Author: sarahschwab

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British Holiday Traditions

We spent the past few days in the town of Henley, a beautiful old rowing town along the Thames river. We arrived on Christmas Eve and departed on December 27th, so we got to experience all the British Christmas traditions, and we wanted to share them with you!

Christmas Crackers

When Joe first heard the term “Christmas Crackers” he assumed it was some sort of special crunchy, biscuit-like thing. On the contrary, it is something else entirely. A Christmas Cracker is a cylindrical present filled with bits and bobs, wrapped like a piece of toffee. Two people pull from either side, and when it breaks open there is a loud “crack” made by a snapping device – hence the name.

Every Christmas cracker has three things in it: a small gift, a joke and/or riddle, and a party hat. There were Christmas crackers on our table on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day. Some of the gifts we got were short pencils, mini notebooks, make-up brushes, a calculator, a tiny deck of cards, and a metal puzzle. The party hats turned out to be crowns made out of tissue paper, which many people proudly donned during their Christmas dinner. We got a kick out of seeing well-dressed British folks in a nice restaurant wearing tissue paper crowns. And, of course, we joined in the fun!

Here’s one of the jokes we got…

Q: What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck?

A: A Christmas Quacker!

The Queen’s Speech

On Christmas Day at 3:00pm, the Queen gives a speech that is televised to the whole country. This year, the Queen was not feeling well, so she prerecorded her speech, which was introduced by the army band outside Buckingham Palace. It’s a short and uplifting message (about 10 minutes)
given by the figurehead of the country. She talked about some people and organizations that were very inspirational in the past year, and encouraged everyone to inspire others by taking small actions and helping those around them. At the risk of being treasonous, I have to say that the Queen isn’t the most engaging  orator, but for the age of 90, she’s doing remarkably well.

Christmas Pudding

One of the most traditionally British things to eat is Christmas pudding. It’s the dessert served at Christmas dinner, which is sort of like a fruit cake, only with more fruit and less cake. We’ve heard that it is supposed to be doused in a brandy sauce and lit on fire. But at our hotel, it was served with a sweet cream sauce that was poured over the top.

Christmas Lunch

Christmas dinner (or lunch) is always served in the early afternoon. The most traditional Christmas meal in England is turkey, including stuffing, cranberries, and more, much like a Thanksgiving dinner in the US. Most of our family ordered turkey, although I ordered steak, and they like to cover all their meat in a brown sauce. With my meal, I also got a Yorkshire pudding, which is like a puff pastry that can be filled with a sweet or savory filling.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas. Traditionally, it was a day off for servants and the day when they received a  ‘Christmas Box’ from the master. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give ‘Christmas Boxes’ to their families, giving the holiday its interesting name. There are a few traditions associated with Boxing Day. The first is shopping. It is common for larger retailers to have huge sales on Boxing Day. Many, though not all, shops and restaurants are open to cater to folks who are out and about.

Another Boxing Day tradition is the family walk. Families go for long walks together, presumably to walk off their Christmas turkey and pudding. We were even told by one Brit that this is the day when people will even greet each other during walks (apparently a cultural faux pas the rest of the year). The standard practice of averting your eyes when passing someone is eschewed in favor of a glance and a polite “’Allo!” When Britain lets its hair down, it really lets its hair down.

Finally, Boxing day is a traditional time for a festive drink like a Buck’s Fizz (orange juice and champagne) or a Bloody Mary (named for Queen Mary the first, according to our tour guide at the Tower of London).

Here are a few more pictures from our English Christmas…

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Say Cheese!

Our hotel, The Georgian House Hotel, is a small and adorable place that was established in 1851 and has an “award winning” English breakfast. When we first arrived, they were putting up a real Christmas tree that took up about a third of the relatively small lobby room. They had a tray of mini minced pies and a ceramic pot of hot mulled wine, which we enjoyed on the couch.

The hotel actually owns several small row houses, and we are staying in a ground-floor flat around the block from the main office of the hotel.  On the morning of our second day in London, we woke up, got dressed and headed over to the hotel lobby, where the Christmas decorations were complete, and down a set of very old stairs to the breakfast room. The “Full Georgian Breakfast” was as traditional as it comes, and certainly earned whatever awards it has received. For those who aren’t familiar with it, a Traditional English breakfast features eggs, sausages, ham, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms and roasted tomatoes. Ours included a selection of fresh breads, jams, and other condiments (including Marmite, a yeast extract paste that Henry definitely did not appreciate).

Once our tummies were full, we got ready for the day and headed out toward Buckingham Palace, which is in walking distance of our hotel. We arrived just before the changing of the guard, so there were tourists from all over the world crowding the entire gate and all of Leicester Square. We picked a spot and craned our necks to see the spectacle. But after about 15 minutes of marching and hoopla, we decided to move along. We were squeezing our way through the crowds of people going in all directions, trying to stay together when a police officer stopped us at the curb because the road was closing. By a stroke of luck, we ended up with front row seats right by the main gates as the English band, Scottish bagpipe band and the guards marched out right in front of us!

From there, we walked across Green Park to ride the Tube over to the neighborhood of Marlybone, home of two of London’s cheesier tourist attractions. First we headed to 221B Baker Street, where there is now a “museum” and recreation of the flat belonging to the infamous (and fictional) Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. A couple of blocks away is Madame Tousaud’s equally infamous wax museum. We took hundreds of cheesy pictures and enjoyed every second of it!

When we came out, we were ready for a little rest and nourishment, so we found a local Patisserie and sat down for an afternoon tea. Joe ordered the Creme Tea while the rest of us had a “high tea.” It came on a triple-decker platter and featured scones, clotted cream, cakes, pies, sandwiches, and, of course, tea. It was absolutely smashing*.

From there, we headed to King’s Cross Station, where there is another cheesy tourist attraction — Platform 9 3/4, which ostensibly leads to the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter. There is even a cart going right through the brick wall where you can take more cheesy pictures, which, of course, we had to do! The kids donned scarves from their chosen Hogwarts houses, pretended to be wizards and tried their hardest to get through that brick wall. It was brilliant! 

We took a gander at some of the Kings Cross neighborhood, popping into the British Library which has a bloody impressive archive of stamps, as well as a collection books that belonged to King George III (1760-1820). By this point it was getting late, so we grabbed the tube back to Pimlico, had some nosh at Pizza Express, and went back to our hotel.

Joe fancied a pint, so we left the kids to wind down with their screens and popped over to a local pub. He ordered a cask ale, and we toasted to another successful day. A group of 20-something Londoners came in and ordered a round of shots for themselves. We said we would have whatever they were having (which turned out to be a shot of tequila chased with lime cordial). That opened up some great conversation, and by the time we left we got several embraces and cheek-kisses.

You can see some of our cheesy (and not-so-cheesy) pictures from this day in our gallery here.

* I’ve chosen a few classic British phrases and adjectives to sprinkle into our posts. We will put them in italics, and it’s best if you read them with a British accent.

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From Lasts to Firsts

We have only been back in America for 2 1/2 weeks. But somehow it is hard to believe that less than one month ago I was at home in Switzerland. It seems almost like another lifetime. Our last days and weeks there were filled with lasts that we tried to cherish. They were very special, and also challenging and emotional.

Being back in America for the first time in over a year has brought a different set of emotions. We have gone from lasts to firsts. Or at least firsts in a long time. And it turns out firsts are wonderful in a completely different way. On our first day we went to Gilles’s Frozen Custard, which is an old family tradition and some of the best frozen custard on the planet (in my opinion). It was SO GOOD! And it brought back feelings of happiness for being home.

But, I’ve noticed that it’s not just the good stuff that’s new again. It’s everything! And it’s funny because even things that I probably wouldn’t have missed if I didn’t do them for a whole year before, somehow have significance again just because I couldn’t do them for a whole year. It’s kind of like being a tourist in my own country. Like seeing everything with new eyes.

When we arrived back in Milwaukee, the kids were thrilled to unpack boxes of old toys that were suddenly new and exciting again. They spent hours playing with things that they never even looked at before we left for Switzerland. “Look mom!” they shouted every few minutes, “I remember this! It’s my old toy laptop!” …or doll, or stuffed animal. It truly was like Christmas in August. I watched them as they tried to play with everything all at once, which doesn’t work very well and only leads to an extremely messy basement.

I recognized that same feeling in myself during my first trip to the grocery store. First of all, I had a car (!!) so I could carry as much as I wanted. After a year of grocery shopping by bike, I hardly knew what to do with myself. Then, I started recognizing items I hadn’t eaten for a long time. MMmmmm, red pepper hummus! Ooooh, Wisconsin cheese curds. Oh my gosh! Look at that cereal aisle! Pretty soon, my cart was full, and I had only made it through half the store, and I still had no meal plans to speak of. But, I wanted to eat it all right now.

It turns out, trying everything all at once is not good for your diet. I learned pretty quickly that I needed to slow down with trying everything again, for the first time. After all, I live here now. I have plenty of time to enjoy all of these firsts. Probably more time than the new feelings will last. So, I’m just trying to enjoy each first and the feeling of newness that comes with it, before it all fades back into normal once again.

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The Dream

In the past two weeks, we have been in three countries and two states. We have gone from living out of a few suitcases, to unpacking what feels like hundreds of boxes. We reconnected with our families in Minnesota and Milwaukee. And at a wedding last weekend, I got to see more extended family from Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, and all over the country. We have reunited with neighbors and friends in Milwaukee. And in general, I will say that it is good to be home.

In all of this reconnecting, we have answered the question, “How was Switzerland?” so many times! And usually people are looking for a one-sentence answer. For anyone who has been reading our blog, you know that it is impossible to boil down a year’s worth of experience into a sentence or two. So we just smile and say, “It was wonderful.” And, unless there are more specific follow-up questions, it is usually just left at that.

It is also striking to be back in familiar settings with familiar people. The kids are all a little bigger, but otherwise it is almost as though we had never left. It feels, sometimes, like it was just a big dream and that we have woken up to the same life we’ve been living all along. But it wasn’t a dream! It was a year of our lives, and I have the urge to represent it with more than just an adjective or two. So, here are some pictures to tell a little bit more of the story…

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Field Trips

Our last week in Switzerland has been filled with both work and play. Lots of packing, cleaning and organizing has meant a chaotic house, and not many toys available to play with. (Even fewer than usual). So, the kids and I went on several “field trips” to get out of the house and cool down, as it has been a beautiful and warm week.

First, we went to Spiez, a beautiful town on Lake Thun only about 20 minutes away from Münsingen by train. We have past it many times heading toward the mountains, but we have never gotten off the train. So my plan was very simple: go to Spiez, get off the train and see what we can see. We just walked toward the waterfront and explored along the way. The kids found a fun playground with a beautiful view and a rotating seesaw that Emily and James loved. While they spun and laughed, Henry picked me a bouquet of wild flowers. We had a picnic lunch, found another bigger playground by the water, splashed in the lake, and visited the local castle. Sometimes having no plan turns out to be a great plan.

On Wednesday, we visited the city of Bern for the last time and did something I’ve wanted to do with the kids all year… splash in the spraying fountain outside the Bundeshaus. I was so glad this worked out in our last week here! With the way Swiss weather is, there aren’t a lot of days when it’s warm enough to be running through a giant outdoor sprinkler. Plus, there is a market on the Bundesplatz several days a week, which covers the fountain. But we finally had our chance!

We spent one afternoon at the community pool complex in Münsingen and one afternoon splashing in the Aare river. Then, for our final outing, we invited the kids from across the street to Bern Aqua, a waterpark at a mall on the west side of the city. I bravely took 7 kids to the waterpark by train, and they all had a wonderful time with their friends.

We were also invited to a few friends’ houses for coffees, dinners, and farewells. And somewhere in there we managed to pack up our suitcases, sell our bikes, ship most of our stuff back to America, and get the house ready for its next occupant.

It was a wonderful last week in Switzerland. It is hard to believe that the time has come to say the last good bye.

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Lasts

We leave Switzerland one week from yesterday. Yikes! Our life has gotten a little hectic, to say the least. But we are also trying to enjoy our last days that we have here.

In the past couple of weeks, we have had a lot of lasts. The kids’ last day of school. My last choir practice. Henry’s last spielgruppe. And now we are having more and more lasts, of all kinds. This morning I had the last bowl of my favorite Swiss cereal. We have started selling our bikes, and James rode his for the last time tonight. In the coming week, we will have our last trip to the farm, last time seeing lots of people, last Swiss meals.

I was getting a little overwhelmed by lasts, until I realized that people have lasts all the time. Most of the time, we don’t even think about it. Often it is firsts and lasts at the same time. Going to a restaurant for the last time, meeting a friend of a friend for the first and last time, last diaper change on your youngest child. (We’re not there yet, but getting closer…) Lasts happen all the time, but somehow they seem more poignant in our life right now.

It might just be the sheer quantity of lasts in a short period of time. It is also the permanence of it. In the lasts of everyday life, you don’t always know its a last because the possibility is there for it to happen again. You could run into that person again. You might decide to go back to that restaurant someday, who knows? Even when you move or graduate, you believe you will keep in touch with people or maybe see them at a reunion.

But for us, the likelihood that we will see most of our neighbors, classmates, and acquaintances from Münsingen ever again is extremely low. Sure, we will visit Switzerland, but it will never be quite like this again. It reminds me a little of when Henry was a baby. We declared that he would be our last child, and it was like a gift. We cherished every sweet moment because we knew it was the last. And the difficult moments seemed somehow easier since we knew we would never have to do it again.

It is a blessing to conciously experience a last as it is happening. Which means, amidst the mess of suitcases and boxes, this week is filled with blessings.

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Packing and Stuff

The moving company comes one week from today, and we – make that I – have started to pack up our things to be shipped back to America. And while moving is always a little daunting, there is a lot less stuff to worry about on our way back than there was last year at this time. We moved to Switzerland with about 13 suitcases and boxes of stuff — mostly clothes, toys, some technology and paperwork, and a box for Joe’s guitar. It seemed like a lot when we were lugging the majority of it through airports and train stations during our initial travels. But for a family of five for a whole year, it’s really not that much stuff. Especially when you compare it to the gigantic storage garage that is packed from floor to ceiling awaiting us back in Milwaukee. What is all that stuff?!

It has been liberating to live without much of our stuff for a year. Granted the kids complained every now and then about toys they remembered that are currently hibernating in a dark, rectangular cave (or at their cousins’ house). But, they were quickly distracted by other activities using the things we do have here. It’s amazing what you can do with paper, string, sticks, water, balloons, and repurposing other toys. Henry is the easiest. For starters, he doesn’t remember any of his toys that were left behind. Plus, all I have to do is fill a sink with water and put a few things in it, and he’ll splash happily for quite a while. Emily and James require a little more creativity than that. We found great origami projects on YouTube to make the best paper airplanes and boats, Joe taught them paper football, we made home-made playdoh, a backyard bow-and-arrow, and much more.

I enjoyed the freedom of not having a lot of stuff to worry about, clean up, locate, put up, take down, etc. Less stuff definitely equals less stress and more time. It also helps me to live in the present. Without the stuff that you are saving from different parts of your life, it is much easier to really focus on what you have and what you are doing right now.

There were really very few things that I missed. At Christmas time, we had brought a small box with some of our holiday items, and I made a lot of improvised decorations. I missed our stockings and other holiday things with family significance at that sentimental time of year. In the kitchen, there were a few times I needed something I didn’t have here, like a funnel or a cupcake tin. But, other than that, I can’t say I thought about any of our stuff. Which, again, makes me wonder what exactly is in all of those boxes back home.

It is kind of fun to think about it as I pack up all of the stuff we have lived with all year. For the kids, unpacking their toys will be like Christmas in August. For me, I think it will be more like a reunion. Like old friends you haven’t seen for a while, seeing my stuff will bring back all of the memories and associations I have with them. Some things may not have aged so well, and it might be time to move on. But others do have real meaning. At least I think they do. After this experience, I might be even more picky about what stuff is really worth keeping, and what stuff is just adding stress, mess, and holding me back.

As I go to pack up the next box, and face the task of relocating all of our stuff once again, it also helps to be able to laugh about it:

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Big weekend!

After the big hospital party we hosted on Friday night, we had another party of a very different kind on Saturday. It was James’s 7th birthday. The day started off a little slow, as James wasn’t eating his breakfast because one of his teeth was really bothering him. It was very loose, but he was scared to pull it out. The whole family gave him suggestions, and in the end we all laughed and hollered and did anything we could to distract him while Joe pulled it out. Woo hoo! What a way to start your birthday.

In the afternoon, we had a few of his friends over for a Lego-themed birthday party. After having done Emily’s party back in April, I was ready with Lego projects, activities and treats. The Lego candies Grams sent all the way from America were extra special! We did Lego stamping, played Lego toss and Lego Bingo, ate Lego cake, and much more. After a while, the Swiss kids started commenting on how everything was “Lego.” I don’t think they are used to such pervasive themes at their birthday parties. But, it worked anyway, and everyone had a good time.

The next morning, we woke up, packed up our backpack, got everyone ready and caught the train to Lucerne. This city is the center of Swiss tourism, and yet we spent 11 months in Switzerland without going there. We also needed to see Isabel one last time, and so we decided to meet up with her in Lucerne. Perfect! Upon arrival, we walked around the old town which hugs the Reuss River and features Lucerne’s famous covered bridges. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the river before catching a boat to our primary destination.

The Verkehrshaus is a very well-known museum in Switzerland all about transportation. It is huge, containing a whole building filled with real, historic train cars and engines, another building dedicated to automobiles, one for air and space travel (including two real airplanes in the center courtyard), and one building for boats, cable cars, and other mountain transport. There are lots of hands-on exhibits for the kids to explore and play with as they learn about force, buoyancy, wind resistance, etc… We saw two of the buildings (trains and boats/cable cars) and spent a lot of time in the outdoor area where there is a hands-on construction site, harnessed trampolines, a parcours for scooters and bikes, and exhibits about racing cars and motorcycles. It was a fantastic place, and I would certainly go back to see the rest. But, after 3.5 hours, we were exhausted and the clouds had blown in, so we caught a boat just as it started to rain.

As we crossed the water toward the train station, a rainbow appeared behind us. It was a great way to say our goodbyes to Isabel and to end a very big weekend.

More pictures from the weekend are in our gallery.

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Family Vacation in Meiringen

Last Saturday we left for our last family vacation during our year in Switzerland. We stayed three nights in Meiringen, a beautiful town just East of Lake Brienz at the foot of the Hasliberg mountain. There are several things in the area that we had wanted to see and do, so we checked them all off in 4 jam-packed days. On Saturday, after traveling to Meiringen by train and checking in at our hotel, we returned to the town of Brienz. We ate a late lunch in an outdoor restaurant overlooking the lake. Then we boarded the Rothornbahn, a 100-year-old cog-wheel steam train that still takes tourists on a beautiful hour-long trek up the mountain to the Rothorn Kulm, which has a stunning view over the lake and surrounding mountains. That was all we could manage on the first day, so we returned to the hotel where the kids played on the little playground before getting ready for bed.

On Sunday we visited Ballenberg, a Swiss “outdoor museum” that features buildings from around Switzerland dating from the 16th to the 19th century. They strive to preserve the history of Swiss culture and architecture. We saw a beautiful Victorian era Swiss home, herdsmens’ sheds, working mills, cheese-making huts, and more. We watched people grinding wheat, weaving cloth, and making charcoal. We were even serenaded by an alphorn ensemble during lunch.

On Monday, we stayed in Meiringen to see two of its best-known attractions. First we walked over to the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht) and walked 1.4 kilometers through the narrow, towering gorge. Much of the trail is man-made with wooden planks on a frame bolted to the rocky walls. The Aare river rushes below your feet, the mist moistens your skin and drips from the walls, and the sunlight bounces off the walls. It was fantastic. Then we headed over to the funicular that would take us up to see Reichenbach Falls, the location of Sherlock Holmes’s infamous demise. The falls are tall and imposing, rushing over the side of a cliff several hundred feet before crashing the rest of the way down the mountain. We hiked up the trail along the falls and across a bridge over the falls before getting to the top where a restaurant is perched on the mountain. After having a little lunch there, James and Joe opted to descend the mountain on the “Monster Trotti Bikes,” which were like giant scooters with hand brakes. Meanwhile, I returned with Emily and Henry to the funicular and we all met back at the hotel. The afternoon we filled with a little shopping and dinner at a restaurant in Brienz.

The last day we took the cable car from Meiringen up the Hasliberg mountain to do the Muggestutz hike. The Muggestutz is a Swiss children’s character. He is a white-bearded gnome or dwarf who lives with his family and friends in the mountains. Their stories are told in a number of children’s books and Hasliberg has two trails named for them. We hiked the “Dwarf Adventure Trail” which has stations occasionally with the homes, work places and playgrounds of the dwarfs to keep the kids interested. Unfortunately, about halfway down, clouds blew in and began to rain on us, so we had to hurry past the rest of the trail and begin our journey home.

Enjoy more pictures from our trip in the gallery.