Easter birthday snow showers

We celebrated Easter with about the largest snow we've had all winter (which frankly isn't much in comparison to the pictures Sally sent from Wisconsin and from what we hear happened in Ohio this winter!). The weekend before it was sunny and 70's and the following weekend was 60's and sunny, so needless to say, the snow did not hang around--at least, not around Zurich that is (we were to discover that that is certainly not the case for higher elevations, but that's a hiking story for the next blog). Perhaps not surprisngly, the Eater bunny delivers pretty much the same stuff for Easter here as she does in the U.S. We also had lots of fun cards from grandparents and a surprise care package from Chris and Roby that included some very fun Harry Potter magic paraphenalia and Trader Joe goodies (we can never get enough sesame honey cashews -- thank you!).






Elliot's kindergarten put on an easter party, complete with singing, an easter egg hunt and Frau Frischknecht's yummy egg salad (which she made on the spot and had lots of help from the kids in doing so). If we haven't mentioned Frau Frischknecht yet on this blog, then that is a definite omission -- she is an incredible teacher and is a master at many things, but particularly it seems in bringing kids together from different backgrounds, many of whom don't start off even speaking the language. She has been teaching for 30 years and still has the energy and spark of a twenty-five year old. When I asked her about celebrating a religious holiday in the public schools, she told me that she always explains Easter simply as a time for joy and love when people open their hearts to others. Hard to argue with that. Currently in Elliot's class there are kids from Albania, Iran, Russia, France, and other kids born in Switzerland but with parents from places like Malaysia, Peru, Hungary, Israel, Italy. Three of 18 are considered to be "true Swiss." While the Swiss are very good about accepting immigrants, apparently it is quite hard to gain citizenship -- it can take generations.

We celebrated Brian's birthday with a morning hike around Kaiferberg, close to our apartment, from which the view of Zurich, the lake and mountains can be spectacular on clear days. We had brunch at Gasthaus Wald, located at the top of Kaiferberg; then went for a long walk through the woods on the way home. Later our Canadian friends Hallie, Matt and Eames (who is between Isaac and Elliot in age) came over for Raclette -- a Swiss specialty of melted cheese and accompaniments on potatoes (and we augmented with asparagus -- yummm).

Below--Brian recieves a special painted blue rock from Elliot for his birthday and a promisary note from Isaac pledging a day for the two of them to go to the very big and sprawling indoor waterslide park that they both find completely exillerating (they went, actually, this past weekend and had 4+ hours of body bruising fun -- to each their own; Elliot and I stayed in Zurich and spent the day exploring the city on scooters, but that's also for another post). My present to Brian was a raclette grill, so we will be able to carry on this yummy Swiss tradition when we get back. Lastly, pictures from the top of Kaiferberg overlooking Zurich, the lake and Alps.