Theatre Spektakel

The annual Zurich Theatre Spektakel is on at the moment, which although we don't see the regular shows (mix of theatre, music and circus) there is always plenty of free street performances to see, which are excellent. I took the kids over to the lakeside venue by boat (only 10 mins) this afternoon, and papa joined us later. The kids had balloon animals made, and Bea requested a flying dinosaur, and that's what he got! We spent quite some hours watching the performances on Central stage (sorry, forgot to take pics!) before heading home again on the boat.

First week of school

Bea seemed to settle into his new school routine this week. New school music lessons on a Wednesday and weekly swimming classes on a Friday, along with the regular reading/writing/maths lessons throughout the week. He did make us laugh this week as the children go outside to eat their morning snack and play, and on Tuesday Bea was quite tired so he lay down on a bench, obviously for too long, as when he got up there was nobody in sight. Luckily he saw his old Kindergarten teacher in the playground and she explained the bell to him! Perhaps in such deep thought he didn't hear the bell ringing them back in! 

Finders keepers

I just like these pictures of Bea wearing a hat that he dug out of a skip this week.

X-ray

A trip to the hospital for Ili to see the specialist today, as when she was two-years-old the doctor noticed a dip in her growth rate. If you ask me, the nurse just didn't measure her properly one time! Anyhow, as we thought, this follow up check suggested all is fine. She had an x-ray — Bea enjoyed the x-ray room — just to check her "bone age" as some children just start developing later than others, but then continue growing longer, so the doc told me. He also astutely noticed (a very nice Professor.) that Bea had only one tooth through which is late for his age (he friends have many), and he suggested they are both likely to simply be "late bloomers".

Bea's first day of school!

Picnic lunch and lake swim

Had a lovely picnic lunch and played football (including mamas) with Bea's friend Vincent — to say goodbye before the summer holidays, and then on to the lake where we had our first dip in this year! Foolishly forgot to take pics. 

Piano evening

Trip to the badi this afternoon with Alligan, and then Bea had another opportunity to play piano on the big Steinway this evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLagE2dIaKk&feature=youtu.be

Züri Fascht weekend

So many activities were on offer as part of the Züri festival this weekend, but after a late party night we were on "go slow" mode. From our terrace this morning we watched literally over a hundred paragliders launch from a circling plane over our heads to drop down into the city (apparently the Swiss team). The children were mesmerised as they just kept coming. Headed into town later, but it was really, way to crowded for comfort (music stalls, food stalls, bars, etc, and sooooo many people), but we found the kiddies area by the lake with a bit more space — and a sea of bouncy stuff — and chilled out watching some weird stuff on the lake and river. The children's favorite was true great inventor stuff, with a man levitating over the river Limmat using a water jet pack, which was funny. The river surfing on a horizontal bungy ("waveboarding") was a close second. Kids stayed up for the fireworks again, this time from our terrace.

Friday night fireworks and party

Frith left for Scotland this morning (for a fieldtrip), and we were invited to a roof terrace party in the evening at neighbours. The "Züri Fascht" (Zurich festival) was on this weekend, which comes around every three years, so the city was bursting at it's seams. Part of the attraction is a massive fireworks display set to music both nights, which we were able to see superbly from the party on the terrace.

Vernissage - leaving party

For the Kindergarten children's leaving party this evening the teachers had arranged a Vernissage (exhibition) of the last theme's art work. Bea said he doesn't want to leave Kindergarten and that he wants to stay six for ever! I think he's had a great time the last two years!

Back to Zurich

Shitty stressful journey back to Zurich, with Frith convinced we were going to miss the flight, we took more wrong turns around the suburbs of Rome than we'd eaten gelatos — but we just scraped it.

Walking up to the "Path of the Gods"

We wanted to walk up to the famous "Path of the Gods", which was possible on foot directly from our hotel, although we weren't sure how the kids would manage. We were gobsmacked! The path up alone we were told, had 1,000 steps, and it was hot! We took our time with plenty of stops to take in the surroundings, and in between the kids motored up the stairs like little rockets! I was very impressed! At the top was an old convent, and although we couldn't walk along the Path of the Gods (too dangerous), it was a great achievement getting there with sublime views all the way down to Capri.

Bobbing about on the water

The best way to explore a coast like the Amalfi is either on foot, or from the water (roads are horrendously narrow), so we hired a boat for the day and headed up the coast from the harbour of Amalfi towards the end of the peninsular. Across from the peninsular tip is the isle of Capri, and the views all day were totally stunning. The sea was calm, but the boat was quite small and bobbed around a lot, and the kids sea-legs are not yet that developed, so the first hour started off with "stop", "too fast", "I wanna get off" and requests to be strapped on (which they were). But they ended up laughing hysterically as we bounced over the waves of passing boats, some of them super-sized big boys toys. We stopped for lunch at one of the official moorings (a family affair), and of course had more pizza, beer and gelato! We decided against the final trip across to Capri (although it's possible), and ambled back down the peninsular stopping to swim off the boat. Walked into Praiano for dinner out in the evening, and kids overdosed on more pizza!

A change of pace (begins at 40)

Took it easy on Frith's birthday and just explored the local town, Praiano, whcih was made up of houses crawling up the cliffs—some even dramatically tucked in the cliffs—tiny alleys, delicious smells, beautiful flowers, lemon groves, fig trees, and SUN! As the Amalfi coast is a UNESCO site, further building isn't allowed, so the villages were still very pretty, and the sea was gorgeous! Took a swim in Marina de Praia in the morning, although a bit too cool for Ili, we all had a great dip. Lunched in a beach bar, wandered through more alleys, followed darting lizards, and generally had a change of pace. Then back to the hotel for a dip in their pool, and dinner on the roof terrace restaurant. The grandmother (and original hotelier) was looking after the children from the hotel (5, and 7 yr), and Bea and Ili got along with them swimmingly. So, with a lovely "babysitter", Frith and I ended up having dinner, and waist expanding cake compliments of the hotel, alone.

Flight to Rome

Off to Rome for Frith's 40th! As soon as Kindergarten was out we took off to the airport (both feeling we had way too much work on to be disappearing, but what the hell!). Had to drive south of Naples so didn't arrive until late at night and opened a bottle of bubbles on the balcony overlooking the bay. Bea was wide-eyed, and although we didn't think we were too rowdy, we had a call from our neighbours room in the small hours with an order to be "silent" — and we thought we'd left that attitude in Switzerland! Hotel was great, and views superb.