Mount Pilatus

Please bear with me as I catch up on travel posts from this summer. Sorry for the delay!

After our trip to London in June, my cousin came back to Zurich with us.

We did a couple of day trips while she was in town. Our first stop was Luzern and Mount Pilatus.

We decided to take the boat from Luzern to Alpnachstad and then the cogwheel up to Pilatus Kulm. For our way down, we opted to take the cable cars from Pilatus Kulm to Fräkmüntegg and Kriens. If you have some time during your trip to Pilatus, I highly recommend taking the boat on Lake Luzern at least one leg of your journey to the top of the mountain.

Cogwheel station at Alpnachstad.

I had read that the Pilatus cogwheel was the steepest in the world but was tickled pink to find a plaque from the American Society of Mechanical Engineer's certifying it as so.

The ride is beautiful and the incline is prety impressive.


What can I say? I'm an engineer at heart and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Once we reached the top we were saddened to find the views obstructed by clouds. Again.


Throughout Europe I find scaffolding and clouds in my way.

Anyway, we walked around anyway and found ourselves next to a storm cloud. The thunder coming from right next to us was impressive. Despite that, we decided to sit outside and have a snack. Lo and behold, the sun came out.

And then the clouds went away.


We enjoyed the views for a bit and then decided to catch the cable cars down. That's when we saw this.

Switzerland's longest toboggan run. Looks like fun, right? Well, we thought so too. So Tricia took Marion down the 1350-metre long run.

Then they enjoyed the ride back up.

Wish I could have gone but Betti was with us. Darn baby!

Anyway, after our trip up Pilatus, we walked around Luzern for a bit. Luzern is one of my favorite Swiss cities. On a lake, beautiful Old Town, great restaurants, gorgeous Chapel Bridge... It's a fantastic city to visit.

We decided to eat dinner there before heading home. And that's when Tricia snapped this picture of me.

I was telling Marion to sit in her chair. I love this picture because it shows in a nutshell how I spend most of my time these days: hanging on to Betti, telling Marion to stop doing whatever she is doing. Hopefully, in a beautiful European city.

I can't complain.

Anyway, Pilatus. Fun in the summer and I hear it's a blast in the winter as well. Go!

Mish Mash

Cinderella celebrated Halloween by pulling herself to standing.

I am now convinced she is trying her best to make my flight home in December, alone with the two monkeys, as miserable as possible.

After trick or treating we went out for dinner with some friends. We came home to some vandalism.

It wiped right off. Those Swiss kids are baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad ass.

Today is November 4th. It has now rained 3 out of the 4 days in this month so far. Looks like it will be another rainy November here. Yuck.

Still behind on my pile of travel posts from this summer. My goal is to get through them before 2010!

Happy (dry wherever you are) November!

World Blog Surf Day: My favorite Swiss holiday

This year I'm taking part in World Blog Surf Day. The short explanation: a bunch of expatriates blog on a common subject and then link to another expat blog, thereby creating a chain of posts from around the world.

Sounded like fun so I signed up, voted on this year's topic, and anxiously awaited to be informed what I would be writing about today.

The topic for this year's Surf Day is... *drumroll*

Holidays & Celebrations--What is your favorite new holiday and how is it celebrated?

I voted on this one so I was thrilled. But still a little stumped. The Swiss celebrate everything. They will throw a party to celebrate a new tunnel opening. How was I going to pick just one?

I asked Brian what his favorite holiday or celebration was. He didn't even hesitate: Oktoberfest! So he wasn't any help; I haven't made it to Oktoberfest yet.

After weeks of going over my choices in my head, I picked one. And then I struggled with my decision because it really isn't a new holiday. But screw it, I'm going with it anyway.

My favorite holiday is Christmas. Or Christmas season. Or the entire month of December.

See, not really a new holiday. However, the way the Swiss celebrate Christmas makes it new to me. Because they start early here and go big right up until the 25th.

It all begins December 6, when Samichlaus comes to town to give sweets, nuts, and fruit to well behaved little children. His arrival is celebrated with parades in towns throughout the German part of Switzerland. But he doesn't arrive alone. Schmutzli, Samichlaus' sidekick dressed in brown and carrying a switch and a sack, and a donkey accompany him.

Schmutzli helps Samichlaus hand out his goodies these days. However, in the past, Schmutzli was rumored to kidnap and beat children who misbehaved. According to this article, some Schmutzli's still take their disciplinary role seriously.

After the parade, there is usually a small market in the town center. Markets, ahhh. Another Christmas season favorite of mine.

Christmas markets abound throughout Europe and I love them. Zurich Hauptbahnof and Einsiedeln were among my favorites last year but I plan to vist a few more this year. But let's be honest, any market out there that has opfelchuechli's will be a winner in my book.

Then there is the Singing Christmas tree, located just off the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich.

It's a great way to spend a December evening, sitting around, listening to carols, and drinking gluhwein or tea. Check out the website to schedule a visit this season.

Those are just a few of the things I love that make Christmas season in Switzerland so magical for me. They take the season and turn it up a notch. There's always something to do and, chances are, you'll have a blast checking it out.

Oh, and did I mention December is the only time of the year that shops are open on Sunday? What's not to love about shopping on Sunday?!

Thanks to Karen over at Empty Nest Expat for being the Twitter reporter for today! Karen is an American expat blogger last seen in Prague. The Wall Street Journal said, "Her blog makes a fun read for anyone looking for reassurance that change can be a wonderful thing--and also for anyone interested in visiting the Czech Republic."

Now, feel free to surf! Go see what Carla, over at Who'd Say?, has to say!

As you surf, if you hit a blog that hasn't posted yet, feel free to check out the list of blogs participating so you can get back on track!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from DJ Lance, Princess Alexa, and their silly faces!


They are going to have a great time trick or treating this evening!

And can't forget about Cinderella!

Daylight savings time is here

Daylight savings time is here to screw with us again. We turn back our clocks at 2 am on Sunday. But don't panic if you are in the US, you guys don't have to fall back for another week.

At least we are prepared for it this year. We weren't aware that the US did things differently from the rest of the world last year. As a result, Brian missed checking his fantasy football team before kickoff.

The HORROR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank God we won't have to experience that tragedy for a second year in a row.

Reminder: Bern BärenPark

Reminder: The new Bern BärenPark opens up this Sunday, October 25!

There will be a festival to celebrate the opening (the Swiss celebrate everything, love that). So go celebrate the new bears, Björk and Finn!

7 months.

Betti is seven months old today and celebrated by completing her fifth airplane trip.

In total, she has been to six countries and on twelve flights. That doesn't seem like a lot to me some days. There are so many places to go here and I feel like we haven't even gotten past the tip of the iceberg. Then I remind myself that we are traveling more than some people do in a lifetime. We are so thankful to have this opportunity and to expose our children to different cultures; we've definitely been bitten by the traveling bug!

And we are making a game out of this, sort of. Think we can hit twelve countries by the time Betti is twelve months old? We're gonna try!

Now, the birthday girl.

Betti went through the security check point in Vienna today asleep. And, for the first time, the man behind the scanner line told us we needed to remove her from her baby carrier, take the carrier off, and put it through the scanner.

I wish we had a picture of Brian's and my face at that point. We looked at this man like he was insane. Take this sleeping baby out of the carrier!? What are you smoking!?

A woman on the other side of the metal detector noticed our discussion and told him it wasn't necessary. Which we knew from the other trips we've taken with Betti. So sleeping Betti stayed sleeping, thank God!

In other news, Betti is trying to eat everything in sight. I think after a few short weeks on pureed foods we will be going straight to soft solids. Yay! (insert sarcasm here- this is where the mess begins)

Betti's also trying her hardest to get on her feet. Girlfriend's not even crawling on all fours and she wants to walk! I also think she might be working on her first tooth (been saying that for three months now). But I thought I saw a fleck of white where her lower right incisor would be (right as you look at the picture above). Do you see it?

Add in grabbing for everything in reach and army crawling as fast as she can and you have one tired Mrs Mac. I'm considering a play pen to avoid baby proofing my flat.

*Breaking news: Betti just sat herself up from laying down on her belly. Noooooooooooooo!