Day 39 -- Visiting Friends near Winterthur and Rhine Falls -- Sunday, July 22nd

The girls were fighting at bedtime, so I joked that one of them would have to go sleep in the bathroom. Aubrietta enthusiastically took me up on my threat and bedded down in the giant bathtub. Antje was a bit appalled, I'm sure, but Aubrietta loved it! Bear in mind that this is a large European soaking tub, not the 4 foot long "sitz bath" style tub we have back at home.

The girls picked fresh berries from the garden and Antje made a delicious Birchermueseli, which is a cold cereal made from dry grains, shredded apple, fresh berries, and yougurt. Also on the table were the usual fresh bakery bread, cold cuts, and cheese. Obviously the girls waited until after breakfast to comb their hair, but at least they were dressed.

We caught the train from Sihlau toward Zurich 11:38am, on our way to visit old friends north of Winterthur.

Winterthur is a city about 45 minutes north of Zurich, and many people who live there commute into the city. They ride their bicycle to the train station, park it in the secure bike storage room here, then catch a commuter train. This was Sunday in the summer, so the bike storage room wasn't even full of weekday commuter bikes.

Mattias was there to pick us up at 13:00 from the train station.

Mattias' wife Doris was a childhood friend of my stepmother, and I met Doris and Mattias in 1986 when I came to Switzerland for the summer. When my brother Ted and I backpacked through Europe in 1997 we stayed with Doris and Mattias, and their 7 children (they had one more after our visit). I had not seen them since then, though we've exchanged Christmas cards. Doris offered for us to stay with them during this visit, but a lack of internet the week before thwarted finalizing our plans, and as the weekend grew near, it just seemed easier to return from Kandersteg to Antje where we had left our things, and not move house again for just 3 nights. Plus we had planned for the girls and Navina to have more time together, but sadly that didn't happen with her early departure to Spain yesterday.

Doris and Mattias' house was custom designed to fit their large family. Built in the mid 1990's, it has modern features that 99% of US homes still lack. Geothermal heating, toilets flushed with rainwater, passive solar, and super insulation are just some of those features. Above you can see the view from the street. Their house goes from the garage at lower left to the just past the street light (the garage with the Swiss flag belongs to their neighbor's house). For a family of 10 they have just a small 2 car garage. The house does not look massive from the street -- it fits modestly into the neighborhood.

As you go into the house from the garage (white door behind Aubrietta is to the garage) you enter into a fantastic "mud room" with a sink, shoe benches, coat racks, and even a wall mounted heater for hanging wet clothes on to dry. There's also a door to the outside from this room, as well as stair taking you up to the main floor, and a hallway leading to storage rooms. What a great idea for a family house!

The house is actually 2 "wings" forming a "V" shape, and is 3 stories with 9 bedrooms, a library, huge amounts of storage, a laundry room bigger than my kitchen back home, and smartly designed common spaces.

The house looks larger when viewed from above. Although it is packed in tightly with view of neighbors, it also backs onto a farmer's field which is supposedly protected land not allowed for development. Like the house next door to the right, the garden area is built above a garage and basement.

Above the garage is an in-ground lap pool, deck with shade sail for meals al fresco, and a lovely pond with rock garden (that replaced the small patch of lawn when the kids grew up). Connecting this with the house is a "wintergarden," or glassed in room.

Doris had a lovely lunch waiting for us. The 3 youngest daughters are still at home, and their son Erich is visiting from England. He'll be getting married later this year. Doris was kind enough to remember that when I visited 15 years ago I was a vegetarian, so she made a vegetarian lunch, with handmade spiced chickpea patties, potato gratin, and an assortment of salads and cheeses. This isn't the kind of food the Swiss typically eat, especially on a Sunday when meat is prominent on the menu. I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but it was really sweet of her to consider that!

After lunch Doris showed the girls the play area up under the eaves. The house has no attic, and thus no space is wasted. This alcove also doubles as an overflow sleeping area when they have lots of visitors.

Doris seemed pleased to learn that Aubrietta and Kelsey were young at heart and enthusiastic about the Playmobil, some of it vintage (30 years old). Doris spent quite a bit of time playing with the girls and reliving some memories of her own children when they were younger, though I'm sure by age 10 and 12 her kids were beyond Playmobil.

All of the top floor children's bedrooms have lofts, which made Aubrietta and Kelsey wish we had the same.

After awhile Mattias suggested we go visit the Rhine Falls.

Two of the kids came with us, as well as the dog.

Because there had been so much rain recently, the Rhine Falls were really spectacular. Although they are always rushing, the volume of water was unusually high for this time in summer.

I always get confused about the Rhine river, even though I've spent time cruising on it in Germany and know full well where it goes. The river begins in Switzerland and zig-zags through Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, emptying out into the North Sea. It flows primarily north, which feels strange when you consider in the US the Mississippi river flows south. I tend to forget how high in altitude Switzerland is, and that "down" can also mean "north."

The last time I visited Rhine Falls in 1997 there were just a few little overlooks. Since then it has transformed into a major tourist site that now charges admission to get close. The new infrastructure includes beautiful pathways, multiple large overlooks, and an elevator. There are also boat rides out to a rock in the middle of the falls, but we didn't do that. Those people got totally soaked!

There were lots of stairs. Daddy's knee was not happy. He didn't think he needed the elevator, but gave in and used it for the trip back up.

The elevator relieves you of some of the steep pathways, but not all.

If you go out on this deck you get wet quicky from the mist.

Although the roar of the river made it almost impossible to have a conversation, Aubrietta and Erich spent quite a bit of time talking about something that gave them both smiles. I tried to listen in but couldn't hear over the noise of the river.

We spent about an hour at the falls, with Matthias pointing out all the interactive features of the new "discovery trail."

There were places to listen and things to look through, as well as lots of maps and signs. It was a great adventure.

Back at the house the girls were eager to try out the pool.

While the little girls played in the pool, we sat in the shade chatting and eating fresh fruit.

Daddy introduced Matthias to his hearning aids -- here Matthias is examining the little remote control that can switch the programming of the hearing aids to adapt to different environments (lots of background noise, filtering out high pitches, etc). We didn't realize until this visit that Daddy and Matthias are just 18 days apart in age!

After the girls had a good long time in the pool it was time for dinner. Again, Doris laid a beautiful table of homecooked food, as well as a selection of yogurts, cheeses, fruit, veggies, and breads. Doris and Matthias' older son and his wife joined us.

Before we knew it, the sun was getting low in the sky and it was time to say goodbye. Matthias took us back to the train in Winterthur. Our train included a white-linen dining car that we walked through, just for fun.

You see all kinds of things on a train in Europe. The girls sat across from a lady who was traveling with her floor lamp, which Kelsey thought quite funny. I had to remind the girls that unlike where we live, many Europeans don't need cars because safe, reliable, frequent, and extensive public transportation is available. So, whether you're taking your cat to the vet or going shopping, you just bring along what you need with you on the train.

Back down on Gleis 2 in the bowels of the Zürich Hauptbanhof, Kelsey burst into song and dance while waiting for our train to Silhau. There weren't many people on the platform on Sunday evening, but one older woman came up and started complimenting Kelsey and trying to engage her in conversation -- in Swiss German. Kelsey smiled in reply but kept humming and twirling, too shy to admit she didn't understand what was being said to her.

It was a lovely day, and I'm so glad the girls had the opportunity to see another part of Switzerland, and meet a different kind of Swiss family. When I first told the girls about Doris and Matthias having had 8 children I think Kelsey especially was envisioning the Von Trapp family of the Sound of Music fame, which is Kelsey's all time favorite movie.