October '10 Travel and More Celebrations

Switzerland

Bob and I planned a long weekend in Switzerland for the first weekend in October.  We took a 12 hour over night flight from Bangkok to Zurich on September 30 after celebrating Chloe's birthday.   We arrived in Zurich Friday morning and spent the day walking around the city looking at old buildings and churches.  The air was crisp with just a little fall chill.  It was nice to see some colors of the season and enjoy a little bit of what we were missing in the tropics.

Liechtenstein and Heididorf

Our second day in Zurich I booked a bus tour that took us through the countryside to the tiny little country known as the Kingdom of Liechtenstein.  I describe this country as Genovia,  those of you with young to teenage girls know about the fictional country in Princess Diaries.  For the others I will describe Liechtenstein as a perfect little fairy tale kingdom where the royal family rule and govern from their castle on top of the mountain overlooking the village below.  Our time in Liechtenstein was limited as we were held up at the border for the Miss Leichtenstein parade to pass through.  The parade was more of a 4-H showing of the countries best heifers.  Now, I'm not implying that the women of Leichtenstein are a beefy breed but truly it was a parade of cows.



Downtown Vaduz, Leichtenstein



Vaduz Castle

Home of the King of Leichtenstein and his family

After our short time in Leichtenstein, just long enough to get a passport stamp and snap a few pictures, we were back on the bus and heading to Heididorf.  On our way we saw beautiful scenery of the Swiss Alps including a breathtaking view of Matterhorn, "Did you get a picture of that, Bob?"  "No, I was looking at it, didn't you get the picture, Leslie?"   Sigh.... no picture of Matterhorn but a beautiful sight none the less.

Heididorf was actually just a small area of country in Maienfield that was used for outdoor scenes in the 1937 Shirley Temple movie Heidi.  It didn't take the residents long to capitalize on the marketing of the movie and name the area Heididorf.  A Heidi house stands on the property with movie memorabilia inside.  This was a very touristy thing to do but we did see some beautiful countryside scenery of Switzerland during this side trip.

Back in Zurich we enjoyed another day of sightseeing and food.  The city is beautiful and very clean but I have to say that Swiss food does not top my list of favorites.  A lot of plain beef and cheese made me only worry about cholesterol too much while on vacation.

Cheese Fondue for Lunch





Of course we had to take a ride on a funicular.

One last look at Zurich

Back on Thai Time

As I said in an earlier post, I promised to make 2 birthday cakes.  Here is Robert's requested cherry cake with almond icing and pictures from Chloe and Robert's belated birthday dinner celebration at Bennihana.

Pattaya Floating Market

Floating markets have been a way of life for the people of Thailand for many years.  However, Pattaya's floating market is not so old and was built for the many tourists that visit each year.  The market has been replicated very well to demonstrate the floating market lifestyle of Thailand.  We enjoyed our day at the market by tasting some local foods and buying some cheap souvenirs.

 Here a couple makes coconut tapioca treats

 Lilli thinks they are a hit!

 Muay Thai boxing demonstration over water

Another food vendor and a person that offers rides in his boat

Hua Hin

The kids had a break from school the last week of October for Chulalongkorn (celebrating one of the greatest kings of Siam, who kept the country from ever being colonized) so we planned our first road trip here in Thailand.  We went to Hua Hin, about 4 hours from our home in Pattaya, on the other side of the Gulf of Thailand.  We stayed at the beautiful Marriott Resort on the beach.  We were happy to see our high school friend Boyd Barker who was in visiting the hotel as he works for the company that owns the property.

 Lilli enjoys the pool

 Chloe enjoys lounging by the pool

It's 95 degrees F and look how the beach clean up crew is dressed!  Thai's do not like to be exposed to the sun.  They do not like for their skin to be tanned.  Completely opposite of us farangs (fa-lahng, what a Thai calls a westerner).

Spirit Houses

Thais have a strong belief in in spirits.  One group of spirits are the territorial spirits.  These spirits exist in a certain area.  If a person wishes to build a house or operate a business they will first put up a spirit house so that the spirits that are already existing on the property will have their own dwellings, will be comfortable, and not cause problems for the people living or working on the grounds.  Spirit houses can be plain structures of wood or elaborate replicas of palaces.  Food and drinks are left each day at the spirit house to keep the spirits happy.  Spirit houses can be seen everywhere.  They are at private homes, hotels, places of business including everything from large factories to small beer bars.  The spirit houses below are at our favorite Mexican restaurant Mike's Mexican that I mentioned in an earlier post.

It was suggested once by co-workers of Bob that perhaps he needed a Spirt House at our house so that he might get some better sleep.  We had only been here a short time and were having troubles adjusting to the time shift.  We thought that we might be able to get over our jetlag by ourselves so we opted out on a spirit house.  Plus being Catholic we weren't even sure if the spirits would mind us and stay in their own house anyway.  A co-worker came back to Bob after some of her own research and asked if he had had a "Priste" out to the house yet.  Bob said, "Excuse me, Priste???"  She smiled and said, "Yes, from your church... to get rid of spirits for you."  Bob replied, "Oh, Priest!  Well, no I haven't but that I might consider."

Not to long after this I was at the Redemptorist Center here in Pattaya.  Redemptorist Center is a compound area like a hotel resort owned by the Catholic Church that hosts various Catholic retreats and such.  Imagine my surprise when I noticed a SPIRIT HOUSE!  Right there on Catholic property!  I noticed there was a sign placed on the spirit house so I had to read it.

       

So there you have it!  A piece of wood from the Most Holy Cross, right here in Pattaya, in a spirit house!  Again, a blending of religions and cultures.        

                Halloween

Lilli and her classmate Rein celebrate Halloween.

We were curious how Halloween would be celebrated here in Thailand.  Surely there celebrations weren't as big as American celebrations?  Au contraire mon ami, Halloween was celebrated with much gusto here in Pattaya.  One of the larger ex-pat compounds here in Pattaya had a big celebration on October 30.  The high school students at ISE were asked to help run the game booths.  Smyth signed up for two shifts working a ring toss booth and the Haunted Tour.  The Pattaya Players, a local theater group made up of ex-pats, told stories as guests took the tour around the compound.  The make-up and costumes were quite realistic and the stories gave a good scare to the kids.

Double, Double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Rise Table, Rise!

Here, our neighbor girl, Alexis, tries to walk on water in a giant hamster ball.

Not only did we enjoy the festivities at Horseshoe Point but also the next evening in our neighborhood we had a block party where everyone brought food and we grilled out while the kids ran around in costumes playing hide and seek and eating way too much candy. 

And so ends October.