Back from World Tour

Well,

We recently got back from a week-long trip to Zurich (16-24 August) with the whole extended family (Hadden, Yvonne, Steve and Wendy). I finally had a cool place to go to give a presentation so everyone went. The flight over was 10 hours to Amsterdam and another hour to Zurich. We all dreaded it with Hadden but he did quite well. Yvonne wanted to give him a grade of "A+" on the way over but she's too much of a pushover - grades her own kid soft. I gave him a solid "B". Not bad for 10 hours in his parents' laps. Wendy met us in Zurich and I did 3 days of conference stuff while the other 3 toured around Zurich each day. Hadden got quite used to the stroller and the cobblestone streets of the old parts of Zurich. I never really did get used to the $6.00 lattes there (the exchange rate is not kind - even in Switzerland where they are still on the Swiss Franc).

The first afternoon Yvonne was showing Hadden the trams there (they are everywhere and always on time) and telling him about the "baum-baum" sound they make as they clack across the track crossovers. So now Hadden calls all trains (and trams) "baum-baums" or, if you prefer the alternate spelling, "bom-boms". Luckily our hotel room was about 12 floors up and looked directly down on the Orlikon train station so Hadden loved to get up in the morning and press against the glass and watch all the bom-boms. He was very nice and even said "goodbye" to the bom-boms as they left the station.

After a first day where Hadden whined the entire time mom and grandma (hereafter known as "Nona") stopped for a glass of while (the nerve of some kids) they/we learned the routine. Stroll around the city until Hadden falls asleep and then go directly to the nearest liquor merchant and order a drink. Then you can enjoy your afternoon glass of wine while your child/grandchild sleeps. Brilliant. Speaking of sleeping, Hadden seemed to do quite a bit of that in Zurich and surrounding area. He may not remember Zurich when he's older and it may be because he was too young to remember but it may be because he slept through most of it.

Hadden enjoys Zurich.

We went to a bunch of "Strasses" (streets) and some where famous (Niederdorfstrasse, Banhoffstrasse). Saw a handful of "Munsters" (churches) - one had some Chagall windows - took a boat cruise around part of Zurichsee (Lake Zurich), went up to a high overlooking spot (Uetliberg), took a bom-bom to Lucerne for the day and took a bom-bom to Rheinfall (waterfall on the Rhine - who knew). I'm not sure Hadden know he was actually on a bom-bom but he certainly recognized the other bom-boms at the station (and the vacas (cows - Spanish) along the tracks as we traveled along).

We also found out what bus you should take if you have beans (or broccoli, etc.) for lunch:

Yvonne says that once when they were changing Hadden in the park his Schlomdingerplatz was showing. Always change your son's diapers as soon as you hear the fahrtenpoopen in der liederhosen. The German language can be really funny if you don't speak it. Oddly, all the cool nightclubs and bars were on Niederdorfstrasse.

Hadden's two favorite things at Rheinfalls (the big waterfall on the Rhine River). Not what you think they would be. The winners were: chain and coin operated horse (see pictures below). Not sure he saw the falls.

Chain is soooo fun to swing around. What waterfall?

An 8,000 mile round-trip to uber (that's German, I think) - expensive Europe so we can see...a coin operated horse. Note that it is a Mexican horse with a barrel of tequila on its rump...in Switzerland. I think it cost something like CHF 2 (about $2) for about 30 seconds of "fun". Well worth it according to Hadden. We could have totally spent those CHF 2 on 1/4 of a latte instead.

New Skills?
I'm kind of losing track here because they're coming quite fast:

• Many more words. Favorites of the trip: bom-bom (okay, not a word but it is to Hadden), vaca (Spanish word, nothing to do with Switzerland and Shhhhhh (for being quite in the hotel hallways).
• Running faster. I guess you could call it running although I think his "run" may still qualify for the race-walk Olympic event.
• Jumping higher. Sort of. I've seen him get air under both feet at the same time a couple of times but you'd have to have a mightly thin sheet of paper to slip it under his feet in the millisecond he's "airborne".
• Pointing out everyone's name: mommy, daddy, Nona, Angela, etc.
• Mine! - all related concepts and words.
• Listening to music. Not sure what he likes yet - mostly dance stuff or up-tempo stuff. But he does move to the music and asks for "more" when it stops.

That's it for now.

steve