Bernina Express

This past weekend was our last long weekend of the school year. We had Monday off for Pfingstmontag (Pentecost Monday). Even Jason was off. We didn't want to go anywhere since we'd just been in Italy last weekend, so we decided to do something on Sunday that we hadn't done yet in Switzerland. We went on one of the panoramic train rides-the Bernina Express.

The ride begins in Chur and goes down south through the eastern part of Switzerland (near Davos and St. Moritz) to Tirano, Italy. We knew it was a long ride (5+hours each way), but we figured it would be fun since it had panorama windows and great views and cool bridges and tunnels.

Not so much. Maybe if this was our first month in Switzerland, we'd have enjoyed it. But we have seen better views driving around. Plus, the train seats were small and there wasn't anywhere to stretch or walk around. Basically, it was the longest day of our lives. Even Tirano, was a let down. It was a cute town, but we only had an hour and a half for lunch and had to settle for microwave(!) pizza for lunch before getting back on the longest train ride of our lives.

After nearly 12 hours on a train in one day, I think I'd have enjoyed the day more if I had opened a window and just thrown 300 francs out of it. Then at least we'd have had the day to spend doing other things. This day trip ranks up there with our trip to Wiesbaden when we visited th Kinderspital in Frankfurt. Boo, Bernina Express, boo.

Entering one of the many tunnels

Snowy mountains

Spring in the valley

View from our car as we turned a curve

one of the 50+ bridges we crossed

Microwave pizza at the train station.

At least we found gelato!

Desperate boredom leads to drinking wine from a baby sized bottle.

Lainey's Waldkinder

Looking for tadpoles in the pond

Tadpole Detective!

Our specimen!

Looking close up

Time to go on the bus with her friend Kate!

Last week, Lainey's class went on a Waldkinder field trip. Waldkinder means "forest children" and it's when kids go out into the woods to learn about nature. Aidan went every Tuesday in Kindergarten and finally Lainey gets to go. She's gone one other time, but last week, I went as a chaperone to catch tadpoles!

What fun!

Grr!

Now that I've finally decided on a school for the kids, I just found out today that they don't have space for Aidan! We may have to go to the other campus 30mins further away.

I had a half hour conversation with the admissions officer today in which I heavily hinted how I am such an involved parent and on the PA board and am willing to volunteer and how I wouldn't be able to do all this if the school is so far away. He was seemingly interested in how active a parent I am and once he found out I was a teacher, his first question was "would you be interested in subbing? How about working full-time?" Well, let's see...do you have a place for my kid??? I told him the principal at the school has already given me a substitute teaching application when we visited and he said, "well, I'm sure she's going to want your kids in her school".

At this point, I've played the "poor me" card, the "I can sympathize because I'm a teacher" card, the "I'm the volunteer of your dreams" card, the "my husband knows the CFO whose kids go to your school" card, and the "I'll be on your PA board"card. My hand is played. I've got nothing else. Now it's up to God and how desperate the school is for dedicated parents.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Decisions, decisions...

There are so many decisions that go into uprooting lives. We've made most of the hard ones already:
(1) Do we want to move to Germany? Yes, we're still game for the ex-pat life
(2) Where do we want to live? City, country, suburb, house, apartment...? Done, great house in a great area.
(3) What school should we send the kids to? Uh...that's the stumper now. But I think we have finally come to a decision on that one. FINALLY.

There are 2 (actually many, but only 2 we're looking at) International schools in the area where we'll be living. We liked both, and each has it's own pros and cons. At first glance, I was totally into one that is similar to where the kids go now. Then, as I started (over) thinking, the other one that is more academic started to look like the winner.

The more academic 'British-style' school seemed to make the most sense in my head. More learning, less tuition, nearly bi-lingual... all good, but for some reason I just couldn't pull the trigger, so to speak, and send in an application for the kids. The downsides were kind of big ones-Delainey would skip a year of school and be placed in Kindergarten. The population is mainly German and Korean children for whom English is not their mother tongue. The school does tons of testing and not much creative/explorative learning.

But, my gut and heart have chosen the other more 'American' school. Delainey's tuition won't be fully covered by the company (which was Jason's big plus for the other school), but she'll be in pre-school another year. My baby can stay my baby for a little longer :). I also think that socially and emotionally it is the best fit for the kids and for me. There are many other American and British families there. This school is closer to our house. They have a strong and active Parents Association to help me acclimate too. There will be less academic pressure, yet both kids will get more German instruction than they do now.

Finally, I feel at peace with this final major decision of the move. Sometimes, you have to follow your heart instead of your head. Mother's intuition over black and white financials. Our kids are both pretty bright and would do fine at either school academically, but I just feel that they need a bit of nuturing as we build our lives in a new place. I still think that academically this school will be better for them than a normal public school, simply due to low class sizes and better resources. Plus, it will be easier to transition back to American schools from an American-style International school than the more rigid one.

Now that all major decisions have been made, all we have left to do is enjoy our last few weeks in Zurich. I'm really going to miss this place, but I also have a lot to look forward to in Germany and, especially seeing all our friends and family this summer.

Kinderhotel Weekend

We spent the long Auffahrt (Ascention) weekend at a Kinderhotel in northern Italy. This was going to be our last long weekend in Switzerland and our last vacation before moving to Germany so we wanted to do something really great! (I know, like we haven't been going to great places all along!) We tried to go to the beach somewhere, but flights were crazy expensive because nearly every European country had 4 days off. So we looked into train trips. Overnight trains to Amsterdam and Prague and Vienna were booked long ago, so then we decided to see what was in driving distance (and where we haven't been yet). No where within 5 hours drive excited us, so we decided to check out what friends of ours have been recommending: Kinderhotels.

I went to www.kinderhotels.com to see what I could find. Most seemed geared toward ski weeks and some with summer activities, but only a few were even open in spring. Those that were did not fall into the low-budget category. But, after doing some research on the packages, at least it seemed like you'd get a lot for the money. After a few days of hemming and hawing, we decided to treat ourselves, knowing we'd need the relaxation after a week of crazy househunting just a week before in Germany.

We decided on Cavallino Bianco in the Dolomite mountain region of Italy. The Dolomites run through northern Italy just below Austria. Basically, due north of Verona and Venice. It took us about 4.5 hours to drive, and we went through Austria, skipping the dreaded long-weekend traffic jam at the Gotthard Tunnel in southern Switzerland. Considering the trip was costing a pretty penny, we decided to make sure we arrived in time for lunch! All meals were all-inclusive (except alcohol) so we wanted to make sure we got our money's worth. And we were not disappointed! The lunch buffets were amazing! Fresh seafood, veggies galore, salad bar, roasts and potatoes, pasta and kid friendly food. We couldn't try everything we wanted. If we had, we'd explode!

As soon as we'd checked in and had lunch, the kids wanted to check out LînoLand. LinoLand was every kids dream come true. From 9am-10pm everyday the kids could climb on climbers, play in ball pits, do crafts, do baking, go on hiking excursions, go swimming, play indoor sports, etc , etc, etc! The kids could even eat lunch and dinner there! At night, they had "happy discos" and movies and plays put on by kids. Our kids LOVED it. They wanted to eat dinner with their new friends the first night, so we let them. Filet mignon was on the menu in the kids' club. Seriously. Jason and I enjoyed a quiet 5-course meal in the main dining room. I do not know how Italians can eat so much. They must not do it everyday. We were stuffed and couldn't attempt to eat all 5 courses!

The place was so family friendly! In all the dining rooms there were special kids' menus, and even baby food stations. They let people borrow strollers (and I'm not talking your run of the mill Gracos. The loaner strollers were of the $800-1500 range!), each room had built in baby monitors and all were suites. Even the bar was child friendly! As adults relaxed with glass of wine, kids were riding bikes all around, bikes that were provided by the bar! It was weird, but also pretty cool. Adults could enjoy a spa vacation with all the bells and whistles and not have to worry about their kids bothering others. EVERYONE there had kids, I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to stay there without kids. Really.

It was a dream weekend. Jason and I had spa treatments and a mountain bike ride. Aidan went on a 2.5 hour hike, played soccer and basketball non-stop. Lainey colored, baked bread, and discoed herself silly. We all swam everyday and ate like kings and queens. We are already thinking of going back during ski season! It was the best way to spend a gray and otherwise dreary long weekend.
The front of the hotel

Outside pool and play area

View of the outdoor pool from our balcony. The outdoor pool was heated so that you could swim outside even in the cold!

At the outdoor pool area, with a view of the Dolomite mountains in the background

Lino Land play area

Lego area of Lino Land

Heidi house area of Lino Land, where the kids did cooking activities

Bigger than life size doll house!

Our room

the kids' part of the suite

bike riding in the piano bar

View of the mountains and town from our balcony

All dressed up for dinner in the main dining room and the disco!

Aidan, dancing like a maniac

Swimming fun! The hotel even provided arm floaties and other toys!

Front porch of the hotel Our mountain biking trip to spy on Aidan's hike

OK, everything looks safe for the hiking group!

Headed back down the mountain. Quite a steep ride at high altitudes!

Lainey had Mommy and Daddy time while Aidan was on the hike

On our last night there we got to go on a (free!) horse and buggy ride through the village

Here is a hilarious video of our kids at the disco.

Moving to Germany

We just returned from our Look-See trip to the Frankfurt area. We are definitely moving there at the end of June! We were super pleased with the selection of houses and we think the area will be great. There are lots of small to medium sized towns with great restaurants and shops. The variety much surpasses Zurich, but on the down side the area is more suburbia than quaint like Zurich. One town we really liked reminded me a lot of Plymouth. We had hoped to find a house there, but unfortunately all the houses we liked there didn't have a back yard and Aidan said "having a garden is really special to me". So we decided to pick a house a bit further from a village so the kids would have a yard. It wasn't that much of a compromise, however, because considering I had a list off 10 things that I wanted in a house, the only thing we didn't get was walking distance to shops and restaurants! 9 out of 10 ain't bad.

We are at least walking (albiet a little far and down/uphill) to a bus stop that would connect us to Frankfurt or Wiesbaden, a Thai restaurant, and a few small flower shops and markets. Everything else we could possibly need is within 10 minutes in some direction.

Besides a few cute towns, we found a great mall (yes, a REAL mall!), a fantastic indoor/outdoor pool/spa, take out restaurants, parks, and hiking trails. We are 10 minutes from one international school and 20 from the other. I still have to decide on schools. Hopefully, I can figure that out later this week. One decision at a time, please!

Anyways, here are some photos of our new house! This is the street view. We have a one car garage and carport, with a good sized back yard. The ground level is actually our basement. The window on the left will be our guest room. The other 2 bottom windows are actually a separate (tiny) apartment. Right now no one lives there, but if they do it's not a big deal as their entrance is totally separate from ours. The playroom and living room have access to the small terrace and have fantastic views of the rolling hills. The third floor is where our bedrooms are. There the windows are mainly skylights.

Here are 2 pics from the master bedroom

Through these skylights we also have a great view of the hills and forest.

This is a little area upstairs across from kids bedrooms. It screams "reading nook". We'll remove the fire extinguisher and add book shelves and beanbags to make a cozy corner.

It was an over cast day, but this is our street view. Up a level in our living room, you look above this tree line and out over the forest and hills. We are on a corner, and as you turn the corner it's a dead end. Very private and quiet (until we move in!)

We looked at so many houses in such a short time, I forgot to take many pictures. Once we move in I'll post lots more. It's more than double the size of our current apartment, so we are thrilled about that! We have 3 bedrooms, a play room, a study, a guest room, 3 12 baths, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, storage area, terrace and full yard. Everything is updated and newish. There is a great fireplace in the living room too.

As much as I HATE to leave Zurich, I think that Germany will be alright. It's a good transition place before moving home. I'm really looking forward to the house, but I'm sad to leave our friends. I'm sure we'll meet new people before long. Now, I just need to decide on where to put furniture and what school the kids will go to!