Fall vacation

As our first snow falls here in Zurich (really, snow), I am thinking longingly of our Sardinia beach and hiking fun -- amazingly, just little over a week ago. Here are some pictures...

Flying early morning from Zurich to Sardinia (all of 90 minutes) we saw snow-capped mountains jutting through a sea of pink-orange clouds as the sun was rising. It was beautiful -- an ocean of clouds amidst the Glarner Alps.

We flew on Edelweiss airlines -- a definite step up from our Phili-Zurich American Airlines experience. They were particularly attentive to the kids, who recieved all kinds of toys, markers, coloring books, etc. Elliot is displaying a Ratatouille Rat made from bread and raisens that was part of his coloring book/breakfast package (ok, maybe not so appetizing, but noteworthy nonetheless for its fancifulness given the state of airline food these days...and also for the blatant commercialization).

We arrived at the Hotel Villa Margherita in Golfo Aranci (NE coast) on the north coast of Sardinia by about 9am. Despite the travel agent's assurances that it "family appropriate," it had more the appearance of a romantic getaway for two (if you are planning such a getaway, take note!).

Sardinia is an amazing land -- rugged mountains, rocky landscape surrounded by a beautiful coast, clear waters....

We found a beautiful little beach, Cala Moresca, that we walked to several times and went on some wonderful hikes--above are some pictures from Cala Moersca and also the maître d'hôtel, who lead a hike one morning around the nearby mountains. Below -- some pictures from the local market in Golfo Aranci and one of the sand castles that we built...

On our last day we visited the Nuraghe Cabu Abbas near Olbia -- the ruins of a large stone wall that encircles the top of a high hill with a tower (called a Nuraghe) at the center. The structure dates back to prehistorical times -- 1300 - 1200 BC, built by the Nuragic civilization as a strategic post from which they could guard against invaders coming from the sea or land and was used later by the Carthagians and Romans. This set against the rocky landscape and the coast in the distance was just an amazing landscape. After a hike all the way around the wall, we sat by the base of the tower and Brian read a chapter from C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Trader, which seemed quite fitting given our adventures and view of the sea below.

Heidi in the Airport

Switzerland has a few defining stories that are widely known throughout the world. Wilhem Tell and Heidi are among these. When arriving into Zurich, international travelers deplane in one of the 'E' gates. To move from these gates to immigration and then onto the luggage carousels, and finally to the streets of Zurich, one must take a brief tram ride. About 30 seconds into the ride you begin to hear choruses of Swiss sounds - cow bells and gentle yodels. Outside the window to your left, you also get to see the video below -- the Swiss version of the flower lais that greet visitors to Hawaii, I suppose. None the less, I find the brief clip enchanting.

Yesterday on the Playground

On Monday we had no school so me and my friend Da'Rion decided to play on the big playground. When it was time for the break we stayed a little but we didn't want anyone to notice us so we kindof hid. And then I finally said, Da'Rion, if we don't want anyone to notice us, we can't go that way because people will notice us, we can't go this way because people will see us, and if we go that other way then there are three girls there, so let's go that way. It turned out that that was the worst decision because Da'Rion then recognized them and said, oh, she kicked me once. So I said, well let's just be really sneaky. And so Da'Rion got under without any girl touching him, but I didn't. A girl pulled my hair. And then I finally got loose and we ran as fast as we could and the girls chased after us. Then I just stopped and I refused to let them bully me. I had recognized that it was bullying, I had just refused to get bullied, but there was no one to report it to. And so that's just how it goes.

This is a picture of me and my friend Da'Rion. Here is a link to my school, called Huerstholz Schule, and here is a picture of my class with our teacher, Herr Hubler. I like Her Hubler a lot. He has a guitar and we sing songs almost every day. Our favorite is "La Bomba" in Spanish.