Ütliberg, again

In our German class, we've been focusing lately on how to navigate German-speaking countries as a tourist.  We were discussing Sehenswürdigkeiten, or tourist attractions, and our teacher asked us to role-play, listing Zürich area Sehenswürdigkeiten.  "Ütliberg!" I volunteered.  "Ütliberg is der beste Sehenswürdigkeiten!" My teacher looked down at me, scowling at my pep.  Ütliberg, he explained to me, is decidedly not a Sehenswürdigkeit. It's tiny, barely a mountain at all.  Zermatt might count as a Sehenswürdigkeit, but not certainly not Ütliberg. Knew I nothing about Switzerland?

But on Thursday I'll have to go back and tell him: Ütliberg was the first thing my in-laws wanted to see when they arrived in Zürich. Ha! Point, Cheryl!

We took them up quite early this morning, early enough to see a race ending at the summit.  So perhaps it is rather a tiny mountain, after all.

Ella, Grandma, and Grandpa, way down there

But, all the same, it's beautiful, and it's made taller by the lookout on Uto Kulm, which offers a panoramic view of Zürich and the surrounding farms and forests.  It's stunning.

Climbing up and up

This is the first time we climbed the tower: Ella was tired from the playground, so she stayed on the ground with Grandma and Grandpa while the boys trotted up the stairs with me. I used to love heights, but now that I have children with very small bodies that might slip through guard railings, I've found that they've lost their appeal. And even on this tower, with the railings all of three inches apart and perfectly safe, it took all I had to keep from wringing my hands.

I've never learned how to capture scenery correctly on my
camera, so you'll just have to trust me on this: it was beautiful,
with perfect, tiny Swiss houses dotting the farmland, which
included many blooming fields of bright yellow canola
flowers.  But since I'm incapable of sharing that all with you,
here, instead, is a photo of my handsome husband.

The train to Ütliberg drops you off  near that wonderful playground, and then the view points are all just a little ways up the hill, perhaps a half a mile hike.  Which is all well and good, unless you have a toddler along for the ride.  Joey had packed a dozen books for the trip, and he steadfastly refused to let anyone help him carry them.  And those little books, wouldn't you know it, kept slipping out of his hands, tumbling onto the path every twelve or so steps.  Our progress was slow, going up and down. 

Alex climbed a glacial boulder

Joey (feeling quite pleased with himself)
and his books

One of the wonderful lamps that lights the way to the
Uto Kulm

Enter the wonderful grandparents: I've been wondering, often, over the past several days, how we've managed this long without family around.

On the roof of Google: Ella, living the sweet life

Though our outing was short, the warm sun (and, for Dennis, the remains of his cold) took a lot out of us all, and half of the Geelses settled down for an afternoon nap.  But everyone woke in time for an afternoon trip to Google, for a quick tour and an ice cream treat.

Apart from glorious Mövenpick ice cream, I've been doing my best to share with my in-laws all those great Swiss delicacies: tonight we ended the day with with a large pot of fondue and a bottle or two of wine.

And yesterday I introduced them to rosti. Although that one niggled at me: I worried that I might be shaming my maternal Grandmother's memory. Oh, she was a perfect hostess, master of the molded salad and, at one point, President of the local chapter of the DAR.  I just don't know how she'd feel about my serving my guests a large plate of hashbrowns for dinner.  But rebranding it as rosti made me feel just a little better.

And it's Switzerland, after all.  The food doesn't get much fancier than meat and potatoes.  But, like me, Dennis and his family hail from the Midwest.  So Switzerland, I think, suits us all just fine.