MeteoSwiss says it’s going to be sunny and hot this weekend (up to 29°C) and it better be as there will be many events to come this weekend. In Lausanne we’ll have the Triathlon, in Vevey the Street Artist Festival, and in Geneva there will be the BimBadaBoum.

All sounds like so much fun! For us, we’ll go to Vevey (and pick up the event poster that the organizer had promised to give me!) and to the beach. It’s probably the last week this year to swim on the lake! And you? Where will you be?

P.S. If you’re a public transport user, please note that there will be changes on some bus lines during the triathlon (Saturday and Sunday). Metro is not affected.

*Poster image courtesy of BimBadaBoum

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My daughter and I went to Zurich a couple of weeks ago to meet a friend of mine, and we used the opportunity to go to the Zurich Zoo. We went to Zurich cheaply using a train Day Pass from the Commune. Lausanne-Zurich by train takes around 2h15m.

The zoo is easily reachable by tram from the train station (Tram #6, direction “Zoo”). We went there on a Monday afternoon, so despite being in the middle of the school holiday we could enjoy the animals easily. The zoo size is good, not too big, even with the new “Masoala Rainforest” area. We finished it in 4 hours (we could linger longer, but the zoo was closing by then).

The giant tortoise at the Zurich Zoo

The website is very useful, with good amount of information in English. They also have a list of feeding times, so if your kids (or you) have favorite animals, you can make sure you don’t miss them in action. They also have “Keeper’s Talk”, but I have no idea whether it’s in German only or also in English. Other activities include “Elephant Washing” and “Penguin Parade” (the latter in winter only, when it’s <10°C).

The zoo has a few picnic places and playgrounds. The only thing that we really missed was an open space to picnic on the ground, or at least to lie down. There are bushes everywhere and the designated eating areas (with tables and chairs) are covered with gravel, so there was no possibility to rest on the grass.

That said, I still totally recommend this zoo to go to if you’re in the area. Definitely a lot of fun.

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Something for this weekend. Hope the weather will be good. For more info, click here.

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Festikids is coming to Lausanne! It will be on Sunday, 29.08.2010 at Esplanade du Flon, from 1:30 to 6pm. Program includes musical performance and story telling (in French of course). Tickets can already be purchased online at www.festikids.ch and FNAC (Bel-Air), or at the cashier directly on the day.

For programs and other info, check this website.

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Hello,

Rosi and I are thinking of organizing some volleyball evenings this summer. If you’re interested to join us, let me know by commenting below or sending an email to info(AT)lausannemom(DOT)com. We are thinking to play at UNIL/EPFL. We haven’t decided yet on which evening we will play as we still have to find the people to play with! FYI, we are not good at volley ball, but think it will be fun. So, no previous experience is necessary. As long as you don’t have ball phobia, you’re in.

Thanks,
meta.

P.S.: This “recruitment” is open to all, including dads and non-moms.

*Image courtesy of hectorir, used under Creative Commons License.

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The 21st edition of CEV Satellite Beach Volley competition will be held at the Place de la Navigation (Ouchy, just in front of the metro station) from 15-18 July 2010. Many European teams and a team from Brazil will participate in this competition, so it’s gonna be hot! Even better, it’s free entry!

For more info, here’s the link.

*Image courtesy of http://www.beachvolleylausanne.ch/

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The next open air cinema in Vevey is coming in a couple of weeks, 21 July to 15 August 2010. Most of the films are shown in French, however, seems that only a couple will be shown in English. If that doesn’t stop you from going, great! Here’s the link to the program and the online ticket service: click here.

P.S.: In Lausanne, there are some movies that had been or would be played open air at the Parc Mon-Repos. It’s free entry and sponsored by Zinéma, an alternative independent cinema in Lausanne. For the program, click here, but do check Zinéma’s website in the morning of the show date for possible change of venue in case of bad weather.

*Image courtesy of www.open-air-kino.ch

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Three weeks ago hubby, tot, and I made a bike tour around Lausanne. We rent the bikes from Lausanne Roule and this post summarizes our experience.

The process: I rent my bike with a day pass. A deposit of CHF90 was made on my credit card and the whole-day rent itself cost CHF6. I got a Velopass magnetic card that allowed me to pick up and return bike at any bike station around Lausanne. My husband used the special bike with a child seat on it. The rent was CHF10, and for this bike, we could only rent and return at the station in Flon. We brought our own lock and helmets, but otherwise it was possible to rent those things there. FYI, you can reserve the bikes and the accessories online here.

The bikes: We were happy with our bikes. They were in very good condition. Mine had a basket where I could strap one of our backpacks. The bike with the child seat was a bit too tall for me (I’m only 1.54cm tall), but the regular bike was a perfect size. Btw, the station in Flon also has child bikes.

The end of the day: I returned my bike with the Velopass at the self-service station in Ouchy. It worked perfectly. So, I could then take the metro while my husband biked uphill to return his to the station in Flon (he could have taken the metro but obviously was intrigued by the challenge to bike uphill)

The final conclusion: We had a lot of fun and the process was really hassle free. It’s also a cheap and healthy way to spend a nice sunny day. We can highly recommend this. There are also possibilities to have annual subscriptions, and even ones with Mobility CarSharing option (click here for price and details).

We’re now so looking forward for another sunny weekend for our next bike tour!

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I know the weather is not so friendly yet for outdoor swimming pools, but after seeing how my tot was interested with this big ad on the street I thought I should remind you about the possibility to make a subscription for pools in and around Lausanne, that includes:

• Lausanne: Mon-Repos, Bellerive-Plage and Montchoisi
• Prilly: Fleur-de-Lys (outdoor) and Fontadel (indoor)
• Pully: Pully (indoor) and Pully-Plage (outdoor)
• Renens: AquaSplash Renens (outdoor)

You can do either a summer only or the whole year subscription. Free entry for children under the age of 6.

For price, check this site.

*Poster was photographed by myself. The child looking at the poster is my daughter. The swimming child in the poster is someone else’s

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Luna Park is back at the Bellerive-Lausanne. The amusement park will be there until 13 June 2010, offering many attractions and activities for all ages. And I bet your kids won’t mind what kind of weather we have this weekend once they arrive there.

*It’s me and Kiddo-the-bump in the photograph, waiting for our banana-nutella crepe at Luna Park 2008. © 2010 Meta Djojosubroto

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