In case you didn't notice, we're expecting...

Just thought we would catch all of you up that aren't a part of the facebook community with photos from the last six months or so. Good news is that after 41 weeks we know it won't be much longer now and the photos will be much more exciting!

20 weeks - it's a girl!

25 weeks

 

Our daughter knows how to play peek-a-boo at only 28 weeks!

33 weeks

36 weeks

Baby shower in Zurich!

39 weeks

Steve practicing for future bath times while showing his lack of belly



41 weeks - it won't be much longer now!



The month of May...

Vaduz Castle in Liechtenstein

For some reason life has slowed down a little the last month or so, it may have to due with that little detail in our lives that we are expecting one very special little lady to make her debut anyday now. Although it was difficult convincing us to stay close to home (after all over the past six months it has been a rare occasion that we have been in Switzerland's borders for more than a month at a time), we figured our reasoning was well justified. We did contemplate going to the French Open, as Paris is only a 4 hour train ride away, but we decided to hold off until next year so our little one can see her first grand slam.

Anyways, don't think that the month of May was boring and all we did was lounge around the house (although we did some of that as well because as rumor has it we won't be doing that for a long time again), we made two day trips and Steve made a very quick trip back to the U.S. to see his brother, Andy, get married to our wonderful new sister-in-law Rachele!

Steve with the bride & groom!

I lied when I said earlier that we didn't get outside of Switzerland's borders in the month of May, as we actually made our way to the tiny country of Liechtenstein for our first day trip. However, it's funny to think we went to an entirely different country when it only took us 1.5 hours to get there by train and bus and they use the same currency, which is the Swiss franc! Liechtenstein is home to only 35,000 citizens and is 60 square miles, making it the sixth smallest nation in the world. For the most part I can't really claim that I felt like I was outside of Switzerland, but it was still fun to know that we were exploring another country. We spent our day exploring the capital city of Vaduz and saw several beautiful castles that are still inhabited as the country is operated under a monarchy.

Views of the Castle of Gutenberg also in Liechtenstein

In Liechtenstein they drive cars smaller than a Smart Car - big enough for only one person!

Our second day trip was within Switzerland's borders, but it left me feeling more like I had left the country than going to Liechtenstein did. We made the 3+ hour train ride to the city of Lugano, which is in the far southeastern part of the country, and it was our first venture into the Italian region of Switzerland (although Switzerland is dominated by the German speaking region there are 3 national languages as a significant amount of the country is actually French and Italian speaking). It is amazing to know that you are in the same country but feel like you are somewhere completely different. From the moment we stepped out of the train station it felt like we were in Italy and not Switzerland. The trees and plants were different, the mountains were no longer snow covered, and the gorgeous lake that Lugano is positioned on felt more like a tropical oasis.

Beautiful walk along Lake Lugano

Unfortunately for us the day did not end up with the sunshine we had hoped for, but between meandering through the city, eating amazing pizza, and securing a seat on the inside of a boat ride around the lake we managed to escape the worse of the downpouring rain!

Lake Lugano shortly before it started raining

Needless to say it hasn't been a boring month and a half but it has been a very relaxing one. One that I'm very grateful to have had, but one that also leaves me excited for life to get a little busier very soon as well!

 

My parents visit Switzerland!

The month of April flew by after spending the first week in Spain and Portugal and then the last two weeks of the month we were excited to have my parents make the trip across the pond! We certainly made the most of the two weeks as we ventured to nearly every corner of the country. Needless to say by the end of their time here I think all of us needed a vacation from our vacation!

After my parents first flight across the Atlantic we spent the first few days just relaxing and catching up and sorting through the two extra suitcases that were brought solely for their granddaughter. She certainly is lucky to have such wonderful grandparents that were willing to haul all that extra luggage before she is even born! Then after feeling a little more rested and getting an introduction around Zurich it was time to set off on our first adventure.

Lake St. Moritz

We made the 3+ hour train ride to St. Moritz and lucky for us that was really one of the very few days with less than ideal weather, and all we were doing was riding in a train! We were able to explore the small ski village that evening (and spend our first real time with Steve as well since he was out of town for work most of the time they were here unfortunately), but our real purpose of venturing to St. Moritz was the next morning we were heading out on the Glacier Express scenic train.

The Glacier Express is an 8 hour train ride across eastern and southern Switzerland and through some of the most scenic stretches of the Alps. I would highly recommend it as a great way to see some incredible scenery without having to get out of your seat (and if you live in Switzerland and have a GA pass or are visiting and have already purchased a Swiss Pass it is nearly free). It was truly a spectacular ride through hundreds of tunnels, over hundreds of bridges and making several treks up and down mountainsides to as high as 6,000 or 7,000 feet at times.

Mom & dad on the Glacier Express

Beautiful scenery from the train

The Glacier Express ended in perhaps my favorite Swiss town, Zermatt. We had planned a two night stay in this quaint car-free ski community (see previous post about our January stay here), and almost ended up staying a third night as we enjoyed it so much and found this great condo to rent at an extremely reasonable price (by Swiss standards reasonable) and the property manager offered to let us stay another night for free if we wanted! If we hadn't already made other plans we probably would have taken her up on the offer, but it once again went to show us that the Swiss are often not very concerned with making extra money - when was the last time you had something like that happen when you were on vacation in the states?

One of the reasons we had trouble leaving Zermatt was the absolutely beautiful weather we had, and to my delight my third trip to this town proved to be the charm as I finally saw the Matterhorn in completely clear skies! It truly was mesmerizing and hard not to take a photo from every angle throughout the town as it was difficult to let our gaze stray from this amazing peak in the Alps.

The Matterhorn from the far end of Zermatt

We finally convinced ourselves we couldn't stay in Zermatt forever and so on Monday morning we headed out to Lausanne as that was where Steve was working for the week. Lausanne is situated perfectly on Lake Geneva with views of the French Alps across the lake and in the middle of the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, which are a UNESCO world heritage site that stretch for over 20 miles along the lakeside. While there we explored the Chillon Castle. The castle physically sits right on the lake. We also took a boat ride that allowed us to get a full view of the amazing vineyards. Here's a quick look from the boat ride that shows just how large and impressive these terraced vineyards are: http://youtu.be/9w67_wUea4c

Chillon Castle

Views of the vineyards last summer when they were closer to harvest

After these several days of traveling we were ready to head back to Zurich for a few nights and the rest of our travels during their time here were day trips. We once again got lucky and had beautiful weather for our day in Luzern. Like most everyone else we know my parents loved the charm of this town, and it has proved that it will be a regular destination for most all of our friends and family that come to visit. We were also able to venture via cable car and gondola to the top of Mt. Pilatus, which is just outside of Luzern with one of a kind views of the lakes and mountains throughout central Switzerland.

In front of the historic wooden bridge in the center of Luzern

At the top of Mt. Pilatus

Views of the lakes and mountains surrounding Luzern on the cable car ride to the top of Mt. Pilatus

 On another day we made our way to Interlaken, also a place that is hard not to love as we explored the Lauterbrunnen Valley and took in views of the Alps from another car-free village, Murren. Although we were there during the slow season (between winter skiing and summer outdoor adventure seasons) we found ourselves on some of the busiest gondolas I've ever seen. We literally felt like cattle as they kept stuffing more people in the doors! There were many American tourists on the gondola with us who were extremely fearful that it was even going to break. I'm still not sure I felt safe, but I'm also convinced that the Swiss build things to last and don't cut corners. Luckily, they proved me correct. Regardless, it's still pretty impressive that one cable can support a gondola with well over 100 people inside!

Views of Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains from Murren

Back in Zurich for my parents last few days in town and we made our way to the Zurich Zoo for the first time. It is supposed to be one of the best in Europe and it didn't disappoint. We live very close and I have no doubt that come next year we will have season passes so one very important little girl can learn all of her animals!

This elephant wanted to greet us up close!

All in all it was a great two weeks and the time absolutely flew by! My parents learned first hand about many of the Swiss tendencies and quirks about everyday life in this country. And I was very lucky to have extra hands every time I had to go to the store (which when you have four people around it seems like you have to go almost everyday!). We are definitely already looking forward to their next visit!

A photo tour of our new home...

Our belongings finally arriving to our new house! We were
lucky to be able to ship quite a few things and furnish the
remainder of our apartment from where else, Ikea!

I've had several people ask me what are the houses like in Switzerland? Honestly I don't think they are that much different from what you find in the U.S., especially in the larger cities like Zurich. There's a wide range of styles and ages of buildings, and I have yet to still stumble across any cookie cutter neighborhoods like you find in some new developments in the U.S. There might be a few buildings or houses that look alike but never more than just a few.

Here are a few consistent housing traits that I've come across in my time here:

• Cement walls: Everything is cement here, not just floors but walls as well. It does help you to feel extra secure, but it does make it extra difficult to hang anything on your walls.
• Lack of air conditioning: Most of the year it is not a big deal, and some people do buy window air conditioners, but central air conditioning is very rare. Switzerland is blessed with moderate temperatures (at least as far as heat is concerned) and not much humidity. I'm sure there will be a few warm days to contend with this summer (upper 80's on a hot day), but hopefully nothing a few room fans can't help.
• No air vents: As far as I'm aware there are no air vents in buildings here (I'm guessing it has something to do with all the concrete). At first it was quite a change, but we've adjusted to constantly having at least one window open in our house. During the winter it was only open a few minutes a day to get some fresh air (and to prevent mildew which is a concern of most landlords), but now that the weather is nicer we always have the windows open and I think it's a welcome change from the constant hum of the fan or air conditioning. And in case you're wondering how the heat works as a result, most of it is through the floors.
• Little carpeting: Nothing shocking here, and not necessaily uncommon in the U.S. either, but I still have yet to go to someone's house that has any carpet. Hardwood floors are the norm here, or in our unique case - some marble floors as well!
• Outdoor window blinds: Most of the newer, moderner buildings all have heavy duty metal blinds built onto tracks on the outside of their windows. If you're lucky as we are most of our blinds are actually electric as well - just like turning on a light switch. I'm still not sure what the purpose is of making the window blinds this way, but I've come to quite like them. Not to mention on a rainy day simply close your blinds and your windows don't get all water spotted!

Ok, well enough of the boring - the real reason you're reading is to see the photos of our new place! Here you go...

Outside of our apartment building - there are 7 total apartments inside. Ours is on the 2nd floor (3rd according to American standards - Europeans count the floor you enter on as just the main floor, not the 1st floor). You can also see the outdoor window blinds in this photo.

Entry way

Front hallway

Master bedroom (complete with two sleepy cats)

Master bedroom

Master bathroom (not common to find here - we feel pretty lucky - and it is the one thing that is bigger than our house back in St. Louis!)

Guest bathroom

Great room

Great room looking back towards balcony and kitchen

Great room

Dining area

Kitchen

Balcony

Nursery!

Nursery

Nursery

The garage with not our car...

Another photo of one of our neighbors' expensive cars. We don't worry about our neighbors stealing from us when they drive cars like this! We don't even have a car!