader announced that the first three people with birth dates coming up would win $10. Lisa was one of the big winners!<br /><br />Now to describe Rhinebeck. It reminded me of the Topsfield Fair (for those of you in Massachusetts who are familiar with it), except that almost everything was fiber related. We started out in a big building with a ton of vendors. I immediately bought a skein of silk/merino blend, while Lisa got yarn and a pattern from the same vendor. The crowd was insane. It was difficult to move in and out of some of the booths, and I ended up giving Lisa my skein and some money, because by the time I was done shopping, she was about 10 people ahead of me in the checkout line.<br /><br />She sent me on a mission to find the Blue Moon booth while she waited to check out. We had been warned that the Blue Moon would sell out in the first hour, and we were both interested in checking it out. She met me at the booth, which was pretty crammed. We each grabbed chose a skein and headed to the checkout line. There were about 4 people in front of the counter, but as we headed to the end of the line, we saw that it went around the corner...and all the way across the giant hall, where it then doubled back. There were at least 50 people in line! We both turned right around and put the skeins down, because that line just wasn't worth it.<br /><br />I was pleased to see a lot of rug hooking vendors, and ended up buying a punch needle kit, pattern and some wool thread for the project. Because I TOTALLY need another craft to do! I also got some great ideas for my etsy store (I'm working on your pin, Lisa!).<br /><br />We spent an inordinate amount of time trying to locate the Ancient Threads booth. The Rhinebeck website said it would be located between building 26 and 27, but we just couldn't find it. On the bus ride home, Lisa noticed that it didn't appear in the guidebook we got at the fair, so they probably weren't even there this year!<br /><br />Here are a couple of "friends" from the fair:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxwoUf7fJ2g78ktNjEHKMYzi7ghefeOyYBmX1GQ2Blr6LG6O_-Ndj0RCWIKMYRuwgeinLLNTnxngEr_FiKaRhkj_zODTQhGVqxYRtsZcEE1dYdQBFjSpKZN7fzvv7Q1_LlCXP0bm6m_k/s1600-h/IMG_0041.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxwoUf7fJ2g78ktNjEHKMYzi7ghefeOyYBmX1GQ2Blr6LG6O_-Ndj0RCWIKMYRuwgeinLLNTnxngEr_FiKaRhkj_zODTQhGVqxYRtsZcEE1dYdQBFjSpKZN7fzvv7Q1_LlCXP0bm6m_k/s320/IMG_0041.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263811569572317826" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_xd73L9jpjggRWDnILpCC6zxMIrpLO6eja_yLdmkZQE5H3yRfX784_qeGsXzqYzGLKkaVlfOoHn0u5cYL5tGZ0cG1BwmhAHugkr7NJOQk8DRQDrRck2WWL0DtP_9OFNyl-i5AOIsW4U/s1600-h/IMG_0042.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_xd73L9jpjggRWDnILpCC6zxMIrpLO6eja_yLdmkZQE5H3yRfX784_qeGsXzqYzGLKkaVlfOoHn0u5cYL5tGZ0cG1BwmhAHugkr7NJOQk8DRQDrRck2WWL0DtP_9OFNyl-i5AOIsW4U/s320/IMG_0042.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263811525566969538" /></a><br /><br />We wandered around aimlessly for about 40 minutes trying to locate the Ravelry meet up as well. We wanted to get our Ravelry buttons because we heard a rumor that some vendors would give discounts to Ravelers (I didn't get any discounts, so I don't know if it was true or not). There was a vague description of the meet up site, and a map with an arrow pointing to nothing. Eventually we banded together with another Raveler and just stood in the general location suggested by the arrow. After a little while, Casey, the Very Nice Man who programmed Ravelry showed up with his brother-in-law, another guy and beer in hand. Several of us immediately used the opportunity to get photos with him, which made him very shy and prompted him to remind us that his wife, Jess, who thought up the idea of Ravelry, would be there soon and wouldn't we rather have a picture of her? Lisa and I just thanked him and grabbed our buttons so we could get back to the vendors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gxh2dmhnTTpGwEdjUlZXkOLXPAxvDGBDYgcH7-qne4lj8AgJ3lyAQMEzBL2_TTt7l9AjLLEgkz4onjBDoosgT83pP-nP1J3NYWgQWrptyzr6U18XWK34yf59k9UKQY6i7bN25ljiEb4/s1600-h/casey2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 261px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gxh2dmhnTTpGwEdjUlZXkOLXPAxvDGBDYgcH7-qne4lj8AgJ3lyAQMEzBL2_TTt7l9AjLLEgkz4onjBDoosgT83pP-nP1J3NYWgQWrptyzr6U18XWK34yf59k9UKQY6i7bN25ljiEb4/s320/casey2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263811580587893858" /></a><br /><br />That's little crocheted Bob in his pocket!<br /><br />Here's what I bought:<br /><br />- Decadent Fibers Creme Brulee in a semisolid blue (2000 yds)<br />- Socks that Rock medium weight sock yarn (3 skeins, I was out of control)<br />- Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm sock yarn<br />- Shelridge Farms sock yarn (3 skeins), a Lucy Neatby scarf pattern, and a Cookie A sock pattern<br />- Briar Rose DK weight in deep reds and blue (1000 yds)<br />- Spirit Trails sock yarn in semisolid blue<br />- Some silk/merino blend yarn from a vendor whose name escapes me (blues and greens)<br />- Creatively Dyed sock in semisolid silver<br />- a punch needle design, wool thread and punch needle set<br />- 2 kinds of goat cheese for Jim<br />- Swedish Fish for the kids<br />- a Go-Monkey project bag (check out their website)<br /><br />I might have left some stuff out, I'm doing this from memory. If you have access to Ravelry, you can look in my stash and see everything. Or you can just look at a picture of the whole thing here:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84iwll4CX71SrpPHaJDUmCzBbU04tzHctvDCzeN4SpKq7Mnly92Ll75GNdHKfTNlIdvho309ynCqaP_LyBR0uaXc0dQKWJv6sbT-Vd6j5tV2SFtHXJuxqmRUoUSnKRJAJSuoP2jey0S0/s1600-h/IMG_0049.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh84iwll4CX71SrpPHaJDUmCzBbU04tzHctvDCzeN4SpKq7Mnly92Ll75GNdHKfTNlIdvho309ynCqaP_LyBR0uaXc0dQKWJv6sbT-Vd6j5tV2SFtHXJuxqmRUoUSnKRJAJSuoP2jey0S0/s320/IMG_0049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263809714600488754" /></a><br /><br />There were a lot of people wearing their Rhinebeck Sweaters. Lisa was wearing her beautiful February Lady, and about 1,000 people stopped us to compliment her. A couple of people even stopped to compliment me on my very detailed Talbot's sweater because they assumed I'd knit it myself. Sadly, I didn't even come close to finishing my Wisteria sweater in time for the trip. <br /><br />After a long day of shopping, we trudged back to the bus. We were told at the beginning of the day that we had to be back at the bus by 4:00 pm. Lisa and I picked up some apple crisp and ice cream and made sure we were there by 3:45. Some people had such large purchases that they opened the luggage compartment under the bus! We all dragged ourselves into the bus and waited while the group leader took attendance. We had a few stragglers who showed up just before 4. She took the final attendance and one person was missing! The missing lady was apparently traveling alone. No one knew her and no one had a cell phone number for her. The store tried calling her home number and no one answered. Eventually, the group leader left the bus and went back into the fair to have her paged, to no avail. We finally left at about 4:45 without her! We are very curious as to what happened -- my guess is that she met up with someone she knew and decided to go back with that person.<br /><br />On the drive home, we played a yarn version of "Let's Make a Deal." The group leader called out the description of an item and the first person to show one got a prize. I won a water bottle and a little kit that included needles, a pattern and a skein of yarn.<br /><br />It was such a fun weekend. It could only have been better if we'd gone with a big group of friends. I hope we can get more people to go next year!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4273762347372661964.post-67440549615007577392008-10-16T20:23:00.004-04:002008-10-16T20:45:43.457-04:00Off to Rhinebeck with a Broken HeartWell, folks, Lisa and I are heading out tomorrow afternoon! I am as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve. I have snacks, my head lamp (so I can knit on the bus after dark), two projects to work on and a wad of cash in my purse. Lisa's an old hat at Rhinebeck, but it's all new to me.<br /><br />Sadly, I will not be wearing my Wisteria sweater, although I will bring it along to work on. I am only 20 rows from completing the body, but there are still two sleeves, each of which are cabled at the wrist. I toyed with staying up all night to finish it, but there's a point when you just have to let it go. I'm at that point.<br /><br />I am going to operate on a cash only basis so that when the money runs out my shopping is done. That way I'll be less likely to go over my budget. I'm going to try very hard to stick to it. Of course, the budget doesn't include any monies spent at Webs tomorrow afternoon. I will be taking a look in the warehouse, of course.<br /><br />In other news, I got my echocardiogram results this week. I have had some regression since I stopped taking my beta blocker this summer. I will be seeing my cardiologist (who looks like a very cute 12 year old) tomorrow right before I leave on my trip. <br /><br />I've been pretty down since my doctor sent me the results. People who are diagnosed with an Ejection Fraction (EF) of 30% or greater usually resolve their condition within a year. People diagnosed below that mark have a much lower chance of healing. Since I was at 33% +/- 5%, I could go either way. After leaving my job, I improved significantly and had an EF of 60% +/- 5% (totally normal) last fall. I was hopeful that if I maintained that level for a year, I might be able to stop the medications and resume my normal life. The regression means I might have to go back on my old meds, which means more problems with asthma and all the other crappy side effects I have from beta blockers. Sadly, I've had some slight enlargement and my EF droped to 52% +/- 5%.<br /><br />I know intellectually that's not a big deal. Technically, I'm still in the normal range, and I have been for the last 3 echos. That's something to be really happy about. There can be variations in EF from day to day that could explain the slight regression.<br /><br />Emotionally, I'm really fragile right now. I've felt so much better and so HOPEFUL since I stopped the beta blocker. I dread the thought of taking a step backwards when I was so looking forward to coming to an end of this whole episode. I am trying to accept that I may have to take the medications, and then additional medications to counteract the side effects, for the rest of my life. The good news is that I'll be perfectly healthy. The bad news is that this heart problem will be a permanent part of my life. Even though I've contemplated that eventuality for 2 years, deep down I always thought I'd get past this point.<br /><br />So I'm heartbroken right now (no pun intended). The only thing helping me keep my chin up is the excitement of Rhinebeck. If I had to have bad news, it couldn't have come at a better time.<br /><br />Anyway, I try to keep my blog light and don't want to make my crappy ticker a regular part of this blog. So that's the way things stand right now, and I have a gut feeling that my very conservative cardiologist is going to go for the cautious approach tomorrow. Guess I better bust out the granny pill organizer again!<br /><br />BUT...I'm going to Rhinebeck! Wheeeee!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09448758572019951647noreply@blogger.com3