Hope everyone has a great Valentine’s Day! It’s another snowy day here in Switzerland. We went into the internet café and had a nice soup lunch. They had flowers for sale, so Mike bought a yellow rose for Abby and a red rose for Amy (and a heart cookie for Austin). We’ve had a couple of great days of skiing and are taking today to rest. Here is our updates from the last couple of days.
Skiing in the Swiss Alps:
The skiing here is different than what we are used to back in the States. We were told it would be, but you have to experience it to believe it. First of all, if you are used to Spring Break skiing than you have never attempted to ski in weather like this. (winter) The temperature hasn’t really been a factor (although its been below zero Celsius every day) , it’s been the amount of snow falling. We are definitely more used to skiing in beautiful sunshine. It has snowed everyday this week and a lot. The mountains are bigger than any mountains we’ve ever seen. Since we are staying in the valley, we first have to take a train or cable car to get to the mountain base. Then in order to get to the slopes, you either have to take another cable car or ski lift up the mountain. The cable cars travel up into the snow and fog. At times, you can’t even see the ground or anything else around you, but clouds. We have also experienced some of the slopes not being fully groomed. Mike and Abby got caught with snow up to Abby’s waist one time.
February 9th --We got up early this morning in order to catch the bus, the train and then the bus to get the kids to ski school in Grindelwald on time. We arrived on time and got them checked in. Abby & Austin were in an English speaking class although the other kids were European. The class was a 2 hour starter class that Mike had to assist the whole time. The instructor, David, was a little overwhelmed with 5 kids under the age of 5. Also, Austin really wanted someone around him at all times. The class really just got them both used to being on skis. By the time the 2 hours was up, they were both a little tired and hungry. We found a spot to have lunch, and then skied a little bit more. It was a little rough at the beginning, but we finally got going with the kids skiing between our legs. I’m pretty sure that Mike and I were more tired than they were by the end of the day.
February 11th --We headed to Murren (to 5361 feet) by bus and cable cars to do some skiing. It was snowing pretty hard (but as we know now it was nothing like what was to come the next day). Mike and I had to buy goggles today, the kids already had some. We rode up the chair lift and it was probably an aggressive decision with the kids. It took us about 4 hours to get down with a 30 minute break for hot chocolate in between. The kids were troopers, but they definitely had their moments. After getting back to the chalet, we looked in to a more appropriate place to take the kids and found an area at Wengen.
February 12th --We headed to Wengen (to 4160 feet) by bus and train to do some skiing. It definitely had a great kids ski area. We should have started here at the beginning of the week, but you live and learn. It had a small slope with a moving walkway lift. It took the kids a little bit to get over their previous experience, but once they did, they loved it. Abby picked it up fairly quickly. She could go side to side and snow plow. If she fell, she could get herself back up. Austin was more of a “point your skis down hill, go fast and fall on your back at the end” kind of skier. He’s a little young to really understand the directions, but no fear for him. Today was the first day we really experienced a blizzard and apparently that doesn’t stop anyone from skiing around here. We had put the kids in a drop-off daycare for a couple of hours so Mike and I could go skiing. We took the cable car up the mountain (to 7317 feet), but when we got to the top, it was a white out. You could barely even see your hand in front of you. We were bundled up (you couldn’t see a bit of skin) and put our ski’s on. The whole time I was thinking “this is insane!” Well, we took off down one hill to a sign to try to figure out what direction we were supposed to go. It was snowing so hard, you couldn’t really tell how steep or in which direction to go. Mike headed the easy slope way, I think anyway. All of a sudden, I got all dizzy and disoriented from “all the white”. I yelled down to him “you go ahead!” I popped my skis off and headed back up the mountain the same direction I had just come from. I prayed that he would be safe and that I would see him again. I got back on the cable car and headed back down. While I was on there, I was talking to a man from Zurich. His family has skied here a lot and he confirmed that the conditions were very rough to ski in. Mike later admitted that if he hadn’t already committed, he probably would have joined me. (Here is Mike telling his story) I headed down the mountain and had no idea where I was going. At times, I couldn’t tell if I was moving or standing still because the wind and snow were blowing so hard. It was a very scary feeling not being able to see where you are going and being disoriented by seeing nothing but solid white wherever you looked. I found a ski lift and used it as my directional guide. Luckily, the run wasn’t all that difficult except for 0 visibility and thick powder. I rode back up on a ski lift and actually decided to do it one more time (wanted to get my money’s worth). It was easier for me the 2nd time because I had a feel for where I was going. I then rode the cable car back down and that’s where Amy and I met back up. The kids wanted to ski a little bit more after we picked them up so we did. They are loving it! (back to Amy).
February 13th -- Today was an excellent skiing day. The weather was beautiful and sunny! We decided to go back to Wengen since they had such a great kids village. We all skied around the kids area until about 2:30 with a short “picnic lunch” break. Abby really liked the area because it had some moguls or “bumps” as she called them. There was also a rope pull that took you a little higher up. Since the weather was so wonderful, at 2:30, we decided to put the kids back in the daycare so Mike and I could attempt to go skiing together again. We went back up the cable car and this time the weather was a lot more cooperative. We were amazed at the view up top…totally couldn’t see any of it the day before. It was absolutely beautiful! We made a few runs down and it was a lot of fun. Mike wanted to do a longer run so I told him to go on and I would go get the kids. He met us back in the kids area. We basically closed the ski area down, skiing until almost 5:30 since it was our last day. We turned our skis in and decided to eat dinner in the nice Wengen village. We found a pizzeria that had excellent food. It’s funny…we’ve eaten more Italian food here. By the time we get to Italy, we will probably be sick of it (probably not!). Everybody, but me had pizza. I tried something more local, the goulash soup. It was wonderful, very similar to a version of stew.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cultural Adjustments
Here are a few random pieces of information that people have asked about. BTW, a Jimmy Jones laugh is a term given to a laugh when you really want to scream or cry. Jimmy Jones was my dad's long time running partner and world traveler. Before we left, Jimmy told Amy and I there would be moments we would want to scream at each other or cry and the best thing to do was just laugh. So when we get in stressful situations we...Jimmy Jones laugh!.
Food: The grocery store in Lauterbrunnen is about the size of a convenient store in the States. Wow! It’s quit an adjustment to such small quarters, carrying a basket while shopping (no cart), everything in German, and not having near the selection. We have certainly survived though and have made several trips to the store. On average once a day, for two reasons…the size of the refrigerator and the size of store. We can’t figure out if Europeans shop everyday because of the size of the fridge or if the fridge is so small because Europeans shop every day. The milk can only be found in a 1 liter container. We used to barely make it with 1 gallon in a few days. We were able to find peanut butter our first trip to the store so that has made Abby and Austin very happy to have PB&J’s. We’ve made several chicken dishes, pasta and pizza. We’ve also eaten out a few times and have been lucky to get our hands on some English menus (some with pictures not words). We’ve enjoyed some Swiss / German foods such as cheese fondue, bratwurst and cheese & crackers for snacks. All’s good!
Chalet/Sleeping: The chalet we are staying in has a 2 bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom with the kids sharing a room with 2 single beds. We’ve all slept really well since arriving. Our covers are down comforters which is perfect for the cold weather outside. The chalet owner’s live above our apartment. We’ve decided that they tip toe around and whisper because we’ve barely heard them. It’s a good thing it’s not reversed! Since we are downstairs on the first floor, we have a backdoor access to all the snow. It has been great for letting the kids go out and play in the snow several times a day. The apartment is heated by small wall heaters that are placed in each room. One item that has been enlightening to not have is a garbage disposal. You don’t realize how convenient it is until you don’t have one. However, you also don’t realize how much food you waste until you don’t have one. We have a small green bucket to put all our “compost” in that then is dumped in a barrel in the back. This has caused us to cook smaller portions and eat everything on our plates (Mike has become the human garbage disposal for any kid’s leftovers). We have a TV in the apartment with about 40 channels, however only 4 are in English (CNN, BBC, MSNBC and MTV). It has been really interesting to watch the kids sit in front of the TV watching Disney in German. We’ve also found a BBC version of Grey’s Anatomy. Not a lot of TV watching with all the outdoor opportunities.
Transportation: We have been on trains and buses daily since arriving in Switzerland. Our apartment is about 8 minutes outside of the main town of Lauterbrunnen. In order to get there, we walk to the bus stop which is about 100 meters from our Chalet and hop on a bus that runs every 30 minutes. It’s really easy! From Lauterbrunnen, that is where we board the trains that then take us to our destination. If you read our blog (posted on 2/9/09), then you know that we learned the hard way that a train can split off at any station. It’s a good thing we learned that now and not later since we plan on using the train as our major form of transportation throughout Europe.
Weather: Temperature wise it is cold here, but the wind hasn’t really blown so it makes it bearable. On a cold day, it is definitely below freezing, but mind you we have to calculate it from Celsius to Fahrenheit. On a warm day, the temperature hasn’t gotten above 40.
Culture: One of the first things we noticed on the train out of Zurich was how quite the other people on the train were. We’ve now noticed it ever where. Restaurants, trains, buses…everywhere. It has been a little of a challenge with 2 kids but we are working on our quiet voices.
I've posted some more pictures as well....enjoy!
Food: The grocery store in Lauterbrunnen is about the size of a convenient store in the States. Wow! It’s quit an adjustment to such small quarters, carrying a basket while shopping (no cart), everything in German, and not having near the selection. We have certainly survived though and have made several trips to the store. On average once a day, for two reasons…the size of the refrigerator and the size of store. We can’t figure out if Europeans shop everyday because of the size of the fridge or if the fridge is so small because Europeans shop every day. The milk can only be found in a 1 liter container. We used to barely make it with 1 gallon in a few days. We were able to find peanut butter our first trip to the store so that has made Abby and Austin very happy to have PB&J’s. We’ve made several chicken dishes, pasta and pizza. We’ve also eaten out a few times and have been lucky to get our hands on some English menus (some with pictures not words). We’ve enjoyed some Swiss / German foods such as cheese fondue, bratwurst and cheese & crackers for snacks. All’s good!
Chalet/Sleeping: The chalet we are staying in has a 2 bedroom apartment with 1 bathroom with the kids sharing a room with 2 single beds. We’ve all slept really well since arriving. Our covers are down comforters which is perfect for the cold weather outside. The chalet owner’s live above our apartment. We’ve decided that they tip toe around and whisper because we’ve barely heard them. It’s a good thing it’s not reversed! Since we are downstairs on the first floor, we have a backdoor access to all the snow. It has been great for letting the kids go out and play in the snow several times a day. The apartment is heated by small wall heaters that are placed in each room. One item that has been enlightening to not have is a garbage disposal. You don’t realize how convenient it is until you don’t have one. However, you also don’t realize how much food you waste until you don’t have one. We have a small green bucket to put all our “compost” in that then is dumped in a barrel in the back. This has caused us to cook smaller portions and eat everything on our plates (Mike has become the human garbage disposal for any kid’s leftovers). We have a TV in the apartment with about 40 channels, however only 4 are in English (CNN, BBC, MSNBC and MTV). It has been really interesting to watch the kids sit in front of the TV watching Disney in German. We’ve also found a BBC version of Grey’s Anatomy. Not a lot of TV watching with all the outdoor opportunities.
Transportation: We have been on trains and buses daily since arriving in Switzerland. Our apartment is about 8 minutes outside of the main town of Lauterbrunnen. In order to get there, we walk to the bus stop which is about 100 meters from our Chalet and hop on a bus that runs every 30 minutes. It’s really easy! From Lauterbrunnen, that is where we board the trains that then take us to our destination. If you read our blog (posted on 2/9/09), then you know that we learned the hard way that a train can split off at any station. It’s a good thing we learned that now and not later since we plan on using the train as our major form of transportation throughout Europe.
Weather: Temperature wise it is cold here, but the wind hasn’t really blown so it makes it bearable. On a cold day, it is definitely below freezing, but mind you we have to calculate it from Celsius to Fahrenheit. On a warm day, the temperature hasn’t gotten above 40.
Culture: One of the first things we noticed on the train out of Zurich was how quite the other people on the train were. We’ve now noticed it ever where. Restaurants, trains, buses…everywhere. It has been a little of a challenge with 2 kids but we are working on our quiet voices.
I've posted some more pictures as well....enjoy!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
front train....back train.
Well, we've had a great couple of days. We've been to the grocery store a couple of times now and are beginning to figure that out. Between being small and in German, it takes a little getting used to. On Saturday, we took a day trip to Bern, the capital of Switzerland. It was a great town for walking on a slightly rainy day. It was snowing when we left Lauterbrunnen, but had changed to rain by Bern. In Bern we saw the Parliament, the Clock Tower, Einstein's apartment, the bear pit (Sic 'em bears) and many streets of small, cute shops. On Sunday, we went over to the ski resort of Grindelwald to sign the kids up for ski school and to rent ski's. We experienced our first bad tourist moment. We had to change trains to get to the ski resort. We got off at the stop and a worker said the train for Gridelwald would be by in 2 minutes. When it arrived, the car said Lauterbrunnen (which is where we just came from). We got on and then I hopped off to ask the worker that was standing at the door if we were on the right train. About then, the car that Amy and the kids were on seperated and took off. I started running after the train and jumped up to hit the button to open the door, but nothing happened. Amy was slamming her fist on the door window and screaming at me. I quickly realized the front half of the train (with my family) was going back to Lauterbrunnen and the back half was going to Grindelwald. Luckily, it was only a 10 minute ride back and so I had a worker call ahead and tell them to come back. When we finally all got on the right train to Grindelwald, Amy and I had a good "Jimmy Jones" laugh. Today (Monday) we had our first day of skiing. The kids did pretty good for there first day. Amy gave me another great laugh getting on a pull ski lift. Its a rope that goes between your legs and pulls you up the mountain. Well Amy thought you sat your full weight down (versus just leaning) and when she did, she hit the ground. The rope dragged her a little bit before she finally let go. Skiing was good, but Amy and I realized how out of shape we are. Suffice it to say, everything is creating funny, laughing moments for us and we are having a great time.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
And we're off...
February 3, 2009--We flew out of DFW to London. As would be expected, our flight was delayed due to the snow storm London had experience several days before. Apparently, London doesn't experience weather like that so it slowed down the airport and closed down some runways. Since our flight was delayed, it caused us to miss our connection in London to Zurich, but forturnately British Airways already booked us on another flight. The overnight flight was as good as could be expected. Abby slept pretty well while Austin was a little restless. He had to be in Amy's lap most of the night. I (Amy) never thought I would have the opportunity to snuggle with him like a baby again, but I got that chance most of the flight. Mike took him for me about the last 2 hours so I could get some rest, but I'm not sure I slept at all. But, we arrived in London safely!
February 4, 2009--We arrived in London about 8:30 a.m. local time. By the time we got off the plane and got through security again, it was almost time for our flight to Zurich. We all fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the flight to Zurich. The flight was about an hour long. We arrived in Zurich, got our bags and headed to the train station. It was fairly simple and straightforward. We took the first train to Bern. It was nice, and we had great seats upstairs. When we changed trains to Interlaken, we weren't so lucky. The train was full so we sat on our luggage in the doorway. We then changed trains in Interlaken for Lauterbrunnen. Once in Lauterbrunnen, we took a bus to our chalet in Stechleberg. When the bus dropped us off it was PITCH DARK...like out in the country dark. There were a few houses around, but no light to see where to go. We stood there with our luggage for a few minutes and had a "Jimmy Jones" laugh. We then saw someone with a flashlight ocming our way. It was the chalet owner, Adolf. He brought us to our apartment. We were tired and hungry. There was no food! He offered to drive us into town for dinner. We ate pizza at Adolf's sons's restaurant. After waiting an hour for the bus back, we got back to the apartment for some much needed sleep!
February 5, 2009--We all slept very well...12 hours to be exact and had to force ourselves to get out of bed at 10:00 a.m. We're having a lazy day today trying to adjust to the time, the weather, the altitude and our surroundings. We ventured across the street from our apartment to a small store for food to eat lunch. We cooked spaghetti because that is about the only food we could recognize at this point. We've come into town to get some information on fun activities in the area and do a little grocery shopping, and I mean a "little"! The refrigerator is very small and that explains why Europeans shop everyday. The kids are sitting on the floor having a snack of Sprite and cheese & crackers so their happy. We'll post more later...
February 4, 2009--We arrived in London about 8:30 a.m. local time. By the time we got off the plane and got through security again, it was almost time for our flight to Zurich. We all fell asleep almost as soon as we got on the flight to Zurich. The flight was about an hour long. We arrived in Zurich, got our bags and headed to the train station. It was fairly simple and straightforward. We took the first train to Bern. It was nice, and we had great seats upstairs. When we changed trains to Interlaken, we weren't so lucky. The train was full so we sat on our luggage in the doorway. We then changed trains in Interlaken for Lauterbrunnen. Once in Lauterbrunnen, we took a bus to our chalet in Stechleberg. When the bus dropped us off it was PITCH DARK...like out in the country dark. There were a few houses around, but no light to see where to go. We stood there with our luggage for a few minutes and had a "Jimmy Jones" laugh. We then saw someone with a flashlight ocming our way. It was the chalet owner, Adolf. He brought us to our apartment. We were tired and hungry. There was no food! He offered to drive us into town for dinner. We ate pizza at Adolf's sons's restaurant. After waiting an hour for the bus back, we got back to the apartment for some much needed sleep!
February 5, 2009--We all slept very well...12 hours to be exact and had to force ourselves to get out of bed at 10:00 a.m. We're having a lazy day today trying to adjust to the time, the weather, the altitude and our surroundings. We ventured across the street from our apartment to a small store for food to eat lunch. We cooked spaghetti because that is about the only food we could recognize at this point. We've come into town to get some information on fun activities in the area and do a little grocery shopping, and I mean a "little"! The refrigerator is very small and that explains why Europeans shop everyday. The kids are sitting on the floor having a snack of Sprite and cheese & crackers so their happy. We'll post more later...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Endings....and Beginnings.
Well, for those of you who haven't heard, we are taking a "family sabbatical". We (Amy, Abby, Austin & Mike - hereafter referred to as 3AM) plan on traveling the world for the next year; maybe longer...or shorter, who knows. We sold our house in Frisco and moved out on Jan 16th. We put all our "stuff" in storage. We have spent the last 2 weeks with our families and leave out of DFW on February 3rd. We are looking forward to this adventure and hope to update this site on a regular basis with our stories and pictures.
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