... of Switzerland is the 'Italian-flavoured' canton TICINO. Three weeks ago we made a day trip down south to LUGANO, one of the most southern towns in Switzerland. By train it took us 3 hours straight south, right 'through' the Alps in various tunnels and curves.






Mediterranean vegetation, Gelato and Espresso create a perfect 'illusion of Italy' ;-).







We have been very lucky with the weather back then, 24 degrees and sunshine were just great for middle of October.

...that I did not manage to upload earlier.

We have been to LUCERNE back in September. It was our first visit since we came to Switzerland and definitely not the last one. Since it was quite foggy all day we could not enjoy the nice scenery around - the rocky Alps surrounding the Lake Lucerne with the city on the western bank.



The same week was also a big popular sports event along the northern bank of the Zurich Lake.
http://www.zuerichsee.ch/de/page.cfm/slowUp
We made some 45 km that day, my parents (who were here at that time) cycled and me on my inline skates. Anmar and Dima were still excused this year and relaxed in the sunshine.



Life can become difficult if you are a poor cow and these bloody humans put a bell around your neck. Especially if the latter one weights some 20 kg and your dear shepherd still expects you to walk down the runway in the local beauty contest with your head held high!
The contest takes place annually in Schindellegi, the village where my office is situated.





Autumn was short but beautiful, the picture below was taken about 3 weeks ago.



This week we had the first snow already, 20 cm in one night. Not bad for October.
Dima does not complain as long as we muffle up her properly :-)

... than the sea level in my last post was the mountain top I explored last weekend. You might guess that this must have been back in Switzerland... rright!

Together with friends I made an alpine tour at picture-perfect weather: Sunshine, blue sky, green alpine meadows and snow-covered mountain tops at the horizon all around. You could say that this is why one comes to Switzerland :-)

Our trip was the advanced version of an relaxed Sunday walk. Distance 20 km, we started at an altitude of 1300m and hit a bit more than 2600m at the top, total duration was around 10 hours. But hey, somehow you need to compensate for those 5 days every week, where your only movements are your fingers dancing on the keyboard...

(enter 'medergen, switzerland' in GoolgeMaps and you will find the area where our route was)

I am that happy because we've just left 2 hours straight upwards-walking behind us and it's lunch time :-)


Down there in the back of the valley we parked our car.


Big explorers did always point out something at the horizon, didn't they?


This lovely alpine village, Medergen (2.000m), was our last stop before we had to turn downwards again to return to our car. The village consists of well-preserved wooden alpine cottages only, still without electricity and tap water. The true luxury up here is silence and the stunning nature around, making this a place where you would like to stay a bit longer...

Late but still, here is an update on how the summer vacation ended: with a perfect sunny summer day!
We did spend the afternoon walking along the white beaches around Kühlungsborn (check 'kuehlungsborn, germany' in GoogleMaps), taking home a few deep breaths of that good salty air that you only have at the sea.... ahhhhh.




Finally we enjoyed a fantastic sundown that makes being at the sea so special:


However, the days before have not always been that lucky with the weather but still aimed to take every chance to be at the sea. So even Dima had to get dressed for our adventures :-)

10 days to relax in the garden at home or at the beach with my girls, visit a few good old places and friends that you have not seen for ages - that was roughly the plan for our summer vacation at the Baltic Sea.
The plan was a good one and it looks like we can stick to it! Well, if the weather would be a bit less cloudy and stormy you could actually feel that this actually is high-season for summer holidays. However, I already swam in the sea (chilly 18 degrees) and had some beachvolley-matches with my family, Dima met her cousins and we still have some 5 days ahead of us...

Good start - relaxing in the garden


Dima making new friends...


Anton-girls


"Hey, who are you?"

Last Wednesday we finally went home to the Baltic Sea for the first time since ages. BUT, this time being THREE Anton´s travelling! Due to the distance (1050 km) we flew from Zurich to Hamburg, making this the first flight experience for Dima in her life.
I wonder what she might remember later on: She slept on the shuttle train to the airport as well as during the entire flight. No crying, no fear, nothing...
Good girl :-)

Roughly about the time when little Dima gets her first milk of the day, the Zurich lake appears in a beautiful mystic morning light. Not that I have seen it myself (as I am still sleeping at that time...) but Anmar does every morning ;-) !

You might have heard about the 'EURO 2008' (European Soccer Championship) that currently takes place in Switzerland?!
Well, the event made the Swiss increasing the number of flags per household from 1 to at least 10. If one thought that the national symbol is quite common here in everyday life (compared to other countries) - this is nothing compared to times when the countries hosts a sports event of that category. WOW, it´s just red and white everywhere!!!!

However, since we are not soccer-maniacs we rather spend our free time to discover the surroundings here. Instead of going down to the lake we walked a bit up the (tiny) hills at the back of Wädenswil.
Although we are still waiting the summer to arrive! Whereas the sun was all over Germany during the entire past 4 weeks the opposite was the case down here...

Here some impressions from the back of Wädenswil, bit more towards the mountains (but still ´hills´ around here)


There are still plenty of small farms, having some cattle, sheep and some fruit trees and doing direct selling to those who pass by. Definitely something I did not expect in this high-price-country. But it seems to be a successful mode, selling organic food at high prices to townsfolk that barely know the smell of fresh air.



Hey, and they had some funny sheep that actually looked like teddy bears for Dima :-)



In Switzerland you can have Müsli not only for breakfast, you can also take a bus and go there, even from Wädenswil:



Oh, did I mention that Dima is well?
She (or better her mum) was impressed by the first visit they made a the peadiatrist. The examination started at the exact time when they had the appointment (not 1.5 hours later, as usual back in Germany) took full 45 minutes (not 5 min) and at the end she really had the feeling that they care. Just great!

Got the cable modem delivered this week! And again I had to learn again that the Swiss like to do things their very own way. This must not necessarily be a better one, important is that it is different to the rest of Europe.
You know that little Gallic village with Asterix and Obelix and that whole crowd? That is here!!! Although few more people, but still resistant to adopt any inventions by those bloody Romans (=EU-countries).
Switzerland has own plugs (energy). Here is one explanation why: There are 200.000 Germans that do live here in approx. 150.000 households. Every household bought maybe 6 adapters to use its toaster, vacuum cleaner, micro wave... whatsoever. An adapter costs in average 8 CHF (a cheap China-import plastic thing with total costs of maybe 0,30 cents). 150.000 x 6 x 8 = 7.200.000 CHF just for that! A compensation for the low taxes? ;-)

However, when I tried to set-up my WLAN at home my router did not work with the cable modem they sent to me. After some investigations I found a label on the bottom of my device that stated "For world wide use, ... excluding Switzerland".
Before you ask: our car does actually drive with the fuel they sell here ;-)

But hey, the pros certainly outweigh the cons! For instance the Friday evening beer on our new balcony ...


...and the view over the lake on the brightly lit coast on the other side:

Since a week we are in our new home but internet/ phone has still not arrived... which seems like and an age these days!
However, to many cartons still block out ways and views in the flat, but we are confident to have everything in order by end of this week.

But what IS nice already is the nature close by. It is literally just around the corner! Leaving our house and walking uphill a few meters we can enjoy this great view >>>
(this blog does not allow 'big' pictures - need to find a way to store/ link them...)



The (small) city you see right in the center is Wädenswil, the place that got three Antons as new residents lately. It is situated at the southern banks of the Zurich lake, approx. some 23 km southeast of Zurich.


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