Activities Nearby III (longest and last)

[Previous (day)trips from/around Switzerland: Part I, Part II, Part III, with Olga, Part IV, Lyon, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII; and Activities Nearby I and Activities Nearby II]

Even though we were in the middle of a pandemic, we were able to do many outdoor and socially-distant activities throughout 2020. In good 2020 fashion, I am just dumping them here in one post in psuedo-chronological order. 

1. Youth Olympics in Lausanne. In January (before COVID), the Youth Olympics arrived in Lausanne. I had reserved tickets months before for the ladies' and partner's dance events. Unfortunately, Chase got sick with the flu right before the performance so he stayed home with Nate while I joined Christine, Yordan, and Theo. Having never been to any Olympics, I was super excited about it, even if it was just the Youth ones. There were so many events all over Lausanne and we could follow along with all the events online. It was super fun!

2. Bern Aqua. Before Nate left to go defend his thesis, we wanted to do something with Theo and his family. Therefore, we went to Bern Aqua in (duh!) Bern. It is located inside this very American mall which has a yummy Thai restaurant where we had lunch. Bern Aqua was amazing! Not only were there tons of things for the kids (water slides, salt water pool, etc.), there were really awesome saunas for the adults. We had a great time!

Relaxing in the mall. 

3. Ballenberg. After the lockdown, when it was safe to do so, we decided to venture out with Theo's family to an outdoor museum. Ballenberg is an open-air museum showing the different regions and history of Switzerland. The boys had a great time exploring and seeing each other after months of being isolated. 

4. AQUATIS. During the summer, we checked out the Lausanne Aquarium with Marko and his family. AQUATIS, opened in 2018, is the largest freshwater aquarium-vivarium in Europe. While a bit pricey (thankfully we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon), it is very well done and the end (similar to the Desert Dome at the Henry Doorley Zoo) is very cool. The kids very much enjoyed it and it had a great time. 

5. Achrobranche (high ropes course) at Signal de Bougy. Chase was lucky enough to go to the high ropes course, which he loves, a few times this year. Once for a friend's birthday party and another time with Theo. Signal de Bougy, while a cool park, is not very public-transit-friendly so it was nice of his friends' parents to take him with them. 

6. Swiss Vapeur Parc. Chase went to Swiss Vapeur Parc with his class in 1P but I thought it would be a nice thing to do with him together. While definitely not easily accessible by public transit, we made a nice day out of it. We had a nice time riding ALL the trains and checking out the small Swiss landmarks. Overall, it seems to be steered to younger children so Chase (at 6 years old) was kind of on the edge of being too old for it. 

7. Grottes de Vallorbe. One thing that I have wanted to do for a while was to go to the Caves in Vallorbe. They were amazing! So glad we were able to go with Theo and his family and then do a hike or two in the are afterwards - one to the entrance of a different cave system nearby. 

Antimasker Chase (he got much better after this).

8. Hikes, hikes, and more hikes! Thankfully, Yordan kept track in his NatureRando book because we spent the summer and fall doing many, many hikes. The boys kept up very well and we got to see much of the Swiss country-side. Unfortunately, Chase had a scare with two ticks after one hike that involved us walking through tall grass but since he had already been vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis, we weren't so worried. Along with hiking, Chase and I (along with Theo and Marko when they were around) did quite a bit of geocaching all over Vevey, Lausanne, Morges, St. Prex, and probably a few places in between that I have forgotten. Both hiking and geocaching turned out to be pretty COVID-compatible activities so it was great to be in Swtizerland where we had plenty of opportunities to go out and partake.

Hike up to Mont Tendre (near Montricher) and then dinner at the Les Croisettes with good friends from our church small group. 

Sentier de la Truite from St. Prex (I think).

Hike in Pampigny. 

Various adventures through the year: Lausanne, La Sarraz, Vallorbe, Pampigny. 

10. Themed, limited get-togethers. 

In the pandemic, we were limited to small gatherings. We have been lucky to have many of our friends get house and apartments in the last year or so with big backyards -- perfect for the kids to play!

Halloween party with games and limited trick or treating of 1 door and some candy creatively placed to be found in the backyard. Not pictured was a Thanksgiving party with similar games and fun -- all orchestrated by Marko and Sofia's mom. 

Chase playing outside with Marko and Sofia in Lausanne. Not shown was a recent trip to the cantonal museum (mentioned a few years ago as activity #1 here). 

Sofia's birthday party on her actual birthday (Monday) during school vacation. Look at all the smiling children and then -- Chase! 

Hot springs in Leukerbad

Other than the trip to Italy, we took a few days in the Swiss German side, in the town of Leukerbad. There, we did some hiking (seeing the source of the hot springs and walking on the edge of the warm water and seeing the waterfalls), played mini-golf, and bathed in the various hot spring pools. Even our hotel had some heated pools accessible until 10 pm and with the fewer tourists, we enjoyed those on our own in the twilight. The last day, we went up the cable car to Gemmipass and saw the Altesch Glacier and did a small hike up there (before it started raining and hailing on us!). Overall, it was a super relaxing time and a nice way to end the summer. Even though the Swiss German side was not adhering to social distancing and masks the way Italy was, with the low number of cases, it was ok. 

Trip to Stresa, Italy

Even though we are (still) in the middle of a pandemic, cases were low enough that we were able to travel this summer. I have wanted to go to Stresa for a while so it seemed like a good destination (and straight-forward train ride). Having been hit quite hard by the pandemic in the spring, Italians were very good about adhering to hygiene and social distancing rules. There were almost no tourists, which was not only refreshing but made the whole experience much more relaxing. We had a hotel right on Lago Maggiore and spent two full days (and two halves) exploring. The first full days, we took a boat to Lago Pescatori (not much to see), Isola Madre (very nice botanical gardens with lizards and peacocks), the other side of the lake where we ate lunch, and then Isola Bella (beautiful castle and amazing - and empty - gardens). The second full day, we went to the zoo (Park Villa Pallavicino) and swam in the lake. We also ate lots of well-priced and delicious Italian food and relaxed with drinks at the lakeshore. So glad we were able to take this trip as a family and explore a bit even in 2020. 

On the coast, having some drinks on the first night (no one in sight!).

Isola Bella and swimming in Lago Maggiore. 

Views from the gardens of the Park Villa Pallavicino Zoo.  

Chase turns 6 (during a pandemic!)

[Previous Chase updates: 2nd year of school, 5 years, starting school, 4 years, 3 years, 25-32 months, 2 years, 15-20 months, 1+ year, first four months in Cambridge, data analysis from first 2 months, first few months]

Switzerland went on a lockdown from Coronavirus starting on March 13th. Nate flew back here the week after to help out because doing homeschooling with Chase while working full time was a bit intense for me (as it was for many others). Things were still locked down for Chase's birthday, which happened to coincide with Easter this year -- something that I had been excited about since he was born! Unfortunately, we had to cancel our trip to see the grandparents in Kiev, even though this year, Chase's birthday, Zhorik's birthday, and (Orthodox) Easter would all fall within the same week! Through Zoom, we had the families sing happy birthday for Chase and he blew out his candles. Thankfully, he starts back at school part time on May 4th (I went back to work in shifts already on April 27th) and will do full time two weeks later, therefore being able to finish off the school year which ends early July and only missing about 7 weeks of school. 

Chase has been very much enjoying this lockdown: hanging out at home, doing various school activities, and rarely putting on clothes (!). He very much loves math but is still not super into reading. He really enjoys playing with a number of friends (Theo, Marko, Sayaka, Aymeric, Chloé) and has been super into drawing and various small toys like legos. 

Trips Around Switzerland (Part VIII)

[Previous (day)trips from/around Switzerland: Part I, Part II, Part III, with Olga, Part IV, Lyon, Part V, Part VI, and Part VII; and Activities Nearby I and Activities Nearby II]

For my birthday this year, my mom came to visit! Nate had taken off for the US to defend his thesis (which he successfully did January 31st) and find a job, so she also came to care for Chase in the evenings so I could go out a bit. We did lots of daytripping to many places even locals didn't know about. 

1. Téléphérique de Salève: We first went to Geneva to explore a bit and then take this cable car (technically on the French side) up to 1100 m. We could clearly see the jet d'eau in Geneva and the Jura in the distance. We had a nice lunch at the restaurant up there and explored a bit around. 

2. Neuchâtel/Funiculaire to Chaumont. We started off going to Neuchâtel and doing a walking tour scavenger hunt (which we found at the tourist office). Then, we went a tiny bit north to Chaumont and took the funiculaire up to (again) 1100 m. There, there was a cute observation tower (accessible via a mechanical door where we had to put 1-2 CHF similar to the one at Mt. Pèlerin TV tower [#6 here] but cheaper). We waited for the sunset up there and were awarded with some awesome views of the Alps. 

3. Glacier 3000. For a longer daytrip, we took the train to Les Diablerets and then a series of cable cars up to Glacier 3000. There, we had lots of snow, ate at the restaurant with amazing views, did the peak walk (scary!), and took a chairlift to the glacier. We were at 3000 m (way higher than the two places before) and right in the middle of the Alps!

Finally, we walked quite a bit around Morges, catching the wonderful sunsets we've been having in the last few weeks. It was so great to have my mom here to explore and hang out. Thankfully, she made it back to the US without any issues as the Coronavirus travel issues were just starting as she was flying back. 

Zermatt with family

For my grandmother's birthday this year, my Ukrainian family decided to spend a week in Zermatt to hang out and go skiing. Nate (who was back in Switzerland for the month), Chase, and I joined them for a weekend. They were staying in an awesome villa with a private chairlift and amazing views! We had some meals together, sledded a bit in the snow, and Sonia and I even went out on the town. Very fun time and so glad that we got the chance to see them in Switzerland. 

Out on a walk in the snow with Zhorik. 

Inside the private chairlift; more nice views. 

Day and night hangs with Sonia. 

Ringing in 2020 in style

Since we stayed in Switzerland for the holidays, we had the chance to ring in 2020 with good friends! [We also had the chance to spend Christmas with two sets of good friends so we made the most of celebrating the season even though we were away from our families]

Chase kept saying "Happy New Decade" and was very happy that it was 2020!

Wonderful celebrations and the two Oksanas.