Life Abroad in Switzerland!

A bit of home in Barcelona!

2012-01-23T13:39:00.013+01:00

Castello Montjuiic

Enjoying the view over Barcelona's port

Barcelona's center with Sagrada Familia

Some delicious jamon at Barcelona's market "la boqueria"

Meet-up with Steph on my side of the pond!

Enjoying some Spanish wine-Rioja

Yummy pintxos!

Walkin' around town!

Barcelona's Arc de Triomphe!

The view from our hotel terrace

This past weekend, Mark and I ran into Steph in Barcelona, who was there to chaperone her university's winter term study-abroad program.

We had a great time wandering the city and catching up over delicious tapas and wine! It was so fun to have a friend from home on the continent!

Sister's Graduation

2011-05-25T17:44:00.009+02:00

Sister putting on her lei..and getting ready to graduate!

Where's Meesh?! I found her...can you?

Celebrating with friends!

...and family!

Getting ready for the party!

Yay for the diploma!

Our favorite: Taco Surf!

My twin graduated from SDSU on May 22, 2011! I went home for a very quick trip to watch her graduate and celebrate! Although I was only home for 3 days, I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Congrats sister!

A weekend with friends in Stresa!

2011-05-25T17:43:00.023+02:00

Enjoying our dinner after making a run for it through the rain and hail!

In mid-May, Mark and I joined a group of friends in the lake-side town of Stresa, Italy. Thanks to our friends, Kate and Kyle for the invitation to join them there, we had a great group of 9 hanging out together in Italy!

We arrived around 9:30 in the evening on Friday night, taking the train from Lausanne to Stresa after work. On the direct train, it is only a 2 hour 2o minute ride. Most of us were on the night train, but Kate, Maud and Kyle's sister Erin (who was visiting from the States), drove out early on Friday and made us a reservation for dinner Ristorante Il Vicoletto at 10:00 pm. We lucked out that the restaurant agreed to stay open for us, as they usually close at 10! Having the whole restaurant to ourselves was fantastic and our table of 9 felt VIP as we took over the place! It was a fantastic dinner and the whole group was very sweet to sing me a belated "Happy Birthday" as I had just celebrated my birthday the day before our arrival. After a fantastic meal and some good wine, Mark and I headed back to the hotel, looking forward to some sight-seeing the next day.

On the ferry to Isola Bella

View of the island from the ferry

A very Kodak moment!

The Borromeo Palace Gardens

Gorgeous flowers

White Chinese peacock

Check out those feathers!

On Saturday, we woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel before heading over to the ferry-landing to purchase tickets for the ferry. Stresa has three islands located out on the lake close to the town and ferries run between all of them. Mark and I headed over to Isola Bella, the closest one to town, to check out the palace and gardens of the Borromeo family. After a first walk around to check out the small island, our friends met up with us and we all sat down for lunch together. After our meal, they headed on to Isola Madre and Mark and I started our walk through the palace. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous, accented with White Chinese peacocks strutting around with their feathers open for us to know we were on their turf!

Streets in Stresa

Pre-dinner drinks!

The gang! (from left to right): V, Maud, KiYonna, Kate, Kyle, Erin, Jenn, John, Mark

After our island tour was finished, we headed back to Stresa on the ferry just in time to avoid the down-pour that came that afternoon! Mark and I enjoyed a quick dip in the hotel jacuzzi and a nap before dinner time. We got ready and then headed out for a walk around Stresa before settling at a wine bar for a drink before dinner. We had another fun group dinner in Stresa and then headed back to the apartment where half of our group was staying to play some poker!

The view from our hotel room

Our Stresa hotel right on the lake-front

Sunday we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel one more time and a short lake-side walk before our train-ride back to Lausanne. We had a great time hanging out with our friends in Stresa!

Le Deck

2011-05-04T17:00:00.009+02:00

Mark and Candy at Le Deck

Yummy Burgers!

View over Lac Leman and the vineyards

Mark's friend Candy came to visit us at the end of April. She was our first visitor of 2011 and we had fun showing her around our area of Switzerland. After showing her around Lausanne's old town and Saturday farmer's market, we took her to Le Deck for lunch. Le Deck is situated in Chexbres, about 15 minutes by train from Lausanne amongst the Lavaux vineyards. On a beautiful day (which we lucked out on!), it offers a beautiful view over the vineyards and Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). I recommend it to those of you in the area to check out!

Easter Weekend in Italia-Enjoying the sights of Milan and Lake Como!

2011-04-27T17:50:00.035+02:00

For the second year in a row, we spent Easter break in Italia. This year, we decided to explore Milan and Lake Como. In Europe, we are lucky to have a four-day weekend for Easter. We decided to take off the Thursday before and Tuesday after to maximize our travel time! Enjoy the tour as I guide you through our trip!

Mark and I started out our trip with a 3 hour train ride from Lausanne to Milan. This one requires advance reservations as the the seats are assisgned (in case you ever plan on doing it in the future!). We checked into our hotel, Antico Locando Leonardo, and then headed out see the city. We walked over to the Sforza Castle, which is in a great location with a huge park right in the city. We grabbed some paninis from a food vendor and sat in the park, relaxing and enjoying some people-watching. It was a warm day and a lot of people were out-and-about in the park, soaking in the sunshine. The castle houses a bunch of small museums, none of which were on our priority list so after lunch we just walked through the square inside the castle walls.

We made reservations for that afternoon to view Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting so after the castle, our next stop was the Church Maria delle Grazie where the painting is located. To preserve what is left of da Vinci's famous painting, only 25 people are allowed into the room at a time for 15 minutes. Due to its popularity (especially since the Da Vinci Code book and movie were released) reservations are a must. If possible, I recommend a time that includes an English-speaking guide. As you have only 15 minutes to check out the painting, it was extremely helpful to have someone explain the details of the painting. The painting was done on the wall of the church, most of which was destroyed during WWII. Luckily, the room that the painting is located in was not damaged and the painting, although deterioring rapidly, still remains. In my opinion, this is a "must-see" in Milan!

Church Marie delle Grazie

After the "Last Supper" viewing, we walked to Milan's duomo, an amazing piece of architecture in Milan's center. Jetting off from the duomo is a large piazza in front and a big shopping area surrounding it. Milan is famous for fashion and you don't have to go too far before you run into any number of stores! Located on a side street a few streets away from the Duomo is a Milan food institution, called "Luini". It features the infamous panzerotti, a "hot-pocket" like food which has a doughy exterior stuffed with any number of things to choose from: ham, cheese, and tomato to name a few. Order at the counter and eat outside on the curb with the locals. Of course, gelato is always on the food list of things to eat when in Italy, so we topped off our meal with a cup of gelato after dinner!

Milan's Duomo

The Galleria

The famous bull mosaic on the floor of the Galleria

On Friday, we checked out of our hotel and headed back to Milan's central train station to catch a regional train to Lake Como! Thanks to Rick Steve's Italy 2011 book, we were able to easily make our way there, so I recommend this readers for any future travels to Italy. His detailed transportation descriptions were a big help. It is only a little over an hour's ride from Milan to Varenna, and then a short (10-15 minute) ferry ride from Varenna to Bellagio, our homebase for the weekend.

Bellagio, known as the "pearl of the lake," is a charming little town sitting directly in the middle of the lake. With easy ferry access to other lake-side towns, this is a good town to make day-trips from. We checked into our hotel, Hotel du Lac, and then went and feasted on lunch a the lake-side terrace at Hotel Metropole. We enjoyed wandering through the small town streets in the afternoon, window-shopping and people-watching. In the evening, we had a pizza for dinner, topped off with gelato, of course! It being Good Friday, we ended our night with a drink at an out-door table at our hotel, watching the Good Friday procession go by, the town's residents slowly following behind.

On the ferry!

The view from our room

One of the main streets in Bellagio

Our hotel

On Saturday, we spent the day villa-hunting!...well, I wish! The central-lake ferry day pass (11 EUR) shuttled us to two different villas open to the public for viewing (for a fee). We lucked out with a lake-side room directly in front of the main ferry landing. This let us keep an eye on the big clock outside so we knew when it was time to run downstairs for the ferry! That morning, we hopped on the boat and enjoyed the ride over to Tremezzo, where Villa Carlotta is located.

Villa Carlotta, sitting on the lake-front opposite Bellagio, is famous for its beautiful gardens. The spring is a great time to visit, as the flowers are blooming and everything is green. I tried to imagine what it must have felt like to live in this place, having your own private, grand gardens to wander through! I had fun playing with my new camera in this setting!

Villa Carlotta

Where's Waldo?!!

After Villa Carlotta, we walked down the road to the town of Tremezzo, where we sat and had lunch at a pizzeria on the lake. Afer our meal, we hopped back on the ferry and took the short ride to Lenno . From there we started on the part walk/part hike(!) to get to Villa Balbianello. This well-groomed, elegant property is famous for its use as a movie-shoot location for films such as James Bond's Casino Royale and Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. We just toured the outside property at this villa, as we missed the time for the guided tour of the interior. Built in 1787, the property sits on a picturesque point on the lake, giving it a secluded and serene feeling. At the end of our villa-hopping day, we took the ferry back to Bellagio. In the evening, we went to Enoteca's wineshop and enjoyed a sampling of wines from the region.

Villa Balbianello

Bellagio's ferry-landing and lake-side

Wine tasting in Bellagio

On Easter Sunday, we decided to take the hydrofoil (fast boat) to Como, the town at the southern end of the lake for which it is named. Before the boat trip, we walked a few minutes down the lake-side from the ferry-landing to Villa Melzi. The villa itself is not open to the public, but its pristine gardens were definitely worth the walk around.

Villa Melzi's gardens

Where's Waldo #2?!!

Soon it was time to board the boat. The 50 minute hydrofoil ride offers you a nice look at a large portion of the lake, including a nice view of Villa Balbianello from the water. Due it to being a holiday, Como was quite crowded. The first thing we did was buy a return ticket for the hydrofoil back to Bellagio for later in the day so that we were guarenteed a seat! We then went off in search of lunch, walking through the pedestrianized old-town streets. Como has a really nice cathedral worth a look. We found a place that looked good and sat down for lunch. After our meal, we headed over Como's funiculare which takes you up the mountain to the town of Brunate. The funiculare provides spectacular views over Como and is worth the ride. If you have lots of time, walk up the mountain further to the lighthouse. We didn't have enough time to make the trek, but read that the view from there is really great.

Como's cathedral

Como's funiculaire

View from the ride up the hill

View of Villa Balbianello from the water

Outside our favorite restaurant!

We took the funiculare back down to Como, enjoyed some gelato and then headed back to Bellagio on the hydrofoil. That evening, we enjoyed our favorite meal of the trip, our dinner at Trattoria San Giacomo. This "petit" restaurant only has a handful of tables, so be sure to get there before they open to ensure a table. They have a basketful of pillows for you to sit on the steps and wait with a glass of wine in case you are late and have to wait! I enjoyed the fried perch risotto and Mark had a delicious pasta meal. We enjoyed it so much, we went back for lunch the next day!

Varenna

Menaggio

Back again for lunch the next day!

On Monday, our final day on the lake, we bought another central-lake day pass and went over to Varenna for a quick tour of the small, romantic town. Afterwards, we enjoyed a ride on the ferry to view Menaggio and then went back to Bellagio to eat at Trattoria S.G. before we had to leave. Our journey back took us the way we originally came: ferry ride to Varenna and train back to Milan. We spent the night in Milan to break up the travel, and caught the train back to Lausanne on Tuesday. We had a wonderful visit to the Italian lake district for our Easter break! Va benne!

Versoix Chocolate Festival!

2011-04-13T14:13:00.006+02:00

Mark and I went with some friends to the Versoix Chocolate Festival a few weekends ago! Yup, that's right, I said it!...a chocolate festival...only in Switzerland! Living in the land of chocolate gives you access to these kinds of perks, lol! The festival is timed to take place just prior to Easter so that the chocolatiéres can display their all of their Easter goodies. Mark and I, along with friends Kate, Kyle, John and Jen tasted a lot of chocolate samples...and of course, finished our day off with chocolate ice cream...perfect for the unusually warm April weather we enjoyed that day! It was a fun day out-and-about in Switzerland!

Celebrating Trois Ans Together à Paris et Versailles!

2011-03-20T23:07:00.023+01:00

Last month, Mark and I rode the TGV train to Paris to celebrate our three year anniversary! We decided to take a tour of the Versailles Palace and Gardens on Saturday since neither of us had been there before. We arrived in Paris late Friday evening and woke up early to catch the RER regional train to Versailles, located just outside of Paris.

Versailles Palace

A little bit of planning ahead is required for a trip to the Palace. It is recommended to buy tickets ahead of time to save yourself the wait in line at the ticket office. (It can be an hours long wait in the summer/high season!) We had our tickets in hand and breezed through the security line with no wait...lucky for us, it was not peak tourist season yet.

The palace was originally the royal family's hunting lodge. Louis XIV expanded it into the palace and gardens that are on the premises today. I recommend purchasing "Le Passeport," the all-inclusive ticket if you are interested in seeing everything on the grounds (also inncludes the audio-guide).

The tour begins at the Royal Chapel and then leads you through the "salons" or staterooms. These rooms belonging to the King and Queen are lavishily decorated in gold and have beautiful frescoes on the ceiling, each relating to the theme of the room.

Beautiful frescoes decorate the ceilings of every room

After passing through the state rooms and the king's bedchamber, you reach The Hall of Mirrors, one of the "must-see" spots in the palace. This impressive hallway was used as a passageway on a daily basis for the public who visited the king. The stunning ceiling, painted from one end to the other, also holds massive chandliers that hang down sporadically as you walk down the hall. The other side of this floor houses the Queen's staterooms and bedchamber.

King's bedroom

Queen's bedroom

View of the gardens from the house

Once you complete your tour of the palace, head outside to the gardens. Acres and acres of gardens are at your feet to explore! We were there at the end of winter so nothing was in bloom yet. We look forward to going back in the summer when the flowers appear and the fountains are on. There are also two other smaller properties to see towards the back of the gardens. The Grand and Petite Trianons, places of escape for the king and queen when they did wanted some privacy away from the mail house and the royal court. We ate lunch at one of the restaurants in the garden, which is a good break between walking around the palace and the gardens!

Walking around the gardens

Painting of Marie Antoinette

After the palace tour we took the train back into the city, where I dragged Mark back to the Eiffel Tower! There's something magical about the monument. No matter how many times we go to Paris (this was our 3rd trip), I'm always drawn to it! Then we went on a very loooonnnng walk back to our hotel! It's always fun to walk through new neighborhoods and see the heart of the city.

Checking out the delicious Easter goodies in the window of the patisserie

On Sunday, we did more walking!..through the Latin Quarter and Saint Germaine-des-Pres. Thanks to one of Rick's Steves Left Bank walks from his France guidebook (also on his website), we went on a search for Shakespeare and Co., a famous English bookstore near the Notre Dame. where Ernest Hemingway and others used to hang out! I recommend checking it out if you are in the mood for roaming after hitting some of Paris's more touristy spots. We checked out a few famous churches: St. Michele, St. Severin and Sainte Chapelle and then grabbed some lunch in the Latin Quarter.

Les Deux Magots

Notre Dame Cathedral

St. Severin

Cafe de Flore

The end of our stroll took us park outside of the Louvre, enjoying the warmth of the sun and a little bit of people watching before heading back to collect our things from the hotel.

Our 3-year anniversary trip was trés inoubliable! Here's to many more unforgettable memories to come....

Harper's Irish Pub, Lausanne

2011-03-17T17:12:00.005+01:00

We went to check out Harpers, an Irish Pub in Lausanne near the Riponne Square in Lausanne for St.Patrick's Day last Thursday. We had fun catching up with friends over a beer and enjoyed the festive St. Patty's Day spirit! For anyone in the Lausanne area, I recommend checking it out!

Lausanne HC Championship Game 1

2011-03-17T17:08:00.007+01:00

Mark and I went to Game 1 of the Lausanne Hockey Club championship series against Viege. Unfortunately, they lost the game and in-the-end, the series, but we had a good time watching!

Sweet Dreams Cupcakes!

2011-03-17T17:06:00.004+01:00

Recently, I set out to find Sweet Dreams Cupcake Cafe, the first of its kind in Lausanne. After reading a blurb about it in the English bookstore e-newsletter I subscribe too, I knew I had to try out one of its cupcakes stat! I picked up half a dozen to bring for dessert to the dinner party I was attending that evening at a friend's house. My excitement peaked as soon as I stepped inside the bakery; it felt like a little piece of home was here "en Suisse!" I picked out 2 chocolate, 2 smores, 1 strawberry cheesecake and 1 coconut! Needless to say, they were all well-received at dinner that evening! I'm looking forward to a return visit to the Cupcake Cafe to try out the "frosting shooter"-frosting in a cup! Yum!!

Geneva Auto Show

2011-03-17T17:05:00.008+01:00

Last weekend, (equipped with my brand new camera!), I went to the Geneva Auto Show to check out the latest and greatest in the car industry! It is one of the biggest car shows in the world. Check out some of the cars I saw!

Olé Madrid!

2011-03-02T10:38:00.014+01:00

Mark and I spent our first four day holiday weekend of the year traipsing through Madrid, enjoying the Spanish culture of art, architecture, tapas and flamenco! Follow along below as I take you on our tour through the city.

Puerta del Sol is in the center of Madrid and is a meeting place for a lot of residents, as well as a popular spot for celebrating New Year's Eve in the city.

El Oso y El Madrono - The Bear and the Strawberry Tree
Madrid's famous statue representing the large amount of bears that used to live around the forests of Madrid.

I love walking through big, old cities like Madrid that have amazing architecture on every corner! The building above is now the Bank de Espana.

View of the city as we start out on our trek around town.

Madrid not only has great art and architecture, but numerous beautiful statues around the city.

Neptune fountain in the center of a traffic round-about

One of Madrid's most famous museums, The Prado, known for housing one of the greatest collections of European art. Two of the most famous artists with work exhibited here are Diego Velazquez and Francisco Goya. This is a musuem that should not be missed! To avoid long lines, I recommend booking tickets online in advance which allows you to pick a time to enter the museum.

Statue of Velazquez in front of the Prado

Entrance to Parque Retiro

Parque Retiro is a beautiful park not too far from the Prado, and made for a good spot to sit on a bench and relax for a few minutes after our museum visit!

One of my favorite spots in Madrid, we lucked out to be in Parque Retiro on a beautiful, warm day. The lake area is a great place to hang out and many people were in the park enjoying a picnic. I recommend going early if you want to rent a boat on a nice day...the line was way too long by the time we arrived!

Hangin' out lakeside!

Enjoying a Spanish-Italian fusion meal at La Mucca

Palacio Real - The Royal Palace

Another place I recommend going to very early. We went there twice over the weekend, but the long lines deterred us from going in!

The Palace is another great example of amazing architecture in Madrid.

Outside of Reina Sofia, home to Picasso's famous "Guernica"

Plaza Mayor, another of Madrid's most well-known squares (yes, that's Winnie the Pooh in the background!)

Mark in Plaza Mayor

One of Spain's great treats, churros y chocolate

For our second dinner, we enjoyed a tapas meal in the Latina district

Ham and croquettes tapas, yum!

After dinner, we went to Corral de la Moreria for a wonderful flamenco show! (I posted some video at the end of this blog post.) Flamenco, which is Spain's native music and dance, is a must-see when going to visit the country. The show was amazing and is one of the city's most famous flamenco spots, but note that some tables like ours had a partially obstructed view due to the building posts.

Mercado San Miguel is a great place to eat! Wonder through the aisles to check out all your options before selecting something. There are many items to choose from!

One of the food counters in Mercado San Miguel

We went with tapas and wine for lunch!

Madrid's cathedral

Plaza de Espana

On our last night in Madrid, we ate at Casa Botin, on record in the Guinness Book of World Records as the word's oldest restaurant, founded in 1725. The cellar room downstairs is a great place to eat with a neat ambiance. The restaurant's main dish is the roasted suckling pig, which was delicious!

Plaza Santa Ana

Before heading back to the airport, we did one more walk around town and said Adios to the Madrid's bear! It was an incredible weekend and I can't wait to go back for more Spanish culture! I hope you enjoyed this tour through Madrid!

The way to a woman's heart....a delicious Valentine's dinner at Pur!

2011-02-19T19:50:00.004+01:00

Mark and I celebrated a belated Valentine's Day last night! He took me out to a fantastic dinner at Pur, a restaurant in Lausanne Flon. We enjoyed the beef carpaccio as an appetizer and then I ooohed-and-aahhed my way through my main course, the pork ribs (en francais, ravers de porc rôti à l’ananas confit, aubergines marinées au sake et miel!) Mark and I ordered the same thing and both loved it! They were delicious...so tender and the BBQ sauce was delightful...tangy and sweet at the same time. I have a very high standard for ribs as most don't stand up against my Dad's ribs, but these were great! The meal was topped off with the addition of a good bottle of wine and a side of cooked pineappple and spicy potatoe chips. It was a very memorable Valentine's Day! For those of you reading this in or near Lausanne, add Pur to your list of must-eat places!

Hot Air Ballon Festival in Chateau d'Oex!

2011-01-29T09:56:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I headed up the mountain town of Chateau d'Oex to check out the Hot-Air Balloon Festival. I spent the day w/ my good friends, Brad, Kelly and their daughter Anna and we had a fabulous time viewing the balloons amongst a gorgeous backdrop! We couldn't have asked for a better day!

A blimp cruising by!

Cute animal balloon!

Funny astronaut balloon!

Holy Cow! Gourmet Burgers and Juice Bar

2011-01-22T17:23:00.002+01:00

For lunch today, Mark and I finally headed over to Holy Cow. It's a gourmet burger joint in Lausanne that is pretty famous in this area, as it has been voted "best burger in Suisse-Romandie" two years running! It's a tiny place, crammed full of people waiting to order a true American-style burger! I agree, its definitely one of the best burgers I've eaten in Switzerland. I had a regular hamburger and Mark enjoyed "The Big Cheese." I definitely recommend giving it a try...just be prepared to take it to go, as there is only one table and a hand-full of bar stools (2 of which we were lucky enough to snag). These expats w/ a hamburger craving will be back again soon!

Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011!

2011-01-14T13:07:00.009+01:00

Taco Surf Reunion!

1st Christmas at Sis and Adam's new house

Opening gifts on Christmas Eve

Enjoying family time!

Very proud of the chef! :)

Mom and Dad in the kitchen!

Lots of Ollie time!

Our good-lookin' group at Searsucker on NYE

Mark and I ringing in the New Year!

Watching the seals in La Jolla!

One of the San Diego spots we miss!

Happy 2011!

Mark and I wrapped up 2010 with a few jam-packed weeks full of visiting friends and family in the US. We split our time between Phoenix and San Diego and crammed in as much as we could! I spent Christmas with my family in San Diego while Mark was with his family in Phoenix. It was so great finally getting to hang out at Sister and Adam's new house! Being with them and my parents was really special since I miss them very much during the year! Then Mark jetted over to SD so that we could spend NYE with his friends who came down from San Francisco and LA. We had a fun night at Searsucker for dinner and rang in the New Year at Hotel Se's extravagant party!

I also got the chance to have a mini-10 year reunion with my high school friends...so fun to see Clarisa, Karla and Steph! Got in more good friend time with Steph...love our In 'n Out and EZ-J lunches! I caught up w/ friends Jen and Dan at Taco Surf, our Mexican food joint we frequented religiously back in the days of living in PB! Jules and I did our second annual Holiday Bowl Parade 5k run and Broken Yolk mimosa breakfast afterwards! My time there also included Taco Tuesday with a group of my close friends....reminising about the good 'old days and catching up on current news at P.B. Bar and Grill, lol! Our last day in La Jolla provided us with a perfect sunset and nice dinner with my family at Mandarin House. There were lots of tears that day....thank goodness for Skype!

The weeks there went by so fast, I think I need a vacation from my vacation! It was sad to say good-bye, but hopefully we'll make it home for Christmas '11...as long as the weather doesn't deter us. We almost didn't make it home this year due to Heathrow's snow/ice closure debacle! We landed back in Suisse this past Sunday and have spent the week fighting our nasty jetlag!

Wishing everyone a very healthy and happy New Year! Cheers to 2011!

Holiday Shopping in London

2010-12-05T09:02:00.009+01:00

Walking through Marylebone to Oxford Street

Selfridge's window display

Beautiful department store decorations

Kickin' off the holiday shopping season in London - Happy Christmas!

Adidas' live window display! - Love the dancing!

Oxford Street- One of London's best shopping areas

The infamous Harrods!

Harrod's window display

I want to take this guy home!

Back on Oxford Street in the evening to check out the Christmas lights

Crowds of people out shopping!

Meeting up with Mark's friend Candy

We jetted off to London last weekend to enjoy the start of the holiday season! We stayed in the Marylebone neighborhood, within walking distance of Oxford and Bond Streets. We spent Saturday cruising through some of London's best shopping areas! Oxford Street was shut down to traffic and there were tons of crowds out starting their holiday shopping. We started out in Selfridge & Co., one of London's oldest department stores. We continued down Oxford, then over to Bond Street, where some of London's most high-end stores call home. It was fun to see all the beautiful window displays.

After a hot chocolate break at Starbucks to rest our feet, we headed in the direction of Knightsbridge, where Harrod's and Harvey Nichols are located. Harrods has a fantastic gourmet food hall that I could spend hours in! In the evening, we headed back to Oxford Street to enjoy the Christmas lights.

That night, we met up with Mark's friend from law school, Candy. She moved to London earlier this year and we had a lot of fun catching up with her over dinner. The next morning, we met up with her for brunch as well. Then it was time to head home! It was a great weekend and we enjoyed the holiday spirit!

Lausanne Snowstorm 2010

2010-12-01T20:54:00.007+01:00

Trekking to the bus stop early Wednesday morning!

Mark took these pictures of the heavy snow that fell all day Wednesday

Our very own winter wonderland!

A crazy snowstorm hit Lausanne this week! It stranded buses, trains and shut down Geneva Airport. Everyone had a tough time getting home, including me! Here's my story:

I took the train into work on Wednesday to avoid the roads, which was definitely a good idea! However, heavy snow was still falling when I got back to Lausanne on Wednesday evening. My bus on the #1 line only made it 3 stops before it got stuck behind a line of other buses that were stranded! The bus driver told everyone "Descendre" (get off)!! After checking in with Mark to see if the other line was still running, I headed for the #3 bus, but stopped when I saw that another bus at the front of the stranded row was starting up again, woohoo! The bus driver made an announcement that he was driving an abbreviated route, but I lucked out that my stop was included. Unfortunately, that luck didn't last too long! The bus made it one stop and then got stranded trying to pull away from the curb on a hill! At that point, I was out of options (it was the same route as the #3) and so I started walking!

It was an eerie scene as I climbed up the two (steep) hills to home! I probably saw at least 1/2 a dozen buses stranded on the road and mobs of people were walking, since they also had to get off their buses! It was somewhat chaotic, and yet calm at the same time. I was very thankful to make it home that evening, having had a 2 1/2 hour commute! According to Internet statistics, Lausanne only gets that much snow about once every 5 years. It will be interesting to see if that was our "bi-decade" storm or if this winter will bring more snow like it! At least I really can say that I have "walked home 5 miles in the snow, uphill, barefoot"....okay, so I didn't have to walk as far as five miles and I wasn't barefoot (thank goodness), but it's a good story. :) I'll keep you posted on our winter weather!

Start of the Swiss Christmas Season!

2010-11-23T20:43:00.009+01:00

It's that time of year again! The weather here is officially COLD and snowy, the Christmas displays are out in full force and the Christmas markets are open, selling fondue, hot wine and Christmas crafts! We got into the Christmas spirit last weekend by putting up our Christmas tree.

Mark getting his "decorating" on!

Ornaments!

Our little tree!

All finished!

The Christmas display at the Globus department store in Lausanne made us laugh!

The "American" ornaments included a surfing Santa!

Our Portuguese weekend in Lisbon!

2010-11-14T21:40:00.022+01:00

We had a whirl-wind trip to Lisbon last weekend, leaving Geneva on Friday evening and arriving back on Sunday evening. Scroll down below as I take you through our weekend tour of the city!

Lots of "statue-centered" round-abouts in town!

We ate breakfast on Saturday morning and then bought tickets for the "hop-on, hop-off" sightseeing bus tour around Lisbon. When pressed for time, this is a great way to fit in a lot of sights that you might not normally have time to see.

Lisbon's bull-fighting ring, still in use today

Parque Eduardo VII, Lisbon's largest park, provides a nice city view!

We hopped off the bus at Stop 16, Lisbon's river-front area, Belem, to check out the sights. Above is the Torre de Belem, the fortress tower completed in 1521

Ducking out of the dungeon in the tower!

Check out Lisbon's bridge that links to the 2 banks of the Tagus River! It is modeled after (and identical!)to San Fran's Golden Gate bridge! The statue on the far bank is modeled after Rio's famous Criso Redentor
Lisbon's riverfront

The Monument to the Discoveries, built in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator

Portugal's Cristo Rei

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
Monastery commissioned in 1501

Cool view of the church's beautiful nave from up above. Most churches don't let you ascend to the upper level at the rear of the church, so this was a great vantage point to see over the whole interior.

Portugal's famous custard desserts, pastelas de nata

Yum!

We enjoyed our desserts at Lisbon's famous bakery, Pasteis de Belem

Time to get back on the bus!

A view of Castelo de Sao Jorge from town

We headed up the hill to the castelo and enjoyed some amazing views of Lisbon from the observation terrace

Checking out the castle ruins

Lisbon's famous street trams

Statue of King Jose I in Praca do Comercio

Now a huge open square, the Praca do Comercio housed the original royal palace for 500 years until it was destroyed in a big earthquake in 1755
After our long day of sight-seeing, we headed back to our hotel down Avendia da Liberdade, Lisbon's famous and most "chicest" street

When in Portugal, enjoy some port! Looking forward to going back to check out more areas of Portugal in the future! I hope you enjoyed the tour of Lisbon!

Autumn in Switzerland!

2010-11-02T21:49:00.003+01:00

Loving these Fall colors in Lausanne!

Bienvenido a Malaga! - Catching up with friends in Spain

2010-10-07T22:48:00.007+02:00

Earlier this month, Mark and I flew to Malaga, Spain for a long weekend to meet up with his friends, Jeff and Ali, who were traveling around Spain on vacation.

It was so much fun to catch up with friends from the States and we had a great time exploring Malaga. Wearing shorts and flipflops in October is unheard of in Switzerland, so we took advantage of the Mediterranean weather to enjoy the warm sunshine!

On Saturday, we hiked up to the remains of the castle on Mount Gibralfaro. The steep up-hill was well worth the view at the top!

View over Malaga's bull-fighting ring

Malaga's port

Malaga's beautiful cathedral

On Sunday, we headed down to the beach to relax and enjoy some R 'n' R! Afterwards, we headed back for a happy hour drink and then our last dinner together. (I also discovered my new favorite after-dinner drink, Quarenta y Tres!)

On our last night, we had this spectacular view to accompany our rooftop drinks!

Good friends out on the town!

K8's Swiss Visit!

2010-10-06T16:00:00.009+02:00

I had not seen Katie since I left San Diego in June '09, so I was ecstatic when she stopped by Switzerland at the tail-end of her Euro business trip! We had so much catching up to do and spent our weekend together talking lots of girl talk...and consuming a fair amount of wine! With me in CH and Katie in PR, it's been a long time coming! It was so much fun seeing her...check out our pics from the weekend! Miss you Kates! Can't wait for our next reunion!

Checking out Lausanne's lakeside and the Olympic Museum

Heading to dinner at Kai Zen!

Riponne Square and Lausanne's cathedral

Katie making a new friend!

The happy Gruyere couple! Gotta love this photo op!

Friends forever, no matter where in the world we may be!

It wouldn't be a trip to Suisse w/out a fondue dinner!...

...and it wouldn't be a K8 visit without a shot...or two!

Vevey-Mont Pelerin Funicular

2010-09-21T21:15:00.004+02:00

The funiculare

Gorgeous view of Lac Leman

Hotel Kimpinski terrace

Riding the funicular!

After my Dad's trip to Berlin, he came back to stay with us for one more week in Switzerland. Over the weekend, we took the funicular on Lake Geneva from Vevey to Mont Pelerin. We lucked out with a beautiful afternoon, which provided us with a fantastic view over Lake Geneva. After reaching Mont Pelerin, we headed over to the outside terrace of the Mirador Kempinski Hotel. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch and marveled at the gorgeous weather and the scenery! It was a great way to end my Dad's visit in Switzerland!

Family Reunion in Berlin!

2010-09-21T21:14:00.006+02:00

Check out my big gingerbread cookie I got at the neighborhood Autumn festival!

Catching up with the fam!

Sight-seeing in Berlin with Dad

Sight of the Reichstag, Germany's Parliament from the river-boat

One of Berlin's most famous sights, the TV tower which is also an observation viewpoint

It wouldn't be a trip to Germany without some German beer!

My Dad and I at Checkpoint Charlie!

20 years later, standing next to what's left of the Wall

Hanging out with my cousins

My Dad and I enjoying a toast at my uncle's birthday

After my dad's visit in Switzerland, he headed to Berlin to see the rest of his family. I followed a week and a half later and had a great time catching up with everyone. The last time I had been with my Dad in Berlin, it was 20 years ago! We went over in 1990 and Sis and I have pictures knocking down a piece of the Berlin Wall! It was so fun being back with my Dad as an adult and getting to sight-see with him in his hometown ( and have some German beer together)! Those memories will stick with me for a lifetime!

We were lucky to have a couple of great weather days, so my Dad, cousin Simone, her husband Michael and I went on river-boat tour on the Spreyer one afternoon. I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with my aunts and uncles, as well as my cousin Simone and her 3 daughters, my cousins Marie, Nina and Julie. The last night I was there, we went to dinner to celebrate my uncle's 70th birthday! It was a great trip and I can't wait for my Dad to come back for the next reunion trip!

Know-it-all passport!

2010-09-04T21:58:00.007+02:00

Mark and I discovered a new expat resource recently through some expat friends that just moved to Switzerland. It is a book called "Know-it-all passport" and it is a great guide for all things in the Geneva-Vaud-and Neighboring France regions. We picked it up from the English bookstore, Books Books Books in Lausanne today (love this bookstore!) and I am already putting things on my to-do list from it! This all-inclusive book is a must for any new expats in Suisse Romandie.

An Expat's Obession with her Webcam!

2010-09-02T22:11:00.004+02:00

Having a close-knit group of family and friends in San Diego, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by all of my favorite people when I was living in So-Cal. Now having been abroad for over a year, I will officially state that I have a love-love relationship with my webcam! I am grateful to be living overseas in the technology era where calling loved ones back home lets me have a face-to-face conversation. Thank you Skype and Gchat!

Leysin, Switzerland

2010-08-29T20:55:00.010+02:00

View from our hotel room

Sante!

Dad and I up in the mountains

Mark's hockey game!

Beautiful view of Mont Blanc

Riding the cable car up the mountain

View over Aigle in the valley

Lac Leman (Lake Geneva)

Dad in front of the revolving restaurant

Watching the world turn!

This past weekend, we drove up to the Swiss Alps to Leysin, Switzerland. Mark had his first pre-season hockey game there, so we decided to stay the night and show my Dad some of Switzerland's mountain peaks! We checked into our hotel, Le Grand Chalet and enjoyed a beer in the comfy lobby/bar before heading to "la patinoire" for Mark's hockey game.

The next day, we checked out of the hotel and took the cable car up the mountain to check out the views and Kuklos, the revolving restaurant. We lucked out with a cool, but gorgeous day and had great views of the mountains and Lake Geneva. We enjoyed a drink and snack and watched the world spin! The restaurant takes an hour and a half to turn 360 degrees and now runs on solar power. Finally, it was time to head back down the mountain and home to Lausanne.

Dad's Euro Visit!

2010-08-27T14:29:00.009+02:00

Checkin' out the pirate ship in Ouchy!

Cruising across Lake Geneva from Lausanne to Evian, France

St. Francois (downtown Lausanne)

Playing Wii billiards at our apartment

Father-daughter time!

My Dad arrived about a week ago for his first visit en Suisse! It has been so fun having him here for some father-daughter time! Mark and I showed him some sights around Lausanne and took him on the ferry over to Evian. Being Chef Dad, I think he has hit up almost every grocery store in town, lol! We have had some fantastic home-cooked meals over the past week! He is staying with us until Tuesday and then he is off to Germany to visit our Berliner family!

Geneva Festival Fireworks '10

2010-08-08T17:58:00.007+02:00

For the second year in a row, Mark and I were in attendance for the fireworks display that is held every year on the closing night of the Geneva Festival. We were wowed once again with this year's show, it's theme being "An Evening at the Circus." Watch the video below for a compilation of videos I took during the display!

Happy Swiss National Day!

2010-08-01T19:00:00.009+02:00

Celebrating the birth of the Swiss confederacy in 1291. Happy 719th Birthday Switzerland!

French Riviera: Our Beach Weekend in Nice

2010-07-30T14:35:00.007+02:00

The beach!

Our private beach :)

Cocktails!

Lunch by the beach

Finally back in the (warm) ocean!

Last weekend we decided to get out of of town and headed to the beautiful southern coast of Franc, our destination: Nice!

We had a fantastic time sun-bathing for two days on the Mediterranean. We arrived late on Friday night and hit the beach early on Saturday morning. All of Nice's beaches are rocky, so the private beaches offer (for a fee!) the option to rent a lounge chair and umbrella. I was very thankful for this, as the rocks hurt my feet! (I highly recommend water shoes!) We spent our first day at the "Neptune Plage." Saturday night, we walked around the pedestrian zone for a couple of hours checking out the shops before dinner. We had an excellent seafood dinner at Boccocaccio. I had fresh oysters and scallops and Mark ate a delicious soy-infused swordfish, yum!

Since we enjoyed the beach so much, we headed back again for more sun on Sunday! We picked a different beach this time, and ended up at "Hi Beach." We had a fun lunch by the beach there and enjoyed a cocktail before having to shower and head to the airport. Nice is an absolutely gorgeous location and Mark and I agreed that we will have to escape there for more fun in the sun more often!

Athletissima '10

2010-07-14T16:17:00.015+02:00

The field

Runners in action

The High Jump!

Usain Bolt after his win in the 100m sprint

Ready....Set...Go!

The venue: Stade Olympique

Fireworks after the meet

In early July, I attended the annual Athletissima track and field meet in Lausanne. This is a huge track and field meet where the top competitors in track, long jump, high jump and the javelin throw come to compete. As an avid runner (and fan of other runners!), I have always wanted to experience a live track and field meet. It is a popular sport in Europe and a huge crowd turned out for the Lausanne meet (it took us 2 hours to get back to Lausanne after work that day!)

We are lucky to have the venue for this event, le Stade Olympique, located on the same street as us! Once we made it home from work, I did a quick change and then walked half a block up the hill to the entrance. The only tickets left were for the jam-packed "cheap-seats!" (they must have sold more tickets than seats, because it was standing room only), but I still had fun! It was inspiring to watch the athletes in action. (Check out my video below!) The most well-known athlete in attendance was Usain Bolt, from Jamaica, who competed in the 100 meter sprint. He is famous for setting the World Record of 9.58 seconds in 2009 at the Berlin Championships. He set a meet record this year in Lausanne with a time of 9.82 seconds....awesome! The field events were incredible as well, as the athletes jumped high, long and threw far to try and make it on top of the podium!

I left just as the last race was finishing and walked back to our apartment. Just after I got home, I heard booming sounds coming from the Stade Olympique and I raced to the window to catch the fireworks show that was directly over our apartment building! I had no idea there was a fireworks display at the end, but luckily we were privy to a front row seat since all we had to do was open the bedroom window to see it! It was a fantastic event and I definitely plan on going back next year.

1 Year Swiss Anniversary!

2010-07-14T16:07:00.011+02:00

Mark and I celebrated our 1 year Swiss anniversary on June 25th (we had a toast to it on our cruise)! It was one year ago on that day that our plane touched down in Switzerland and we started a new chapter in our lives. Looking back over the past 12 months, I can't believe how time has flown. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I can say there were no moments of regret. Moving abroad, especially to a country with a different language, has thrown us a lot of curve balls, but I think we have learned a lot from our experiences...and have a lot more to learn!

Life in Switzerland has taught us a lot: learning French, use of public transportation...yes, I can say we have run for a lot of buses and trains!, no shopping on Sundays, living on cheese and chocolate, and so much more. Yes, there are days of frustration when lack of communication can be a real issue, but life goes on. We have slowly started to acclimate ourselves to the European lifestyle and continue to do so (or at least try!) everyday.

One of the things I feel so lucky about is the amount of travel that we have gotten to do in just one year. In that time period, we have experienced London and Paris twice, the Oktoberfest in Munich, the Italian island of Sicily, snowboarding in the Swiss Alps and so much more!

So here's to our Swiss Year #2...may it bring us many more grand adventures!

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 10-12: Olden, Bergen & back to Amsterdam!

2010-07-14T16:05:00.017+02:00

On our way to the glacier

More beautiful waterfalls

The glacier!

Caught in the act of taking a video!

On Day 10 we arrived in the town of Olden, and I was finally feeling back to my old self! After lunch, Mark, Jeff and I headed to shore for our afternoon excursion to hike to the Briksdalen Glacier. A bus drove us for about half an hour to the start of the hike. From there, it was a self-guided walk up the mountain to the national park which is home to the glacier. It was my first experience to see a glacier and it was spectacular! There was some heavy cloud cover at the top of it, but we could see the lower portion and we saw it calf once, which is when a piece of ice breaks loose. It makes a huge thundering noise and is an awesome sight!

Pulling into Bergen's port

Beautiful day on the pier

Yes, that's whale! Norway allows the legal hunting of whales

Crazy seafood sandwiches

Great fish market!

A ride up the funicular provided some awesome views of Bergen

A "birds-eye" view!

Day 11 brought us into the town of Bergen. I had a great time in this port! Mark's mom Anne, his Aunt Sue and I spent the morning checking out the beautiful harbor area, popping in and out of the shops and wandering through the amazing fish market. It was fun to see all of the sea food, fresh from the sea, stuffed into the sandwiches! We made our way to the funicular and rode our way up the hill to take in the fantastic views over the city. We bumped into Mark and his dad Jeff at the top, who had just finished their morning hike excursion. The five of us then headed back to the ship for lunch and some downtime. Later in the day, I enjoyed a fabulous spa afternoon on the ship and then had a fantastic dinner with the rest of the family at the Italian restaurant on board the ship.

Entertaining ourselves in the arcade

Hangin' out at the gelato bar

Our last sunset

Day 12, our final day on the cruise was spent on board the ship sailing back to Amsterdam. Mark and I had a very entertaining afternoon playing in the arcade and eating ice cream at the gelato bar! It was a bittersweet dinner, knowing that we were departing the next morning and had to say good-bye to Mark's family. The night was topped off by a spectacular sunset (one of the few we saw during the cruise!). We were lucky enough to experience this beautiful country and will look back on our time in Norway with fond memories!

Where we'll head to next, we don't yet know! Stay tuned to find out!

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 7-9: Molde & Geiranger

2010-07-14T16:00:00.015+02:00

View over Molde

Day 7 was an another "at-sea day and we arrived in the town of Molde, known as the "city of roses" early in the morning of Day 8. Unfortunately, the norovirus hit me on night 6 of the cruise so I was down for the count for this part of the trip. Luckily, Mark took over camera duties! We didn't have any excursions planned for this town, so Mark and his dad Jeff decided to head off for a hike, and Anne and Sue went for a walk in town.

Beautiful Geiranger fjord

Seven Sisters Waterfall

Beautiful waterfall rainbow

Kayaking around the fjord!

Day 9 brought us to the town of Geiranger which sits in one of Norway's most famous fjords. Its beautiful waterfalls are a sight to be seen! The Seven Sisters waterfall spills hundreds of thousands of gallons of water from 5,000 feet. Mark and Jeff went on a morning excursion to check out the waterfalls in an RIB and again in the afternoon in a double kayak! In the evening, our whole party gathered up on the top deck of the ship to view the waterfalls up close as we departed the fjord.

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 4-6: Cruisin' through the Arctic Circle, Tromso & Honningsvag

2010-07-14T15:57:00.019+02:00

Cruisin' through the Arctic Circle!

Norway's western coast

The Arctic Circle's famous landmark

Land of the mid-night sun!

Day 4 was another day at sea, as we cruised through the Arctic Circle! The captain opened the heli-pad in the front of the ship in order to allow us to view the the famous globe that marks the invisible line of the Arctic Circle. North of this line is where the summer sun stays above the horizon all day and night, and the sun in the winter disappears!

Views of Tromso

Back on board!

Dinner at the San Marco restaurant

On Day 5, we arrived in Tromso, known as the "Gateway to the Arctic." A few facts about Tromso!: Fishing in Tromso still plays a big part in the local economy. However, it is also an important city for education and is home to one of the country's biggest hospitals. We spent the morning walking around the town and admiring the Arctic Cathedral from across the bridge.

Honningsvag, Norway's northernmost village

Making a new friend! Norway's trolls are everywhere!

Getting prepped for our King Crab Safari excursion

Catchin' some crab!

King Crab!!

Inspecting the crab we caught!

Cooking the crab

Our restaurant for the afternoon, a traditional Sami hut

Ready to eat!

Enjoying our catch!

Crab legs cracked and ready to eat

North Cape

Day 6 brought us into the small fishing town of Honningsvag, known for being the world's northernmost village. From Honnigsvag, the North Cape, known for being the Northernmost point in Europe, lies about 22 miles.

Mark and I had a fun excursion planned in the afternoon, the King Crab Safari! We met our guide on the deck and then headed over to their headquarters around the corner where we donned dry suits for the trip. After putting our suits on, we hopped in to the RIB (rigid, inflatable boat) for a short ride out to the crab pots! We watched as our guides pulled it up from the sea, and were lucky enough to have caught four crabs in this run. After getting them out of the net, we headed over to shore to feast on some crab! We met the rest of our hosts on the pier and took pictures with the live crab! Once the photo ops were over, we headed over to our eating venue for the afternoon, an authentic Sami tent. The Samis are Norway's indigenous people who use these tents as their shelter from the harsh winter weather. Inside the tent was a bar with drinks and a large fire. The crab meat was put into a big pot over the fire to boil in sea water. Once it was boiling, the pot was removed from the fire and left to sit for about half and hour. Then the good eats arrived...two huge plates of cooked crab meat! It doesn't get much fresher than shellfish straight from the sea to your plate in about 45 minutes! After enjoying our meal, we headed back to the mainland in our RIB. It was a fun and memorable afternoon!

In the evening, after departing from Honnigsvag's port, we passed by the North Cape for a view of Europe's northernmost point and another globe that commemorates its position.

Stay tuned for more updates to come from Week 2 of our cruise!...

Arctic Circle Cruise Days 1-3: The Constellation and Alesund

2010-07-06T18:27:00.019+02:00

The Constellation

Waiting to board the ship

Our room

Mark checking out the welcome packet!

Outdoor pools

Indoor pool

We checked into our ship, the Celebrity Constellation on Monday afternoon, June 21st. We dropped off our belongings in our stateroom and checked out all of the arrival information that was waiting for us. Then we headed up to the top deck to wave "au revoir" to Amsterdam as we sailed out of the port! Once we headed out to sea, we went on a tour of the boat! This being my first ocean-liner cruise, I was excited to see everything that it had to offer. Here are some fun facts about our ship!

The Constellation amenities include a gym and spa, indoor and outdoor pools and jacuzzis, a theater, cinema, casino and video arcade. Dining options include San Marco, the formal dining room; Seaside Cafe and Grill, the casual dining spot, and the Tuscan Grille, an excellent Italian restaurant. The ship also boasts an ice-topped Martini Bar, and a gelateria!

Mark's Aunt Sue also joined us on the cruise, and we spent the first night with his family enjoying a casual dinner and catching up, as well as unpacking to get our suitcases out of the way!

Formal night dinner

Day 2 was spent at sea, so we just relaxed and wandered around more of the ship, checking out what it had to offer, and of course, the food! Cruises are well-known for their large quantity of food and this ship was no exception! The food was excellent the whole way through from the appetizers to the desserts and everything in between! It was always so hard to choose, as there were usually multiple entrees that appeared enticing. This evening we got dressed up for formal night in the San Marco restaurant. After dinner, we headed up to Reflections lounge for some entertainment, courtesy of the High C's, the ship's A Capella group!

Alesund's picturesque harbor

Norway's famous trolls!

Statue in honor of the fishermen

Views over Alesund from the top of Sugarlump Mountain

We woke up on Day 3 in Alesund, a fishing town built upon three islands and connected by bridges. Unfortunately, Mark got sick this day and had to stay on the boat. (We had the unfortunate experience of having the norovirus take hold of the ship. Hundreds of passengers got sick, including Mark and I. It is a somewhat common occurrence on cruise ships due to the sharing of close quarters...no fun!) Mark's parents and I headed out (leaving Sicky on the ship!) in the morning to do a walking tour around Alesund. It has a beautiful old town area, famous for its Art Nouveau architecture. In the afternoon, Mark's dad Jeff and I did a hike excursion up Sugarlump Mountain. It was a good hike and offered beautiful views of Alesund from the top. Then it was time to head back to the ship and set sail for the next port!

Arctic Circle Cruise!

2010-06-21T08:33:00.003+02:00

Our vacation has finally arrived! We are going on a 12 night Arctic Circle Cruise, exploring the beautiful fjord country on the West coast of Norway, land of the Midnight Sun! We have spent the last two days in Amsterdam, catching up with Mark's parents, Anne and Jeff, who flew out from Phoenix to join us on the cruise. This is our second visit to Amsterdam, so our trip this time has been relaxing. After arriving Saturday afternoon, we had an entertaining walk around the town center, watching the city rejoice their country's World Cup match win against Japan. You know you are in a football-lovin' country when you exit the airport to the sight of a stadium-sized jumbo-tron with a bleacher section next to the taxi stand for people to sit and watch the match! The citizens dressed in bright orange made it fun to people-watch! Yesterday, we walked through one of Amsterdam's most famous museums, the Van Gogh museum. The four of us had a fun room service dinner last night, watching the World Cup and continuing our catch-up!

Today, we are packing up and heading to Amsterdam's cruise-ship port! I'm so excited for our "bon voyage!" I can't wait to check out the ship and explore Norway! Stay tuned for more cruise updates....

Up in the Swiss Alps - Our Weekend of Waterfalls!

2010-06-16T14:00:00.026+02:00

Good friends and good times in the Berner-Oberland!

Lauterbrunnen Valley - A picture-perfect area in Switzerland

Chalet Brunner in Wengen

Checkin' out our new home for the weekend

Last Friday evening, Mark and I and our visitors, Jen and Dan took a three hour train ride from Lausanne to Wengen, a mountain town in the Swiss Alps. We rented a chalet apartment for two nights, and planned to do some hiking, more mountain-training to check out the views and for Jen, para-gliding! Unfortunately, our "to-do" list was rudely interrupted by Mother Nature, who dropped in some major cloud cover over the Berner-Oberland over the weekend! We arrived late on Friday evening, going to bed hoping for clear skies on Saturday!

Heading into town

Jen researching our "waterfall hike" route

Staubbach Falls

View over Lauterbrunnen

Lots and lots of waterfalls on this hike!

Beautiful Swiss landscape

We awoke Saturday morning to low visibility, so while keeping our fingers crossed that it might clear up later in the afternoon, we headed to Wengen's main street to do some grocery shopping. We picked up food for lunch and dinner that night and then went back to the apartment to unload and check out the status of the mountain tops via the live online and TV webcams! To no avail, we were out of luck that day as the webcams showed us only a wall of grey!

We decided to take the 15 minute train ride down to Lauterbrunnen and go on our "waterfall" hike in the valley, which boasts an impressive 72 waterfalls! We reached Lauterbrunnen, and grabbing a map of the trail, started walking towards Stechelberg. At the end of Lauterbrunnen's main street, Staubbach Falls starts off your waterfall viewing pleasure. From there, you can only start the tally as you pass waterfalls on both sides of you! Some are small, just a trickle of water flowing and others are jaw-droppingly huge, cascading over the side of the mountain.

Trummelbach Falls - 10 waterfalls inside the mountain

Just before the end of the trail, we reached Trümmelbach Waterfalls. This is a very unique attraction, as it has 10 waterfalls flowing inside the mountain, accessible by stairs and elevator. Once inside, you are standing next to massive flows of water, which come from the glacial walls of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. It is an amazing sight and it gives you a strange feeling to be so close to that much water pressure...you can feel the energy of the water if you touch the rock walls! Definitely worth the walk (or bus ride if you are so inclined) and the entrance fee!

Aerial cable-car up to Gimmelwald

Sleepy mountain town of Gimmelwald

So Swiss!

After viewing the falls, we continued on to the end of the walk and purchased a ticket to ride the cable car up the mountain to Gimmelwald. Gimmelwald is a tiny mountain town, but it totes some absolutely beautiful views of the waterfalls from up-above. Although not much in the way of city life exists here, it is here that you will experience the "real" Swiss beauty of the countryside. Mark and I decided to head back down with the next cable car and take the bus back to the Lauterbrunnen train station while Jen and Dan decided to hike back down with our new friend Dave, another American who we met earlier in the day on our waterfall walk. Tired and hungry, Mark and I were thankful for the snack shack at the bus station while waiting for the next bus back to Lauterbrunnen! After our ride back up the mountain to Wengen, we reached home and prepared dinner. Jen and Dan joined us soon after and we spent the rest of the evening resting our weary feet and watching the US v. England World Cup soccer match! Once again, we went to bed with fingers crossed in hopes of better weather on Sunday.

Breakfast in Wengen at a Swiss-German bakery

Alas, the weather turned out to be worse on Sunday!...go figure! We trekked back down to the main street again for some breakfast and then attempted to go down to Interlaken, but changed our minds after realizing that we missed the train that had just left and would have a long wait for the next one. We went back to our apartment in Wengen and enjoyed some lunch and down-time before packing up and heading back to Lausanne. It was a fun weekend in the Alps hanging out with great, much-missed friends!

Dreaming of Chocolate and Cheese! A Tour of the Cailler Chocolate Factory & Gruyères

2010-06-14T14:08:00.014+02:00

The Cailler Chocolate Factory

Jen and I at Cailler!

Chocolate-making in action!

The finished product

The tasting room!

Jen enjoying a delicious treat!

So hard to choose between so many!

Jen, Dan and I had a fun day of sight-seeing last Friday as we took a drive to Maison Cailler Chocolate Factory and Gruyères! Cailler is one of the most well-known chocolate brands in Swizterland. Starting off our day at the chocolate factory, we were greeted with the delicious aroma of chocolate as we opened our car doors! The tour started with a funny show that reminded me somewhat of the Haunted House ride at Disneyland. Our group walked from room to room, each door opening and closing behind us, a loud voice booming over the speakers providing the history of chocolate through the years while a visual scene played out in front of us! At the end of the show, we walked into the next section of the tour, which described the chocolate-making process along with the cocoa beans and nuts used to flavor it (although Cailler's chocolate recipe is a well-kept secret!). We then watched part of the production line in action, as the chocolate pieces were created and sent down the assembly line to be cooled and packaged. The final (and best!) part of the tour was the tasting room , where we could sample all of the different lines of chocolate made by Cailler. Our chocolate tasting turned into our lunch, as so many of them called out to us to be tasted! Yum!

In Gruyeres!

Friends back together again!

Next, we drove to Gruyères, located just a few minutes from Cailler. Our first stop here was La Maison du Gruyéres, where the cheese-making demonstrations are held. We decided to pass on that, but we did pop in to the souvenir shop to check out the cheese for sale! Next, we headed up the hill to town. Gruyères' main street is a no-car zone, but you can park your car just below it and walk up from there. We strolled through the cobble-stoned streets, checking out the menus of the restaurants that we passed. We settled on one with a terrace and observed the lovely outdoor views while enjoying a glass of the local wine and munching on a meat and cheese plate....of course, Gruyères cheese! We topped off our meal with a mouth-watering ice-cream sundae! Dessert could not be passed up as Gruyères has some of the freshest milk and cream available on a daily basis from the near-by dairy farmers. We ended our town tour in front of the Gruyères Castle, admiring the green rolling-hills of the country-side. It was then time to head back to Lausanne and pack for our weekend trip to the Swiss Alps!

Bienvenue à Jen & Dan en Suisse! - Welcoming more friends to Switzerland!

2010-06-09T17:54:00.006+02:00

Our guest book has been quite full this past month! Monday night, we welcomed my friends Jen and Dan to Switzerland! I am so excited to have another set of close friends staying with us! They have been traveling around Europe since mid-May and so arrived in Lausanne by train from Florence, jet-lag free! They have been doing some sight-seeing this week while we are at work, but we have been enjoying the evenings together catching up! We came home from work Tuesday night to a delicious pasta dinner prepared for us by our guests, and last night we enjoyed a yummy Swiss meal - fondue! I'm very excited for our weekend plans together, which will take us to the Bernese-Oberland in the Swiss Alps!

More Guests Check -In! Steph & Brent's Swiss Visit

2010-06-04T15:40:00.012+02:00

Reunited! Hanging out on Lake Geneva in Lausanne

Fondue!

Walking through the ramparts in Murten

View from the ramparts over Murten

Roman amphitheater in Avenches

Taking a short break!

Reading up on Einstein's life at his museum apartment in Bern

Bern's new bear enclosure

Bern's famous bears!

Steph testing the waters of Bern's Aare River

After arriving home from Crete on Monday, we welcomed my friends Steph and Brent to Switzerland on Wednesday evening. After 24 hours of travel, they finally made it to the Lausanne train station with big smiles, happy to finally have arrived!! They were troopers and managed to stay up late catching up in order to better adjust to the time zone change.

Thursday, we did a short outing out into town to get their Swiss passes at the train station and groceries at the Coop City, which Steph thoroughly enjoyed! :) Between their jet-lag and a bad case of the stomach flu that had hit me just a day before, we were all ready for naps in the afternoon! I had to pull a "mean mom" move and wake them up from their snooze a little while later, but over-sleeping a nap while experiencing some major jet-lag can ruin your sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I say this from personal experience! That night we served our guests a traditional Swiss meal of cheese fondue to expose them to the local cuisine!

Friday, Steph and Brent took a panoramic train to Lauterbrunnen, located approximately 2 hours 40 minutes from Lausanne in the Swiss Alps. Unfortunately, our plans to meet them there after work were thwarted due to my illness and so Mark and I spent an uneventful weekend at home. Luckily, our visitors got to experience the wonder of hiking in the Swiss Alps! They came back in the early afternoon on Sunday and we all had a relaxing afternoon at home together. They also got to see our Sunday grocery shopping routine at the train station, as everything else is closed here on Sundays!

Mark and I had to work on Monday, so Steph and Brent headed to Chateau de Chillon to check out the castle. We were very thankful for the home-cooked meal they had prepared when we got home from work that night. :) I took the day off on Tuesday to spend their last day in Switzerland with them. We had a long, but fun day of sight-seeing! We started off in Murten to walk the medieval ramparts, eat lunch and enjoy a glass of the local wine from Mont Vully! Then, in an "Amazing Race" move with only minutes to spare, Steph and I took off for the train station so I could buy a ticket, while Brent paid the lunch tab! All worked out and we made it on the regional train that took us to Avenches, a few miles away from Murten. Avenches, although a small town, is known for having the most well-preserved Roman ruins in Switzerland. We sat in the Roman amphitheater, which was being prepped for hosting summer concerts and plays. We then headed back to the train station, wanting to catch the next set of trains that would take us to Bern.

Bern, our final destination of the day, greeted us with some great sights. We went to Albert Einstein's apartment, which is now a museum. This apartment is famous as he was living at this location when he worked on his Theory of Relativity. Next, we moved on to Bern's cathedral and then ended the day with a visit to the new enclosure where Bern's famous bears live. We finally made it back home, 7 train rides and 11 hours later, but with a feeling of accomplishment that we had experienced so much! Early Wednesday morning, Mark and I said "au revoir" to Steph and Brent, as their Swiss visit had come to an end and they departed for Italy. It was great to see them and I am already looking forward to our next rendez-vous, wherever that may be! :) Miss you both!

A weekend in paradise - Crete, Greece

2010-06-03T16:49:00.009+02:00

Our beautiful hotel, the Amirandes

The amazing outdoor pool!

Beautiful lagoons filled the interior of the propertyMark enjoying the view

Enjoying our spot on the beach!

No words can describe this sight

We were lucky enough to have two holiday weekends in May! I took my mom to the airport very early in the morning on Friday the 21st and Mark and I went back later that morning to catch our flight to Crete! We had a layover in Athens and finally arrived in the early evening at our beautiful hotel, The Amirandes, located approximately 15 minutes from the capital city of Heraklion. The Amirandes provided us a beautiful location for a relaxing island weekend!

There were some strong ocean winds on Friday night and most of Saturday so it was a bit chilly upon our arrival! However, we managed to get in some beach time on Saturday afternoon before dinner. We had a great lobster dinner our first night at the resort's Mediterranean restaurant, Lago di Candia. Saturday morning, Mark worked out in the gym and I swam in the spa's in-door heated pool. :) We ate lunch by the awesome outdoor pool and then made our way to the lounge chairs on the beach to catch some rays! Just laying by the ocean and listening to the waves was fantastic...the sounds and salty air smells brought back memories of San Diego and a little bit of home was re-discovered. We had Asian cuisine at the resort's Blue Monkey restaurant on Saturday night! Both nights we were treated to an out-of-this-world sunset to end the evening.

Sunday we continued our theme of relaxing with another lunch by the pool and afternoon by the beach!! We even took a dip in the ocean, which was nice once I got over the immediate chill factor! We enjoyed our last breakfast outside on Monday morning and breathed in the delicious ocean air one last time before heading back to the airport for our flight home. It was great to have some time away on-island before going home to welcome our next set of visitors.

L'hotel de Mark & V - A visit from Mom and a trip to Prague!

2010-05-19T18:51:00.011+02:00

Prague's Old Town

Prague's famous Charles Bridge

Týn Church in Old Town Square

The cathedral at Prague's castle

Our view from the river cruise

The past month has gone by in a whirlwind! I spent the first week of May getting our apartment ready for our first guest of the spring: my Mom! She flew in on Mother's Day, which was great and we spent the afternoon catching up! She was a trooper and adjusted to the 9 hour time difference w/out difficulty! On her first full day in Switzerland, I took her around the Old Town area of Lausanne. We had lunch at one of our favorite spots, the top of Manor Department Store and did some shopping! Tuesday we took the train to Geneva, but spent most of our hours there dodging the rain and except for seeing the Jet d'Eau, got almost no sight-seeing in that day! Unfortunately, we have been experiencing a cold month and it has been chilly and rainy since my mom arrived. By the end of the day we were cold and wet and I went to bed feeling poorly.

Wednesday was my birthday so it was a lot of fun to have her in town. Since I wasn't feeling that well, we had a low-key day. I took her down to Ouchy, the lake-side area of Lausanne. We had lunch at the Creperie d'Ouchy...yummy! and we walked through the Olympic Park. It started to rain again so we headed for warmth back at my apartment! We made one of my favorite dishes as a kid, my mom's spaghetti sauce and so I had a good spaghetti birthday dinner that reminded me of home. The day was topped off with a birthday webcam w/ Sister and my Dad, as well as one earlier in the day with Steph, thanks to her insomnia. :)

Thursday was a Swiss holiday so Mark and I took my mom to Montreux and up the mountain train to Caux. Then Friday we jetted off to Prague for a week-end trip. Although rainy and cold, we had a fun week-end! The city architecture is really beautiful. We stayed in an apartment suite right off of the main square so we were close to all of the main sights, including the famous Charles Bridge and Prague's castle. We did a lot of walking around the Old Town and took a river cruise to rest our weary feet! Our Friday night dinner was a more traditional Czech meal in a cozy, dining room setting at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Our meal on our other night in town was a delicious combination of the Belgium delicacy "moules et frites" or mussels and fries...yum!

We got back to Lausanne on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon relaxing. I had to work on Monday and Wednesday that week so my Mom spent a couple of days doing some local sight-seeing on her own. We appreciated the home-cooked meals she had waiting for us when we got home from work! On Tuesday, we took the train to France and had a shopping day in Lyon. We had a wonderful day and I came home with some new clothes and an early Christmas present from my mom...a new set of luggage! We spent Thursday, her last day, in Lausanne's old town, picking up some a few more souvenirs and enjoying our last hours together. I was sad to see her off on Friday morning, but we had a fabulous two weeks together!

Hiking through the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces

2010-04-26T16:04:00.009+02:00

Mark hiking through the vineyards

Which way?!!

Taking in the view

The end of our hike in St. Saphorin

Mark and I set out yesterday morning for a hike through the vineyard terraces in Lavaux. Lavaux is the region located just outside of Lausanne and is famous for the vineyards that line the hillsides along Lake Geneva. It covers approximately 30 kms of terrain and was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

We took a five minute train ride to Lutry and started our hike from there. We spent 3 hours following the yellow signs along the route and enjoying the remarkable views! We got quite a bit of exercise along the way from climbing some hills which was good! We also spotted some gazebos at different points along the way so we will have to pack a picnic next time. We ended our hike in St. Saphorin and took the train back to Lausanne. It was a great hike...looking forward to more now that the weather is warm again!

Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival

2010-04-19T17:10:00.008+02:00

Heading to Zermatt on the train

The view of town and the cemetery from our hotel balcony

Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival!

Walking around town

Jason Mraz, all-acoustic style!

The Matterhorn!!

Our stop on the cable car at almost 10,000 ft.

Heading back down the mountain

Mark and I had a fantastic time in Zermatt for the Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival this past weekend! We took the 3 hour ride via train from Lausanne and enjoyed views of the beautiful Swiss countryside along the way on the Glacier Express train. Zermatt is located in Southeast Switzerland and is a popular ski resort, although most people know it for being the home of the Matterhorn mountain!

We arrived in the afternoon and checked into our hotel, Hotel Allalin in the center of town. Zermatt is a car-free zone, which makes it pleasant to peruse the shops and walk around the village. All of the taxis are electric! It is a beautiful area, nestled in the valley below an overpowering mountain chain. We took a walk around town and then grabbed an early dinner before the concert.

The Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival is an all-acoustic event, and we had tickets to see Jason Mraz perform on Saturday evening. The venue is a set of tents that were erected in the center of Zermatt. It was a great venue as it felt intimate and we had a good view of the stage. Jason Mraz is an amazing performer and we had an fantastic time rockin' out to his show! Check out a short clip of his performance in the video below!

On Sunday, we ate breakfast at our hotel and then walked over the cable car lift to head up the mountain for some up close views of the Matterhorn! It really is a spectacular sight to see! Our first stop was just to hop out for a minute at Schwarzsee Paradise at 2583 meters (8474 feet) for some photo ops! We hopped back in the lift and got off at Trockener Steg at 2939 meters (9642 feet). This stop on the lift is a big one and has a restaurant with a panoramic view of the Matterhorn and the mountain chain around it.

To finish up our trip, we headed back down the mountain and took one more stroll around town before heading back to Lausanne. It was a short trip but packed full of great memories! Hopefully we'll be able to head back to Zermatt one day for some hiking in the summer or skiing in the winter!

Benvenutti alla Sicilia!

2010-04-08T20:31:00.017+02:00

Isola Bella

Ahhh, Sicily! We spent a wonderful Easter holiday weekend in Sicilia! After deciding that we were in desperate need for a warmer climate, we finally decided that Sicily would be our destination...and it turned out to be an excellent decision! Scroll down for more pics and stories from our trip!

We flew into the city of Catania on the eastern coast of Sicily and rented a car at the airport. From there, we drove about 50 minutes north to the coastal resort town of Taormina. We spent our 1st two nights there in a hotel just down the hill from the main town in an area known as Isola Bella. Isola Bella is the small island in the pictures above (and below!). After having been away from the ocean for so long, I was reminded of just how much I love (and miss) it! The view from our hotel room at the Panoramic Hotel was amazing! Mark surprised me with champagne and strawberries soon after our arrival and we enjoyed our yummy snack and soaked in the beautiful view from our balcony!

The next day, we awoke once again to our gorgeous view and enjoyed breakfast on the hotel terrace. We had a tour of Mt. Etna scheduled for the day and our tour guide picked us up from the hotel at 8:30. Our guide, Alessandro from Sicily Life Tours, took us on a 6 hour tour through some small Italian villages and up the volcano! We started out by viewing the Alcantara river which runs down the volcano and empties into the ocean in the beach town of Naxos. From there we stopped for some amazing views of the snow-capped volcano (yes, you can ski on it in the winter!). We then headed up the volcano, stopping in the small village of Castiglione on the way.

Gotta love this view!

View of Mt. Etna from the cemetery!

Castiglione

We then headed up the north-side of the volcano. Our first stop was to see the lava flow from the last big eruption that occurred in 2002. It was pretty amazing to see it up close! One of the interesting (and good!) things about Mt. Etna is that it does not contain poisonous gases. The lava flow also travels pretty slowly so residents have some time to evacuate...usually they are given warning of an impending eruption by an earthquake. The last large eruption destroyed quite a few structures on the mountain, including the ski-lift and equipment rental stores and restaurants. Driving up to our next stop, we got out and hiked a short distance to one of the volcano's craters. We walked up the crater and Alessandro showed us one of the holes where the lava had erupted from...a little nerve-wracking to be standing next to what appeared to be a bottomless hole!

Lava!

Destruction from the last large eruption

Mt. Etna

Crater

We then headed back down the north side of the mountain and made one final stop in Naxos, a beautiful beach town located just south of Taormina. Naxos is important in Sicily's history, as it was in this location that the first Greek settlement was established. Our tour ended there and Alessandro drove us back to our hotel. We had a great time and really enjoyed our day! Thanks to Alessandro for being a great guide; we learned a lot and had fun!

Naxos

After a late lunch back at the hotel, we walked down to the (rocky!) beach to check out Isola Bella. It is a beautiful small island, although the gate was closed (we presume for the Easter holiday weekend) so we did not get to explore. I plan on going back and checking it out!

Clear blue waters of the Ionian Sea

Friday night we took the funivia (funiculaire!) up the hill to the main town of Taormina. Friday was Good Friday and we caught the tail end of the Easter procession that made its way down the main road of town with residents and tourists walking behind it. As the majority of Italians are Catholic, Easter is an important holiday in the country and is celebrated in many parts of Italy. We enjoyed the exquisite view of the coastline at night from the main square and then headed over to Tiramisu on a recommendation from our tour guide for a yummy pizza dinner!

Easter procession

Saturday we headed back up to Taormina to do some sight-seeing. Taormina's main street is fun to browse and window-shop. We veered off from the main street to check out Taormina's Greek Theater, which is a popular sight as it has been very well preserved. The Greeks really knew how to pick the right locations, as the theater has a beautiful view over the ocean. They still perform plays here in the summer, so I plan on coming back for that as well!

Taormina's main street

The Greek Theater

After sight-seeing in Taormina, we headed back to the hotel for a quick lunch before our road trip to Agrigento. Italy is well-known for its food and we had no shortage of it on our trip. We love prosciutto et melone and eat it every time we are in Italy!

Prosciutto et melone

When making our itinerary, we decided to include Agrigento in our plans, as it is famous for the Valle dei Temple, or Valley of the Temples. The temples are some of the most well-preserved examples of Greek temples in the world, and the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Agrigento is about 2 and 1/2 hours by car from Taormina, so we set off after lunch on our road trip. Luckily, our newly purchased GPS led the way and we made it there without too much trouble, minus the short drive through town, in which Mark had to navigate the maze of Italian drivers, who live up to their reputation of speeding and creating their own traffic rules!

The drive was worth it! We checked into our hotel, Villa Athena, and were the lucky recipients of an upgrade to the Presidential Suite! We relaxed for a little bit on our hotel room terrace, which provided a spectacular view of the temples! Then we put on our shoes and walked over to the temple entrance to view them up close. It was really amazing to see temples that have been there since the 5th century B.C.!

Hanging out on the terrace

Temple Concordia

Temple of Juno

After our temple excursion, we headed back to the hotel for some down time before enjoying a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. Our stay in Agrigento ended on a great note when we enjoyed Easter breakfast on our terrace the next morning! After breakfast we packed up and headed back to Taormina to enjoy the sea for one more night.

Italian food!

Easter breakfast!

The view from our room

On our last night, we stayed just a few minutes north of Taormina at Hotel Baia Taormina. It's location is up on the hillside and provided an amazing view of the coast. After checking in, we enjoyed a late lunch and then had what the southern Italians call "siesta" or nap time! Feeling refreshed, we took the hotel shuttle bus into town for our final Italian dinner at al Duomo. The next morning, we enjoyed our last breakfast on our hotel room balcony and basked in the sun before it was time to head to the airport and say "arrivederci" to Sicily!

We had an incredible vacation! I hope to make it back to Sicily one day to re-live the memories!

Hotel Baia Taormina

Our final meal!

Taormina's coastline

Luzern Sight-Seeing and Pub Crawl

2010-03-23T16:48:00.003+01:00

Chapel Bridge

Luzern's lakeside

Standing on the Chapel Bridge!

Lowendenkmal - Lion Monument

California Bar & Restaurant!

This past weekend we hopped on a train and headed to Luzern for the weekend. We were invited to a pub crawl by a friend of mine named Julia, whom I met last summer when one of our mutual friends vacationed in Switzerland.

We arrived in Luzern in the early afternoon and ditched our suitcase in our hotel room before walking over to the old town. Luzern is situated on Lake Luzern and the River Reuss. To cross over to the medieval town, we crossed the Chapel Bridge, famous for being the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, dating back to the 14th century. Once over the bridge, we lingered among the old town streets for a couple of hours, popping into interesting shops along the way, trying to dodge the rain drops. We also viewed the Lion Monument, which is a beautiful wall carving of a lion that was dedicated to the Swiss guards who were killed during the French Revolution.

We started our evening pub crawl with an early dinner at, ironically, the California Bar and Restaurant! LOL! We ate our meal with three others who were also on the pub crawl; Alex and Dennis, who live in Luzern and Alex's brother, Lionel, who was visiting from the States. We had a good time getting to know them over hamburgers and then we headed over to Legends Irish bar, our first bar on the list! Over the course of the evening, we met a lot of nice people and made our way through a lot of bars in Luzern! It was a really fun night!

We slept in on Sunday morning and then headed back to Lausanne for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Luzern is a beautiful city and hopefully we'll get a chance to go back in the future.

Two Years and Counting! Celebrating with Sushi and Fondue!

2010-03-14T17:29:00.007+01:00

Our fondue dinner

As we say in French, "Bon Appetit"!

Mark and I celebrated our two year anniversary last Tuesday. I can't believe two years ago we went on our first date! Time flies....who knew two years ago that we would be living in Europe! We celebrated by going out to dinner last night at one of our favorite sushi places in Lausanne, the Palace Sushi Zen for a delicious meal. We went shopping yesterday afternoon and Mark bought me a fondue pot that I really wanted for an anniversary present. We enjoyed a yummy fondue dinner tonight. We bought the fondue cheese along with a baguette, carrots and apples to dip. It was a very fun anniversary weekend! I am a very lucky woman!

Westie Bar & Restaurant!

2010-03-14T17:25:00.002+01:00

I came across this restaurant in Lausanne when I was shopping yesterday. I had to post it since it reminds me of Sister, Adam and their Westie Ollie (my nephew!) I hope they come back to Switzerland so we can eat here!

Lausanne hockey playoff game...and some crazy fanfare!

2010-02-23T17:31:00.013+01:00

Facing off!

Our mascot, the Lausanne Lion!

The die-hard, crazy fan section!

So, Mark loves hockey...okay, a little more than love...he is, what I would call, obsessed with hockey! Well, after a couple of failed attempts, we finally made it to a hockey game. Lausanne has a pro hockey team called the Lausanne Hockey Club. The team made it to the playoffs this year and we attended Game 1 of the 7-Game series. The Swiss take their hockey pretty serious and each town's team has a "crazy fan" section....Lausanne is no exception! It was pretty entertaining to watch these fans chant, play drums and wave flags for the entire game. The visiting team's fan section, although small, also had drums and flags! There was no shortage of cheering going on! ( Check out my video below.) Lausanne played well and won 5-2 so we had lots to cheer about. Go Lions!

Valentine's Weekend in ROMA!

2010-02-16T17:10:00.009+01:00

Roma!

Raphael's School of Athens on display at the Vatican Museum

The Vatican Museum courtyard

It wouldn't be a complete trip to Italy without pizza!

Piazza San Pietro and Basilica

The Pantheon

Looking out onto the square from the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Our Valentine's dinner

Inside the Colosseum

The Colosseum!

The Forum

Mark surprised me with a trip to Rome for Valentine's weekend! Italy is at the top of the list for enjoying a week-end d'amore!

We took a short 1 and 1/2 hour flight to Rome and arrived at our hotel, the Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese, late on Friday evening. We started our day of sightseeing early on Saturday at the Vatican Museum in Vatican City. We booked tickets in advance online, which I recommend doing in order to avoid the queue. The museum collection is very impressive and includes Egyptian artifacts along with an unbelievable collection of Renaissance art, including its "crown jewel", Michelangeo's Sistine Chapel. It's a jaw-dropping experience to stand in front of works of art that you stared at in a text book in school and have lasted for hundreds of years!

After leaving the Vatican museum, we headed over Piazza San Pietro and the Basilica, also known as St. Peter's. Rome is one of those places where you run out of adjectives for "amazing" pretty quickly! Once again, I was blown away by the architecture in the piazza and the detail that went into every single inch that decorates the interior of the basilica. Michelangelo's famous sculpture, the "Pieta" sits behind glass here. The papal alter is beautiful as well. I recommend just sitting in the square and taking in the view.

We left St. Peter's Square and headed towards Castel Sant'Angelo, then headed on to Piazza Navona, which has multiple famous art/architecture located there, including Bernini's famous Fountain of the Four Rivers. Our next stop was the Pantheon, an amazing temple dedicated to the gods and known for it's dome that has an open oculus that allows light into the building. We continued walking until we came to the site of the Trevi Fountain, which is an unbelievable site. The size and detail of the fountain is truly magnificent! We stopped to take pictures and throw a coin in the fountain, which the legend ensures will ensure our return to Rome. :) Our final sight for the afternoon was a walk up the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna before heading back to our hotel for a break.

Saturday evening, Mark and I enjoyed a romantic Valentine's dinner at Ristorante 4 Colonne in Piazza Navona. Our hotel made the recommendation based on our craving for a seafood dinner! It turned out to be a great restaurant. We were one of the first patrons of the evening at 8:30 pm, as Italians are known for their late dinners! We started off with a class of champagne, and an appetizer. I had some delicious fried pawns. Along with a very nice bottle of wine, we chose the seafood risotto. It was fantastic! And just when we couldn't eat anymore, our very nice Italian waiter comes over and says to us "Va benne?! You make room for dessert!" He brings us back a plate full of bite size pastries, a shot of grappa for Mark and a shot of limoncello for me! Well, when in Rome....!

Sunday was dedicated to checking out the ruins. We took the metro to the "Colosseo" stop. The Colosseum is a sight to be seen as you walk out of the metro exit. It is pretty fascinating to see the interior and picture what it must have been like when the citizens of Rome came to watch the gladiators fight. Once we left the Colosseum, we headed over to the Palatine Hill and the Forum to see the ruins. With a creative imagination, you can picture yourself in the middle of the ancient city of Rome.

The Forum was our last stop of the day, as we had a flight back to Geneva Sunday evening. I already can't wait for our next trip back to Roma! It is such a historical, cultural and romantic city!

Snowboarding in the Swiss Alps

2010-02-05T17:05:00.007+01:00

Villars

Mark showing off his moves

Amazing sunset views from our hotel room

After getting ourselves prepped for winter athletics (see my Snow Clothes Shopping post!), Mark and I headed to the Swiss Alps last Friday night. We took the train up to Villars, about one and a half hours from Lausanne. It was snowing pretty hard that evening and the next morning , which made for some great snow conditions! Friday night we checked in our hotel, Hotel du Golf and went down to the restaurant to enjoy a nice dinner.

Saturday morning we woke up early to get ready. We put on all of our snowboarding gear and then went to the ski store, McBoard, to pick up my board, boots and helmet that we had reserved. At 9:30 we caught the mountain train up to Bretaye, the top of the mountain where the ski runs are located. It was cold and snowy when we first arrived, but we lucked out and had pretty nice conditions during our time spent on the mountain.

We reserved a lesson for the two of us with an instructor from Ecole Suisse Ski and Snowboard. Our instructor's name was Guillaume, an extremely friendly and patient man! He helped me out a lot, as it was my very first time. Mark had been before, although not for a number of years. After our start though, the moves came back to him! He did really well! We started off just learning how to push ahead with one fit locked in and one foot loose. Then we practiced standing up...that is really hard! Another lesson we learned was the "floating leaf" which is the general practice for learning how to snowboard! It's how you move the board back and forth going down the mountain by shifting your weight.

I have to admit that after a couple of hours, I could barely stand my legs were so sore. You use a lot of muscles that you don't use on a normal day! After our lunch break, I did a couple of more runs before my legs completely gave out. Yes, for all you hard-core snowboarders out there, I'm sure you will laugh at that statement. I hate to admit that, but it has given me motivation to get back in the gym and do a lot of weight-training to strengthen my legs and my back!

We took the train back down to Villars and had a relaxing rest of the day. I enjoyed a massage at the hotel spa as well as a dip in the jacuzzi. Sunday morning, we had breakfast and returned my gear before heading home. It was a fantastic snow weekend! I can't wait to continue my lessons and hopefully improve my skills! It doesn't get much better than snowboarding in the Swiss Alps!