Three Countries In One Day

Thursday, February 28, 2008 Yesterday we went from Switzerland into Germany. Since that was so easy, today we decided to go from Switzerland into France. From France we took a foot bridge over the Rhine to Germany. The spot where Germany, Switzerland and France come together is called Drielandereck. The marker is located on a dock that juts out into the Rhine River from Swiss side.

I love this picture of the ladies feeding the birds. They had caused quite a stir on the once quiet beach with all that bread.

The upper left photo is Drielandereck. Drie in German means three. (Now you know that I have learned at least one German word! ) It is quite interesting to be able to travel from country to country so easily. I read that each day 30,000 workers cross the borders to come into Basel. And many folks travel into France and Germany to do their shopping due to prices that are a little less expensive and more variety.

The primary reason for our trip today was to shop at the Carharrt Outlet that we spotted yesterday on our journey. That was fun. Keaton and Landon both got new jackets which they just happen to be wearing in the lunch photos below. Also pictured is a donor kabap. YUM!

We are leaving tomorrow for a weekend in France! More mountians and snow!

Zurich

Monday, February 18, 2008 Our day trip to Zurich had one goal: toys! Zurich is home to Europe's largest toy store, Hans Franz Weber, a toy museum , and a toy store specializing in wooden toys.



Once we managed to get out of the Zurich train station and figure out which direction we should go, we headed directly to Hans Franz Weber. Four levels of wall to wall high quality toys. A giant dragon slide that goes from the entrance level to the ground level greets visitors. Kids all of sizes were taking their turn entering the mouth of the dragon and sliding out the tail!

The top level was definitely the favorite- Legos, Playmobile, Schieff, train sets, remote control cars and more! Even an Olivia sized Playmobile man.







Next stop was the Lake Zurich for a picnic lunch.

Then on to Pastorini. Five floors of wooden toys, games, musical instruments, craft supplies, books,.... The handmade German wooden playsets were just precious. And the dollhouses and furniture! I had to drag Olivia away from the finely detailed dollhouse furniture. These toddler playsets were adorable and durable.

Our final stop was the Zurcher Speilzeugmuseum. The oldest toy on display was this chicken coop made in Switzerland in 1800. When the handle on the side was turned the chickens would peck!

Imagination Unlimited!

Friday, February 15, 2008 For several hours I heard children exclaiming. laughing in delight, and watched them walking around moving sculptures trying their best to take it all in when we visited the Museum Tinguely in Basel. Incredible creations! And inspiring to boys who love to save stuff.

We had a brief introduction to Jean Tinguely's sculptures when we visited Basel last May. We frequently passed by a...it is really hard to describe...a water feature in a plaza with multiple sculptures all moving and spraying water. You just have to see . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx7e5BRekIA&feature=related From the You Tube link there are other videos to watch. But it is nothing like standing in front of these enormous moving monsters watching everything move and hearing the banging and clanging. One sculpture even played the piano and a drum!

Yes, that is Keaton and Olivia ON the sculpture! These two were fascinated with all of the creations. Landon was more contemplative. He needed to think about each one and figure the workings.

Go to: http://www.tinguely.ch/en/museum/index.html for more info.

Treasures

Monday, February 18, 2008 As the saying goes "the trash of the Swiss is the treasure of the Americans." Very true. Monday is trash pick up day in our neighborhood. Everyone puts their blue trash bags as well as other items out. As we were leaving the apartment, we caught sight of a treasure on the sidewalk. Keaton, Landon, Olivia, and I walked slowly by the items neatly stacked against the building next to ours. Then we backed up and looked more closely. It did indeed look like a treasure. But we walked on to our tram stop. For a few seconds we thought and stared at one another. Then the agreement came with few words. We should seize the treasure! Olivia and I remained at the tram stop with the boys backpacks while they hurried back across the street to gather the treasure and take it safely up three flights of stairs to our apartment.

In just minutes the boys were back at the tram stop with their mission accomplished. All of the treasure was on our dining table with not one bit of treasure left on the sidewalk or broken climbing the stairs. When we returned from our day sightseeing in Zurich, we more carefully examined the treasure and put it in the dishwasher. It really is a beautiful treasure. Not a complete set, but valuable to us anyway.

Now the task of getting it back to the states. Such a find cannot be left behind!

NOTE: Comments can be left without a google account now. The setting could be changed. I am so glad!

The Top Of Eurpoe

Saturday, February 23, 2008 What a day! I don't even know where to begin. Maybe in the middle with the children sledding in the alps? Or with the train ride up the mountain that only got more incredible as we ascended?

Interlaken is about a two hour high speed train ride from Basel to almost the center of Switzerland. (Interlaken is between two lakes as the name implies.)

Interlaken was beautiful as the photos above show, but no snow. The small village is surrounded by snow covered mountains. Seeing it just wasn't enough. So we went to the ticket counter and asked where we would need to go to get to the snow. The ticket agent named a few places. We chose Kleine Scheidegg because of its proximity to the very top! The Top of Europe it is called.

We excitedly boarded a little train with windows that opened and wooden seats. Everyone else aboard sat quietly and composed in their seats. Not us. We quickly opened the windows, hanging out like tourists oohing and awing!

There was an English man on holiday watching all of the activity we were creating running from side to side of the train snapping pictures and pointing. He warned about hanging out the window too far. Within minutes we appreciated his warning when the train entered a very narrow tunnel.

With every turn the view became more beautiful. The grassy hillsides soon turn to snow covered hills then to snow capped mountains.

Then the we reached our destination. Robert and the children spent the rest of the afternoon sledding and exploring. Not being dressed for sledding, I people watched, took pictures and enjoyed God's creation. Sunset was glorious.

The kids old and young a like had a wonderful day! Lots of kid photos on the gallery http://www.photos.5plus1ranch.com/ .

Photo Gallery

They are there! The photos of the Wartenberg Ruins are up on the gallery link http://photos.5plus1ranch.com/ . Just a hint: if you go to the filmstrip tab you can see the pictures much larger than the thumbnail (you might think that it obvious, but it took me a bit to figuer it all out) and then you can read the captions. When I looked at the thumbnails, I couldn't figure out where all of captions had gone! Silly me.

Good News!

We finally have an internet connection in our apartment. I no longer have any excuses to get behind on posting our exciting adventures and getting photos up on the gallery at http://photos.5plus1ranch.com/ . Watch for Part 2 of the Wartenberg Ruins post. That was such an intersting trip with much to share and I was having an impossible time posting text or photos. Although I am several trips behind on my postings, the children are keeping up with their journal/scrapbooks. After each outing they are quick to print their favorite photos and start recording memories. The purchase of a small HP photo printer at a bargain price was a wonderful investment. (Might have even been a good at full price. ) Be prepared to see lots of pictures when when get home. With four of us snapping pictures all over the world there will be lots see from several different perspectives!

The train photo is for Mrs. Ladelle. The other proves I am really in Switzerland with Robert and the kids.