We had a wonderful visit over the last week of June from our friends Maryanne and Jeremy in Columbus
with the special treat for our boys that, for the first time since we have been in Zurich, our visitors included other children. Specifically, Sydney (10) and Ethan (8) accompanied their parents from the Buckeye state to the city of fountains. We surprised our guests, who flew into Paris and took the train to us, by intercepting them in the Basel train station, which is about an hour from Zurich. They arrived tired, but in good spirits, after a trans-Atlantic flight, five hours in the Paris train station, several transfers on the TGV and some confusion about whether they actually had the right tickets of not. 
Thanks to a colleague of Elena's at University of Zurich (thank you Elizabeth!) we were able to line up a few days of real Swiss living in a chalet in the Alps (to be exact, in Flims, which is in the Kanton of Graubunden). Chalet Maurgaritte was exceedingly well appointed, including a kitchen that is better equipped than ours at home in Ohio. We even got to enjoy raclette one night (think lots of yummy toasted cheese). On our first full day there we tackled the mountain, taking a cable car from Flims Dorf to Floppa (great name) and then embarking on our hike upwards. We walked, sang, told stories, splashed in fountains, did O-H-I-O, and then ended up at Startgels, a surprisingly elegant restuarant about halfway up the mountain (the Europeans understand incentives). After a yummy Swiss meal, we headed back down and, no rest for the weary, headed for the Caumasee --we had been told it was a nice forest lake for swimming. It was truly breathtaking as we rounded the corner and saw the green-blue clear water and forested shores. It was also breathtaking as we dipped our toes in the 21 degree C water -- ouf! (if it isn't yet obvious, this is now Elena writing -- Brian probably thought it was a bit on the warm side).
The Euro Cup was in its full glory and we were able to watch a couple games during our stay in Flims. Sydney and Ethan caught the "panini soccer card" fever that swept the country and generously contributed a few stickers to the boys' soccer book ("only" 53 more stickers to go -- not sure if we'll make it before we leave!).
Back in Zurich we hopped over to Lucern for the day for the Lucern Yodeling Festival. Brian went early to meet up with an old friend from high school, Matt Streife, who had come all the way from New Glarus, Wisconsin to perform with the New Glarus Yodeling Club. We tried to catch up with Matt and his wife later after we all arrived, but found ourselves oddly trapped in a Swiss tv production of the festival. At first it was interesting to watch the carmeramen orchestrate the dancing men and women in their ledderhosen and dirndls (respectively), the accordian and alpine horm players and the enthusiastic "spontaneous" dancers from the audience. But then it got a bit much and Elliot had to pee, so we made a run for it.
with the special treat for our boys that, for the first time since we have been in Zurich, our visitors included other children. Specifically, Sydney (10) and Ethan (8) accompanied their parents from the Buckeye state to the city of fountains. We surprised our guests, who flew into Paris and took the train to us, by intercepting them in the Basel train station, which is about an hour from Zurich. They arrived tired, but in good spirits, after a trans-Atlantic flight, five hours in the Paris train station, several transfers on the TGV and some confusion about whether they actually had the right tickets of not. 
Thanks to a colleague of Elena's at University of Zurich (thank you Elizabeth!) we were able to line up a few days of real Swiss living in a chalet in the Alps (to be exact, in Flims, which is in the Kanton of Graubunden). Chalet Maurgaritte was exceedingly well appointed, including a kitchen that is better equipped than ours at home in Ohio. We even got to enjoy raclette one night (think lots of yummy toasted cheese). On our first full day there we tackled the mountain, taking a cable car from Flims Dorf to Floppa (great name) and then embarking on our hike upwards. We walked, sang, told stories, splashed in fountains, did O-H-I-O, and then ended up at Startgels, a surprisingly elegant restuarant about halfway up the mountain (the Europeans understand incentives). After a yummy Swiss meal, we headed back down and, no rest for the weary, headed for the Caumasee --we had been told it was a nice forest lake for swimming. It was truly breathtaking as we rounded the corner and saw the green-blue clear water and forested shores. It was also breathtaking as we dipped our toes in the 21 degree C water -- ouf! (if it isn't yet obvious, this is now Elena writing -- Brian probably thought it was a bit on the warm side).
The Euro Cup was in its full glory and we were able to watch a couple games during our stay in Flims. Sydney and Ethan caught the "panini soccer card" fever that swept the country and generously contributed a few stickers to the boys' soccer book ("only" 53 more stickers to go -- not sure if we'll make it before we leave!).
Back in Zurich we hopped over to Lucern for the day for the Lucern Yodeling Festival. Brian went early to meet up with an old friend from high school, Matt Streife, who had come all the way from New Glarus, Wisconsin to perform with the New Glarus Yodeling Club. We tried to catch up with Matt and his wife later after we all arrived, but found ourselves oddly trapped in a Swiss tv production of the festival. At first it was interesting to watch the carmeramen orchestrate the dancing men and women in their ledderhosen and dirndls (respectively), the accordian and alpine horm players and the enthusiastic "spontaneous" dancers from the audience. But then it got a bit much and Elliot had to pee, so we made a run for it.
We felt very blessed to have Maryanne, Jeremy, Sydney and Ethan visit us here. It was really nice to make a connection with Ohio and made me eager to see our friends and family back home. The following Sunday we saw them off at the train station on their way back to Paris to spend two weeks with their friends there. Their time there promised to be fun as well (complete with a 70's disco part, but for more on that you have to ask Maryanne....).
1 comment:
Thank you for the wonderful pictures and reminder of our trip. Look forward to seeing you soon. Maryanne
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