Knabenschiessen

Thanks to Jessica over at Swiss Story Blog we had a heads up about the Knabenschiessen this past weekend.

Knabenschiessen, a word I still can not pronounce despite the amount of people who have tried to help me, is a shooting competition for 13-17 year olds in Zurich. It is commonly referred to as "kids shooting".

Yep. A celebration of teenagers shooting guns.

Moving on...

A chilbi surrounds the area where the competition takes place. And you all know how much we love a chilbi.

So we packed up the kids and went into town for some rides and food with some friends.

Rides, rides, everywhere there were rides.



Siena was fascinated by Goofy behind her.

Checking out a 3D Batman show, which apparently was more psychadelic than expected.

The men discussing at what point in the morning it would be acceptable to purchase beer.

First roller coaster ride.

Betti, chilling.

Everyone testing their strength.




Adorable.

The beer was purchased rather quickly, followed by a relaxing ferris wheel ride.


The men got sucked in to a fair game. Brian missed all of the cans on his first try. The guy running the game was amused by his efforts.

Betti then surprised us with her grossest blow out diaper to date.



The girls had their own way of riding the swings.

Everyone at the "silly house".

Marion loved the blast of air from the floor, once she was used to it.

I've always wondered what Nemo would taste like...

One last ride.

Great day! Sorry, no pictures of the kids with guns. Maybe next year.

Zurich gets some love

Everyone's always asking for ideas on where to go or take visitors in Zurich.

Well, here's the NY times take on the city: 36 hours in Zurich.

I might have to check some of this stuff out myself. Living in the 'burbs makes me a Zurich newbie!

A beautiful Sunday in Zurich

Hoppy left on Sunday morning so, after Brian took him to the airport, we went out to Sunday brunch at one of my favorite spots in Zurich, Movie. They have omelettes to order and waffles there among other yummy things. It's the little things when you haven't been home in almost a year.

I was a wee bit late in making a reservation so we sat outside. At first we were concerned about this because it looked like it was going to rain at any second. And then, typical for the weather here, it changed on a dime. The sun came out, the clouds disappeared, and the temperature jumped a couple of degrees. I haven't checked a weather forecast since we moved here last June and this is why. The forecasts are never right and the weather can change here before you know it anyway!

After we enjoyed our delicious brunches and proseccos, we decided to wander down the Bahnhofstrasse and window shop at the stores we will never set foot in: Prada, Louis Vuitton, Armani... you get the picture.

We walked until the end of the Bahnhofstrasse at Lake Zurich. Brian had Marion on his shoulders in front of Grammie and I. All of a sudden we heard a shriek. "Daddy! I see something! Go back, I found something!!!!!"

Brian had turned the corner of the street and walked towards the Burkliplatz. And that's when he walked straight towards a Chilbi.

Marion flipped. We couldn't believe her good luck.

So we spent some time enjoying the games. First Marion went fishing.
She won some sunglasses.
Then she rode an airplane. We forced her to because it went up and down.
But she really wanted to ride the truck. That's my girl.
Next up was the slide. This thing terrified her last fall. She couldn't get enough this time around.
Then we went on the ferris wheel.
The views were spectacular. We saw people finishing up the Zurich marathon,
mountains out in the distance,
and a unique view of the Zurich sights.
Because Marion was so good, we got her a treat of her choice. She chose a yellow guitar. Such a rock star.
It was a fabulous Sunday. And now it is raining. But hey, I'll take the good weather whenever I can get it.

The Singing Christmas Tree

Last Thursday we made our way into Zurich to the Singing Christmas tree. We were told that this wasn't something to miss, but we had a special reason to be there Thursday night. Our friend Sandy was singing with some students and fellow teachers from her school.

We had a little bit of trouble finding the tree at first. Mostly because I am not at all familiar with Bahnhofstrasse. My conversation with Sandy went something like this:

Sandy: Do you know where Globus is?
Me: No.
Sandy: Do you know where McDonald's is?
Me: No.

Repeat for a couple of other stores. I obviously need to go explore the stores on Bahnhofstrasse some more. Brian will be thrilled.

We eventually found the entrance to the little square where the tree and market were.


And, lo and behold, there was another carousel there. Shocking!

That's Marion enjoying the carousel with her friend Sydney.

The market next to the tree was nice and mostly filled with food stands.


Then it was time for the singing to start! The "tree" is basically a very tall choir stand decorated to look like a tree. It was gorgeous all lit up. And the singing was great! All of the singers realy got into it. A great performance!

The kids loved it. They loved watching Miss Sandy!

Not far into the performance Marion started dancing and didn't stop. I wish I got a picture of that, it was priceless! The girl loves to dance and sing. One of these days I'm going to get her into that ballet class.

It was a wonderful evening. I highly recommend checking out the tree if you can!

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Christmas Market

Brian, Mom, Marion, and I made our way into Zurich for the Zurich Hauptbahnhof Christmas Market. Yep, a market in the middle of the train station.
Pretty cool. I mainly like this idea because it is warmer than the markets that are outside. I'm not really a fan of freezing cold. Yet.

Anyway, it was bigger than I expected. And there was some great stuff for sale! But our favorite part, by far, was the Swarovski Christmas Tree.
Gorgeous. My pictures don't do this tree justice. Hundreds of ornaments were hanging from the tree. And then, below the tree, crystals and figurines were arranged all over the place. The entire thing sparkled in the sunlight.

See what I mean? If you are in town, go see it. I bet it would sparkle more at night under the lights. Note to self, try to get there to see it.

Marion liked the tree but was quickly distracted by a carousel. I think the Swiss have these at everything. Good thing, Marion loves them!

While she was riding her horse, we noticed a food stand right next to it. People were walking around with slabs of ham, mustard, and a slice of bread. I went over and bought three plates. It was delicious!!!! It reminded me of home a bit.

Anyway, the market was fantastic. I highly recommend it. I know we will definitely be going back before Christmas is here!

In pregnancy news, I guess you can tell I am getting better. I like to say we are moving in the right direction. I still have my moments of pregnancy ickiness but they have been few this weekend. Mom has been a huge help and I'm slowly getting back on my feet. Now, of course, I have to deal with being exhausted from a simple trip. One of the many downsides to bedrest I guess, even if it was only two weeks!!!

The little one is having a party

Last Friday was my 12 week appointment. My mom, grandmom, and sister arrived on that Thursday so I gave Marion to them and headed to the doctor's office with plans to meet up with them in Zurich afterwards.

Let's do the good first. The baby is healthy and having a party in there. He or she was moving around so fast the doctor could barely get a measurement. Basically, the baby is having a great time, completely oblivious to the craziness going on because of him/her.

Now the bad. I've lost 4 lbs since my last appointment. Not a good thing. And surprising to me considering I thought I was doing better at keeping food down. As a result, the doctor canceled my trip to San Francisco this week for a friend's wedding. They are getting married tomorrow and here I sit in Zurich, feeling awful. It's better for the baby that I don't travel so far, but it was still a disappointment.

After the appointment I caught a train to Zurich to meet up with everyone. They had already made their way down the Bahnhofstrasse. I ended up meeting them at Fraumünster. The Chagall stained glass windows are gorgeous and we enjoyed walking through the garden next to the abbey.

Then we made our way across the River Limmat to the Grossmünster. This was another impressive church which, according to legend, was founded by Charlemagne.

Brian met up with us afterwards and we headed to Papa Joe's for lunch. Yummy "American" food. It is about as close to American food as you will get in Zurich. And when I say American, think Chili's.

After a long morning, we headed back to the apartment for naps and rest. Brian had big plans for us for Saturday so we needed to rest up.

Orange Cinema 2008: Wanted

Last night Brian and I went into Zurich with friends Jim and Sandy to see the movie Wanted. This wasn't your typical move theater however. We went to the Orange Cinema setup at the Zürichhorn (near the Chinagarten) for an outdoor movie.

The movie didn't start until 9:15 but the theater doors opened at 6:30. We were warned to get there early to save seats. Boy was that sound advice. By 6:45 the majority of the seats were reserved already.

The reason the doors open so early is so that everyone gets there, reserves their seats, and then spends money at the vendors inside. There were three restaurants to choose from. We hit up Rosaly's.
There we purchased some chicken curry and shrimp stir-fry. Both were excellent. And the portions were pretty big, we were all full.

After dinner, we sat at our picnic table, enjoying the weather and talking. One of Brian's and Jim's coworkers and his wife joined us as well and we had a great time hanging out before the movie started.

Eventually it got dark out and it was time for the movie to start. Unfortunately the seats we had found were in the middle of our row and it was kind of difficult to get to them. And the guy next to Brian didn't seem too pleased when Brian sat down next to him. He was pretty rude about it and didn't seem to care that Brian wasn't comfortable either. He's a big guy, what is he supposed to do? We couldn't straighten our legs or move much- the chairs were loungers and were pretty narrow.

Anyway, the screen lifted from the water

and the commercials began. One was pretty interesting- obviously a poke at President Bush and his aides.

You didn't need to speak German to understand they were making fun of him. In case you didn't know, most Europeans are, well, not fans of George W. Kind of like the majority of the US. I wish I had understood it, I would love to know the punchline!

Finally the movie started. The setting was fantastic. Moon off to the right of the screen, clear night sky, and lights twinkling along the lake shoreline. At one point we even saw fireworks farther down the lake.

The movie itself was fantastic. Kind of bloody and gory (I shielded my eyes more than once, I'm a wuss when it comes to that kind of stuff) but with great special effects and a fun, different storyline. The subtitles didn't even phase me. I didn't see them (German and French) after awhile.
Next Sunday we are going to see another movie here, Son of Rambow. We'll be sure to get there even earlier so try to get one of the better seats. I still can't believe how fast they went!