Petals in the wind

Days are rolling along for me in the way they do when you are on vacation...no big deadlines or projects to delineate which day it is or to push you forward. I realize that Markus is not feeling this way, but I feel a bit aimless and undefined here. The kids and I try to go out and explore new territory every day, but the weather is wet and dreary here (I have noticed that San Jose weather is now in the 80s!)Today we walked through a new section of the old part of Zurich. It is really beautiful. They are preparing for a festival to mark the end of winter, but it seems like wishful thinking to me. We will miss most of it as we will be in Germany starting tomorrow. Luckily for the boys, there is a ferry to take to get there and they are excited about adding to their transportation repertoire. Just as well that we will miss the festival, as the main events are huge parades...the kind of thing Timo is scary at!

Our exploration today culminated in the Linderhof, which is a kind of central square on a hill in the middle of the old pedestrian district. On of the doorways had 1574 over the door, signifying the date of the building I think. The square overlooks the main river and the buildings on the hill across the river. Beautiful. Of course I didn't have the camera so I will have to go back for a picture. Markus hasn't been down into town at all yet so perhaps next weekend we will go there again.

After all that walking we all had an afternoon nap (the cozy kind you can't get in California since it isn't wet and cold enough to warrant snuggling under the covers in the middle of the day!) Then this afternoon we were out in the square near our house in the wind (and some drizzle). The trees are blooming here, prematurely it seems, and their white petals are like snow in the wind. The kids spent a great half hour chasing clouds of these white petals rolling and swirling across the square. Of course I once again didn't have a camera, but it was fun to watch. In fact, a stranger came out of his house and took some pictures. These guys have seen so little snow that I think they believe this is a kind of snow!