Last weekend, we did an overnight trip to Lausanne. The train ride was about 2 hours. Corrin likes trains, a lot. After she got into her seat on the train, she looked out the window and said "Train's not moving!!" Followed by: "I hope the train starts moving!" Sure enough, the train started moving, which prompted her to say "This train's moving fast!!". Corrin was well-rested, so we were able to pass the time fairly peacefully, pointing out cows to her as we sped past open pastures.
On arriving in Lausanne, we set out on foot from the train station to the lake. Along the way we stopped at a playground that Corrin wanted to check out. She approved heartily of Lausanne's recreational facilities. We hung out at the lake for a bit, and then set off in search of food. This proved to be a bit of a wild goose chase, as one vegetarian restaurant after another suggested by the guidebook turned out to be closed. Eventually hunger got the best of us and we had to stop at a thoroughly mediocre street cafe. I pigged out on some really terrible ravioli and didn't feel so good the rest of the afternoon.
After our moderately nourishing, if not exactly gastronomically remarkable meal, we headed for the hotel to drop off our bags. The hotel turned out to be way out of the center of town, and didn't look like much from the outside, but was in fact extremely clean and quiet, and the clerk was friendly. Relieved of our luggage, we returned to the beach, and Corrin got a solid hour of swimming in in Lake Geneva.
The next day, we wandered down towards the beach again, and found a narrow gauge railroad in a park. They were just opening it up for the day, and of course Corrin had to ride. She told us she wanted to ride it by herself. Perhaps she was emboldened by all the other toddlers embarking on their own. But when the driver rang the bell and prepared to pull the train out of the station, a look of panic came over her face, and she proceeded to scream the whole way around the circuit, which was about a 5 minute ride. We think it didn't occur to her until the last minute to wonder where this train was going to take her.
Permit me a brief intermezzo for some observations on playground etiquette in Zurich vs. Lausanne.
In Zurich, mothers congregate at the playground, turn their kids ages 2 and up loose, and sit around a picnic table smoking cigarettes and drinking beer from cans. In Lausanne, the typical behavior seems to be to accompany your child to the swing-set, to give them pushes between drags on a cigarette. It should be noted that this approach does not leave a free hand with which to hold a glass of Pinot Noir.
We credit the French influence in Lausanne for the closer proximity of tobacco consumption to children; yet I hasten to add that we've seen pregnant women smoking in Zurich.
At about noon on Sunday, we left Lausanne on the train for Gruyeres (via Montreux and Montbovon). Gruyeres has a medieval castle and the HR Giger (of Alien fame) museum. We took turns watching Corrin while the other one visited the Giger museum.
After the museum, we stopped at some little touristy restaurant that had ice cream and stuff. Corrin had some ice cream, Nico and I split the fromage assortif and also had the strawberries and cream. The cheese plate turned out to contain a half a loaf of bread and approximately a pound of rich cheeses. As if that wasn't enough, the strawberries and cream was equal parts berries and cream - by volume. I mean we're talking half a pint of cream per person. And this was really heavy cream. It had the consistency of thick honey.
From the restaurant, we walked lazily back to the train station, and made our way back to Zurich.
Last week was relatively quiet. Nico and Corrin explored Zurich by bicycle. We had pizza from the Kosher pizza joint down the street. (Called "Milk & Honey"). Corrin and I discovered a new park.
This week, Nico is in England visiting ClearSpeed, so Corrin and I are on our own. We've been having fun so far, though the weather could be better. Corrin has a nanny named Claudia during the day while I work. They seem to be hitting it off very well.
I had hoped to post pictures, but I keep forgetting the USB dongle for my camera in the bedroom after Corrin is in bed, so I haven't been able to download any pictures. We'll post them eventually, don't worry.
Faithfully yours,
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment