Holiday on Ice

The Swiss know how to embrace winter. Perhaps out of necessity, this Alpine dominated country has an incredible infrastructure for those interested in winter sports. The boys have embraced eislaufen (ice skating) this winter and we have gone so far as to buy them their own skates (ingenious skates that can be lengthened as they grow!).

On Sunday we decided to try out a skating complex that we hadn't tried before called Dolder. Situated high on one of the picturesque hills surround Lake Zurich and nestled among the trees, the complex boasts a large free skating area, a separate area for hockey and a nice restaurant to boot. Despite the mix of light rain and sleet, the weather finally cleared and we had a wonderful time.

Elliot has come a long way in his skating skills. At this particular rink, you could rent a big bear with handles that can be used to stabilize the novice skater (see video below). Elliot simply adored his bear and wanted us to buy one so we could take it home. Needless to say we convinced him that we could print a big picture of the bear and put it on his wall for his stuffed toy bears to see.





Isaac's skills have also progressed markedly. Take a look for yourself at the video below.







We also found the pile of hockey sticks and pucks that you could use for free and tried out our skills around the hockey goal.
















After a break for a afternoon snack we skated a little more before heading out for an early dinner and then home. One snack was the traditional Swiss bratwurst, a white wurst (kabelwurst) served much differently than you'd find in the United States, as it is wrapped in wax paper and served on a small paper plate with a hunk of crusty bread (see picture below).


















The other thing that struck me as very un-American was the fact that people were out on the ice, ice skating while pushing baby carriages - I found that very cool but somehow I can't imagine an US facility allowing this due to lawyers.