Happy is England

Tower Bridge (prettiest bridge in London, in my opinion)

In April we did a house swap with our friends who used to live in Evanston, who now live in a beautiful spot in England. We met up with the Saltzmans last July in Munich, where we sorta threw out a "hey wouldn't it be great to house swap?" but who knew if it would ever come to fruition. Well, lucky for us, it did!

We spent seven nights at their lovely home in Ascot. Our kids deemed it the best vacation ever, simply because of the new supply of toys, massive televisions and the trampoline and playset in the backyard that we had "all to ourselves!"

As many of you know, I'm an Anglophile through and through. My British expat friends tell me I have a highly romanticized vision of what England is. Perhaps so, but I think we all need a place like that in the world. Yes, I don't know the pains of living there. I only know the charm of visiting. And that's OK with me. I need that place in the world that only holds fond memories and warm and fuzzy feelings. I also doubly appreciated it on this trip because it was music to my ears to hear English spoken everywhere, to be able to read ALL the signs in the shops and on the roads. It was heaven to my expat brain.

Tobi and I went to London a few years ago, sans children, so I felt like I'd really done London. We were both thrilled to see other things. The kids were up for whatever, though Charlie said his "must do" was the London Eye and Grant's must was the Tower. We went into London for one day trip, and did both of those, but our day in London turned out to be the coldest and rainiest of the entire week. This can only be good news, as it means we must return to London for a long weekend (see what I did there??).

The kids in the London Eye (Big Ben to the left, across the Thames)

The kids really enjoyed the Tower of London

Grant, going to Hogwarts, from Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station

Of course, in Tobi's ever-ambitious quest to rack up the countries visited, we drove to Wales to tour a castle. British friends called Chepstow "fake Wales" because it is just over the border. Pish tosh! I saw a Welcome to Wales sign and I saw several signs in Welsh, so IT COUNTS. The kids enjoyed that day because of the 900+ castles in Wales, we toured one that is pretty much entirely ruins (ie, nothing for the kids to accidentally break and nearly no other tourists in sight). On our way back, we drove through Bath (Baaaahhhhth) and stopped at Stonehenge. Stonehenge was incredible to see in person and was a real treat for the whole family.

Chepstow Castle in Wales

Stonehenge

Lego London at Legoland Windsor

We spent one day at Legoland Windsor. How could we not? It was a mere ten minutes from our friends' home! Grant has decided we must tour all the Legolands of Europe. Thank goodness there are only three and we've already been to two (Denmark, here we come!).

Waiting for the Changing of the Guard at Windsor Castle

We spent a day in Windsor, which was a nice day for me. I got to shop at British favorites like Marks & Spencer, Cath Kidston, and Boots. We had a fantastic lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen and also watched the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle.

Life: MADE

We spent Easter Sunday at Highclere Castle. As I was planning the trip, I kept wondering how I could convince my husband and three small children that it would be fun to go to a 400-year old castle where the BBC period drama Downton Abbey is filmed. Luckily, a few days before Easter, I checked their site and learned of their Easter egg hunt. BINGO! 

Happy Easter at Downton Abbey

Sunday morning we set off for Hampshire with a loaded picnic basket and dreams of Lord Grantham Easter chocolate in our eyes. We got to the castle at eleven, about an hour before the hunt. There were a LOT of people there. But the queue (oh how the British can queue; it is a sight to behold) moved quickly and the kids got their riddle sheets and off we went. The Easter Egg hunt wasn't so much of an egg hunt as a hunt for riddle clues. Once you had all of your answers, you turned them in in exchange for a giant Cadbury chocolate egg. Everyone was happy, the grounds were gorgeous, and I had almost fulfilled my fantasy of living in a British period drama. We picnic'd with other families on the grounds and after lunch Grant and I took the tour of the castle itself. 

The show of Downton Abbey doesn't truck in props. They use the furnishings of the house. One of the tour guides said that the film crew is lovely to work with but that they sometimes need reminders on how to pick up and move antique furniture. There are placards around the house to alert you to certain things associated with the show, such as "Lord Grantham's desk" or "Lady Edith's room" or "Kemal Pamuk's room." They've definitely traded on the Downton Abbey fame, but who can blame them? Houses of that stature can fall to ruin if the family makes no money to restore and retain them.

All in all, our trip to England was one of our favorite trips. We had decent weather for the most part (I, for one, am happy to have cloudy, chilly weather in England - that's part of its charm!), we had good food (fish & chips, and Indian twice!), we met lovely people with lovely manners and we got to feel like we were at home because we really were in someone's lovely home.

I was so sad to leave and had tears in my eyes as we boarded the plane back to Zurich. But I know that we'll definitely be back again!

Cheerio!

Tiffany

Up next: Germany's Black Forest, and Lugano

Paris Part Deux

Lucky me! At the end of March I was able to swing a second trip to Paris in six months. My mom was vacationing in Paris for a week with my Aunt Judy and then separately, my friend Sarah was coming to Paris for a vacation. Tobi generously agreed to work from home so I could take the TGV to Paris for three nights.

I arrived in Paris on Friday afternoon and took a taxi to the apartment in the Latin Quarter, where my mom was staying. I’d briefly walked through the Latin Quarter on my trip in September, when I did my self-guided Hemingway tour. Coincidently, the apartment my mom was renting was directly across the street from Hemingway’s first apartment.

On Friday evening, my mother and aunt and I went to the Palace Garnier to see a ballet performance. The Garnier is the old opera house in Paris. It was beautiful on the inside, with gilt and marble everywhere. There was even a hall fashioned after the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

Marc Chagall painted the ceiling in 1964.

His dreamlike painting depicts scenes from operas by 14 composers.

Versailles was the destination on Saturday. We took a train from the city out to the historic chateau. It is amazingly beautiful with gorgeous gardens and ballrooms and courtyards. But one can understand why the opulence did not sit well with the revolutionaries.

On Sunday morning, I left the boisterous Latin Quarter for the more sedate St. Germaine area to meet my friend Sarah. Sarah and her husband were celebrating their ten year wedding anniversary with a trip to Paris, and Sarah was lovely enough to come one day earlier than her husband so we could hang out together for a day. She was also a jet-setting rock star, as she got off the plane from St. Louis at 9:30 in the morning and didn’t take a nap the entire day!

After we got settled in her rented apartment in the cutest neighbhorhood, we set out for lunch at an outdoor cafe. After lunch we decided to walk down to the Musee d’Orsay to view the impressionists. I haven’t been to many museums in Paris, but I highly recommend the Orsay. The museum itself is gorgeous, housed in a train station built in 1898. The museum is not overly huge and can be done easily in an afternoon. The Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, and Monet paintings were exquisite to see up close. I would also recommend the audio tour, as I think you get so much more out of a museum with the additional information.

Sarah and I enjoying the scenery (and ice cream) of the Ile St. Louis

From the Orsay, we walked back up to the Ile St. Louis and stood in line for the famous Berthillon ice cream. If you go to Paris in the summer, it’s a must (and yes, it was only March, but we were blessed with exceptionally warm weather). The best flavor is the salted buttered caramel, in my opinion. We walked around the island with our ice cream, crossed over to the Ile de la Cite to view Notre Dame, and eventually made our way back to Sarah’s apartment. We had a lovely dinner at a little brasserie by her place and after a Nutella crepe for dessert, Sarah finally crashed!

On Monday morning Sarah’s husband arrived, but he decided a nap was his best bet, so Sarah and I walked through the Tuileries to the Musee d’Orangerie, a museum that houses some of Monet’s larger water lily paintings. Another beautiful museum that was actually quite small. I actually prefer the smaller museums – they don’t seem too daunting. Monet’s water lilly paintings take your breath away when you see them. Architecture buffs would love the rooms built specifically to showcase his larger works.

After a quick lunch with Sarah and her husband, I was off to the train station to head back to Zurich. I am blessed to live so close to a place my friends all want to visit. If you’re ever heading to Paris, let me know! Perhaps I could meet you there. ;)

Cheers!

Tiffany

Next up: England

Ski Week

I have been very lax in my blogging lately! Sorry!

Back in February we took part in our very first expat ritual of going away for ski week. We went to Serfaus, Austria in the Tyrol region with two families from our school, the Dublins and the Jeppsons. Thanks to our friend Annalisa’s diligent research, we stayed at a lovely family hotel in Serfaus called the Hotel Furgler. A "family hotel" is a brilliant European idea that American ski resorts should adopt! It’s basically an all-inclusive hotel with kid-friendly features like included all-day childcare, a pool with water slides, a children's play gym with video games, a child’s buffet dinner with unlimited juice bar, ski passes, and wonderful five course dinners for the adults each night. The three families, with nine children between us, enjoyed the hotel very much.

The boys in Serfaus, before hitting the slopes!

Grant and Tobi had been skiing all winter, so Grant was ready for ski school. He and Patrick and Sophie skied off every morning to meet their instructors and never looked back. Charlie hadn’t skied for about 2 years, but he did great. He took 4 days worth of lessons and he felt more comfortable on skis by the end of the week. Caroline stayed in the hotel daycare with Vivi and Annie and had little outings like going to a farm to see horses and pigs.

Charlie hadn't skied since he was 3, but he did a great job at ski school.

The instructor would shout, "Charlie make-a the pizza!"

Every evening our après-ski routine consisted of snacks and swimming in the hotel’s very nice pool (indoor and outdoor!) and waterslides. After swimming, we would head to dinner. Since everyone at the hotel was there for the whole week, we had the same seating every night. They put our three families together and the kids had lots of fun eating from the buffet, having ice cream from the ice cream bar and then playing on iPods until the adults were done with dinner.

Tobi enjoyed skiing alone but he mostly liked skiing with Grant.

Caroline didn't ski but she still had fun in the snow.

Ski vacations are hard work and we were usually all in bed each night by 9pm. The kids were troupers, though, and they did great.

Tobi and Charley tried to keep up with Grant and Patrick.

On the way home from Serfaus, we drove through the eastern part of Switzerland, through St. Moritz and Davos. What an amazing scenic drive. The mountains in that part of Switzerland were astounding. We might need to go back someday to that region.

Views of St. Moritz (from the car) were stunning.

Cheers!

Tiffany

Our Swiss Apartment

Several friends have asked me to email photos of our Swiss place. Clearly, you might be bitterly disappointed if you were expecting a Swiss chateau. But we like it - it's not big, but if it's taught us anything, it's that most families could live in much smaller quarters than they believe.

Main living area: kitchen, dining, family room

The kitchen is small, but I think I actually

work better in it than my bigger US kitchen.

Like any good Swiss shopper, I keep my reusable grocery bags handy.

The boys share a room, as they did in the States.

Caroline has her own room & shares with whoever comes to visit!

Our apartment building is new and very modern looking, and thus the bathrooms are too.

Not really my style, but I haven't done any decorating either.

Laundry room at the end of the hall. It only take 3 hours or so to do a load.

Master bedroom and bath. Notice the glass wall that divides the tub from the bedroom.

Note to self: must get curtains soon.

Next up: Family ski trip to Austria!

Cheers!

Tiffany

Happy New Year!

Since I plan to someday make a book of my blog as a keepsake of our time in Europe, Tobi and I decided to keep a record of our travels. Below is our comprehensive list.

Zurich, Switzerland - January 2011 househunting trip

Milan, Italy

Günzburg, Germany (Legoland)

Ulm, Germany

Munich, Germany

Chicago, Illinois

Bloomington, Indiana

Palos Verdes, California

Paris, France

Floence, Italy

Sienna, Italy

Monteriggioni, Italy

Venice, Italy

Verona, Italy

Colmar, France

Vienna, Austria

and Tobi, for work:

London, England

Oxford, England

New Haven, Connecticut

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Frankfurt, Germany

Wiesbaden, Germany

Milan, Italy

Brussels, Belgium

Geneva and Basel, Switzerland

Here's to your health, happiness and safe travels in 2012!

Cheers!

Tiffany

The One Where I go to Vienna

Tobi gave me an early birthday present - a weekend to Vienna! I went to meet my friend Natalie there for the weekend. Natalie recently moved from Charleston, South Carolina to Hungary. She and her family will only be here through February so she is trying to fit in as much travel as she can, much like me. She lives less than two hours from Vienna, so she has been a couple of times. When I found out we were definitely moving to Zurich, the guidebook for Vienna was the first guidebook I bought. I've always wanted to visit and I always thought it would be most magical at Christmas, so it was pure luck that it worked out to go around Christmastime.

Natalie and her husband and adorable kids picked me up on Saturday morning at the Vienna airport. The flight from Zurich to Vienna is about an hour, so it's a very easy trip. Her husband dropped us off at our hotel, the Kaiserin Elisabeth, in the heart of the historic district. We stowed our bags at the hotel and set off for the sights. It turns out Natalie and I are travel soulmates who both geek out over European cathedrals. We decided to tour St. Stephen's Cathedral first because it was literally around the corner from our hotel. There were masses of tourists trying to get into the church, but once inside it wasn't too crowded. We decided to do the audio tour (a bargain at €4.50) and that was amazing because you learn so much more by doing the guided tours. I wish all European churches offered it.

The entrance to St. Stephen's Cathedral

View of the church from the altar; notice the pipe organ at the end

St. Stephen's is a very dark, very gothic looking church. There isn't too much that is cheerful about the place, but it is held in very high honor in Austria, as the Archdiocese of Vienna. The first structure was built in the 1100s, but construction continued up through the 1500s. Repair and reconstruction happen even today. There was scaffolding around much of the exterior and it looks like the church is getting a good scrubbing, as you can see by the picture below.

You can see scaffolding on the left; notice the difference in color at the top.

The beautiful altar

The details and symbolic carvings on the pulpit are amazing.

The audio tour gave vague information about what happened to the church in 1945, referring to World War II as "the castastrophe of 1945" a few times. After reading online, it turns out the retreating Nazis ordered for the church to be destroyed as they left Vienna, but those orders were disregarded. However, as the Russian troops entered the city, fires set to nearby buildings carried over to St. Stephen's, and the roof collapsed. Much of the valuable artwork and sculptures were protected by brick shells, and the church reopened in 1952 after reconstruction of the roof.

Judenplatz

After our tour of St. Stephen's, we went on a walk through Judenplatz, the site of the Jewish ghetto from the middle ages. There is a Jewish museum there and a memorial to the Austrian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The memorial is moving and somber, a sort of library turned inside out. The memorial is supposed to resemble a library with the books turned with the spines in, symbolizing the untold stories of the victims. Along the bottom are inscribed the names of the camps where Austrian Jews were killed. There is a symbolic, inaccessible, entrance. During the excavation process of building the memorial, remains of a medieval synagogue were found.

Names of the camps are inscribed below the inward-turning books of the memorial.

The inscription: "In commemoration of more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were

killed by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945."

Around the corner from Judenplatz was a lovely little Christmas market and we began our hunt for Christmas gifts, decorations and interesting Christmas market food. I had never been to a Christmas market in my whole life until about a month ago. Now I've been to a few in Switzerland and several in Vienna. There were several small ones around the city and the major market at the Rathaus. We stopped for a late lunch of baked potatoes. They were enormous and you could get them with various toppings like ham, bacon, cheese, onions, and sour cream sauces with herbs or garlic. Natalie and I both thought it was very cool that they serve the potatoes on real dishes. You pay €2 for the bowl and you get your money back when you return the plate. No paper plate waste! We also had mugs of glühwein and instead of returning the mugs for our money, we decided to keep them as souvenirs.

Small market . . .

. . . giant baked potatoes

We stopped at the famous Viennese coffee house and food emporium, Julius Meinl. If you're from the Chicago area, you've no doubt stopped in at the coffee shops on the north side. I have no idea how a Viennese coffee house decided to expand and open coffee shops in Chicago, Illinois, but I'm so glad they did. It's one of my favorite places in Chicago, so I wasn't going to miss seeing the original in Vienna. Natalie and I toured the 3 floors of amazing food halls that is Meinl in Vienna. Everything from meats and cheeses, to pastas, sushi, international packaged foods, teas, coffees, pastries, etc. You name it, they sell it. Just seeing the logo made me feel a little less homesick.

(Almost) just like being in Chicago

Christmas lights were hung on many streets . . . so beautiful.

Natalie and I liked the chandelier street the best.

In front of the Hofburg Palace, which serves as the President of Austria's house today.

Later in the evening, we walked through the city to the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt. The spectacle that was that market cannot be overstated. The Christmas light displays were nearly blinding and the sheer number of people fighting for space was mindblowing. We had glühwein,Langos (basically an amazing fried bread with ham & cheese in it), and chocolate-covered strawberries. After fighting the crowds and being dazzled by the sights, we walked back to the hotel for rest.

Unbelievable light displays at the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt

On Sunday after breakfast, we decided to tour the Mozarthaus. Mozart and his family lived in an apartment in the building for three years, from 1784 to 1787. The guided audio tour was interesting and tells of his time as an in-demand composer and performer in 18th century Vienna. There are copies of his original sheet music and some period furnishings of his time. Looking at the sheet music with his markings and notes, I had a similar feeling as I did when I saw Michaelangelo's David in Florence. A feeling that something otherworldly was at work there. A special talent that seems almost impossible to understand.

Where Mozart lived when he wrote The Marriage of Figaro

From the Mozarthaus, we walked to the State Opera house and stopped at the Cafe Sacher, world-renowned for its famous Sacher Torte. Apparently we weren't the only tourists wanting cake that day because we had to wait in a line that led out onto the sidewalk. However, our wait was short and we were able to taste the amazingness of the torte for ourselves. After that, we walked around the opera house and back up through the city before we got a taxi from the hotel to the airport.

The famous Sacher Torte

The massive State Opera House

My visit to Vienna was short but very, very sweet. Vienna is a beautiful city and I'm so glad I got to see it in all its glory at Christmas. I'm also thankful I had such a fun touring partner in Natalie. Traveling is amazing. Traveling with friends makes it unforgettable.

Cheers!

Tiffany