Visit to Bern

This weekend was Sydney's turn for a haircut
JP working on his scooter
At the Christmas Market in Zurich
Bern
Bern
Bern

Visit to Luzerne

JP just had a haircut

Malaga, Marbella, and Gibraltar

Lunch at the pub
With the Apes at Gibraltar
JP feeding the ape
The rock looked from the south
The rock looked from the north east
JP doing "sand angels"
At the Alameda in Marbella
Syd at the beach

Malaga Cathedral






Malaga



We successfully completed our first expedition to Europe (outside Switzerland). They were five days full of activities and here is a short version of what we did.
1st day: we arrived in Malaga, the city was flooded due to the rain. We managed to get to the hotel and explore Benalmadena, where the hotel was located; finished the day with a dip in the pool.
2nd day: we explored Picasso’s (and Antonio Banderas’) birthplace, Malaga. We started at “Plaza de la Marina”, visited the Picasso museum, the cathedral and its museum, and had some “tapas” at a café next to the Roman Theater, among other things. We then went to the beach and swam at the pool.
3rd day: we explored Marbella, located some 70 km from Malaga; there we visited the “Plaza de los Naranjos” (Spanish for “Orange trees square”) where of course all the trees had beautiful oranges, the walls of the “Castillo Arabe”, walked around the “Paseo de la Alameda” where they have many interesting Dali’s sculptures, and finished the visit at the beach were the sand was beautifully fine.
4th day: we took a tour to Gibraltar. We visited the Rock of Gibraltar, located on a peninsula attached to Spain but governed by the UK. We went to the top of the rock were you can see Africa, feed the Apes (JP did) and visited the St. Michael’s caves, among other things. We also had lunch at a Pub and did some shopping.
5th day: we came back home.

The Uetliberg

Sydney taking a nap......

JP refusing to take one.

This week was somewhat busy. We managed to attend two English speaking playgroups, one indoor playground, two visits to the gym and our first play date with our new friend Carmen from Peru and her little son Maurizio. The weekend was quiet. We took a 20 minute train ride to Uetliberg Mountain; it is 871 meters above sea level and has a beautiful view of Lake Zurich and the Alps (when the sky is clear). While the train took us pretty high, we still had to push Sydney and sometimes JP on their double stroller (not an all-terrain stroller) on different hiking paths; it was tough but worth it. We stopped a couple of times to catch our breath and have snacks.

We also took some time to prepare for our first expedition to Europe (outside Switzerland) coming up this week (more details to come), and we also had a chance to see Paula, Jay, Chelsey and Dexter… through the internet, of course! It was great and we can hardly wait to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends using the same technology to keep in touch (and it’s free!). We love and miss you all!