Daily – Page 36 – trippingdifferently

October 23, 2012

Autumn Holiday Week 02…

So what did we do to occupy our time during the second week of the three-week Autumn hols? It was all about transport!

We had planned to go to a pumpkin maze but the weather didn’t hold out… so we went to the Swiss Transport Museum, known as the Verkehrshaus in German.

We have not been there for quite a long while and met our good friends there for an afternoon of travelling through the various forms of transport. LOVED IT! We had only a few hours there but it was great. We did not manage to cover the whole museum but what we did manage to see was fantastic.

Camera 360 — Left: Huge Pinball Machine, Right: 3D train display

There was a huge pin-ball machine on the 2nd level of the first hall – it required 10 people to play in order to get the balls up to the top end of the board. There were also a few other interesting informative and interactive displays about trains and train lines. But the one which capture the attention of all the children, big and small alike, was the big 3D display of the trains going through the Gotthard Tunnel! (By the way, you can see the huge drill bit they used to dig the tunnel out by the front of the museum building.)

We saw more trains and tried to wait our turn to get on a train-driving simulation but there were just too many waiting. So we went on to the hall with all the cars! This was amazing. There was a whole wall of cars to look at. People sat around voting buttons to vote for which car they want brought down from the wall. There was a whole lot of banging noise at each voting session. After which a special car lift brought down the chosen car. We saw a F1 race car and then what i considered to be a more interesting choice was picked; one of the first automobiles from Mercedes!

Time ran away from us and after a drink break with the kids, we had only a little time left so we went to see the airplanes! i loved the interactive display where you could feel like a paraglider, flying over different parts of Switzerland. We saw a whole lot of planes. There was also an actual model of a Swissair plane which you could visit.

There are a few other halls which are very interesting but we had to give those a miss this time; the boats, space travel and communications bits would have to be covered at another visit. The kids loved it and the adults can learn a lot. This is one museum which is always worth coming back to. That’s why our friends who live nearer to it have a year-long pass for the family! i recommend reserving a whole day for this museum if you are planning seeing everything.

Our next travel adventure came in the form of a Falconry in Locarno; the Italian part of Switzerland! The travel bit was getting there. It took us more than 4 hours, almost 5 hours of travelling on train and bus to get there but it was good. We like riding the trains here and the scenery was amazing. We had books, games (both non-digital and digital) and food to keep us entertained as well.

autumnholsweek02_20121022d — Wonderful Views from the train

The Falconry isn’t very big. It has about 10 or so cages with about 15 varieties of birds and about 25 or so birds. It is a lovely little place, right in the middle of a residential area, which greatly surprised me. But once inside the park, you don’t notice the buildings around very much. We were early for the show so we walked around the park. It didn’t take very long but it was a nice walk and we saw all the birds in their cages.

autumnholsweek02_20121022e — Lovely Snowy Owls and the short walk around the park…

i really liked the stage area; it is open and very well-kept. It gave me a very peaceful feeling, sitting there waiting for the show to start.

The show opened with a little introduction about how animals have helped man to hunt. The whole show is done in both Italian and German. They showed off falcons, eagles, vultures and owls! The show was fantastic, well-organised and it kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The birds’ natural talents was so well highlighted.

You always had to be on the lookout for where the next bird was going to fly in from. And the birds flew so close, the tip of one of their wings brushed across my face and you could feel the downdraft from them zooming by.

autumnholsweek02_20121022g — Top Left: The Opening, Right: Barn Owl flying at us, Bottom Left: a funny little bird which looked like a cross between a flamingo and a falcon to me… it was a clever little thing…

autumnholsweek02_20121022h — American Bald Eagle in flight – amazing!

There was a lot of demonstrations of how fast the falcons can fly and their hunting skills and great eyesight. The show was 45 mins but it didn’t feel all that long. You could tell that people who have been happy to sit there for longer.

autumnholsweek02_20121022i — Top: a Vulture swooping in near us, Bottom: See the blur on the bush next to the man, that’s the falcon chasing his prey which the man swings around.

Oh, i have to tell you; near the end of the show, they got a bird called the Karkar (i think) to stand on people’s head and my head got picked! But i don’t have a picture cos there was a bird on my head (mind you, he was a heavy bird). You will just have to take my word for it that it happened to me. i do have a picture of the bird on someone else’s head though.

autumnholsweek02_20121022j — Top: The Karkar on a man’s head, Bottom: The Closing

So was it worth the 9 hours roundtrip? No, not for just 2 hours of entertainment. But i had a holiday train pass and special discounted entry so it was ok. And besides, we liked the journey there.

autumnholsweek02_20121022k — This little guy kept screeching… the lady said he was talking…

However, if you are planning to be in the Italian part of Switzerland, a stop at the Falconry should be on your list. A fair number of people do come for the shows (our show saw about 200 people) so do go early to get a good seat. There is a small snack bar and souvenir shop. We bought a couple of cute owl keychains 🙂

Well, that’s it for now. i leave you with a cute Snowy Owl, less than a year-old and hatched at the Falconry earlier this year.

syc

October 14, 2012

Autumn Holiday Week 01…

So we have been on Autumn holidays – it’s 3 weeks of holidays 😉 i just thought i recap some highlights of Week 01.

We had a couple of restful days at home to start with. Then we went to Basel to meet a friend and to watch the latest kids’ movie, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. We loved it!

i was expecting more of the same running away stuff and the same used jokes but this one had heart… the previous 2 had heart too but this one just did so much more in taking the audience along on the journey and much more emotional investment without loss of any of the most funny moments on-screen.

i thought the cinema would at least be a little filled up, it being the holidays but here we are again, all alone in the cinema (we were later joined by a mum and her 2 kids who sat behind us):

See here for the other empty cinema moment.

Oh, before we went for the movie, we met our friend and her little gal for a Sushi lunch; Tobias’ favourite all-time food! He broke his record and had 8 whole plates of Sushi all by himself! My Sushi Monster 😉

Then we enjoyed more home time and got started on our Christmas presents for grandparents. i’m not going to say what we are making as we would like to keep it a surprise 😉

On Saturday last week, we went to the Suisse Toy Fair in Bern. i think i mentioned it a couple of times before but never got round to posting about it. This year we all felt that the fair seemed a little smaller or maybe it was because this year was held in a few larger halls instead of the usual various smaller halls all over the BEA Expo.

Tobias enjoyed some time on a mini ATV (you have to pay for these rides, they are like amusement rides):

We saw the ProJuvenTute get their Guinness World Record for the largest 3D Lego model to be build. They had lots of people over the period of the toy fair come and build different 3D models out of Lego and fixed them all onto a huge Lego map of Switzerland. It was quite cool.

Of course the thing that one does at a Toy Fair is to try out the toys!

The highlight for Tobias was getting a photo with his favourite Skylander Character, Gill Grant:

The highlight for me was Creaktiv, the section with all the handicraft materials and stuff. i got stuck at the one stall for so long that husband and son came to find me after finishing at the remote-control section 😉

If you like toys or have kids, the Toy Fair is a great way to spend the day. Do take note, food and drinks are more expensive so if you are planning on staying longer than 4 hours (which i recommend), then remember to pack food and drinks, especially for the little ones.

There are quite a few rest areas (Ruhe Zone) with a whole bunch of Fat Boys (large bean bags) where people can just relax or wait for their family members or mothers can feed their babies.

That was Week 01. Will post about Week 02 soon.

syc

September 21, 2012September 21, 2012

G D A E… 5, 6, 7, 8…

G D A E… those are the strings on the violin. 5, 6, 7, 8 is what you hear before you start hopping to Latin music in an exercise class 😉

And why am i talking about these things? Well, because i (yes me – the mummy, the well-over-the-beginner-age for musical instruments gal, the so-long-never-exercise woman) have started both violin classes and Zumba classes 😉

i have always been interested in music and playing a musical instrument. i did have piano lessons when i was about 12 years old. But it didn’t work out because i was a very impatient little girl and would not practice if i did not get the piece right the first couple of times. In the end, my piano teacher didn’t want to teach me and my mum sold my piano. i am still sad about it.

But now i have another chance at learning an instrument! Since Tobias had chosen the violin, i had been thinking about learning it too. Then i found out 2 of my friends have also embarked on their own musical learning journey; and interestingly, they are both also learning the violin.

So i plucked up the courage and asked Tobias’ teacher if it was too late for me to learn and how much are his private lessons. He was so very kind and encouraging. He said it’s never too late and that for now, till i am certain i really like the instrument and want to learn more, i can share the lesson time with Tobias at no further costs!

Excited, off i went to rent my instrument! Here it is, right next to Tobias’ half-size:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Tobias is playing a 2009 China handmade violin, i’m playing a 1920s Sachsen (by German violin maker, E. Martin Sachsen)

Tobias has been doing very well at his violin lessons, his teacher is very pleased with the progress he and i are making 😀

Now to Zumba…

i have been wanting to do a Zumba class for more than a year now. But the class timings and costs were what were keeping me back. Now i finally found a fitness studio, in the next village, which had a class which fitted into my schedule and was at a reasonable price. And i went for the trial class and liked it. The instructor is a latin woman, small-sized but oh such a bundle of energy, so very fit and fun!

Zumba really is quite a workout. It took me a while to get the basic steps and even after 3 classes, i’m still missing steps. There is such a lot of choreography to learn. But she does do the same few pieces each week so it is possible to learn it, just a matter of time. This week however, she introduced 3 new pieces… so… despite that, i do enjoy the class and do look forward to it.

Plus point, they even provide childcare for the particular class time i had chosen. So this means i can also go during the school holidays 😉

i don’t have photos of the studio… i was there to exercise so i didn’t bring my camera. But on the walk home (sometimes i take the bus, sometimes i walk) there is a nice view. So enjoy!

syc