Madeira

Laura and I honeymooned in Madeira nearly ten years ago. We always thought we'd go back someday, so when we found ourselves only a few hours' flight from Madeira we starting scheming for a vacation there. And, during the boys' week-long break in October we made our return. Ostensibly, this was our ten year anniversary trip. It's actually closer to nine years since our wedding, but it provided a good excuse to totally blow the budget. It's a good thing milestone anniversaries don't come along more often!

Photos follow. I don't think we need a lot of commentary. But, knowing me, I may not be able to hold back.

Relaxing on the balcony with a glass of Madeira after our long flight. (Yes, it is a lot closer than when we were in the US, but it was still 4 hours of flying plus a 90 minute layover.)

What I was looking at.

The hotel did a great job with the kids. These bears were part of a "welcome package" for each child.
They felt really special.

We went to see some caves, but the boys were most interested in the ducks there. And, as you can see, Calvin never let go of his bear once during our stay in Madeira....

Laura's favorite flowers.

The caves. Yes, the boys are out of focus, but if I'd used a flash everything would have been pitch black behind them.

We had to drive over the mountains to get back from the caves.
Can you tell it was really windy up there? Are you sure?

Calvin wouldn't come out of the car.

A beach. Laura is an artiste. Actually, doesn't this look like the front of an album cover?

Man, I wish the kids would always behave like this!

Sorry, I don't know why I included this. Me playing with a polarizing filter on the camera.
I have a lot more if you're interested....

Laura and Elliot sitting close to the water.

Hahaha! A little too close!

The next day we took a cable car up into the hills above Funchal. But, how would we get back down?

We ride these wicker baskets down the streets of Monte. Ernest Hemingway rode these and found them to be exhilarating. A guy who wrote about fighting with bulls. Apparently, he'd never ridden a roller coaster.

On the other hand, a roller coaster doesn't travel down normal streets. Later, when we were going fast enough that these dudes where riding on the back of the basket hurtling down a rain-soaked hill as cars narrowly missed us zooming up the hill? Pretty frightening, actually.

This was the closest thing we saw to a smile from Calvin on this particular day.

We stayed at Reid's Palace, an old British-oriented hotel in Funchal. One of the things it's known for is high tea on its Tea Terrace overlooking the ocean. We weren't sure about bringing the kids to this traditional, semi-formal event. But, the kids club at Reid's announced they'd be taking kids to their own tea in the cocktail bar one afternoon, so Laura and I immediately booked our own grown-up tea reservation!

High tea at Reid's.

Oh! Calvin doesn't look very happy in this picture, either. I think he was having a good time.

Older boy.

The Fun @ Reid's child minders really dressed up!

Random shot up toward the hills from Reid's pool. Beautiful, no?

Every day we hoped to take a hike along the levadas, or irrigation canals, up in the Madeira mountains, and day after day it was too rainy or overcast up in the higher elevations (we generally had sunny warm weather down by the ocean). Finally, on Thursday, we got our chance to take a hike.

These levadas have had maintenance paths that run along side them for years and years. Then, one day someone decided to catalog many of the different routes as potential walks or hikes and the idea took off. Today, one of the most famous activities in Madeira is to go for a "levada walk."

The area on the north side of Madeira where we began our walk.

Early in our walk. Calvin is in a backpack because he's not as good a walker as Elliot and also because we didn't trust him to...well, you'll see.

At the beginning of our walk, these levada paths were wide and were used basically as sidewalks to get to some of these little houses on the side of the hill.

See what I mean? This is practically a boulevard!

Then things got a little bit smaller.

Then, quite a bit more treacherous. See why we wanted Calvin in a backpack?

Okay, this is ridiculous! At least they provided a railing! (Sort of - it was just wire threaded around those poles and I wouldn't let Elliot actually touch it....)

Waterfall across the valley.

I love how Elliot is "explaining" how these work! Anyway, this does two things, moderates the water flow before the levada starts a new course, and catches gunk (leaves, branches, dead animals) that falls in upstream.

 

This goat was not wild. Why someone had a goat in some random enclosure up here I can't figure out.

Looking up the valley toward the interior.

Looking down the valley in the other direction toward the ocean.

I can't remember if this was an overflow to release excess water or a place where a waterfall came down and the levada captured part of the water. If you lean to your right and look to the left of us in the picture, you might be able to tell! ;-)

Taking a little break. Notice these poles are missing the top wire....

It's a good thing our battery died, or I'd treat you to a hundred more pictures of the levada.

Reid's Palace includes a restaurant called Villa Cipriani that is on a cliff right over the water, and we ate there every night but two during our vacation. The service was impeccable. When we went to dinner there the night we arrived the boys were tired because it had been a long day and it was past their bedtime in Switzerland. When one of the waiters saw how tired Calvin was, he went inside and got another chair to slide together with Calvin's and make a sort of bed, and then showed up five minutes later with a wool blanket to lay over him! Talk about service! Anyway, after that night, we were in love with Villa Cipriani.

Laura at dinner on our last night in Madeira.

Elliot and me.

The little man.

 

The whole family with Reid's in the background.

Calvin in his "bed" the first night on my crappy camera phone.

Of course, the thing that really made the vacation great was the pool. We spent most of our time most days hanging around the pool. Calvin liked going to the Fun @ Reid's play area, but Elliot just liked swimming in the warm freshwater pool and playing with parents, new friends, or by himself. I liked catching up on reading. Laura? I think she liked playing with Elliot in the pool best of all. Pool pictures get old fast, but here are a few to show you what we did with most of our time....

The main pool area.

Where were we, again?

Laura playing with Elliot.

Laura playing with Calvin.

I don't know what Laura is doing behind Elliot. Nor do I want to.

Elliot out of the water.

Calvin out of the water.

The pool area was at the top of a cliff 30 meters or so above the water. But, there was also a small salt-water pool and bathing area at the bottom of the cliffs. We did go swimming in the ocean one day, but, alas, no photos!

Madeira is not the easiest place to get to, but it remains the most beautiful island in the world, in my opinion. If you have a chance to go, please do!

Thanksgiving

In case you hadn't noticed, Thursday was Thanksgiving! You wouldn't have noticed in Switzerland. Nobody, and I mean nobody has the slightest clue about Thanksgiving here. Oh, I suppose a few people have heard of Thanksgiving, but even they don't know what Thanksgiving is about, and that's a shame. Because, while I've never been a huge fan of Thanksgiving in the past (not a big football watcher, don't like feeling uncomfortably full, etc.), I've finally come to really appreciate the holiday.

I mean, it's a great American holiday! There are no gifts (a relatively uncommercialized American holiday!), it's not a religious* holiday, and it has a very low-key, meaningful, and perhaps even humble focus: what are the things we're thankful for in our lives? So, it would be nice if more non-Americans knew what the holiday was all about. After all, we could stand to be known for some of our more contemplative, humble traits**....

In keeping with that idea, last Thursday the few American parents in our kids' classes arranged with the teachers to take some time to read a few books about Thanksgiving, do a small craft project, and talk about the holiday. So there are now 12 four year olds and 11 seven year olds in Switzerland who know a little bit about Thanksgiving (plus two British teachers!).

But, today was our "Thanksgiving holiday" as we got together with a bunch of expats from Laura's work for a Thanksgiving feast in the hills above Lausanne. The turkeys were French, small, extremely fresh and astoundingly expensive. Most of the side dishes were very green compared to my typical Thanksgiving meal (my plate usually consists entirely of foods in shades of white, yellow, beige and orange). There were kids running around underfoot, chasing footballs and frisbees, climbing on play equipment and riding ziplines. It was great! A really wonderful substitute for the past holidays I've celebrated with family on the actual day. I have to admit, though, I really missed not having a four day weekend!

In keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition, I should express my gratitude for a few of the blessings I find in my life. Warning, similar to the four desserts I ate this afternoon, the rest of this post is certified 100% cloying and may induce feelings of pity and mild nausea in readers.

• I'm grateful that the kids are in a great school with remarkable, amazing teachers. And, that Elliot is in a class of 13 kids where he can get the attention he needs.
• I'm grateful to have two good kids who try really hard to do the right thing, who love each other and enjoy spending time with each other and doing things together. Most of the time. 
• I'm thankful my brother works for an airline that gives his parents stand-by flight benefits making it much cheaper and easier for them to visit us more often. (And, makes it pretty easy for him to visit, too.)
• I'm thankful for Skype, Ooma VOIP service, email, Facebook and other technological wonders that make it easy for me to stay in touch with family and friends. And see my nephew as he grows up from a baby into a toddler.
• I'm thankful that we have no mortgage. (Of course, we have no house, either, but this seems a very worthwhile trade-off!)
• I'm grateful for this opportunity to live in a new and different place and get to do all sorts of fun and exciting things I never thought I'd be able to do before.
• I'm exceedingly thankful to have a wonderful relationship with my fantastic wife. It's a terrible cliché, but she really is my best friend.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*Okay, true, the first Thanksgiving was a Pilgrim feast and celebration giving thanks to God for a successful harvest. Still, essentially all religious aspects have been fully boiled out of the holiday just as all flavor has been genetically-modified out of your typical Butterball(tm) turkey breast. I'll have my Thanksgiving feast religion-, controversy-, and flavor-free, please! No I won't. Bring on the dark meat!

**As opposed to Black Friday. Yes, people sort-of kind-of know that there is some weird major shopping day in the US at the end of November. It's too bad more people internationally have now heard about the Wal-Mart pepper spray incident than have any clue about Thanksgiving.

One amusing Black Friday anecdote: Apple ran a Black Friday promotion in Switzerland. But, the Swiss were very confused about why Apple would be running a one-day promotion on some random Friday in late November. What's so special about 25 November?!

A change in the air....

After weeks of warmth and sun, the weather took a turn for the worse this weekend. We've had three days of rain and cold.

But, when the clouds lifted this afternoon, we were treated to this view across the lake:

Those mountains were bare a week ago! 

I'm sure no one can guess what I've been thinking about all afternoon, but I'm looking forward to winter!

La Désalpe

This afternoon we watched the "la désalpe de Semsales." Every spring the Swiss farmers send their cows up into the high alpine meadows to graze for the summer, and when they return back to the farms in late September of October, the towns mid-way up in the hills celebrate "désalpe." It's a celebration accompanied by a march of cows through the center of town and also includes food stands, craft sales, bands, alpine horn players, and local/traditional cheese makers. We decided to attend the désalpe in the small town of Samsales which was (1) not too far away, (2) kind of small and not too touristy, and (3) holding its festival on a day that was convenient for us. If you want a funny story that gives you a feel for the character of the event and small town Swiss farmers, you can click here. Otherwise, read below for an account of our day in Semsales.

We were thrilled to find that the train connection to Semsales couldn't be simpler. 20 minutes to the end of the line from the urban train that stops just down our hill, then a transfer to a narrow gauge village train for another 20 minutes to Samsales. So, 52 minutes including connection and we could enjoy the festival without worrying about parking or driving! Great bonus points for the day!

Shh! Don't tell anyone he has his foot on the seat. We're lucky we didn't get yelled at for this one!

Less than 5 minutes after arriving in town, we ran into a family that we were going to tentatively spend some time with, and they had located another family that had found some space that included a nice view of the street, shade nearby, and close proximity to a food tent (with beer!). Excellent! 10 minutes later another family that we knew showed up, and before long we had eight adults and eight kids running around (well, one was an infant, so he wasn't running around, but you get the idea). All of the kids were in classes with either Elliot or Calvin, so it was great that the kids were able to start playing together immediately.

It's mostly about the cows...

... but we also saw donkeys...

... horses...

... dogs...

... and goats! (My favorite; I have a special place in my heart for goats, thanks to days on my uncle's farm as a boy.)

As mentioned above, animals weren't the only participants in the festivities.

In a few minutes, each of these men will be marching along carrying a cowbell in front of him clanging the bell in unison with the "band."

Maybe you can't tell from the picture, but these bells looked heavy!

Alpen horns. Unfortunately, these guys played just around the corner where we couldn't really see them....

A band (and dancing children).

Can you guess what this guy has on his head?

Cheese!

This might have been a little easier for you to guess if I told you Semsales is very near Gruyères. Anyway, as I understand it, back in the day these guys would hike down out of the hills to Lausanne or Vevey and trade their cheese for various items they needed. And, when you're hiking through mountainous terrain a cart isn't very convenient. How else would one transport a big, heavy wheel of cheese other than on his shoulders over his head? It's a pretty simple solution, actually! I really liked these guys, so I'm going to force you to scroll past a few more pictures of them.

The walking stick really completes the outfit, doesn't it?

Okay, so this guy wasn't carrying any cheese on his head, but he still looked pretty cool!

This was a great place and day for kids, both ours and others!

Five of the kids in our group of friends.

Elliot watches the cows.

We had positioned ourselves right in front of the area where one of the festival organizers was handing out drinks to the participants as they came through, but I never got a great picture. I'm pretty sure the adults got some sort of "adult beverages." I hope that's not what they were giving the kids, though!

Dozens of huge cowbells going at the same time can be pretty loud!

It wasn't all pretty. At one point a few cows climbed on top of the cows in front of them so that they could see ahead better (at least, that was Elliot's theory why). Just as we were watching that, another cow stopped right in front of us and peed on the street (maybe gushed is a better term), which splattered a lot and just far enough to dot a few children's shoes and pant legs. (Baths were in order tonight!) I have pictures of these events, too, but I won't subject you to that. I will show you evidence, though, of what the street looked like toward the end of the afternoon, even though (given it's a Swiss street) the street must have been pristine at the beginning of the day.

Shortly after the "pee incident."

Better watch where you step, mister!

It got a lot worse, believe me!

That was pretty much our day. It was a lot of fun, and also great to spend time there with a few new friends. To wrap up, I leave you with these three pictures:

Every blog about living in Switzerland has to have a picture with the Swiss flag and geraniums in window boxes, right?

Elliot decided to read on the train ride home. I can't begin to tell you how excited (and relieved) this made his parents!

I found this butterfly just outside our apartment as we arrived home. Nothing to do with our day, but a fun picture!