Holiday antics

There have been a few times since we've been here when I have unintentionally broken rules, and had to suffer the consequence. (Let's not mention the compost in the wrong bin episode...)


There was the time I travelled without my travel pass on the train, and was emphatically told off for not carrying the receipt with me. I was fined only 5 Francs, but had to show up at the main station with my receipt the next day. Could have been worse.

Another time I took a huge bite out of a sandwich while I was on the bus. I can't say for sure if I was thinking at the time. The bus driver turned around and said something which more or less meant, 'No eating on the bus'.

But that wasn't the end of it. A nearby passenger turned around too and said (in German), 'Who was that? Was that you?'

Then there's our neighbour: When DS is in full fog-horn voice our neighbour crosses the landing to ring our bell and then runs back into his apartment cursing, and slams the door. It took me a few times to realise it was him and not just some kids ringing random bells as they passed the building. And I could go on about the odd neighbour behaviour in these parts (there's another sour-faced couple who shoo the children out of the playground, if you can believe that...), but I think we are doing OK, considering it's only the second week of the holidays.

Luckily for us, the local Gemeinde puts together a School Holiday activities list to get us out of the house, which arrived in the last week of school with strict instructions to return by a certain date to certain named person.

Thus began the frantic attempt to de-code all the activities. I must have given up or passed out soon after I started reading the German, because at the last minute I had to enlist the help of my Dear English Pal - with her fluent German - to assist in the translation. Some events were not at all what I'd envisaged (sewing pearls onto a t-shirt, for instance, which sounds like something to be avoided at all costs, so it's lucky I discovered its true meaning before I checked the box for that one). But aside from that all went according to plan, and the children were accepted into a good number of activities. I must mention that I broke a rule by handing the form in a day late, but was pleasantly surprised to find I was not penalised. No problem.

On the first day of the holidays DD had the opportunity to go to one of the well-reputed restaurant kitchens in Zürich to make pizza and dip strawberries in chocolate (hey, this is Switzerland). DS and I followed on the train at a requisite distance until we reached the city and then waved goodbye to DD... and then discovered that the Hausfrau had somehow left her Eftpos card in a machine somewhere, and she was without even enough cash to get DS the promised hot chocolate. Poor DS: I dragged him back on the train, then walked him up The Hill, then up The Hill even further to the shop I'd left the card at, then walked him all the way down The Hill, back on the train... just in time to pick up DD at the station.

Day One, and DS's comment was: 'Mum, when are we going to start having fun?'

By Day Two things were looking up. DS had a play with his Dear Little Kiwi Pal in the morning and went up to a local farmhouse in the afternoon to find out where milk comes from. He returned with an empty cup (presumably after having drunk fresh milk), and informed me that yes, of course he had milked a cow, and DLKP had found a grasshopper.

By the end of the week, we'd seen a magic show (which the Hausfrau watched too but was then informed by an amused friend that adults weren't supposed to go in) and DS had visited the local Bergwerks, which appears to be a museum which holds old coal-mining stuff. Turns out there is a large mine under our town which stops not far from the roots of our very apartment.

And by the time the weekend rolled around our Dear Aussie Pals arrived from Tokyo, and there was much eating of Thai food and chocolate to be done. The Hausfrau even joined them in a walking tour of the old town in Zürich, which was enlightening in as much as it enabled me to visualise Zürich in its various stages of development, and see some nooks and crannies which I'd not yet discovered.

I have to say that the highlight of the week was without a doubt hearing the amazing Stimmhorn, a vocal/horn duo who combine horns of all shapes and sizes (including alpenhorns) and the vocal gymnastics mix of Tibetan chant harmonics with - you guessed it - yodelling. Wow.