Well, I realized today that I've been tricking myself into thinking we are on an amazing family vacation. We've eaten Swiss food, paid ridiculous prices at swiss stores, rented a car, and did a little sightseeing. I think Bryan may have even worn our camera around his neck and I know we spoke English to people REALLY LOUD thinking they would understand us better that way. I'm sure many of the swiss people we've encountered were hoping we were just annoying tourists passing through their beautiful town. No such luck for them.
Yesterday was our best day yet. After enjoying a quiet night without any of the kids waking up, we decided to venture out in our rental car (we chickened out on buying a car just yet, it would ruin that whole "vacation" feel I have been enjoying) and head to Lucerne. When we got into town, the kids spotted their favorite Swiss landmark, the Golden Arches, and my mom and I took them for fries and orange juice. Bryan headed to the tourism office and returned with tickets to Mt. Pilatus. I was concerned there might have been a language breakdown and he had unwittingly signed us up for a family pilates class, but he assured me we were heading to the Alps. We hopped a bus to a town called Kriens and walked five minutes up a hill to a cable car station. Grandma had to decide whether she was more terrified of heights, or being left alone in Switzerland by herself. Her fear of being left in a foreign country after we all perished in a freak cable car accident won out and she agreed to join us. We did scare her a bit by telling her she could share a cable car with the kids and Bryan and I would enjoy some alone time in the cable car behind her. I think she had flashbacks to the airplane ride and we let her off the hook before her blood pressure got too high.
The cable car rose 7000 feet up to the top of the mountain and there aren't words to describe how beautiful it was. I've always thought the words "breathe taking" were obnoxious and overly dramatic, but that is truly what it was. I couldn't believe what I was seeing was real. We traveled through a tunnel cut through the rock that had openings to enjoy the view. The only thing that would have made it better was if they rented leashes for the kids so we didn't have to yell, "Step back from that railing!" every 30 seconds. The fear of one of the kids sliding off the edge of the mountain was probably a little over the top, but I knew as the mom I'd be expected to scale the mountain in a lame attempt to save them, and I wasn't open to even the most remote possibility of that.
On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a cable car station 1/3 the way down and were able to enjoy a number of stereotypical swiss customs. There was a cute swiss chalet with outdoor seating and Bryan and I enjoyed a pint of swiss bier. (See, my Swiss-German is already coming along!) Then we listened to a bunch of old guys playing accordians and Alphorns. (aka the Ricola cough drop horns). The highlight for me was when 2 drunk old german guys broke their bench with beers in hand and landed on their arses (I've picked up some Irish too). Good Times!!!
We spent some time at a playground 2/3 the way down the mountain before heading back to the train station to get our car. We threw the kids some lollipops in the backseat and we all rode home exhausted but happy. The kids were troopers and E managed to hold her own with all the walking since we couldn't fit the stroller in the car. It was an amazing day and our best since arriving in Switzerland. As I went to sleep that night, it occurred to me that the "vacation" was over and the start of school for the boys meant a return to reality...
Yesterday was our best day yet. After enjoying a quiet night without any of the kids waking up, we decided to venture out in our rental car (we chickened out on buying a car just yet, it would ruin that whole "vacation" feel I have been enjoying) and head to Lucerne. When we got into town, the kids spotted their favorite Swiss landmark, the Golden Arches, and my mom and I took them for fries and orange juice. Bryan headed to the tourism office and returned with tickets to Mt. Pilatus. I was concerned there might have been a language breakdown and he had unwittingly signed us up for a family pilates class, but he assured me we were heading to the Alps. We hopped a bus to a town called Kriens and walked five minutes up a hill to a cable car station. Grandma had to decide whether she was more terrified of heights, or being left alone in Switzerland by herself. Her fear of being left in a foreign country after we all perished in a freak cable car accident won out and she agreed to join us. We did scare her a bit by telling her she could share a cable car with the kids and Bryan and I would enjoy some alone time in the cable car behind her. I think she had flashbacks to the airplane ride and we let her off the hook before her blood pressure got too high.
The cable car rose 7000 feet up to the top of the mountain and there aren't words to describe how beautiful it was. I've always thought the words "breathe taking" were obnoxious and overly dramatic, but that is truly what it was. I couldn't believe what I was seeing was real. We traveled through a tunnel cut through the rock that had openings to enjoy the view. The only thing that would have made it better was if they rented leashes for the kids so we didn't have to yell, "Step back from that railing!" every 30 seconds. The fear of one of the kids sliding off the edge of the mountain was probably a little over the top, but I knew as the mom I'd be expected to scale the mountain in a lame attempt to save them, and I wasn't open to even the most remote possibility of that.
On the way back down the mountain, we stopped at a cable car station 1/3 the way down and were able to enjoy a number of stereotypical swiss customs. There was a cute swiss chalet with outdoor seating and Bryan and I enjoyed a pint of swiss bier. (See, my Swiss-German is already coming along!) Then we listened to a bunch of old guys playing accordians and Alphorns. (aka the Ricola cough drop horns). The highlight for me was when 2 drunk old german guys broke their bench with beers in hand and landed on their arses (I've picked up some Irish too). Good Times!!!
We spent some time at a playground 2/3 the way down the mountain before heading back to the train station to get our car. We threw the kids some lollipops in the backseat and we all rode home exhausted but happy. The kids were troopers and E managed to hold her own with all the walking since we couldn't fit the stroller in the car. It was an amazing day and our best since arriving in Switzerland. As I went to sleep that night, it occurred to me that the "vacation" was over and the start of school for the boys meant a return to reality...
