A Day in Zurich and a Drive into the Alps - Zurich and Swiss Alps

 

Late Friday night, Andy arrived on a train from Stuttgart, so on Saturday morning, he was excited to explore Zurich before we headed into the Swiss Alps for the night.  Andrew is the head coach for the varsity basketball team at the international school and they had a tournament during the day, so we would pick him up in the late afternoon.  That meant the three (five if you count Brady and Leila) of us went off to explore the city.

 

Our first stop was Lake Zurich.  Nadia told us that they come down almost every day or so during the summer and the area is usually packed.  There is swimming in the lake, people sunbathing in the park, and public grills for people to use.  Sounds like heaven.  It was early Saturday morning, so there weren't many people out and we could just enjoy the view.

 

A view of the city from the side of the lake

 A family shot with Zurich in the background

 Brady enjoying some sun

Probably one of the nicest things about Zurich is that it's in a small enough area that you can walk everywhere.  They have a convenient tram system, but we decided it was a beautiful mild morning and we'd rather walk.  We walked from Nadia's apartment to the lake, and then from the lake into the city.  The lake feeds two rivers, one big and one small, that flow through Zurich and create beautiful waterway views.

 I just loved how there were many little walkways throughout the city.  It felt so quaint and I loved it!

 A family pic in front of the convent

 The monastery in the background across the river

While we were on this side of the river, we doubled back to Bahnhof-Strasse, which I mentioned before is the most expensive street in the world.  On this street is a famous chocolate shop that also happens to be the oldest chocolate shop in Zurich, having been there over 125 years.  It's called Sprungli and we headed there.  On the second floor of the building is a cafe and we headed there first to get some refreshments.  I ordered a hot chocolate (where better than Switzerland) and Andy got an eis coffee.  It's said the same as ice coffee, but in German that means coffee with ice cream in it.  We both had whipped cream on our drinks and Andy immediately gave a scoop to Brady.  We're not used to the fact that Europe uses less sugar in most things than the States, and Brady spit it out so fast.  After that, he didn't even want a taste of my hot chocolate.

When we finished our drinks, we headed downstairs to the chocolate shop.  Nadia pointed out a good assortment and then told me about the specialty of this shop.  It's called a Luxemburgerli and it's a treat only made at this shop fresh every day.  It resembles a small cake sandwich and comes in many flavors, some with alcohol and some without.  I ordered an assortment and every single flavor was delicious!  They were so light and creamy.  Pictured below are some of the flavors they have and a better picture of what I'm trying to describe.

Brady was literally screaming outside the shop while I waited to pay and we knew he was extremely tired.  He had been waking up way too early because he was in a new place and often insisted on being in the bed with us.  We weren't done with what we wanted to do and see in the city, so we kept going, hoping he would fall asleep in the stroller as we walked.  He did, but only for about 20 minutes before we hit the cobblestone streets and he was jarred awake.  That was the extent of his napping that entire day.

A great shot of the monastery.  You can pay to climb up to the top of the tower and we decided to do that to see the city from above.  Nadia had warned us that it was quite a narrow climb, so we decided to leave Brady with her when we went up.

Nadia wasn't kidding about the narrow climb.  This picture is from halfway up.  That first half had a tight stone spiral staircase that was uneven and we were fortunate not to fall or take a wrong step, so we were very glad we left Brady down below.

 

The rest of the climb wasn't as narrow, but it seemed like every time we reached a new level, there were more stairs.  We definitely got in quite a workout on the way up.  Pictured above and below are some of the breathtaking views from the very top of the tower.

Brady could never make up his mind whether he wanted to ride in the stroller, walk, or be carried.  He seems pretty happy up on Andy's shoulders though.

A great group shot

We decided to walk back to Nadia's apartment instead of taking a tram and it was such a gorgeous day there were certainly no regrets.  We had lunch and packed up all of our things to head into the mountains.  We got in Nadia's car and picked up Andrew at the international school.  Then it was off to the Swiss Alps where Nadia's family owns a house near Triel, Switzerland.  Below some pictures of the drive up before the sun went down.

Just starting to see some mountains

 A little bit closer . . .

 

 

There were amazing views all the way up to the house.  It was really cool how the roads curve and twist back to get you up into the mountains.  The higher we went, the more snow that was on the ground.  Since Brady had barely napped all day, he ate dinner and went straight to bed.  The rest of us hung out talking and drinking wine, while we waited to eat dinner.  Nadia made us a traditional Swiss fondue and it was so good.

Einsiendeln Abbey and a Ferry Ride - Swiss Countryside

Friday morning, Nadia had planned for us to scope out Einsiendeln Abbey in the Swiss countryside.  It was about 30 minutes outside of Zurich and you know you're getting to a higher altitude when there's no snow in the city, but the further along you go, the more snow there is.  When we first got there, we decided to have lunch and then proceeded to the abbey that was once a monastery and later a boarding school.

 

 The town where we had lunch.  It was directly across the street from the abbey.

 

A beautiful fountain, and yes you could drink out of this one too!

Brady and I in front of the abbey.

This was my first time visiting such a sight in Europe, so I had no idea that you weren't allowed to take pictures inside.  Below are some of the pictures I took before I realized that it wasn't allowed.

Once we were done at the abbey, we headed back towards Zurich.  Nadia and Andrew both teach at an international school just outside of Zurich, and that afternoon there was a baby shower for one of their fellow teachers, so we were headed there for the celebration.  We were on the opposite side of the lake from the school, so we decided to take a ferry across the lake instead of driving back into Zurich and then around the other side of the lake.

Waiting for the ferry

 We were the first car on, so we had a stunning panoramic view across the lake.

It wasn't Brady's first ferry ride, but it was the first one he'd been on that you could drive your car onto.

After the baby shower, we headed to the local grocery store to pick up some things for dinner that night and items to take with us into the mountains the next day.  When I had asked Nadia earlier, where a good place to get some really good Swiss chocolate, she laughed and said any grocery store chocolate aisle.  While we were at the grocery store, she showed me some items that might be useful to me back in Germany and showed me anything that I was having a hard time locating.

Brady and I in the chocolate aisle.  It's no joke in Switzerland.

An Evening Walking Tour - Zurich

 

Brady and I took the 7:56AM train on Thursday from Stuttgart to Zurich.  We did not have to change trains between our starting point and our destination, but the train made several stops along the way, so it took us just under three hours to reach Zurich from Stuttgart.  I had Brady, his car seat in it's travel bag, a small carry-on, my backpack, and no stroller for Brady since Nadia had one for us to borrow.  Andy was a little worried how I would handle all of that since he had to help us get everything to the train.  He was probably the most worried about Brady not being confined to a stroller with trains around.  I knew that it would be impossible for me to lug two bags behind me while pushing a stroller in front of me (I only have two hands).  I was able to loop on bag through the other to pull with one hand, while I held Brady's hand with my free hand.  Nadia had planned to meet us at the end of the platform, but fortunately, she was walking towards us before we got halfway.  She was able to hold Brady's hand while she pushed Leila's stroller, so I could have a bag in each hand.  We took a tram to her apartment and let the kids take a nap.

That evening, when Nadia's boyfriend, Andrew, arrived home, we decided to go walking in the city.  It was still light out when we left her apartment, but it soon got dark and cold (not that we minded too much). 

 

 Brady catching a ride on Andrew's shoulders

 The convent

 The architecture was absolutely beautiful.  Much more what you expect in Europe.  We don't see much of the old European architecture in Germany due to the intensive bombing during WWII.

 Andrew and I outside of Hermes

 The colorful buildings remind me so much of the houses in Charleston.

Behind Brady and I is the largest clock face in the world.

 A shot down Bahnhof-Strasse, the most expensive street in the world!!!  What makes it the most expensive is the revenue per square meter in the shops.  Think of every luxury retailer in the States and add every international luxury retailer and that sums it up.  At night they put down bomb windows for protection.

 A fun fact about Zurich is that you can drink out of all the fountains.

 Resting after a steep walk to see the city from a height.  Definitely worth it!

A very bundled up Brady.  He hates wearing his mittens and wasn't wearing them this particular evening.  His poor little hands got cold and when we tried to warm them up, he screamed like crazy because they were so cold they hurt.  Poor little guy.

Nikki's Birthday Weekend in Switzerland

 

I recently wrote about our friend, Nadia, coming to visit us in Stuttgart from Zurich.  While she was here, she invited us to come visit her for a weekend in Zurich.  It just so happened that the best weekend for both of us was my birthday weekend.  Andy and I had decided before we left the States that since both our birthdays and our anniversary would occur over here, that we'd just say that all of our trips would be our presents.  The fact that we would be on a trip on my actual birthday was just an added bonus.

We made plans for Brady and I to come on a train by ourselves on Thursday morning.  Andy's plan was to follow on Friday night after work, and we would all take a train together back to Stuttgart on Sunday night (my actual birthday).

It was an amazing weekend packed full of sightseeing and hanging with great friends.  Nadia, her boyfriend, Andrew, and their two and a half month old daughter, Leila, were amazing hosts and tour guides.  We will be forever grateful to them for showing us all the sides of Switzerland.  There's no way we would have done or learned as much without their help and guidance.

Over the course of four days, we managed to take almost 300 pictures between myself and Nadia.  That means in order to do Switzerland justice to all of you who have never been there, I'll have to break up my posts by days so they don't get outrageously long.  The plan is to make one post for each day we were there, and I can't wait to share some of the most amazing views and sights with all of you! 

Playgroup & Playdates

Before every move we've made in the last two years, I've made it a point to find a playgroup before we moved so that I was totally prepared to jump into activities when we got there.  Before we left Pittsburgh, the group I was in advised me to check meetup.com to find groups anywhere and that was a valuable tip.  It helped me find my playgroups in both Michigan and South Carolina.  When it came to finding a playgroup in Germany, it wasn't quite as helpful.  The only one it came up with in the area was over an hour away and that was way too far for me, even if I did have a car at my disposal.  This meant I would have to get creative and hopefully find a group another way.  I started to Google english speaking playgroups and came up with a few hits, that I immediately emailed.


The first one was the Vaihingen International Playgroup (Vaihingen is another area of Stuttgart) and the other was the English Playgroup.  I heard back from the Vaihingen group first and found out they did a weekly playgroup for kids aged 0-3 on Monday mornings.  The English group got back to me second (also located in Vaihingen), and their weekly playgroup for the same ages was at the same exact time on Monday mornings.  The Vaihingen group (VIP) was free and the English group cost 50 Euros for 6 months.  That made it an easy choice.  I chose VIP.


Once we got internet, I was able to plot out a train route to Vaihingen and was able to make it my first playgroup on January 31.  There were about six other moms there with their kids and they ranged from 6 months old to almost 3 years old.  There were songs and toys for the kids to play with while the moms chatted.  I had talked to a few of the moms on the facebook page for the group before we went, so it was nice to meet them in person.  


There was one little boy there, Gordon, is two and half months older than Brady.  He's very vocal and speaks very well, but he also speaks in Brady's language of loving to run and play.  His mom invited us to get some lunch with her and at that point our food selection was very limited, so I was more than happy to grab some lunch.  We walked to a corner bakery, grabbed some food, and walked back to her house, only a few blocks from the bakery.  The boys had a great afternoon playing together until they wore each other out.


The next week, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the playgroup due to the Super Bowl being on in the middle of the night here.  Some of the other moms mentioned they wouldn't be there due to a child's illness or other reasons, so they cancelled it for the week.  Later on that same week, we got an email from the woman who organizes it, saying they were going to combine it with the Tuesday afternoon group, due to low attendance in both groups.  The moms I had met were all a little taken aback by that and how our facebook page was immediately taken down before we had the change to network with other people.  Fortunately, I had made contacts before the page was taken down and a few of the moms and I decided we'd start rotating houses each week so that our kids could still have a playdate.  Tuesday afternoons didn't work for us because it was in the middle of Brady's nap and since it takes us almost an hour to get there via train and walking, it wouldn't be work waking him up early.


I got some other leads of other things in the area, such as the Children's English Library and the International Women's Club of Stuttgart, that had children's activities.  The Women's Club also had more activities for the moms, like a night out and monthly meetings where they provide a sitter.  The moms I had established a weekly playdate with would in varying combinations meet me at these new activities.  It was great to start filling our days with more than sitting at home.  I like to have at least two activities outside of the home per week.

This week it was my turn to host, so everyone who was available came to my house yesterday.  We had four moms and four kids, including myself and Brady.  It was perfect timing because Brady had recently received his birthday gifts and had some great new toys to share.  Below are pictures of Gordon and Brady playing with his remote control cars (spoiler alert since I haven't been able to get the pictures yet from Brady's birthday).

Brady and Gordon playing cars.  The cars can be quite noisy, so we were glad when the boys decided they were just as happy playing with the cars that go on the track, but don't need a remote.

Gregory (14 months) and Emma (7 months) watching the big boys play.  It was fun for all!