Switzerland Review

I’ve been internet-less for the past few days, and I’m still internet-less, but I can’t take the blog separation so I’m typing up a post in Word at the Zurich airport. If you asked me a couple of days ago what I thought about Switzerland, I would have said that it’s cold, expensive, a little boring, and kind of unfriendly (that last one was based on some experiences from the hotel). I’m glad our trip ended on a Sunday, because it gave me the opportunity to go to church and interact with some people on a more intimate level. Let me tell you, Switzerland is not unfriendly! It’s still cold and expensive, yes, but I even think I’d be willing to change my opinion on its boring factor if (1) it weren’t snowy and (2) I spoke German. Church was great—we had all the meetings translated for us because there are other English speakers in the ward, apparently. Even so, basically every Swiss person I’ve met speaks a least a little English. Rose had a great time in nursery playing with the two other little German-speakers. During the past three weeks Rose has attended nursery in three different countries: France, England, and Switzerland. She’s loved it every time.

Written at home...:
So anyway, back to Zurich. After the first day or so, Megan and I got pretty bored because it didn’t seem like there were any “sites” to visit, and we could only take so much of window shopping in the snow with the kids. I was also frustrated not being able to interpret the German I saw everywhere. Megan was our spokesperson because she studied German when she was like nine (something she just decided to do on her own with a book—isn’t that something Megan would do?). We did a couple of interesting things, like visit the Swiss National Museum and step into some pretty churches. The Grossmünster church was one Sevak and the kids and I visited, and it was particularly beautiful. It was built around the 12th or 13th century but was very well refurbished on the inside. It didn’t have that dark and scary feeling of some of the churches in Clermont-Ferrand (i.e. it didn’t make Rose cry in fear). I also really liked the stained glass. I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but there were signs everywhere forbidding it.

View of Grossmünster in the background

We also visited Sprüngli, a well-known Swiss confectionary store. We bought a few “Luxemburgerli,” one of their trademark items. They’re really macarons, but as far as I can tell, French/Swiss macarons are not like the coconut macaroons we know; they’re two little meringue-like pastries filled with a creamy center. Rose kept whining for a "pink cookie" ever since we visited the store, so we went back later in the day to buy her one.



Some quintessentially Swiss things:

Saint Bernards in the toy store

Cuckoo clocks (My uncle brought one back from his mission [in Switzerland!] and I always remember admiring it as a little girl)

These places were a dime a dozen (P.S. I don't know if I mentioned this in other posts, but Sevak will be working for CS after he graduates this fall...he'll actually be back to Zurich this summer for a month-long training session!)

So anyway, looking back, Switzerland was great. Going to church at the end definitely helped because the people were so nice and we walked through a little residential area that was so cute. I think it would definitely grow on me in the spring or summer. I briefly attended an alumni dinner Sevak went to, and a wife of an ex-pat working for Goldman Sachs said she loved Switzerland. She didn't speak German, but she had been living there for three years and had both of her kids there. I was starting to see why she loved it: it's clean, modern, and [despite my lack of German] easily navigable (the trams are awesome, and we took a bus to church that was equally awesome). Oh, also, the airport ROCKED. They had like a whole mall in there, a fitness center, a chapel, a grocery store...I guess even non-travelers go there for shopping and stuff. Plus, we had to wait an extremely long time for our flight, and they have a nursery for kids to play in! Rose had a ball. I had previously gotten the impression that the Swiss were kind of unfriendly to children, but I think it's just because kids are so rare (even rarer in a five-star hotel). They are actually very accommodating to families. Rose got some sweet toys from Swiss Air (even Simon got a bib and a little stuffed airplane)!

Well, I keep going on, but there's a little taste of Switzerland for you! London was also totally awesome and I think I'd like to go back there someday. It was TOUGH traveling with the kids, but I'm glad we did it. It's funny, because I really started to miss our "home" in France. I felt so happy looking around at our familiar places during the taxi ride home from the airport. The kids are happy to be in a stable location now, too. :)

Post-nap (first one since who knows how long--she really needed it!)

Little buddy