Turkish Riviera!

We had an amazing vacation in southern Turkey during spring break in April!  We stayed at a great resort called Blue Waters Club in Side, an hour from the airport in Antalya.  The resort was incredible - with several different pools and giant waterslides, tennis, mini-golf, badminton, volleyball, a fitness pavilion outside, and all-inclusive food.  The kids went to the kids club activities some of the days, and William even joined in on Wednesday to be in the kids play for all the adults in the evening (Elise and Nathan didn't want to do it, so William went to the rehearsals on his own Wednesday morning and afternoon, then performed in the play that evening).

Dave and I played some tennis and joined in some of the fitness classes at the outdoor pavilion.  We played mini-golf and played badminton, and we all had a great time on the giant waterslides and at the beach.  It was still April, so it wasn't summer weather, but it was nice many of the days with some isolated rain showers. The beach was beautiful with nice golden sand, tons of beach chairs and a shaded play structure for Meredith.  There was a restaurant at the beach too (part of the all-inclusive) where we at lunch sometimes, and we loved the Turkish pancakes that were made every afternoon just near the beach.  Our kids (and indeed or whole family) lined up to watch the woman making them, then get the beef variety (they had cheese, potato, and spinach too).  So much of the food here was great - including the Turkish pizza that was really special, and the desserts that were quite different.

We had a special dinner one night at the Turkish restaurant, where they cooked in the traditional way using a special wood oven.  They roasted a goat, which was pretty impressive!  Another night we ate at the Austrian restaurant where they had the traditional Tafelspitz, and of course apple strudel!  They also had a Kinderdisco every night, where the kids sang and danced!  We were there over Easter, so they even had an Easter egg hunt for the kids!

One day we went on a tour to Alanya and the River Dim.  This was great!  We first went to the fortress above the town of Alanya, which was absolutely beautiful and offered a tour of the sea and the city.  Then we went down to the harbor and had a ride on a real pirate ship!  We went out along the cliffs and saw lots of the caves in the cliffs.  We then went for lunch along the River Dim, where we had some traditional Turkish barbecue and salads.  Then we went on to the Dim cave that was only discovered in 1986 and opened to the public in 1999.  It was 400 meters long and absolutely incredible with stalactites and stalagmites throughout! What an amazing place, and to think that it was just discovered so recently.  At the end of the day we went to the market in Alanya, which had fruits and vegetables as well as lots of shops selling every name-brand item you could imagine.  How did they get all of these things for such a good deal?!  Of course, they can't be authentic, but we did get some Abercrombie sweatshirts for a good price, and also some Turkish delight treats.

We have had some great vacations here in Europe, but by the end of the week I usually feel like I'm ready to go home.  Here, however, I definitely could have stayed another week.  It was a great place with something for everyone!

One thing that made the week even more fun was the fact that the hotel was basically all in German.  It is partially owned by TUI, a German/Swiss travel agent, which is where we booked the trip.  Because we booked through TUI from Switzerland, of course most of the other guests were also from Germany or Switzerland.  So, we got to practice our high German in Turkey!

Lindt Chocolate and Jücker Farm

We went on a few other outings during our holiday week at home, including the Lindt Chocolate Easter Market, and Jücker Farm.

The Lindt / Sprüngli chocolate factory is just across the lake from us in Kilchberg, about 20 minutes away. At Easter time they open up a big warehouse full of Easter chocolate, including the famous Lindt bunny wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon with a bell.

Jücker Farm is a great farm with a market and lots of fun things for the kids.  We relaxed in the hammocks, tried out the tractor (I told the kids we had tractors like this when I was growing up in Perry), fed the goats, had a snack at the market, and had plenty of fresh cider!

Sechseläuten 2011

The first Monday of our spring break, April 11, was also Sechseläuten.  This is a Swiss Holiday a bit like Groundhog's Day in the US.  The name means "chiming six o'clock," and goes back to medieval times.  It celebrates the arrival of spring and the lengthening daylight hours that allow people to work until 6:00pm.  There is a big parade of all the guilds in the city, culminating at six o'clock with the burning of a giant snowman, of Böög, which is stuffed with explosives.  A fire is lit under the snowman and tradition has it that the quicker its heard blows off, the better the summer will be.

We didn't go to the big parade and festivities in Zurich, but we had our own Böög to burn at home (Dave had purchased this last year when he helped out for the Bain Service Day at a place in Zurich where handicapped people assemble products for corporate clients - this is one of their products).  We went out to our garden and set up a place on the lawn for our snowman, then let it burn!

Blumen Selbstbedienung

We had two weeks off in April for Easter holidays, and the first week we stayed at home and did activities around the area.  On the first Monday we went to the Zurich Zoo, which is great - it's so big that you can't see everything on one day.  This time we went to the rainforest area and it was amazing.

We also stopped at the tulip field near our house to buy tulips.  This is one of my favorite things to see in Switzerland during the spring.  All over, there are fields of tulips that are "Selbstbedienung" / self-service.  You just stop and get a pair of the clippers that is left at the "Kasse" / cash box, and cut the flowers you want.  Then you drop the money into the cash box.  All on the honor system - and it works!  We've done this other years, but we just took some photos this time.

Street Fair in Uster

We were just going to return our skis for the season at a shop in Uster, about 20 minutes away from our house, when we happened upon a street fair.  Of course we stopped and had a lot of fun (we had Flat Stanley with us - for Avery March - so he had fun too).

My favorite part was the fact that the whole family, including Meredith, could ride the bumper cars.  In the US - no way!  The liability would be too much.  But here in Switzerland where you have to be responsible for your own choices and you can't just sue someone if you get hurt, you can decide what you want to do!  The kids rode ponies, a giant swing, and some other rides, before walking back through all the stalls of different things for sale.  What a nice spring day!

That evening, as part of Elise's school exhibition project, Elise, Dave and I went to the symphony in Zurich.  We booked the tickets that morning online, and we were seated in the "Orchestra Pavilion".  I didn't know what that meant, but it turned out that we were seated just behind the orchestra.  It was so much fun to see the conductor and all of his expressions (and actually hear him making "du, du" noises.  What a cool experience, and of course the symphony was beautiful.

These photos are from the walk over to the Tonhalle (symphony hall).  Don't we live in a beautiful city!

Yes, those are the Alps in the background.

Elise's School Play

Elise was part of the school play, "There's Something in the Soup", written by a group of secondary students.  Auditions for the play were open to grades 4-12, and Elise decided to do it.  The play was part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the school, so it included scenes from each of the 5 decades since the school opened.  Elise was singing and dancing in the 80's scenes!  I must say the leg warmers and fluorescent colors brought back memories!  She had rehearsals once a week, then every day for the two weeks before the show.  They got to perform for the school, and for 3 nights in a row!  It was a great show.  One of the things Elise liked best was getting to know some of the older secondary students better.  That's another great thing about this school, is that there is the opportunity for experiences like this.  It was a great show, and Elise is looking forward to next year's play.

Meredith Talks

Meredith is now talking nonstop!

Dave's 40th Birthday!

2011 is a big year for Dave too, as he celebrated his 40th birthday!  He was busy with travel for work, but we did manage to do some celebrating both on his birthday, March 16th, and on the following weekend.  When we all got home on Wednesday afternoon, we presented Dave with the main present - a DVD with memories and birthday greetings from family and friends.  He was very surprised!  It was so fun to see him watch the video - thanks so much to everyone who sent me a video clip.  We were also able to schedule dinner out for Dave and me that night at the amazing restaurant, Spice, in Zurich.  It's on a hill in the Zurichberg area overlooking the city.  The restaurant was excellent, and a nice way to celebrate his birthday.  The week before, we had gone shopping for watches, and he picked out a real Swiss watch on Bahnhofstrasse (it is absolutely amazing how much you can spend on a good Swiss watch - more than a car in the US!  We didn't spend that much).  Then on the weekend, the kids made Dave breakfast in bed.  That night we went to the kids' favorite restaurant, Pizza, Pasta, Ciao, where Dave had a special birthday treat (the Swiss love fireworks!).  Happy Birthday, Dave!

Elise's First CD

Elise has been doing some recording - singing with a few friends from school at the recording studio of one friend's uncle.  And now it's official, Elise can be heard singing some solos and with the group on the CD, "Rocking Around the Globe", a collection of songs in English that are part of the English language learning program for students in grade 4-6 in Swiss schools.  Pretty cool!