Disconnected

Hi

We are in the Bernese Oberland and having a ball. We are staying in a 19th century cottage that has no Internet (gasp!!!). No posts for now. Lots of details to come.

PS. It is possible to survive wiothout an Internet signal......but hard!

Christopher takes 5th place in Biel Chess Tourney U10

As they say, when in Switzerland...play chess!

Today (7/24/11) Christopher played in the famous (to a certain sort of person) Biel International Chess Festival.  He took 5th place in the under 10 years old category, beating someone rated 1670 in the process. Not too shabby for his first international chess outing!

Now, there are some of you out there who are wondering: who plays in a chess tournament while vacationing/living in Europe?  But probably the less said about that, the better. But, if there is chess to be played, somehow we find it.

While Christopher played and Mark chaperoned, Matthew and I hung out in Biel and tried to take in the sights.  But, alas, it is Sunday and almost everything was closed.  Therefore, much like we often do at other tournaments, we walked around, ate some snacks, found a playground, read books, and took a nap.

Yesterday was a bit more active.  We traveled by the fabulous Swiss train system to Schaffhausen and then by bus to Rheinfall.  Rheinfall is a waterfall on the Rhine River (get it, Rhein...fall....).  In any case, it is the largest waterfall in Central Europe and it is very impressive.  As Christopher said "not quite Niagara" (which, by the way, he has only seen in books) but still a significant waterfall.

After a picnic lunch while admiring the waterfall from a distance (we decided not to take the boat that takes you into the spray), we hiked back to Schaffhausen (about 55 minutes).  It was a great day for a walk along the Rhine.  There were lots of people out strolling and riding bikes and just enjoying the day.

An observation about the Swiss:  they don't smile or make eye contact or say hello when you, say, walk by them on the hiking trail or in the hallway of the hotel.  The guidebooks comment on this and insist that it doesn't mean they're not friendly, but it sort of comes off that way by American standards.  On the other hand, that cultural style is more than balanced by Mark's colleague here who is letting us stay in his family's country house for a week, starting tomorrow.  What could be more friendly than that?

Ist here noch frei?

We arrived in Zurich on Thursday the 21st a little groggy but ready to go.

Zurich is in the German speaking section of Swizerland -- so the months of boning up on my French are really paying off!  But we are doing our best, remembering to say "bitte" and "dankeschon" as much as possible.

Zurich is a lovely city with a great old town and terrific transportation system.  We've ridden the trains, trams, and boats around town!  In a matter of two days we've visted the Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum), walked through the cobble stone streets of Old Town several times, visited the Zoo, seen the church from which Zwingli launched the Reformation in Switzerland, and hiked to a high point from which we could see all of Zurich, the lake, and a lot of the countryside (OK, the train took us most of the way there...we just walked the last 1/2 mile).

While there have been a few challenges, they have been minor.  The big challenge so far has been the rain.  There has been lots and lots of rain.  We've not been letting it slow us down.  But, let me tell you, having two boys share an umbrella is no easy task!

I've even had the chance to put to good use the very little bit of German I learned in the one semester I took in college.  At dinner on our first day, we entered a small restaurant and wandered over to the only open table.   I knew immediatly that I could use one of the four phrases in German I still remember and one of the few that can be used in polite company. "Ist here noch frei?"  (Is this seat free...) I said to the older man at the table.  He said yes and we sat down.  The man and I proceed to have a conversation in French--about the US, about our travels, about his family in the US and their low opinion of the French, about Obama and the US deficit.  Needless to say that 1/2 hour dinner completely taxed my poor brain!  It was clearly time for a beer!

And Away we Go....

We leave in less than 5 days.  Yikes!

The hardest thing to do is pack.  Imagine trying to pack for 5 months in one* suite case.  Which shirts would you bring?  Which pants?  How many shoes?

It is way harder than you'd think!

*Let me be clear!  We are each packing one suitcase...not all four of us in one suite case. Jeeze!  How crazy do you think we are!

Packing has been an exercises in compromises--don't bring as many shorts so you can fit in a few more pants (after all it will be getting colder, not warmer....); don't bring as many shoes so you can bring another sweater. 

I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin... (I have a feeling I'll be using that phrase a lot...after all we are going to live in Switzerland for 5 months so there is absolutely nothing that can be said that is even the least little bit like complaining....)