Liqun, Morals, Friends, Hipsters

Tuesday, we were happy to receive an old friend in Zurich. Liqun (pronounced Lee-cheen) was a colleague of Josh's seven years ago. Through our London friends, Josh reconnected with her and found out that she lives in the Italian part of Switzerland. She took some time off from her vacation to see us in Zurich. We had a great time visiting with her and hope to see her in California in January.



Our apartment came with a poker set complete with chips and instructions in German. When people in the States talk about having a Family Game Night, I don't think they envision a poker party. In fact, some might say that Josh and I have contributed to the delinquency of our children by teaching them poker. First, there's poker, then slot machines, then horse racing. Last week, I would have disagreed with that statement. Poker is just a game. However, our family game night on Tuesday degenerated into a betting frenzy. Here we are betting on a game of Crazy Eights. (It's like Uno.)



Wednesday night, our friends, Markus and Irene, invited us over. I made Chicken Adobo while Russell and Maya played with Nora and Sophia and their neighbor, Mona. The fact that our kids don't speak German didn't matter. We hope they get a chance to come visit us soon.



Friday night we went on an urban adventure. Susan, my neighborhood informant/yoga teacher, had told me about an Italian restaurant down by the train station that used to be illegal but is now legit. She said that it used to be open on days that were known only to a select group of people. She said, "Go to the left of Hardbrucke Station. Keep walking back. In the back, there's a restaurant that serves great pizza." Armed with these vague directions, we set off in search of dinner. There is a restaurant to the left of the station, but that's not the one she was talking about. We started following other people toward the back of the property and finally found a way into the building. There were no signs or directions anywhere. Inside was a bustling restaurant filled with hip-looking locals eating fabulous-looking food. All the tables were reserved, so we sat at the bar and ate pizza baked in the wood-fired brick oven opposite our seats. We left not knowing the name of the restaurant. I just found it online on the great searchable map of Switzerland, map.search.ch, in case you'd like to visit Restaurant Rosso when you're next in Zurich. They're closed on Saturdays.

Werdinsel and Neuchatel

On Saturday, 8/16, I had a lunch date with Susan, and she toured me all around the great, diverse neighborhood adjacent to our building. She let me know that the Werdinsel Open Air music festival was going on that day, including a special tribute to Pink Floyd. While we missed the Pink Floyd tribute band, the kids had a great time playing on Werdinsel island.





This Reggae band was fronted by a white, Swiss guy who somehow sounded like he was from Jamaica.



The next day, we planned to drive to Neuchatel to visit Morli and her family. As we approached our car in the secured underground garage located a few blocks away, we noticed something wrong.



Sadly, Josh stayed home to deal with the car rental agency. I took the kids by train to Neuchatel. Morli is my friend Dan's sister. She grew up in Palo Alto. She married a Swiss man, Marc, and now has two kids, Celia and Noah, ages 2 1/2 and 1 1/2.



It was great to talk to her about raising kids in Switzerland. She and Marc live on this hill...



in this house.



They have great views of Lake Neuchatel.






Morli took us through the old part of town and up to the castle on Monday.

Here's the funicular that runs from the train station to downtown.


Celia and Noah


Maya insisted on taking this picture.


The view from the castle.



I finally let Maya have the camera.







Castle views





Here are the alps as seen from Neuchatel.



Choosing ice cream at a cafe in the Place des Halles.



This wobbly pier on the lake freaked me out, but Maya went out on it twice.



On the train back to Zurich, we found the following headline on a newspaper that had been left on a seat.



This summer, Josh taught us all how to play poker. Maya and I playing poker on the train.

Yoga, Birthday, Lucerne

We are approaching our date of departure, August 24. We are headed for the Washington, D.C., area for a week, then we fly back to California on Labor Day. Here are some of the things we've been doing as we finish up our visit.


Yoga
I have now taken more yoga classes in German than in English. Ok, so I'd only had one class in English before I came here, but still. Our neighbor, Susan, teaches yoga upstairs in this apartment. Her view of the river and the hill behind it is amazing.



My Birthday
We celebrated my birthday last week by attending a pipe organ concert in Zurich's Grossmunster church, followed by a dinner out that included a tasting of Zurich's famous and delicious veal dish with rosti. Here is the organ that we heard played. Sorry for the bad photo quality - we took this picture with my cell phone.



Back home, I was sung to by the Star-Lack men.



Lucerne/Luzern
The next day, we went to Lucerne to visit the Transport Museum there. It is truly amazing. There are areas dedicated to rail, auto, communications, air travel, space travel, etc. They have Razor scooters of all sizes for kids to use for free - kids can scooter from one exhibit space to another. They then park them outside an exhibit hall and other kids can use them. It's like a city bike model - there are so many, there's always one for you to use. Included in the price of admission is a ride on the flight simulator. This contraption lets you roll and spin in any direction. I don't know why I let Russell pilot the aircraft. I must love him a lot. Maya was too short to ride this time. If there's a next time, she's going with Josh.



The auto section of the museum lets kids improve upon the design of well-known cars.

Maya's car



Russell's cars





I asked the kids what part of the museum they liked best. Russell liked everything. Maya liked riding the little train in the garden.



On our brief visit to Lucern on the way home from the Alps, we took this picture of the famous crying lion that commemorates the loss of 700 Swiss Guards in Paris during the French Revolution. The Guards died protecting King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It's a very moving monument.



The kids and I decided to take the boat on Lake Lucerne back from the museum to the train station.

Lindt Chocolate Factory and Chez Fritz in Kilchberg

Monday, we visited the Lindt Chocolate Factory in Kilchberg, a town adjacent to Zurich and Lake Zurich.



Two things we wanted to note:

1. When you get off Bus 165 at the Kilchberg stop, you inhale the aroma of warm chocolate exhaust coming out of the factory next to you. It was divine. I would go back there just for the smell.

Here's Maya's reaction to this experience.



2. The factory does not let you tour inside. (Annoying, isn't it? We came all this way....) Instead, the public is welcome to shop in the factory store which is stocked floor-to-ceiling with, you guessed it, chocolate.

Here's Maya's reaction to that experience.



After we completed our shopping, my non-chocolate eater, Russell, needed a little nourishment. (I'd forgotten to pack snacks with me.) We crossed the street and headed toward a sign for Restaurant Chez Fritz, the only visible eating establishment on this lonely road. I had no idea if they'd be open for anything more than drinks. Chez Fritz turned out to be a very nice lakeside place that charges $6 for a glass of juice. They make a mean plate of fried, battered perch fillets, though! Even Maya liked them. Here's Russell, waiting for his snack, enjoying the ambience.




During our mid-afternoon snack, the skies opened up and rained pretty solidly for hours. The other thing I forgot to pack was our rain gear. (You'd think I'd be used to this wet summer weather by now.) Mid-way through our drizzly trek back to the bus stop, Maya realized she forgot her sunglasses at the restaurant. She ran back and retrieved them herself. Here she is on the bus, a little wet, but happy to have her accessory.



The chocolate made it home just fine.

Wait - Where are we?

Hmmm..... This looks like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.




And this looks like the Eiffel Tower.


Hey! That's Maya and Russell at the Eiffel Tower! What are we doing here?



Truth be told, we had a short layover in Paris between our Eurostar and TGV trains. We hopped in a taxi and did a quick tour of the Champs Elysees. While Russell would have been more than happy to have sat in Gare de L'est for 90 minutes watching trains, I needed to get out and see Paris again, even if from a taxi cab. (I was here last in 1992.)

It's all still gorgeous.

London, Part Two - New Videos Added!

Thursday, Julie, Jessica, and Gabriel went to their beach house in Devon. We were sad to say goodbye. Here's a photo of Julie and me on Thursday before she left. (The Queen had decreed it Black Tank Top Day, in case you're wondering.)



We are so grateful that Julie let us keep Natasha for another day. I took the kids to the Natural History Musem, but first we rode a wheelchair-accessible double-decker bus and had crepes for lunch.



We learned that when you "take away" crepes, they come in a cardboard holder that you can tear off as you eat. Very cool.



This is what Maya thought of some of the towering dinosaur exhibits.


Russell was lucky to escape not only with his life but also with this video of a T-Rex.



Near the life-size blue whale model.


Chatting while Russell explores the Marine Invertebrates gallery.



That night, at an Italian restaurant (run by people who actually speak Italian), we learned that Four Cheese pizza in London doesn't taste the same as the Trader Joe's Four Cheese pizza we eat in California. Finally, Natasha guided us home from the bus stop near her house. Her sense of adventure was impressive.

Late Thursday night, Josh came in from Zurich to join us for the weekend. He snapped this picture of Maya and Natasha at Waterloo station, ready for the rain, and the picture of Russell in an Underground station.




We had lunch and watched part of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in a pub near Leicester Square. Then we had to return Natasha to her father so she could join the rest of her family in Devon. We'll miss you, Natasha!

Needless to say, Russell was enthralled with the London transport system. There were many transportation facilities he needed to visit. Here's a train platform a few of you may have read about.


Here is Maya making an attempt to get onto that platform.


On Friday night, the kids and I learned how to keep Josh from going to sleep while watching a movie: Make him pay the equivalent of $70 for four tickets. It costs 35 British Pounds for a family ticket in Leicester Square, but with the dollar the way it is, that's $70 to us. While it was the most expensive movie ticket we've ever bought, Kung Fu Panda was great for our movie-starved kids.

Saturday, Josh took the kids to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels and lots of weaponry and armor. Josh was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Tower of London won the following award a few years back.




After dinner at an Indian restaurant, we saw the very entertaining Zorro, The Musical, with music by the Gypsy Kings, lots of flamenco dancing, magic, and swordfighting. It was fabulous!

And to top off the evening, this is what we encountered on our way home from Leicester Square.


We packed up on Sunday and got on our high-speed trains back to Zurich. Goodbye, London! We'll be back!