Switzerland ~ a wonderful weekend away

So we went to Switzerland on Thursday and got back on Tuesday.  It was a fantastic few days away and we really enjoyed ourselves.

It was so good to see my friend Leti and for Riley to meet her little boy Nico.  They seemed to get on really well and Riley loved watching him as he's 3 and so bigger and cleverer than her!  Leti is one of my closest friends, it's hard being so far appart but we've kept in touch for 4 years now so I think that shows we're pretty close :) Nico is gorgeous and he is so full of energy, very clever and interested in everything that is going on.  I hope Riley grows up to be so full of life.

We were very busy, we had glorious weather all weekend pretty much, temperatures into the high 20s.  So we were outside pretty much the whole time.  We went to the lake twice and Rich swam in it!  Riley stick to the kids pool (and I think picked up conjunctivitis ~ will get to that bit later!)

We climbed up a big hill (to the british probably a mountain...), went to the zoo and explored some of Zurich and the village just outside where my friend lives.

I also visited another friend who I went to junior school with.  She is a nanny for a family in a very nice part of Zurich!  She seems to be really good at her job, the children she looks after are lovely.  Talking to her I came to realise that while we complain about childcare in England, the cost of childcare in Switzerland is huge.  Children come home from school at lunchtime so Mum's can't get a job for the whole school day as they have to be home at lunchtime.

Speaking to my friend who we stayed with, she actually pays more in childcare costs than she earns, she just works to keep up her skills!

They pay £170 a day, makes the £35 a day we pay seem nothing!