Day trip: Mt. Titlis

We had a "first" the other day.  We walked on a glacier.  Just about 1.5 hours south, Mt. Titlis has snow on it all year thanks to the glacier at the top.



We were all really excited to break in our new Swiss sled.  Sledding is really big here, as in, serious tobogganing down ski-size hills with sharp turns to avoid cliffs and praying the breaks work on the sled.  We haven't done that yet, with the kids and all.  But we did buy a sled in hopes of going on some winter walks.

"Winter walking" is basically like hiking on maintained trails in the snow.  Many people will bring sleds to pull the little ones and even sled down little hills along the way.  The Swiss are such outdoorsmen.  Maybe this is why they have kid clothes for all weather like those tights and waterproof bibs.  In the middle of winter, you still see people sitting on sheepskin OUTSIDE the cafes drinking their espressos with jackets on or men standing around a bar table drinking a beer outside the restaurant.  People still walk to the store in the cold with their reusable bags or actual hand baskets to buy their groceries.

We haven't had any snow in the Zurich area yet, so Maddie (ok, all of us) were excited to play in the snow.  We took a series of cable cars to the top, including a rotating cable car that apparently holds fame because this was the site of the world's first rotating cable car.  It was very foggy and wet everywhere but all at once we broke through the cloud cover.  The sun was shining with blue skies and mountains upon mountains with snow capped peaks.  It was unimaginably beautiful.  I was speechless.  It felt like we experienced a little piece of heaven with just the view alone.

I was actually glad we didn't have our sled because it did seem a little dangerous with the skiers, people, and cliffs.

At the top, there were loads of skiers and snowboarders getting on and off the chairlifts and others just taking in the view with their cameras.  Maddie would have been happy all day picking up mounds of snow, throwing them, laying in the snow, and sliding down tiny hills on her bottom.

We experienced the Titlis cliff walk-Europe's highest suspension bridge-which was crazy (and no extra cost!).

Then we walked through the glacier ice cave (also free of charge) where I got slightly claustrophobic as the ceiling got lower but that was definitely another "first" for the record books.  

We got our sled back on the way down and were hoping for enough snow to pull her a little ways near the lake, but no such luck.  Once in the car, we started looking for places to eat dinner with a good Swiss food restaurant in mind.  Less picturesque but much better for the kids, we found ourselves in a grocery store restaurant inside a shopping mall with lots of Christmas lights which meant happy kids.  We all know that happy kids results in happy parents as well, since it didn't take long to stop, eat, get bathroom breaks and head home.

[Funny: we got stopped at least 5 times by East Asians who wanted to take pictures with the kids.  A couple of women just picked Maddie up and their friends starting snapping photos.  It actually made her quite nervous.  And this isn't the first time it's happened...Carter tends to be popular with that head of hair.]