Mom's Visit

We have a bit of catching up to with the blog.  First, I was very happy to have my Mom visit!  She spent a few days with us before taking a 10-day bus tour of Switzerland.   She then came back to Zurich and stayed with us for the better part of a week.  Some pictures from her visit are below. I didn't take any pictures the first few days (she did but I don't have her pictures).  I gave Mom the grand tour of Zurich from coffee at Spruengli to lunch at ETH.  I would recommend Sprungli but not lunch at ETH, I don't usually eat there but when I do I have eaten at the better of the cafeterias which is slightly more expensive (but still cheap).  However, the food was so salty it was barely edible.  Also, we hit peak time, and it was very crowded, I guess I gave us both the full university experience.  I also forgot how much jet lag takes out of people and Mom didn't really let on that she was almost asleep on her feet.

Zermatt

Torrey and I met up with Mom in the middle of her tour at one of Switzerland's most famous locations - the Matterhorn! I had a field trip on the Saturday nearby so Torrey joined my fellow students and I for the train trip, he continued to Zermatt while I toured "disturbance sites".  Here's a few pictures from my field trip:

Here we are leaving a site where they have been trying to bring back a certain bunting (bird) by improving its habitat.  There are only 7 males left, I like birds and all but I question the logic of this program.  

Here we are looking at a rare orchid, which flowered after they did a managed fire in the area.

We are looking at a burn site, this is a very big deal as forest fires can be a bit problem.  I got the impression during class this was just an example of a bigger problem.  However, it is actually the only recent forest fire, so that's why it is such a big deal.  Not saying that fires are good, but it was just a reminder of how managed small Switzerland is.  

The burn site up close.  

Torrey had a nice day walking around Zermatt on his own.  He had hoped to hook up with my Mom but her group was going up the Gornergrat Bahn before he would arrive.  I think he enjoyed spending some time outside on his own, something he rarely does.  Here's a few pictures from his exploring:

View from the train up to Zermatt.

The elusive Matterhorn.  

Saturday night I traveled to Zermatt and we had a nice evening with window shopping and hamburgers for dinner.  We took a number of pictures with Mom in them but usually with her camera.

Common sight in Zermatt :)

On Sunday morning, Mom continued on her tour and Torrey and I went hiking. We had hoped to take teh Gornergrat up and see the Matterhorn but it was completely cloudy so we chose a hike at lower elevation.  As it was still April, we could only hike so far and hit snow after a while.  We hiked about 30 minutes in the snow, it was pretty easy going as it was fairly compact.  Despite not being able to see the Matterhorn the view across the valley was still spectacular and the weather cooperated (didn't really rain).   We don't have any pictures of our hike as we didn't bring our cameras.  Again out for hamburgers for dinner.  I had a Zermatt burger, with bacon and cheese!!
It is sometimes helpful to wake up at 6am even when you are on vacation, because that is when we got to see the Matterhorn (me for the first time)!  It began to cloud over and by about 8 you could hardly see it anymore.  We will have to go back to Zermatt in the summer when the clouds are a bit more cooperative.

The following Friday Mom returned to Zurich and then spent six days with us.  Saturday we went to BEA expo in Bern, which is very much like the PNE with animals, food samples, and people selling all kinds of stuff (we bough a portable BBQ).

A bunny-hop!

I have never seen anything quite like it!

Sheep

Cows

Sausage!

They had this amazing display made of vegetables and other local products, that is grain in the foreground, also wine, rapeseed oil and honey, it sort of looked like a map.

Claire sampling whey.

Pants wrestling Schwingen. 

 Just in case you are not up on your Swiss traditions: Schwingen.

Fancy garden furniture displays. 

Monday morning I had to do a presentation and attend a seminar so she relaxed at home.  But we all met at Google for lunch, Mom experiencing Zurich public transport on her own for the first time.  She was an expert by the time she left.  Tuesday and Wednesday mornings I had class so she took in the local museums.  Tuesday she went to the Kunsthaus (art museum) which she really enjoyed, Wednesday she went to the Swiss National Museum which she described as dark and boring. (It is dark but I didn't think it was boring).

Thursday I took her to the airport.  I was sad to see her go as I really enjoyed having her here.  It made me homesick and wish I could see everyone again.