No longer In Zürich

On the 16th of June we headed back to Sweden on the train. We had tickets on a night train from Freiburg, Germany to Copenhagen, but had forgotten that tickets to Freiburg were international tickets and couldn't be bought at the machines. So we had to leave a bit earlier to be able to have time in Basel to buy the German tickets.Otherwise, all went according to plan and we enjoyed the luxury of a 2-person sleeping car on the night train. Andreas had the tough job of hauling the heavy bike bag when we switched trains in Zurich, Basel, Freiburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm, but he didn't complain much. Overall the 24+ hour train journey went much better than expected. Jen didn't even get a backache!

sleeper car

Andreas on the train bunk bed

The last few weeks back in Stockholm have been filled with final work projects for Jen and putting the apartment back in order for Andreas. We have managed to get a few things for the baby (crib, stroller, clothes, etc.). So we feel that we are more or less ready for the arrival of the little one. It was a wonderful experience to be able to have these months together in Switzerland. We enjoyed the travels and exploring a new place. Now on to the next adventure!

37 weeks

This is the last entry we will write for this blog. Further adventures will be recorded under different titles (if at all).

Heading home

Today is my last day at work at Eawag. Tomorrow afternoon we are catching the train back to Stockholm. It will be a long ride back, but we have a sleeper car overnight to Copenhagen so I am hoping that will make the journey a little easier. We arrive in Stockholm on Sunday evening.

I will miss colleagues here. It has been a good experience working with the researchers here. But I am sure that we will be able to continue collaboration in the future. And I am also ready to be in my own home and start "nesting" a bit before the baby arrives. 

Last days in Zurich

There are just a few days left now before we head back to Stockholm. The months have gone quickly!

Town hall, Basel

There is plenty to get done at work these days and I am daily reducing my ambitions on what can be done before the baby arrives. Quickly losing motivation as well! Friday is my last day at Eawag. It has been an enjoyable exchange here. Nice to be in a positive research environment. I have had many inspiring discussions and have laid a good groundwork for the rest of my research project.

These last weekends we have done a bit of last minute sight-seeing. On June 2, I was in Basel to meet with my old flatmate from Lausanne, Yvonne, and her husband. It had been 7 years since we last met - when she came to visit me in Mali. It was good to reminisce about Lausanne and Mali days. A very nice afternoon together.

Last weekend Leif (Andreas' father) and Tina came to visit. The weather turned out better than predicted and we had a lovely weekend to explore Luzern and Zurich with them. 

Exploring the Zurich botanical gardens

Famous bridges in Luzern

View over Luzern

Under the Luzern town wall

 

Where to be a Mother?

Just ran across an interesting report from Save the Children. Their thirteenth State of the World's Mothers report shows Niger as the worst place to be a mother in the world. Norway comes in at first place and Sweden #3. This year, the United States ranks 25th. Once again I am glad to be heading back to Sweden to have my child. Just 10 days until our epix train trip!

Liechtenstein

Winding roads upwards

The 28th of May was a holiday here and we have little time left for running around in the mountains before heading back to Sweden, so we took the opportunity for a day-trip and headed to Liechtenstein. We decided to make a day trip to Lichtenstein and a hike there.  A visit to this small country has been on my wish-list for awhile. In 2001, I had crossed the country on the train to Austria, but never had the chance to stop (trains don't stop there). We had to take a bus from the closest Swiss town across the Rhine to the capital of Vaduz (just over 5 000 inhabitants). The buses are new and have children's voice announcing the bus stops - very cute!

From Alpspitze you can see the greater part of the whole country of Lichtenstein

We hiked to the top of Alpspitze just outside of Gaflei, a small town high above Vaduz. The path was steeper than I had imagined but the views were great. We ended up high above the Rhine valley and could see the whole country stretching out around us - literally! Liechtenstein has a population about 36 000 people covering an area of just 160 square km (62 sq. miles). We passed a sign pointing to the geographic center of Liechtenstein so we are pretty sure that we were seeing it all.

Summit Cross of Alpspitze, 1990m 

Hiking is not as easy at 34 weeks pregnant but I surprised myself a bit made it up and down the 550m vertical without too much trouble. I was not running and jumping down the mountain meadows like Andreas of course, but still quite happy.

Waiting for the bus at a resturant with a view

The whole hike took a bit longer than anticipated and we missed the bus that runs every 2 hours. But waiting was a good excuse to sit in the resturant and enjoy the view. Maybe our last mountain hike this year and it was a good one.

The week that was...

This past week we had some focus on the baby we are expecting. On Wednesday we went to the midwife for the last time in Switzerland, next visit will be in Sweden. Everything was fine! Jennifer is now about 5kg heavier than Andreas.

On the weekend we participated in a birthing course. It was good to go through what to expect of the delivery process and the time right after with the details of birthing stages, pain relief, breast feeding etc. It was also good to meet some other expecting couples, too bad just that we will not be able to meet them again later and compare how it went.

After spending quite some time during the days of sitting and listening Andreas made sure that Jennifer still got her exercise. On Saturday after the course we had a picnic at Zurichberg looking out over the city and the lake before we walked ca 2.5 miles back home. On Sunday evening we biked/ran 10km out to Greifensee where we did our first swim in the lake for the year. After swimming and ice cream we did the 10km back home. Jennifer got very tired, but not too tired to still plan for a hike on Monday (Swiss holiday). 

Ticino Part 3

The last day in Ticino we visited two of the Fortresses of Bellinzona, the town where we had been staying at hotel Croco Federale during the weekend.  There are 3 fortresses in the town and they used to be connected by walls going all the way over the valley closing it off, together with a fortified bridge. Much of the walls and the bridge where destroyed during an earthquake in the 1800s. Before we headed for the train back to Zurich we had a last ice-cream at an outdoor cafe, even though it had started to rain by then.

The train back was really crowded and here we realized that Swiss people are not caring too much for others when it comes to getting a seat at the train. Andreas did not take part of the pushing and elbowing so he had to spend the first part of the trip sitting on the floor together before the conductor could point him to a part of the train with some free seats. Jennifer got a seat, but only because see was willing to sit with a big dog under her feet (not because anyone offer the pregnant woman a seat).

The impression from the Ticino trip is that it is a beautiful landscape with the mountains and the lakes.  It is very green and lush. It is also fun to see the mix of alpine plants and more subtropical ones! The mountains are very easy to access with cable cars and cog trains. There are many well marked hiking trails (as everywhere in Switzerland).