Playing in the park, Zürisee and a not so happy ending

Early in the morning we started our journey to Switzerland.

The plan was to stay one night in an apartment in Zürich (Oerlikon), so that we would have some time to visit Caro. We had agreed to meet at their place for dinner and had all afternoon to explore Zürich. Most of the time we spent in a park called Bäckeranlage – they had a huge climbing frame and a wagon full of children toys and books for everyone to use.

After Falafel, lots of playing and ice cream we made our way down to the Zürisee. From there we wanted to take a boat back to the train station, but we weren’t the only ones and didn’t manage to get a spot. The march along the river was probably just as good but we were a little weary and eager to dump our stuff at the apartment and head off for some catching up with friends and good pizza. A little too eager perhaps, as we decided to jump on the bus number 75 to shorten the journey. Unfortunately this bus journey was to have a sudden and unplanned end. The driver made an emergency brake thanks to a car in front jumping in front of him (his story, we saw nothing and have no idea). The short version is that Birgit, standing with the buggy with nothing to hold on to, fell badly and ended up with a concussion, stitches on her chin, a minor case of amnesia and a badly bruised/swollen hand. Thanks to Caro the children still got pizza. Thankfully there was no long term damage and 24 hours in hospital later, we were able to continue roughly as planned. Catching up with friends and heading off to the Reka holiday village in Hasliberg. Hasliberg is a short distance up the mountain from the Brunig pass, on the way from Lucern to Interlaken. Our Great Railway journeys of Europe book has it down as a highlight. However, we gladly swapped our beloved trains for a kind chauffeur drive from Caro's husband Torsten. Handling so much baggage after a concussion with only one hand didn't seem so smart.

One of the views from our balcony...

The Reka village is set high up and has everything a family could want for a relaxing week. But more on that in the next post.