Ice skating on the mountain

Or, Marion's first ski lesson.

For some reason she calls it ice skating. We don't know why. Anyway, she wanted to try it out and we figured, 'Why not?'

So off Marion and Brian went during our trip to Chateau d'Oex. Except her lesson was in Gstaad. Fancy schmancy.



She did really well! The instructor said she was coordinated, balanced, and athletic for being on skis for the first time.

Maybe all she needed was some skis for her to be graceful? God knows she isn't balanced or coordinated on her own two feet!

Betti's walking!

That's reason enough for a two post day! She did five steps yesterday, used this morning to rest up, and now is on a roll. So thoughtful of her to give me a preview last night so I could have the video camera ready today.

That makes her three and a half months ahead of Marion. I knew second kids had a tendency to do things faster, but seriously?

The best souvenir mug ever?

We thought so.

Bern Bear Attack

So I'm a little late on this. Back in November, a mentally handicapped man managed to get into the new Barenpark in Bern.

A police officer shot the bear in an effort to save the man. The aftermath has been interesting and so very Swiss. My favorite part of that article is this quote,

"Everyone is responsible for themselves," said Puzo, who was not on duty when the attack occurred. "It's like going to the Amazon, being in a boat, being told the water is full of piranhas – and you still jump in. People are more dangerous than animals."

Personal responsibility. Love this in Switzerland.

Shall we venture to guess what would have happened had this event taken place in America?

My guess: Animal put down due to being a risk to society and a lawsuit from the victim for the enclosure not being foolproof.

What do you think?

On another note, here's one more big difference between Europe and the US. Reporting. If you feel so inclined, you can check this link for actual photos of the bear mauling the man.

Incredible. I never realized how tame the news is in the US until I came here.

Helicoptering it

We are currently in Chateau d'Oex, a town near Gstaad in the French part of Switzerland. I decided to book a vacation here with my family to celebrate my birthday (this weekend!) during their Balloon Festival.

I'll write more later on our lovely trip to the mountains, as Marion likes to call it.

What I wanted to write about now is the helicopter ride we enjoyed yesterday. I'm not sure what compelled us to take a helicopter ride but Brian and I decided to just go for it. So we found ourselves waiting in line with an impatient toddler

and a not impressed infant

for our turn in the 'copter.

Finally we all loaded in and we were off!

And off pretty much sums it up. The move our pilot made to get into the sky almost made my lunch come up. And my ears popped right away. But it couldn't have been that bad. Marion continued to yell and look out the window

and Betti just chilled.

During our short trip I tried to snap as many pictures as I could out of the windows. It was gorgeous up there. Gorgeous and CLEAR! I love clear, sunny days. We don't get enough of them in Zurich in the winter.

Anyway, my frantic picture taking paid off. The pictures came out much better than I expected.







After a landing that almost induced my lunch again, we were back on the ground where I rounded up the fam for a quick picture before the helicopter took off again.

So glad we dragged the kids up there. :)

Snowshoeing!

On Saturday we went snowshoeing in Sattel to celebrate our friend's birthday. Coincidentally, his birthday is on the same day as mine. Small world, even in Switzerland!

We started things off with a bang in the minibus- cans of prosecco, mini bottles of kirsch, and wine.


Once we arrived at the ski shop, Brian took a moment to work.

An accountant's work is never done.

Next we all were given our snowshoes and instructions on how to put them on.
We were told the snowshoes were a one size fits all thing. Then they saw Brian's feet.


With shoes and ski poles in hand we rode the gondola up the mountain.


Once at the top we got our shoes on and prepared for our hike.



And then we were off!

Here's Mt Rigi at the beginning of our trek.

We continued into the night.


We were very lucky with the weather though- it was a crystal clear night and we could see our path thanks to the moonlight. Halfway through our hike we stopped to admire the view.

I promise it was gorgeous. Picture mountains lit by moonlight and lights twinkling in the distance.

We hiked some more and then came to our decision point, according to our guide. In my mind the only decision I was going to have to make Saturday night was what to drink with my fondue but our guide surprised us.

Continue down the groomed hiking path or go off piste down the hill?

We chose to go off piste.

Halfway down we realized the hill was bigger than we all thought it was.

But we all made it, save for a few falls, and hiked back to the restaurant where Brian removed my snowshoes for me. I was beat.

Then it was time for some gluhwein and fondue!


It was a great night for a good friend. Happy Birthday Marjan!

Therme Vals

Last weekend I went to Therme Vals with some girlfriends to celebrate my upcoming birthday.

First impression, not so hot. The hotel hasn't really been updated since it was built in the sixties. Everything's clean and the rooms were functional but it screams sixties, which I wasn't expecting.

Then we went to the spa.

Wow.

Gorgeous doesn't cover it. This spa, well known because it was designed by architect Peter Zumthor, is amazing. Truly breathtaking. And unfortunately I can't show you everything because pictures were not allowed in the spa.

But I can snag some pictures from the web.

Here are the stairs down into the pool area.

There were six pools in total. A 32 deg C main pool,

fire and ice pools (41 deg C and 14 deg C), a flower bath (33 deg C), a sound bath (35 deg C), and an outdoor pool (36 deg C winter, 30 deg C summer).

The sound room was my favorite and is shown in the middle picture above. It was enclosed except for a small passageway. Light reflected up through the water and onto the stone walls while relaxing sounds were played. Basically relaxation in a stone box.

The entire spa was constructed of Valser quartzite, a stone local to the area. So local that everything is built from this stone, including a local bridge.

In between spa trips, we enjoyed a walk around the small town of Vals.


Afterwards, we went out to dinner at the Hotel Therme's Red Restaurant.

The dinner was fabulous and, at the end, the girls surprised me with a birthday dessert platter!

It was a great weekend. We came home relaxed and wondering when we would go back- always a good sign of a fantastic trip.

So if you get a chance, go! Be sure to book early- hotel and spa treatments. This place books up early! And enjoy!