Laowai

Oh my goodness – look what happened in my kitchen yesterday.

And then we had a mini party with a couple of Bea and Claire’s friends to celebrate the Olympics opening ceremony.

Yes, I have more photos from our trip to Switzerland!

This year the Tour de France went into Switzerland briefly – into the city of Bern. We had to go.

First Brian found us a good spot – around 2 kilometers before the finish – on a cobblestoned climb.

Then you wait for the caravan to come. The caravan is a bunch of wacky sponsor vehicle that have people throwing things out the windows. It’s usually young people – they roll into towns all along the race course and do their best to get the crowd pumped up with excitement. Those young people do this everyday for a month – it’s often a five (or more) hour ride. They have tons of enthusiasm but at the end of the race course you can tell that it must be exhausting too.

There’s Claire waving her arms trying her best to get them to throw some loot our way. It’s super fun.

Then after the caravan you wait some more for the riders to come. It was hot and we were feeling the anticipation big time.

You start to sense the helicopters are getting closer and the crowd down the road gets excited and then there they are! The racers zoom by and it is so exciting to be there in the thick of it.

There’s the yellow jersey on Chris Froome.

I think Claire missed all the riders. After all the excitement of the caravan she passed out on Brian’s shoulder. We watched the TV coverage later and the girls got a kick out of finding our little speck selves from the aerial shots. I’m so glad we went!

What is a schlittelbahn? It’s a super fun summer sled ride. There’s the track snaking through the meadow.

You sit on a little sled and you can control the speed.

You get pulled up the hill.

Through a tunnel.

Then down you go – it’s like a luge run but no snow.

It was right next to our hotel so we went down MANY times. Claire had to ride with me. Not sure why she is making a face – she loved it.

Brian was zooming down some mountain roads on a bike while we road the schlittenbahn. Fun!!!

Bea and Claire are great little hikers. On our longest hike they went four miles on up and down mountain paths. I have lots of photos (of various quality) and lots of memories (of the very best quality).

On this day there were some snow ball fights and then Brian accidentally pushed Bea into a cow pie. Then, with poo on her shoe, she felt less like hiking. Sigh. Claire on the other hand was like a little mountain goat.

There was a massive playground at the top of the gondola and a petting zoo too. Bea was a goat whisperer.

Can you hear the cowbells and the bumble bees?

It was haymaking time.

This picture is strange but it shows the girls on hammocks at a restaurant. It was perfect because Brian and I were sitting above the hammocks and the girls just giggled and giggled and had the best time while we waited for our lunch.

And it was Brian’s birthday! He’s having a big piece of homemade apricot cake with a pile of rich whipped cream on the side.

There is a comfort that comes from our familiarity with Switzerland. Maybe someday we will want to expand our travel, but right now it feels right. We can travel around the country and see new places but still be very comfortable. The girls are at a fun age for trips like this. It can feel like an adventure and still be somewhat relaxing as a vacation should be.

Here’s claire eating some familiar ice cream. Notice her messy mouth is chocolate on one side and vanilla on one side.

Switzerland has the best playgrounds – wherever you go.

We ate way too much cheese. Here we are about to have fondue and poor Claire E. couldn’t keep her eyes open.

Brian is in heaven – the familiar hotel breakfast includes several types of cheese and cured meats. I love the Bircher Muesli (familiar and so tasty).

This familiar style of scalloped siding that you see on old houses always impresses me.

Familiar Funicular – say that three times fast.

Brian got to do some biking – new roads but familiar happy feelings.

Riding on the train and playing with toys – so customarily pleasant.

I’m back from our Montana and Wyoming vacation and I still haven’t posted my photos from our Switzerland trip. Time to dive in…

For the first part of our Swiss vacation we stayed in a grand old hotel full of history and slightly shabby character. The Hotel Schatzalp was built in 1900 as the top luxury tuberculosis sanitarium in Europe. It was the inspiration for Thomas Mann’s book Magic Mountain. I read half of Magic Mountain years ago and gave up because I found it boring. Maybe I’ll have to try it again. The hotel was changed from a sanitarium to a hotel around 1950. It has beautiful original art nouveau features and it is perched up on the side of a mountain in Davos. Lovely alpine meadows surround it and beyond that spectacular views of the alps. Our rooms had big covered balconies where the TB patients would sit. I absolutely loved our balcony – so quiet so fresh and such a magnificent view of the valley below. We were lucky to have three perfectly sunny days and I had time to sit out on the wicker lounge chair and romanticize about being a wealthy patient convalescing. On one of our first days it was cold and I was up early because of jet lag; I wrapped up in a robe and a heavy wool blanket out on the balcony. Of course I had to remember (a little) that it was probably not too fun to have tuberculosis. But I can’t imagine a more peaceful, restorative spot than those covered balconies at the Schatzalp. Here are some photos.

This is the view when you get off the funicular that carries you up the mountain. 

The front of the hotel is all covered porch and balconies above – and it looks out over the valley and mountains beyond. Yes, that is snow on the grass below. Luckily it only lasted the first day of our trip and then it was warm and sunny.

The next photos are taken from our room:

Some charming wildflowers featured along the entrance to the hotel.

Here’s the funicular that carried us up and down the mountain:

The Thomas Mann pathway out the back door of the hotel:

Here are a few interior photos. The little brocade lined elevator felt very Grand Budapest Hotel. 

Art nouveau all over:

The bathroom had the same color scheme as my bathroom!

Looking out onto the divine covered balcony with the comfortable old lounge seat. Such a special place.

Here it is – my new kitchen…

Yes – I know – it’s lovely.

This is our temporary kitchen in the basement. There are just a few essentials like coffee machines and paper plates and cups and plastic silverware. Today I will box up any remaining food in the kitchen and then it will be ready for demolition in a few days. You can see my washer and dryer (in the background) were moved out of the kitchen to their new home in the basement. And our old fridge will be placed where that blue tape is in the foreground of the photo. 

It’s a little chaotic around here – deep breath – but I can’t really complain – I’m about to get an actual NEW KITCHEN!!!

We’re back from our Switzerland Vacation – actually we have been back a few days but those few days have been a blur and I have barely had time to think of posting our photos.

I’ve been trying to get over my jet lag and the days have been full of ups and downs. It’s a long boring story, but things have gotten under way a little sooner than I expected. Contractors have been pouring in and out of the house, laundry has not gotten done (because my washer isn’t hooked up), I’ve been boxing up everything in the kitchen, our toilet had hot water running to it briefly and I had a huge yucky leak in the kitchen yesterday. The good news: it’s progress and I succeeded in my quest for a vintage sink!

I’ll jump into posting our photos soon. You can tell by this photo that we had a fantastic time.

In addition to packing for our next vacation (I know, poor me) and clearing out my kitchen, I must find time to freeze these beautiful beans from my garden. 

We are just about to take off for our big summer vacation, but before I go I wanted to post a couple pictures of my honey.

One of him at the Triple Bypass bike ride out in Colorado and then a couple of his early birthday celebration (this key lime pie recipe was great).

Stay tuned for, likely too many, photos of mountains.

Today I took the girls to the Chicago Botanic Garden. On hot days like this I really notice all the fountains at the garden. Seems like around every bend there is another water feature that the girls are drawn to. It really makes me appreciate the hardscaping and all the different styles of fountains. Plus the gardeners were watering a lot so there were sprinklers to run in.

Every time we go to the garden I drool over this sculpture. I’d tuck it into my bag and steal it if it wasn’t fastened to the brick wall.

We went to the model train garden. There are little trains snaking all around mini replicas of famous American buildings. It was particularly cool today because we got a preview of our upcoming trip to Yellowstone. See the tiny Old Faithful Inn below. And there is a matching Old Faithful that erupts with water every minute. Fun! 

Big dahlias. Big smiles.

The girls love these two fountains. They are just so cool – the water falls in a pristine clear stream. And the sound is really nice too. It’s fun to stick your hand in and break the perfect plane of water.