Zermatt, Switzerland: June 27 (Day One)

What a wonderful trip. Brian and I had a fantastic weekend. Everyone should go see the Matterhorn!

The trip started out on a stressed, late foot. Our babysitter, aka my sister Colleen, was flying in from London. Unfortunately her flight was delayed a half hour. Then her train from the airport was delayed another five minutes. I thought the Swiss were always on time? Unfortunately this pushed my departure time back and Brian and I missed the train we were going to take.

No worries though, there was another one an hour later. And I was able to show Colleen where everything was and still make the connection to the main Zurich train station.

Once there, Brian and I had to meet up. I made it to the platform before the train arrived and started dialing Brian's cell phone. No answer. The train pulled up, people rushed to get on. I tried him again. No answer. I dialed a third time, wondering if I should just get on and find him somewhere on the train.

This time he answered. He had seats in the first car of the train. A mere 100 yards away from where I was.

Naturally.

So I ran down the platform, barely making it onto the car before the train departed. We were on the train, finally. But of course this was the popular commuter train leaving Zurich at 5 pm traveling to Bern. It was packed.

An hour later we arrived at Bern and the majority of the people on the train made their way to the exits. Brian and I stretched out and started to relax.

Then a conductor came to the front of our train car and starting speaking in German. Luckily, a woman I met a couple of weeks ago introduced me to the phrase "En-shul-de-gen". No idea how to spell it, but I know how to say it and it means "I'm sorry, my fault".

The conductor started his speech with this phrase and then everyone exited the train car. Didn't take much to realize that they were leaving this part of the train behind and we had to move to a different section of the train.

Remember how I mentioned we were in the first car of the train? Yep, we had to high tail it down to the other end of the train (the end I was originally near in Zurich- don't worry, I pointed this out to Brian) and find new seats. It was a workout to say the least. But we made it and the train departed for our next transfer station, Visp.

Bern looked fantastic as we left on the second leg of our trip. We will definitely have to go back. This part of our trip took another hour or so. Once in Visp, we transferred to the final leg of our journey, an hour trip on the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn. The scenery on the Glacier Express was fantastic and serene. We were struck by how clean the air seemed to smell.
We noticed a lot of high school aged kids on the train, going home after school we assumed. The train stopped at some very small towns on the way to Zermatt. We wondered where these kids were coming from, how long their commute took, and what life must be like in these small towns in the Valais.

The train we were on was older and it seemed like it wouldn't be able to climb some of the inclines we came upon. But, of course, it did and we arrived in Zermatt (a little late).

The electric car from our hotel, The Omnia, was waiting for us in front of the train station. Electric cars are fairly new to Zermatt, it used to be a pedestrian only town.
The ceiling of the electric car had paneling with an interesting pattern to it. This paneling was also in the lobby of our hotel.
The trip to our hotel was short. The hotel is situated on a steep hill just above the center of town. But we didn't have to climb it. The entrance to the hotel is through a tunnel.
Once inside, you take an elevator to the lobby. Very cool.

The front desk offered us a drink, gave us a tour of the hotel, and then showed us to our room.

The hotel itself is intriguing. Colleen and Zach, interior design student sister and architect friend, came to mind. They would love this place. It is supposed to be a Swiss take on a classic American lodge. Very clean lines, minimalist furnishings.

That's about all you'll get as far as commentary from me. I'm an engineer, remember?

Well, one more thing. I noticed exposed ductwork in the main elevator shaft (elevators were glass). The ductwork's insulation was also visible. The architects I've worked with in the past would never let that fly!

I think I mentioned this one too many times because at some point during the weekend Brian started poking fun at me for noticing this.

Anyway, we had arrived around 8:30 pm and we were starving. So we headed out to town to find something to eat.

Unfortunately, we were both so hungry we couldn't figure out what we wanted. Then we saw it. A Japanese restaurant.

Since we have not seen sushi since arriving in Zurich, we both jumped on this chance.

The dinner was awesome. The fish was fresh, the service was great, and the atmosphere was relaxing. It totally hit the spot.

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel, rested and full, ready to explore Zermatt on Saturday.

I'll be MIA for a few days

Brian and I are going away for the weekend for our four year wedding anniversay. Our first trip since moving here. So naturally, we chose Zermatt. Home of the Matterhorn.

See you Monday!

On a margarita mission

Last Saturday I picked up some avocados while at the grocery store. I was definitely craving some guacamole in this heat. I took those beauties home, put them on the kitchen counter, and waited for them to ripen.

In the meantime, I realized that guacamole was useless without a margarita. The train of though went something like this: Yum, margaritas. Wait, I haven't seen a liquor store here. No margarita mix either. How exactly does one make a margarita in Switzerland?

So I logged on to my local Yahoo group and posted a desperate plea for help in this matter.

I immediately got replies pointing me to stores that sold tequila. Most of the replies were very helpful. One told me to Google margarita recipes. Funny.

So off I went yesterday on the search for tequila, Cointreau, and lime/lemon juice.

It took me a bit but I found the store and purchased the one brand of tequila they sold. Also picked up some Cointreau.

Next stop, grocery store. Couldn't find lime juice so I sent Brian to a different store to look for it on his way home last night. He came home with three bottles of lime juice.

How much does he expect me to drink exactly?

Anyway, I am now enjoying some fresh guacamole and a drink that resembles the margaritas I've had in the past. I'd give you my recipe but the construction of this drink involved a lot of different splashes and taste tests.

Margarita mixes are MUCH simpler.

Our global insurance cards have arrived

in Maryland.

We had to transfer to Aetna Global insurance because of our international move. Aetna sent our new global insurance cards to our old address in Baltimore on June 19, ten days after Brian's official start date in Zurich, Switzerland. Makes perfect sense, right?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Shades

Yes, I said shades.

Marion was feeling better today, but her nose was still running so we spent another beautiful day inside. So you get a post about shades.
:-)

This is one of our windows.
See the rod at the left of the window? It's the control for the built in shades. It turns into a handle when not tucked away against the wall.
The rod controls shades at the exterior face of the window.
It moves the shades up and down as well as controlling how open or closed they are.

No screens though. We like our built in shades despite that. They are great for darkening the room at night. And the bugs aren't too big of a problem here.

These shades are pretty typical around here. We see them often and in all sorts of buildings- commercial, flats, homes, etc. Here's a view of the building across the street.
Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Well, it's functional so we like it. :-)

The ballet class that wasn't

I was supposed to take Marion to a ballet class today. Those plans were ruined at approximately 12:30 am this morning.

Brian woke me up telling me Marion was awake. I wasn't very concerned. She usually wakes up for one of two reasons. She either has had a bad nightmare or is sick. And seeing how her nose was just a bit runny earlier, I was confident she would go back to sleep shortly.

She didn't.

So after 20 minutes of crying, I went to get her and bring her back to our room.

Getting her out of bed never ends well. Once you get her out, she won't fall asleep again in her crib. At least we were mentally prepared for the night to come.

As soon as I picked her up I knew something was wrong. She was burning up. We tried to find the thermometer we brought with us but couldn't locate it. So we spent the night trying to calm her down, cool her down, get her to sleep, and fill her up with liquids.

She was still burning up this morning. So I called the pediatrician first thing in the morning.

This office continues to be a favorite of mine. I called at 7:45 am and someone answered the phone. Open before 8 am?!?!?!

I then told the woman who answered the phone the situation and asked for an appointment that morning. She asked if 8 am would be okay.

Um, absolutely!!!

We were running a bit late since we drove Brian to the train station, but only by a couple of minutes or so. We were taken straight back to an exam room when we arrived where Marion was weighed and had her temperature taken.

Yep, the fever was a doozy. The highest it has ever been: 38.7 degrees Celsius/101.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Definitely up there, despite us giving her some Children's Tylenol this morning.

The nurse acknowledged her high temperature and told us the doctor would be in in two minutes. Sure enough, he was. Wearing Birkenstocks. Love this guy!

I told him the symptoms and he took a look. Marion has another ear infection and some throat irritation.

At this point, I know antibiotics are coming and I start to worry. We still don't have insurance cards. And how do you get antibiotics here?

Well, as I soon found out, you get them from the doctor.

He left the room and came back with a box of amoxicillin and a nasal spray. Then he prepared the amoxicillin (it needs to be mixed with water), wrote the amount and timing required on a sticker, and stuck it on the box.

Amazing. Simply amazing.

What took me 15 minutes at the pediatrician's office here in Switzerland would have taken me at least 3 hours in the States.

Gotta go pick my jaw up off the floor now.

Weekend Roundup

Marion and I woke up feeling better than we did on Friday so we got out of the house for a bit.

First, we returned to Park Im Gruene . Marion and I wanted to show Brian the park. And we didn't have any milk in the house. So, it was either go to the store or go to the park for breakfast. We chose the park.

Back at her favorite toy.


More fascinated with donkey poop than the donkeys this time around.

Enjoying the view.


After the park, we came back home to get the recycling and the granny cart. Then it was off to the store.

On the way to the store we walked through a flea market that was going on in the town square. We didn't see anything but it was nice nonetheless.

Since it was Saturday, the store was absolute chaos. Everyone stocking up before Sunday. We should know this by now.

And we just had to stop at the little house play area before we left the store.

The afternoon was spent unloading groceries while Marion slept. But after Marion woke up, we headed off to the Chilbi since Marion seemed to be getting over her cold.

The Chilbi is a fair that each town has during the summer. It has rides, food, and merchants selling various items, including spices, toys, candy, and meats.


But the most important part of the fair? Well, that was the pony rides.

We spent most of our time there. First, waiting to get on the pony.

Then finally riding one and loving every minute of it.


On Sunday, Marion woke up with her runny nose again. So we decided to take it easy. But we wanted to get out of the house so we hopped in the car to explore.

The scenery was beautiful. I forgot my camera. Shoot.

The rest of the day was spent resting at home to try to get Marion better for her first ballet class on Monday!

Croatia v Turkey, Euro 2008 Quarterfinals

What a game.

Brian and I had it on as background noise at the beginning. We were playing cards and would look up at the game occasionally. I guess we aren't die-hard football fans yet.

But when 10 pm (our unofficial bedtime) rolled around and we were exhausted, we realized that the score to the game was still 0-0. Brian then wondered if the game would end in a shoot out.

The anticipation was too much. I decided to stay up and see if it would end in a shoot out, forcing Brian to stay up with me.

We were almost through the second overtime period when Croatia scored a goal. There were only 3 minutes left in overtime!

Brian and I couldn't believe it. So close to a shoot out! But we decided to see how the game ended since there were only 3 minutes left.

Imagine our surprise when Turkey scored a goal to tie it at 1-1 with seconds left in the game. Seconds!

The coach for Croatia argued but the goal was ruled good. Shoot out time!

It was great to watch. The fans reactions were priceless. The emotions from the players were amazing. I can't imagine how they must have felt after playing for 120+ minutes.

Turkey ended up winning 3-1 in penalty shots. It was a great game to watch, unless you were a Croatia fan.

The financial stuff

Marion and I stayed in today as we are both coming down with a cold. So instead of a post on what we did (hung out at home), here's an explanation of how banking in Switzerland works (for us).

We opened an account with a specific bank in Switzerland because Brian's firm has a relationship with them.

Brian met with the bank the Wednesday after we arrived to set up the account. I believe the appointment took approximately 2 hours. Accounts are both private and secretive, even between spouses. Brian had to pay an annual fee to allow for me to have a debit card and use the account. After the meeting was over and Brian had signed approximately ten documents, he deposited some cash in the account and was told that we would be able to access the account as soon as we received our standard mailings.

A week or so later, we received a new mailing every day over approximately 6 days. First there was the online banking PIN number. Then came the online banking package, then Brian’s debit card PIN number, then Brian’s debit card, then my PIN number, then my debit card.

The online banking package was cool. It came with some information about the online system, a little plastic card, and a calculator. Brian quickly threw the calculator on a pile on the bookshelf since he is an accountant and has too many calculators. We thought that it was silly though to give someone a calculator to balance their checkbook, when they promote online banking.

So we were finally ready to pay some bills. What’s kind of cool about Switzerland is that everything is essentially paid by wire transfer. Our landlord sends us an invoice and then we wire the money to their account. Here is how it works:

First, you find your way to the e-banking log in page. Then, you enter the agreement number (this is sent with the handy dandy calculator).

Once you enter the agreement number, a set of numbers is generated below it.

This is where Brian and I realized that the calculator they sent really wasn't a calculator. It was actually a password device. On the back of the device was a slot to insert a the separate plastic card from the bank. Once inserted, you turn the device on and enter your initial 6 digit online banking PIN number. After logging in to the password device, you enter the set of numbers that was generated by the web page after the agreement number was inputted.

Still with me?

So, if you have done everything correctly the password device/incognito calculator spits out another code. This code is what finally gives you access to your account and is entered on the webpage below the other two lines of numbers.

Pretty cool.

Of course if you don't have the super calculator with you, you are basically screwed for doing any online banking. Which is why we keep it in a safe place, away from Marion.

Phew! It's a lot. And I realize that it is probably more confusing reading about than it was for us to try and figure out. Pictures would probably help. But I'm not going to post pictures of our banking info on the internet. That would just be silly!

Of course, having access to your money doesn't really help you pay for items.

Brian has pretty much taken the price shock in stride, except on Monday when he had to buy some finger nail clippers. The only place he could find them was at the Apotheke in Zug (basically a beauty supply store that pretends to also sell medicine). When he arrived at the register he saw that they cost 15 CHF. Of course, the wrapper did say "High Quality - Made in Germany". Apparently, they don't just make the best and most expensive cars in the world; they are also cornering the market in the high end manicurist sets.

So much for being nice to Baby

Marion decided to eat her baby today. Below is video proof. This video also prooves that my daughter completely ignores me, then throws in a "No" for good measure.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Park Im Gruene

It was a beautiful day, not a drop of rain in sight. So we met the wife of one of Brian's coworkers, Amy, and her son Luke at the Park Im Gruene.

Marion decided she couldn't leave her Baby at home. So Baby kept Marion company on the ride over there. She also got to share Marion's carseat. Now we just need Marion to share with humans and we'll be all set.

"Mommy, stop taking pictures so we can get out of the car!"

Once there, we all played on the playground for a bit. Marion loved the metal tea cup-like ride (the one that moves around in a circle as the kids spin it from the center). I have no idea what it is called but I'm pretty sure they've been removed from most of the playgrounds in the US. Anyway, we all had a good laugh when Marion decided to get off and then promptly fell on her butt. Apparently she was a bit dizzy from her ride. I probably shouldn't laugh at my daughter that hard in public but wow, was it funny!

Amy and Luke had to leave so Marion and I went to go see the donkeys.

All was good with the donkeys until one decided to snort and make noises with his mouth while walking in Marion's general direction.

"I'm not so sure about these donkeys."

"Nope, let's go Mommy!"

And off she went.

So we decided to explore a bit. Other than the playground and the donkeys, there was a restaurant, a huge outdoor seating area, sandboxes, and a small water park.

Then I spotted some picnic tables at the edge of the park so we headed in that direction.

Wow was the view gorgeous.




Unfortunately, my camera battery then decided to die so I didn't get any more shots. But Marion loved it and sat on the step looking out towards the lake to eat her snack. We'll definitely be back.

PS- Sorry for the quality of these pictures. They are all over the place- light, dark, etc. I'm finally trying to learn how to use my camera without using the automatic settings. I'll get there!

Blogger isn't the only thing teaching us German

You can also learn German while on the toilet.


Now how's that for resourcefulness?

A nice shrimp dinner

My mom went to the grocery store while she was here to fill our refrigerator and freezer with food. One of the items she bought was frozen shrimp.

So the other night, I decided to break them out and add them to a pasta dish I was throwing together.

I say throwing together because I've never really been a good cook. I'm not patient when it comes to cooking and I tend to see what I can whip up. Sometimes it turns out well. Other times, not so much.

That night I was making spaghetti and decided to stir fry some peppers I had to add to the dish. When I saw the shrimp I was excited. I love shrimp!

I took them out of the frig, put them on the counter, and opened the packaging. I immediately became nauseaus.

They still had heads on them.

Yuck.

My reaction surprised me. I'm from Maryland and include ripping steamed blue crabs from limb to limb as one of my favorite summer pastimes.

But shrimp heads? Ewwwwww.

So I threw them into a bowl of water to thaw and let Brian deal with them when he came home. He wasn't too pleased as he was a bit weirded out by the shrimp heads as well. But he ripped those heads off, peeled the shrimp, and did a damn fine job of it!

I cooked those suckers up and threw them into the dish. And it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. :-)

A dream trip to the pediatrician... in the rain

Yes, it continues to rain. Yes, it is getting old.

Anyway...

Marion had her pediatrician's appointment today to make sure her ear infection has cleared. The appointment was for 9 am but we were asked to arrive at 8:45 am for paperwork. We braved the walk in the rain and arrived a little before 8:45.

We took our coats off and filled out the paperwork required, one sheet asking for our contact information, birthdates, and names, in the waiting room. Everything was clean, there was an abundance of toys, and no one else was around. All was quiet.

After I was done filling out the sheet, we were moved into the exam room to wait for the doctor. The receptionist/nurse took Marion's weight (30.5 lbs, she's gaining!) and temperature (normal) and then said the doctor would be right in.

I looked at my watch. 8:55 am. Wow, that was fast.

5 minutes later, at 9 am on the dot, the doctor knocked on the door.

Surely I was in a dream. This couldn't be possible.

After pleasantries, I gave him Marion's medical records so he could review them. Everything is pretty normal with her so no surprises. He did ask what one of the vaccinations was because it was a brand name not used in Switzerland. Then he looked in her ears, declared the infection was healing, and that was that.

We were out of the office by 9:10 am.

I would have pinched myself had it not been raining outside.

For those that have not spent time in a typical busy pediatrician's office in the US, here is a description of our typical visit to help explain my amazement.

Arrive 10 minutes before appointment time to show insurance card and check in. If it was an early morning appointment, we would only wait 20 minutes before being taken in the back to get Marion's temperature and weight. Then we would walk to the patient room where we would wait another 15-20 minutes. Finally the doctor would arrive, we'd meet with him, and then he'd give us a form to take to the front desk where we would pay our copay.

So on a good day, an appointment in the morning would take almost an hour. If we had to go in the afternoon, all bets were off. I spent 2 hours at the pediatrician's office during one sick visit with Marion.

So far, I like this Swiss doctor's office.

Anything can be dubbed into German

Even the Simpsons.

Enjoy!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

No health insurance card necessary

I mentioned earlier that Marion got an ear infection the day we moved.

Well, its been 2-3 weeks. Time to take her in for an ear check and make sure the ear infection is gone.

I received some recommendations for an English speaking pediatrician and made the call today. I booked an appointment for tomorrow morning at 9 am and was told to come early to fill out new patient paperwork.

Okay, par for the course so far. Typical new patient protocol.

Next thing I did was to email Brian and ask that he print out our temporary insurance cards so that I could take them with me tomorrow.

Well, he looked into it and, due to Aetna's timetable (longer than we would like, same as in the US), we won't have them until Wednesday. Shoot.

So I called the doctor's office back and let them know the situation so that we could reschedule.

And they said, "It's okay, we will see you tomorrow."

Huh?????

Yep, that's right. They are going to administer health care without proof of insurance.

I'm stunned. We had to show our health insurance card every time at our old pediatrician, even if the information hadn't changed. And if you didn't have it with you, sometimes the nurses would give you an attitude about it.

But there's a catch. There always is.

The doctor's office will bill us for the visit. We then have to pay them and submit the bill to insurance for reimbursement.

And not because we don't have our insurance cards. This is typical procedure for all doctor appointments we make here- pediatrician, dentist, etc.

Yikes. That could add up fast.

A tantrum at the supermarket makes Mommy nutty

Marion and I went to the grocery store this morning. With the grocery cart, umbrella, and list of things we needed. I'm learning.

Marion managed to walk about 95% of the way, very, very slowly. Progress, but Mommy was anxious.

Once at the grocery store, Marion seemed ready to let her energy out. Touching everything, pushing everything, and trying to throw whatever she could into the basket.

Finally, I took our blue grocery granny cart out of the store grocery cart and put her in the seat.

Sidenote: What do people do when they take the granny cart to the store? Do you fill that with your groceries? Because navigating the store with the toddler, the granny cart, and the store cart was not fun.

Anywho, Marion didn't want to go in the store grocery cart seat. She stood up, hoping I would catch her before she tumbled out of the seat.

Then, Mommy remembered she had some sweet crackers in her bag from Ikea. I put her back in the grocery seat and fed her these crackers for the rest of the trip. So while I was navigating the store with the store grocery cart, my blue granny cart, and Marion in the cart seat, Marion sat patiently in the seat eating her "cookies".

Well, she sat patiently unless Mommy did not respond fast enough to "More please." Then she started whining.

I was tired and tense as I made my way to the check out counter. I unloaded our items onto the belt and things seemed to be going fine. I was shoving crackers Marion's way consistently and my timing wasn't off.

Then a woman got in line behind us and put her pastries on the belt.

All hell broke lose.

Marion started screaming "I want popcorn! I want popcorn!" and went into full meltdown mode.

What the hell? Marion, the lady had pastries, not popcorn.

But I tried to soothe her while getting our groceries into my granny cart. And of course she would pick a day where I am getting a significant amount of groceries to break down.

So there she sat, losing it in the cart. And there I was, stuffing things into my granny cart with people looking at us.

Reminded me of one of my all time favorite online videos. Except she wasn't this bad.

The diapers are too small

Off to find a bigger size. And to sell the 115 diapers that are left over.

A Sunday spent recovering from Saturday

Saturday was a busy day. Marion, Brian, and I ran to Ikea to get some things. Seriously, our house looks like an Ikea ad. I love it.

After Ikea, we ran to Toys R Us. Marion went nuts, yelling "Toys! Toys! Toys!" So yea, I'm pretty sure she knew why we were there.

We threw her off by going to the baby section first though. Needed to get some diapers and wipes. But then Pampers through me off by having different sizing here. Pampers Cruisers size 5 diapers covered 24-45 lbs??? Huh? Then they had Jumbo plastered across the front of the box. I couldn't figure out what "Jumbo" meant. Surely it couldn't mean the quantity, there were only 58!

We finally decided on the Pampers Baby Dry diapers because the boxes were bigger. I think the box contained 120, more our speed. But then we had to decide on size. Size 4 or 4+? Huh?????? Thoroughly confused at this point I just grabbed the 4+ and hoped for the best.

After the brain busting activity of picking out diapers, we headed over to the playhouses to solve a little problem we've been having. The one where Marion runs away from me cleaning and then hurts herself.

So I wondered what if we had a playhouse for her on our patio where she could go and play while I vacuum? Cheaper than getting a cleaning service. Well, we picked one out and brought it home. I'll let you know how it works out.

Once we had the playhouse, we figured we also needed to get her some play dishes. Because what is the point of a playhouse if you don't have anything to use in it?

We selected a dish set and then saw the play cleaning set at the end of the aisle. Toy broom, dust pan set, and swiffer. Score! Marion got one of those too.

Brian got in line to purchase our loot. Marion and I decided to check out the sporting goods store upstairs to see if we could find a softball glove for me.

Why do I need a softball glove you ask? Well, because Brian and I joined a softball team and, although we haven't been to a game or practice yet, we hope to before the season is over.

Oh, you mean you thought I had a softball glove and want to know why I need a new one? Well, that would be because Brian misplaced the softball glove that I have used for 15 years. I'm still in mourning over it. We are still trying to track it down.

Anyhow, I had a hell of a time trying to track down these softball/baseball gloves in this store. They had a lot of football (soccer) stuff and athletic clothing. But the softball stuff, not so much. We walked around the store twice before I found three small shelves with gloves. I saw Wilson's and Rawlings' and I thought, sadly, that I was going to be able to find a glove that I would have to work in and get used to again. Like I said, I'm still in mourning over my old glove.

However, as luck would have it, all of the gloves that would have fit were left handed gloves. I couldn't believe it. Usually the left handed gloves are hard to find. But here, they were the norm. Very odd. Then I noticed an Oklahoma hat on the shelf behind me. I thought I had stepped onto another planet so I grabbed Marion and headed to the car to meet Brian.

On our way to our car, I noticed people were in line paying for parking at a self pay kiosk. I hadn't noticed this when we came in so I waited in line to pay. When I got to the front of the line I noticed everything was in German. Great. But the instructions did have numbers next to them so, assuming that was a sequence, I followed it as best I could.

I don't think I did it right. Everyone else walked away from the machine with a ticket. I tried twice (wasting 4 CHF) and couldn't get a damn ticket out of that machine. But there wasn't a parking ticket on our car when we left and no one followed us out yelling in German so I think we are alright.

After we loaded the car up with everything we had purchased, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a pizzeria above the Toys R Us and headed home.

Following Marion's nap, Brian and I started putting everything we had purchased together. Then Marion and I played on Brian's and my bed while Brian put the finishing touches on the wardrobe in our room.

Marion and I were rough housing and having fun. I would throw her on the bed, pile pillows on top of her, and tickle her. She'd giggle, tell me to stop, then stand up and ask for more.

Since it was getting close to bed time, I tried to calm her down after getting her fired up (poor timing on my part). So I laid down on the pillows and tried to get her to do the same.

Well, she didn't get the memo. She threw herself backwards onto the pillows with all of her might, hitting the bridge of my nose with her head.

Oh my god it hurt. I immediately saw stars and thought she had broken my nose. I got woozy and held my head as I rushed to the bathroom to sit down.

Brian and Marion were completely confused. Brian didn't know what had happened and Marion thought we were still playing. And I was trying not to pass out.

So there I was, lying on the bathroom floor, with Marion sitting next to me asking, "Mommy, where boo boo?" Then she plopped on my belly, jumping up and down.

Finally I felt OK enough to stand up. But once I did, I was nauseas and dizzy again and had a horrible headache. I spent the rest of the night on the couch and went to bed early.

Today I woke up feeling the same. Brian called me a sissy and then questioned me to see if I had a concussion. He concluded that I do not have one. We also decided that my nose is not broken since it is not crooked and I am not bruised at all.

However, I am a bit swollen and my entire nose area is sore. And I continue to be dizzy when I stand up or exert myself too much. So I've spent the rest of the day resting or laying down. Doubt we will do much today.

Brian's been spending his Father's Day taking care of Marion and the house. Happy Father's Day Brian! And Happy Father's Day to Hoppy and Opa and all the rest of the fathers out there!

Birdies! Birdies!

After Marion woke up from her nap, we went out for a walk. Take two of getting Marion used to walking, so the stroller was left behind.

There is an assisted living facility across the street from us that has beautiful gardens, a water fountain, and a birdhouse. Hello, kid's playground! It just so happens to be an easier (flatter) walk into town.

Since I mentioned the birdies I didn't get any whining from the toddler about walking.

She even ran toward the bird house!

In hindsight, maybe not a good thing when we are trying to build up endurance.

She loved the birdies, as always.

The water fountain was next, also a Marion favorite.

She always wants to stick her little hands in there and then exclaims, "My hands! My hands are wet!"

Yes, that tends to happen when you stick your hands in water silly!

It gets a little boring after the water fountain, birdies, and flowers, so she wanted up. I was actually okay with this since we had to cross some busy streets.

Next stop, a gift store next to the Hotel Schwan where my mom and sister stayed during their visit last week (so, so cute).

We picked up an umbrella for Marion. Because 1- it rains a lot here and 2- Marion loves umbrellas. Another mistake on my part. She wouldn't let the thing go and I listened to her whining the entire trip. I was a bad mommy and wouldn't let her have it in stores. And when I did let her have it outside, she walked very, very slow. I should have made the umbrella run the last stop of our errands. Lesson learned.

After Marion got her treat, Mommy went to go get herself a treat. On the other side of the Hotel Schwan is a fantastic florist, Doflores.

They do great things in there and everything is beautiful. So I indulged and picked up some fresh flowers.

So pretty.

I already warned Brian that I might be doing this weekly.

Following flowers, Marion and I headed to the Coop. Which, I have been told, is pronounced like cope except that the 'o' is a bit longer and lower pronounced. So there you have it.

We made this special trip to find these delicious strawberry pastries I picked up the other day.

They are fantastic. Large chunks of sugar, fresh strawberries, custard. Yummmmmm. Only one is left after dinner and now I might just have to go eat it. Not good.

Oh, and to prove my clumsiness (as if I have to do that), I took the pastry out of the fridge to take a picture for you all. And somehow the packaging opened and it fell, strawberries down, onto the counter.

Yea, I'll still eat it, don't you worry.

Anyway, Marion did fantastic on the walk home. She walked the entire way (downhill). That's my girl!

Gotta run, the football game's about to start!

The bruise - day three.

What a sweetheart. It's a shame she's got that nasty bruise on her cheek, progressing to shades of green and yellow today.

See?

She really got herself good.

Finally, a couch. And a TV.

Brian went to go pick up our new TV last night. Mapquest said it would only take 20 minutes. However, Mapquest, Garmin, Brian, and I didn't take into account the craziness of the Euro Championship. All of the streets were blocked off for people to walk around, enjoy the city, and watch the games (we hope to explore that this weekend).

Anyway, it took Brian longer than expected to get there and back. But when he did he looked like a kid in a candy store. A TV. A 32" LCD HD TV. What more could a guy ask for?

I think it is too big. Which is odd since we had this for years.

I think I got used to smaller televisions since we had this for the last few months at our old house.

Marion's still making the transition from the portable DVD player to the TV.

Yes, the Little Mermaid. Again.

Our couch was then delivered by Ikea this morning. We were given an 8-12 window. I guess some things truly are universal.

Or so I thought. I got a call at 10:05 am saying they would be here in approximately 30 minutes. You don't get that kind of service in the US unless you request it. They arrived at 10:20 am. Amazing.

In addition to delivery service we also paid for montage, or assembly. It wasn't supposed to include putting the slipcover on but they did that too.


It's alot bigger than I expected. Gonna have to move the rug farther out but I already discovered I can't do that myself. As far as the pictures go, Marion was in the mood to model. But as soon as she got off the couch she wasn't interested and ran away. Stinker.

The Ikea people left by 11 am. They were awesome! But I didn't tip them. I wasn't sure and asked the question too late. Crap, I hope that was right.

In other news, Marion really took to the Swiffer. Here she is, cuddling with it. Now that's comfort.

Ouch, it's worse than I thought.

I just received the following powerpoint regarding the Swiss performance in the Euro 2008 so far via email.



Ouch.

Brian and I wonder if we brought some of our Baltimore sports "magic" with us over here? Because we know how well the Orioles and the Ravens have performed in the last few years...

I hope we didn't bring any bad luck with us. That would suck.

"Swiss left crying in the rain"

That headline pretty much sums it up. The Swiss haven't had a great start in Euro 2008.

While they don't really have a chance at the championship now, I hope their luck improves. We are buying a used TV tonight from a fellow expat and I'd love to see some good games. And, of course, I'd like the fans here to be in great moods!

Next game is on Sunday at 20:45 against Portugal, the leader in their group. Go Swiss!

Another laundry day, another gray day

So we'll be staying in. And doing laundry, putting up curtains, organizing things, and trying to get some cleaning done. Exciting stuff. Marion seems to like the dry Swiffer so we'll also try a bit of that. No vacuuming, at least for the time being.

In other news, today is Brian's and my four year anniversary. Wow, that went fast. To celebrate we are considering flying my sister from London in a couple of weeks and going to see the Matterhorn for the weekend.

Yesterday evening Marion and I enjoy some fun outside after the sun came out. She played in her rain boots with my umbrella and I took pictures. Makes perfect sense, right? No umbrella for the rain, boots and umbrella for sun. Anyway, here are some of the pictures, enjoy!

You can see her eye color here. I always have a hard time explaining what they are. She has brown around her irises and, as a result, her eyes tend to change color depending on how dilated they are. They've been gray, blue, green, and brown.

Good shot of her shiner, day two.

Rookie mistakes

After Marion woke up from her nap, we headed to Fust, the electronics store, and the Coop, grocery store, to get milk. We need milk because the largest container of milk sold here is one liter and we go through that in a couple of days.

I miss gallons of milk.

During the course of getting ready I made a few decisions.

1. I decided not to take the stroller. Marion needs to get used to walking so I decided to use this as an opportunity to force her to walk.
2. I left the umbrella at home. It's been raining all day long but wasn't raining when we left. I figured we wouldn't be gone long, we'd be OK.
3. I also left my grocery cart at home. We weren't going to get much so I decided to take a bag instead.

Rookie mistakes.

Marion quit walking about a third of the way up the hill next to our home. So I carried her to the top of the hill where she walked a bit more before giving up again, forcing me to carry her to Fust. While at Fust I picked up the cellphone charger I needed and then decided to get a hair dryer instead.

Because, you know, I needed one. And I only needed milk at the grocery store.

I picked the cheapest hair dryer they had. Meaning I picked the 10 CHF one while the others ranged from 50-80 CHF. That resulted in the following exchange at the check out counter:

Store employee: "This is for travel, yes?"
Me: "No, it's for here."
S.E.: "Oh, because this is meant for travel. It is small."
Me: "That's OK, I don't use it alot."
S.E.: "Uh, oh."

My hair today must not have given me away. But I probably will pay for getting the cheap one by buying another one in the future.

After that awkward exchange, Marion and I headed to the Coop. I walked, she was carried.

Sidenote: How the hell do you pronounce Coop? I've heard it pronounced as Co-op, Cope, and Coop (as in chicken coop). Everyone seems to pronounce it differently.

Anyway, we went to Coop to get milk. We came out with milk, cherries, apples, grapes, swiffer stuff, sponges, peanuts, cough drops, and strawberry pastries.

Someone clearly forgot we did not bring the granny cart.

Granny grocery cart, at home, in the kitchen.

We checked out and left Coop. And what was outside waiting for us? Rain. Damn.

So I picked up my bag, stuffed to the gills with groceries, and the diaper bag, also stuffed with items we didn't really need now, and started to head back with Marion.

Marion loved the first half of the walk. She enjoyed stopping to look for and jump in puddles. So while I didn't have to carry her, the walk took awhile and I was getting very wet. Meanwhile, Swiss people continued to walk briskly past us with their umbrellas.

Marion stopped halfway home and gave up on walking. So I picked her up and booked it to our apartment. I was soaking wet by the time we got there. Marion was laughing, saying "Mommy necklace wet!"

Funny girl.

Once home, I unloaded our groceries. And then I thought of one reason why items are smaller here than in the States: the refrigerator is smaller.


No way I could fit a gallon of milk in there.

And now the sun is out. Go figure.

An invitation, a playgroup, and an errand

I was invited to a Swiss playgroup yesterday by a woman, Rachel, who I met at our local playground. She told me some of the women speak English and that they get together every Wednesday at a local church. I was a little hesitant at first since Rachel said she may not be there today, but this morning I decided to bite the bullet and go for it.

Marion and I arrived a little late. My fault entirely, I can't seem to shake the sleepies. Anyway, I couldn't seem to find the room at first. What seemed to be the church had mailboxes outside with people's names on it so I was convinced I was at the wrong place. But the address was correct so after wandering around for a bit we went inside.

Right away we heard children's voices and I was sure we were in the right place. Marion perked right up, looking at me with her wide eyes saying, "Play!!!!"

I followed the voices and opened a door. Jackpot! I saw women, children, and playdoh- definitely the right place. Everyone was very welcoming, although only two of the five women spoke English. But Marion and I settled in and had a great time.

They even helped me with some German and we had a laugh about how difficult Swiss German can be to learn. Apparently some of the words in Swiss German are very similar to each other. Specifically, the words for ugly and pretty. You can imagine people's reactions if you mix those two up! I now can pronounce these words and they are very close to each other. I don't have a clue as to how they are written though so you'll just have to take my word for it.

After the playgroup, Marion and I set out on a mission we received from Brian- get the tags on our car switched to the new ones we received after we titled and registered it in our names.

Easier said than done. I originally thought Brian was going to handle this since he had been to the garage before. But since he is so busy, we decided I would do it and he told me the garage was just next to a second hand shop we went to last week.

Ha, not even close. The garage I went to was at least a half mile up the road from the shop. Details though, right? There's a reason we purchased a GPS unit.

Anyhow, I found the garage and got the tags changed out. One less thing on our list! After our errand, Marion and I headed back to the apartment for lunch and her afternoon nap.

As I drove up to the apartment building I heard Marion say from the back seat, "We home!"

Music to my ears. I think she's finally starting to get it.

Marion and I need to work out the kinks of our routine

Today is one of two of my laundry days. Seeing how my apartment is also an absolute mess, I declared today cleaning day.

With two loads of laundry down, some playtime outside, and the dishwasher running, I decided to tackle vacuuming the rug.

I took the vacuum out of the closet and Marion lost it. Crying, pointing, yelling, etc. So I told her, "It's a vacuum, Marion. It's OK." and proceeded to vacuum the rug, wondering what her reaction said about my housekeeping skills.

Marion's meltdown continued. I moved her toys off the rug but if I came within two feet of any of her belongings she would cry out. "Baboo!" (stuffed dog) "My yellows!" (crayons) "My seal!!!" (stuffed seal)

Finally I finished 3/4 of the rug and turned to go around a chair to get the other side of the rug. Apparently I moved too quickly for my toddler because she moved backwards pretty fast, slipped on a broom she had previously played with, and took a header into the floor.

Uh oh.

The hysterical crying started as soon as she picked her head up off of the floor. I immediately envisioned blood everywhere. Luckily (?) I saw only a bruise the size of a five franc piece on her cheek. I calmed her down to get rid of the hysterical crying and then, like any good mother, grabbed my camera to capture the moment.

The only thing that soothed her after that was to sit down on some pillows with her Baboo and seal and watch some Little Mermaid.

Here's a good shot of her shiner.

Now I have to figure out how I'm going to clean this place without her losing her stuff.

My social butterfly

Yesterday, Grammie and Marion went to the neighborhood playground. Marion was playing on the swing when two boys, around 7 years old, walked by.

Marion yelled "Hi guys!"

No response.

Marion exclaimed, "Friends!"

They kept walking.

Marion looked up at Grammie as they walked away and asked, "Friends?", with a confused look on her face.

Grammie informed her that the boys had to go take a nap.

"Ohhhhhhh" was Marion's response.

Grammie asked, "Does Marion want to go take a nap?"

Marion answered, "No!"

I need to get my social butterfly some friends, stat.

Ants of the Swiss variety

We've been getting ants. Lots of them. And as luck would have it, we've been getting them in Marion's room.

It started with one or two around Wednesday. But today there were 20 or so, everywhere. Up her wall, all over the floor, on the window. Those suckers move fast too and were hard to get. But Colleen and I managed to round most of them up and spray a little bit of insect killer left by the previous tenants before Marion's nap.

It was an ant graveyard in there after Marion's nap. Dead ants are much easier to catch than live ones though.

But today was our lucky day. After Marion's nap, exterminators arrived to spray the patio. I managed to get out there before they left and let them know that we had ants inside. "Inside?" he asked. "Yes, inside", I replied.

He told me that someone else was going to be doing the inside work and that they would be back.

And back they came after a half hour or so. Both of them were very nice, spoke pretty good English, and put covers on their shoes before they entered our apartment. Then they inspected Marion's room and her window. After some spraying and caulking they told me how the ants were coming in, that the spray wouldn't be dangerous after it dried, that they left some ant death food (the kind they take back to the ant hill to kill the others), and then they were gone. And, hopefully, the ants are gone now too!

A lazy Sunday walk along the lake

We decided to relax most of the day and straighten up the apartment. After Marion's nap, Colleen, Grammie, Brian, Marion, and I headed out for a walk to enjoy the (what has been rare this week) sunshine. Here are some pictures I snapped during our walk.

Our apartment building.

Really getting into the EURO 2008 mood.

The hotel where Colleen and Grammie stayed in town.

The town square where they have music and wine on Friday nights.

Everyone recycling at the local Migros.

The brown glass recycling bin.

Taking the whole "Men at Work" thing a bit far I think. I wonder if they have female construction workers in Switzerland?

Colleen and Marion looking at some ducks.

A Swiss duck and clear lake water.

Marion: "I running!"

The playground on the lake.

I tried to get a picture of Marion and Brian but a train went by. Marion loves the trains so it kind of distracted her. I managed to get her excitement over the "choo-choo train" on camera. Notice how little Brian manages to move.

Daddy and Marion.

Some sculptures we saw on our walk. Reminds me of Lehigh.

A view of the park.

After our walk we went back to the apartment for a nice family dinner before the skies opened for a torrential downpour. Marion was scared of the thunder but Grammie explained that it was just the angels bowling. She seemed to be OK with that explanation.

Then it was time for our nightly Rummy game after Marion went to sleep. I managed to win a game, surprisingly enough. Grammie has been on a streak all week. After I barely won, Brian walked Grammie and Colleen back to their hotel.

A great first Swiss Sunday!

Our First Sunday

Well, it is Sunday morning and everything appears to be closed today. No run to IKEA today. We might walk around town or the lake but it is odd not to have everything available to do. In addition to everything being closed, there are restrictions as well. Washing the car and doing laundry are no-nos. Brian and I would like to sleep (we are still exhausted) but I don't think Marion would allow that. We'll figure something out for today though, even if it is a lazy Sunday. And I'll let you know later what we decided :-)

A trip to the grocery store

Something as mundane as a trip to the grocery store can surprise Brian and I.

First we took Marion to Planeta Magic. Very similar to the Ultimate Playzone in Hunt Valley or the Jump Zone in Columbia but with smaller areas for younger ones. Marion loved it. And it was interesting to watch her try to interact with children who did not speak English. She didn't seem to mind though, she made her own fun.

Afterwards we went to the Migros in Wadenswil. It's much larger than the one near us. We used our Garmin to find it (thank god for Garmin, I officially love him) and waited in line for parking.

The guy in the car ahead of us was taking awhile to pull his ticket and go into the garage. Brian and I were waiting and wondering what was going on. After he entered we drove up to the ticket machine to go into the garage.

That was when we realized what was happening. The machine said "Parking Occupied." It was monitoring how many people entered and left and wasn't allowing anyone to enter until after someone left. So we were stuck waiting at the ticket machine for someone to leave.

Amazing. Can you imagine the chaos if this was to happen in the States? No where to go. Nothing to do but sit and wait.

After someone left, we entered, still laughing at the situation. Since we knew the place was packed, we picked the first spot available and headed in.

Not too much to report from the rest of our trip. It was a grocery store. But we have noticed that everything is in smaller portions. The chips, meat, milk- you name it, it is smaller here. I can't decide if it is because of the whole no preservatives so things don't last as long thing or if it is because Americans consume more on average. Or maybe a bit of both, not sure.

Oh, and it was chaos in there. People were everywhere. I haven't quite figured out how people move here. It seems like such a little thing but it feels so different here. I'm always bumping into people and excusing myself. But I'm never really sure if it was my fault or theirs.

One example: today I was looking at pork tenderloin and other prepared meats. An employee of the store was stocking the shelves and just moved in between me and the meats, blocking my path. Was that my fault for getting in the way of her work or hers for not waiting? I'm not sure. But I do know that that has never happened to me in the US!

Once we got back home, Brian reminded me why things were so crazy. Grocery stores close at 17:00 today and are not open tomorrow so everyone was stocking up. No 24 hour Giant here.

Some observations on Swiss life after 5 days

Here are just a few things we've noticed/learned/been told about the Swiss way of life in the 5 days we have been here.

IKEA Dietlikon (closest to Zurich) is three times the size as the Baltimore (White Marsh) location.

The Swiss recycle everything. You have to buy trash bags in order for your trash to be picked up. They are on the smaller size (largest size we have found is 60 L) to encourage recycling.

If you are pulled over while driving, you are expected to pay the fine immediately, in cash. They will send you a bill if you do not have cash however. If you are driving 30 km/hr over the speed limit, your license is revoked immediately and the fine you are issued is based on your salary.

Cars actually stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.

A lot of people here smoke. And they are allowed to do so in bars, restaurants, etc. Quite a surprise when you are used to everything being non-smoking in the States. Also surprising since the Swiss seem to be very health conscious.

The paperwork required to move here is astounding.

Doctor’s bills are expected to be paid upfront. Then you are reimbursed by the insurance company.

The McDonalds closest to us has leather chairs and a Playstation 3 for the kids to play with. They also have salads (tomato & mozzarella!) on the menu that are pretty tasty. But the prices!!!! 70 CHF or so for 4 people and a happy meal. Yikes!

Everything here is expensive. I'm still going through price shock.

The trains rock. On time, fast, easy to figure out, and clean.

The laundry detergent we bought didn't have scoops with them. Not sure if we are supposed to buy them separately or not. Still trying to figure that out.

Diet Coke is Coca Cola Light.

People tailgate. At least the people driving behind me lately do.

Everything is clean and pretty. The lake and river water here is crystal clear. And you can drink out of all of the water fountains here (unless stated otherwise). Try doing that in Baltimore.

Our apartment is close to town so we can walk to everything. Quite a change from driving everywhere.

The food is fresh. Very few preservatives are used. The food doesn't last as long, which means more trips to the grocery store. But it tastes fantastic.

Everyone we've met so far is friendly. Brian got yelled at the other day but that was only because he interrupted a conversation (to make sure the grocery check out person didn't ring up the wrong items).

The check spelling function on blogspot doesn't seem to work here.

No tipping here, people just round up.

Europeans are excited about the UEFA EURO 2008. The city is packed and ready to go for the tournament. Should be an exciting several weeks.

Sunday, June 1: Our last day in the US for a long time

Since we had finished most of the packing the day before, we decided we had time to go to the Baltimore Farmer's Market and visit our friends and their new baby in the hospital before leaving for the airport. Some of us woke up easier than others. Brian and Erin had a great time the night before.

We love the JFX Farmer's Market
and will certainly miss our favorite Sunday morning activity. But we were able to get some coffee, donuts, and oyster mushroom fritters during our visit as well as see some gorgeous flowers.

Marion warning all who come near not to take her donut.

Oyster mushroom fritters- add feta, hot sauce, lettuce and voila! Yummy goodness.



Everyone relaxing under the JFX.

Flowers- so gorgeous.



After the market, we went to the hospital to see Evan, our friend's new baby son.

He was absolutely adorable. And big! 8 lb, 11 oz. Healthy and gorgeous and quiet. A perfect new baby :-) Except for him bringing his hand up when I took the picture above. Marion must have taught him how to do that.

Then it was back to my parent's house where final packing commenced. Although we had been able to get a lot of it finished the night before we still had some things to finish up. Didn't take too long, but it was chaotic.

Once we were all packed and had luggage in three (yes, 3!) cars, we started our drive up to Philly. Not too bad of a drive, no traffic. Although we did have to stop once to change Marion.

An hour and a half or so later, we were at the airport. Skycab helped us to unload everything and check in. Most of the bags were under 50 lbs (shocking to us!) so we only had to pay for the extra bags we checked. I think we had 8 bags between the three of us, with another one under my mom's name. And I thought we packed light.

Check in was a breeze by the way, I highly recommend flying international on Sundays. No lines at all!

Then it was time for goodbyes. Always the saddest part, especially wondering if Marion gets it. But we said our goodbyes, tearfully, and made our way to security.

Security is where it first became clear that having my mom there to help us was a huge help. Even though we checked alot of baggage, we also carried on quite a bit. And the TSA likes to make things complicated. So we had to remove both of our laptops, Marion's DVD player, fold up the stroller, and walk the carseat around. Oh, and coordinate getting Marion to walk through the metal detector by herself. All while we had the TSA agent reminding us that we had to remove our shoes and jackets and put them through. Yea, we know. But we kind of have our hands full, thanks. Not helpful.

We got through in one piece and with minimal nasty looks from the people in line behind us.

Marion was excited to see the plane once we got the gate.

So excited that Brian bought her Air Force One.

We were able to grab dinner before preboarding the plane, which was nice. Preboarding was awesome because we definitely needed the extra time. Once we settled in, it was time to take off. Marion was a champ and loved the process.

The flight itself was okay. The seat in front of Marion was empty which was a relief for Brian and I at first. Then a big guy sat in front of me and leaned on the seat in front of Marion, making an already tight situation tighter.

She was great on the plane, never cried. But she did whine a bit and kicked the seat in front of her a few times which angered the guy sitting in front of me. Want to know how I know? Because he rolled his eyes, muttered curse words under his breath, and pushed the chair back onto Marion at one point. I'd have to say Marion was the more mature one of the two.

Although she didn't fall asleep right away, she did manage to nod off after 3 hours. She then slept through the remainder of the flight, including landing and half of the plane deboarding. We were completely amazed.

Brian also managed to get some rest. Me- not so much. On top of the big guy in front of me trying to crush my legs, I had a younger guy behind me who didn't like it when I moved (because he was trying to sleep on the food tray) and would jolt my chair everytime I tried to get comfortable. Then, everytime he got up, he used my chair for leverage. I had a great 7 hours.

After we landed, we deboarded (with the stewardesses waiting for us). We had a lot of stuff and a sleeping baby! But the stewardess behind us just looked pissed.

Anyway, we managed to get off the plane, to baggage claim, and through customs in one piece with all of our belongings. Then we found our taxi driver and Colleen and made our way to our apartment through the traffic of Zurich.

Saturday, May 31: More packing

Not much happened the day before we left. Just a lot of packing.

We did get a chance to take Marion to the pool though, even if the weather wasn't the best. She loved her new dress and hat that she received at our going away party. Thank you to the gift giver! Unfortunately I couldn't find a name on the gift to thank you personally, but please know that we love the outfit and she looks precious in it!


Enjoying the pool.

Getting splashed by Daddy.

Working on her basketball shot.

After pool time and more packing, we had a nice dinner with our families. It was great to sit outside and relax with them the night before we left. Great food, conversation, and water fighting (Erin and Brian, Erin won).

After dinner, Brian and Erin left for a night in Baltimore with some of Brian's friends from college. I finished packing and got everything ready for the next day, take off day.

Settlement Day (Friday, May 30th)

It's raining here in Switzerland, I'm waiting for Marion to wake up, and Brian has left for a meeting a work. So here I am, trying to catch up.

Settlement day was, um, interesting. A day where we tried to plan so that everything went smoothly, and then it didn't. I would say that everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but we still sold our house. So that wouldn't be true.

Anyway, it started with a 9 am settlement for the house. Except that when Brian and I were on our way to the settlement, we got a call from a realtor who was at the 8 am walkthru at our home.

Apparently the young man who bought our house was upset that we took the full length green dining room curtains. I thought this was odd, considering we excluded them from the contract because they were given to us by my mother when we bought the house. But we decided to see if he would bring it up at settlement.

The second piece of news she had for us was that the guy hadn't gone to the bank the night before but was going that morning. After the walkthru.

So he was going to be late to the settlement. On a day where we had already pushed it back from 8 am to 9 am and Brian and I were tight on time because we had a million errands to run. Wonderful.

We decided to go to settlement anyway to get the seller's paperwork done and try to speed it along. Which helped a bit, but we still ended up waiting for him.

Once he arrived, a bit past 9:30, he had a ton of questions. Which I can understand since he was a first time home buyer. But I found it especially annoying being a seller who was leaving the country in 2 days.

Good news out of the settlement: he never brought up the curtains and we settled. Bad news: we were running late when we left.

Now here's some background for the next bump on our Friday adventure. My realtor and I did some research on the best way to get cash the day of settlement to bring with us over here. She called the title company and I called Wachovia. Wachovia told me a cashiers check was best (even if it was from a different bank) so we decided to get a portion of the settlement that way and the rest would be wired.

So Brian and my next stop was to Wachovia. We arrived, waited in line, and then went to the teller giving her our cashiers check and information.

Oops, can't cash this. It's from a different bank who says they haven't issued it yet (because it wasn't in their system yet). And it isn't scanning properly.

Awesome.

So we told the teller, "We were told this would be fine by this bank last week. We need this cash today."

Response: "Nothing I can do. Try going to the other bank and cashing it."

So we left, visibly frustrated and cursing the bank under our breaths.

We then went to the mall to meet up with Brian's parents who had Marion. We had to give them the key to my sister's car, since Brian had mistakenly brought it with us and she needed it. While at the mall, I got an iPod. I'm slowly inching my way into technology. (I'm the girl who has a cellphone that is 5 years old. Well, had.)

We left the mall and went to the other bank to try and resolve the check issue. They were very nice at the other bank, a world of difference than our experience at Wachovia that morning. Unfortunately though, they couldn't help us. It was already close to afternoon and they didn't have the funds to cash the check. So back we went to Wachovia.

We walked into the Wachovia ready for battle. Asked to see a manager but was told he was out to lunch. So a financial manager (the guys that sit in the booths in suits) met with us. We told him the whole story. And he explained that his teller was doing the right thing by denying cashing of the check but that he would release half of the check to us. We explained that the only reason we were in this predicament was because someone at this branch had given us bad information last week, we had a long relationship with Wachovia, and that we needed the funds now. He agreed to shorten the hold time on the money and take the entire check.

So we ended up getting a satisfactory ending to the money saga. However it took 4 times as long as we should have, was incredibly frustrating, and it pushed all of our other errands from the morning to the afternoon.

Next stop was lunch. Arguing with Wachovia makes you hungry.

Then we went to the jewelers. I had to pick up a ring and get a new battery for my watch. Ring was done (had an engraving polished out of the inside of it), then I waited for my watch. I was promised it would be done in less than 15 minutes.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, I noticed that while they had polished out the engraving, they had also polished out the stamp saying what kind of gold it was. So I went back to the counter to get it stamped. The lady took it back and I waited. When she brought it back it was stamped, but it looked like the stamped had knicked the side of the ring. So she took it back again and I waited again. She finally brought it back, fixed.

I looked up at the clock and realized it had been 25 minutes since I gave them my watch. I went over to the watch counter and waiting in another line to see if it was done, despite my number not being on the done list. And it ended up being done. The guy working the counter had forgotten to put my number on the notification board.

So we left with one more errand completed. Next stop: picking up my car from detailing.

We arrived early and it wasn't done yet. But at this point Brian and I had eaten and had come to expect the waiting so it wasn't nearly as frustrating. Plus it was only going to be 10 more minutes.

After the car was done we took it up to my aunt's house, stopping to fill up the gas tank on the way. The car looked fantastic, they did a great job detailing it. It looked new again! Definitely something I should have done while I had the car so I got to enjoy it.

We went back to my parent's house after dropping off the car to get everything we needed for the afternoon errands. At this point we were so behind we decided to split the errands instead of Brian staying home and getting started on the work we had to get done there. So Brian took the tags to the DMV and I returned to cable box to Comcast.

Comcast. They let you cancel your account fairly quickly, but only because you then have to return your box and remote to the Comcast service center. What a racket.

There were four windows open, but only three windows were accepting equipment. The last one was accepting payments only. Typical. Funny part was that no one in line was there to give a payment, we all were carrying boxes. You'd think that the woman would then change over to help out the line, right? Wrong. She sat back and opened her magazine. That Comcast doesn't want to make you wait to pay up!

When I got there the line wasn't too bad, only 5 people ahead of me. When I got up to the front of the line though, there were 15 people behind me. I definitely go thtere at the right time. Thankfully someone appeared from the back room to elp with the line before I got up to the front though. However, it turned out that this wasn't as big of a help as you would think. A woman at one of the customer service windows was taking forever to do whatever she needed to do. I have no idea what the issue was but at one point TWO of the service reps had to figure it out, meaning that there were only 3 windows available again.

It sounds frustrating, right? But at this point I found our whole day amusing and was amazed at watching the way Comcast worked.

I finally made it to a counter (two reps still helping that woman). It took 2 minutes to drop off the box and remote and get the confirmation slip and I was out of there.

Brian's time at the DMV went a lot smoother than my trip to Comcast did. He even had time to renew his license! Shocking for the DMV on a Friday afternoon.

The rest of the day consisted of packing and cleaning our stuff from every nook and cranny of my parent's house.

I did get to go out for girl time that Friday night. It was a great break with drinks and then to see the Sex and the City movie. Drinks were fun, movie was alright. It was entertaining, but everyone got a happy ending and most of it seemed forced. So unlike SATC. But I had a great time relaxing and went right to sleep when I got home at 2 am. Had to because Saturday was going to be just as busy as Friday.

Interesting fact: this post was saved at 9:01. (Entwurf wurde gespeichert um 09:01) Blogspot is going to help me learn german. Who knew?!

Our new apartment, before

Here is a video of our new apartment. Something I can post quickly since I still haven't had a chance to write down everything I want to about the last several days.

Anyway, here is what our place looks like without any furniture and all of our stuff. Hopefully it is neater and more comfortable by the end of the week.

Oh and I would not recommend sleeping on the floor when it gets cool at night in your apartment. Priority one today: get a bed.

Part One:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books
Part Two:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

And please don't hold the quality of the video against me. There's a reason I'm not a doctor or videographer or anything else that requires a steady hand!

We're here!

Got in safely after a rough flight and are in our apartment. Marion has a bed; Brian and I have towels and a floor. At least for tonight. We have internet (obviously) so that's good. Who needs a bed when you have internet? Log in page for blogspot is in German now, that was weird.

We will update later, I have a lot to post about.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Today's the day

We fly out of Philadelphia this evening. In the meantime, lots to do- including meeting my friend's new baby boy!

Next post (and all the update posts on the last few days) will be from Zurich!