It is amazing how much can happen in a year and how quickly the time passes. One year ago today I packed my car and left Los Angeles beginning my adventure of moving abroad. Eleven months ago I landed in Switzerland. Today, I am two weeks away from packing again to begin the path towards returning home. I feel confident about the choice to end this stage of my life but it is still bitter sweet.
While living with another family and working as an Au Pair has made living in Switzerland possible I cannot wait to return to working as an interior designer and having my independence back. But of course that also means that I won't be able to hop a mere 12 minute train ride to Zürich and venture the thousand year old streets. I can't hop on a train and find myself in Italy 3 hours later. I can't adventure Europe on a whim.
I have no idea what will happen when I return to Los Angeles in November (as I have no certain job yet) but I have certainty that the next three months are going to be some of the most exciting months of my life. As you may have noticed on the right sidebar I have added quite a few countdowns to various adventures that I am persuing over the next three months. Here is the official breakdown:
On August 11 my current Au Pair job is officially over. I pack my bags and move everything to my aunt's house across the lake...but not for long!
From August 12-15 I am Rome, Italy adventuring, touring the Vatican, hanging out with Michelangelo, and fighting with the Gladiators in the Colosseum.
On August 16 I move in with another family (neighbors of my current host family) to work as an Au Pair for them for two weeks.
On August 29 I meet up with a certain Michael (refer to December 2 blog about Starbucks. Turns out he is basically the coolest person I know) to go to Greece for a week! We are going to Athens for two days and then are headed to Santorini to do whatever we want until we fly back to Zürich on September 5.
From September 5-26 I will be living with my aunt in Adliswil while hopefully getting plenty of babysitting jobs to save up some money and hopefully travel to Paris.
On September 27 I hop on a plane bound for the USA. Fortunately, I was able to use frequent flyer miles to book my flight back to Denver. Unfortunately, I fly from Zürich to JFK to Columbus, Ohio to Chicago to Denver. Yeah...tackling the USA one hour flights at a time.
Once I am home in Boulder I have some time to relax...and by relax I mean pack all of my worldly belongings into Abby (my 2005 Honda Civic EX which is way better than a certain 2007 Honda Civic SI) and drive to Los Angeles on October 1-2. FINALLY I will be back at my permanent home...
But not really because three days later I fly to New Zealand on October 5 for three weeks to visit my sister and brother-in-law! I was lucky to purchase a ticket on Virgin Australia that actually gives me a 12 hour layover in Brisbane, Australia which is plenty of time to hang out and see the city for a day! I haven't seen my sister in almost two years and hanging out with her in Dunedin, helping her work on her new house, and making some small adventures around the south island is going to be beyond awesome. Besides, when I start working in the corporate world again I can kiss three week vacations goodbye forever (silly USA two week vacation allowances).
On October 28 I fly back to Los Angeles where I will remain indefinitely until an earthquake or God tells me otherwise.
Looking into the short future there are still a lot of unknowns, but I don't really need to worry about them because I know that God already has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11). Besides, I have enough on my plate for the next three months to keep me busy until then!
So cheers to the last year and the next three months because although I didn't actually live the lifestyle of the rich and famous it sure feels that way sometimes. :)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Czech Me Out - I went to Prague!
(I apologize for the tardiness)
Two weeks ago my parents arrived in Switzerland - just in time to hop a plane to Prague, Czech Republic. After living in Switzerland for 10 months (queue the gasps of astonishment) and traveling with a variety of types of people and sometimes even alone, it is interesting to see the differences in the ways certain people travel. For example, my host family makes spontaneous day trips but ultimately seeks relaxation with a splash of adventure here and there. When I travel alone I book a train ticket and figure all the rest out when I get there, including my accommodations. My parents, on the other hand, plan and research months in advance spending hours reading about the history and sites before even stepping out of their living room. When we got to Prague wherever we ventured my mother, tour guide in hand, was able to share some very interesting tidbits along the way. Unbeknownst to me Prague actually has a fascinating history so this blog will be a little more focused on what I learned about the things we saw than other travel blogs I have written in the past.
First, I would like to set the tone of the trip with a funny story about the immediate 5 minutes after getting off the plane in Prague. I have been looking to buy a new perfume for some time now and I finally got a great suggestion from a friend of a rare perfume that has gotten rave reviews. Well, being a rare perfume it is also an expensive perfume, so duty free was my best opportunity to hopefully find and purchase this new scent. I was beyond lucky to find a bottle in the duty free shop. Unfortunately, the currency of Czech Crona means nothing to me so I simply asked my dad what the exchange rate was. He said, "How much is it?" I told him, "1,659 Crona," to which he replied, "Great, now divide that by 13."
Thanks Dad, but if I could divide 1,659 by 13 in my head I would be an architect, not an interior designer.
Anyways, we arrived in Prague on a Wednesday morning and after the help of a nice Albanian man living in the area we found our way to the city center and then to our hotel. Prague is divided into four distinct quadrants: Old Town, New Town, The Little Quarter, and the Jewish Quarter. Seeing as we stayed in Old Town, we ventured there first. We stayed at Hotel Josef, which was a swanky mondern hotel about a five minute walk from Old Town Square.
Old Town Square is famous for lots of buildings but most known for the old astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall. Built in 1490, the clock does not show the time, but actually the supposed orbits of the sun and moon around the earth (idiots).
The next thing that we went to see was the Old Jewish Quarter. In the Middle Ages all of the Jews in Prague were confined to live in one enclosed ghetto of the city. In the 16th century all of the Jews were required to wear yellow circles as a mark of shame. It wasn't until 1850 that the area was officially incorporated as a part of Prague. Almost all of it was torn down for lack of sanitation reasons, but a few significant buildings were protected.
The Pinkas Synagogue is probably one of the most tragically moving buildings I have ever been inside. The synagogue serves as a memorial for the Jewish Czechoslovak citizens that were imprisioned in various concentration camps and later transported to Nazi extermination camps. The names of almost 80,000 people are alphabetically inscribed on the walls along with the date of birth and last known date that they were seen alive in Prague. Upstairs there was an exhibit of drawings made by the children at the Terezin concentration camp. (I respected the no photography rule in the synagogue so you should look at the pictures on google images. It is worth seeing.)
After wandering through the synagogue we made our way outside to the Jewish cemetary that was the only permitted burial ground for Jews for over 300 years. Because of the lack of space some of the people had to be burried on top of each other (sometimes 12 layers deep). Additionally, it has close to 12,000 gravestones crammed into the small yard. While walking through the gravestones it was hard not to notice the small coins, stones, candles, and folded up notes that people left on the gravestones as prayers for the lives lost during the holocaust and those burried in the graveyard.
We visited three other synagogues all housing the world's largest and most important collection of Jewish artifacts. After an afternoon filled with nothing but tragic Jewish history we stopped at a restaurant for a much needed beer and then after dinner turned in for the night for our next adventure.
In the morning we were on a mission to see the Prague castle and the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge connects the Old Town with the Little Quarter and functions today as a pedestrian street lined with statues and sale booths with art and jewelry.
Each statue on the bridge is different and depicts mostly kings and royalty along with pivital Biblical figures and stories. The one that I found to be the most moving was the statue of the cricifixion (but interestingly enough, not for obvious reasons). For about 200 years this was the only statue on the bridge. The guilded Christ dates back to 1629 and the Hebrew words "Holy Holy Holy Lord" were paid for by a Jew as punishment for blasphemy (pictured below on the left). To make a Jew pay for the golden Christian words I found beyond tragic.
We crossed the Charles Bridge and headed up to the Prague Castle just in time for the big changing of the guards at noon. The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes and included a little instrumental part which made standing in the hot sun a little more bearable. Once inside the castle walls we headed off to explore St. Vitus' Cathedral, the Royal Palace, and the Golden Lane.
St. Vitus' Cathedral is one of the more impressive of the many impressive buildings in Prague. The church began construction in 1344 but wasn't completed until the 19th and 20th centuries. (I know that construction always runs behind schedule, but I find 7 centuries to be a bit ridiculous). The exterior I thought was a little more impressive than the interior because of the unusual spires (the pointy things on top of the towers with the spikes for those not architecturally savvy). The interior was a little less interesting especially due to "technical problems" that closed the tour of the crypt and St. Wenceslas Chapel. (Please tell me, what possible "technical problems" could there be on a 667 year old building?)
Next we went and saw the Royal Palace. Built in the 11th century, the palace held such events as the public market, balls, and even indoor jousting. It also functioned as the location where the law was enforced. One of my favorite stories about the castle, although grim, is the Defenestration. For those of you unfamiliar with the word, in German, "fenster" is the word for "window." It shouldn't take you too long to figure out what it means when someone is "de-windowed," but here is the story: In 1618 more than 100 Protestant nobles marched into the palace to protest against the succession of the throne to some duke (I am sure you care about his name even less than I do). The two Catholic Governers appointed by the intolerant duke were then confronted and thrown out of the east window along with their secretaries. Falling about 50 ft. they survived the fall by landing in a huge pile of horse poop below. The event signaled the begin of the 30 Years War and the survival of the people was thought to be intervention of angels. (In reading about the various sites around Prague, it is amazing how many people were thrown out of windows, and off buildings and bridges).
After my guilty chuckle over the people that got "de-windowed" (it's ok to laugh because they survived, right?), we headed through some more windy streets before coming to the Golden Lane. This street is along the outer castle wall where small cottages were built into the wall in the late 16th century for the castle's guards and gunners. Today some have been restored to show what the homes may have looked like while other cottages are used as souvenir shops.
After venturing through all there was to see in the castle (including me dragging my mom down to the dungeon to see medieval torture divices), we decided to meander our way back towards the Charles Bridge to find some authentic Czech food. I ordered rabbit and practically licked my plate clean (my apologies to Peter Rabbit and Cottontail). We wandered through the streets, checked out some classic tourist shops so I could purchase a beer mug for my growing collection, and then headed off to bed.
Friday was our last day in Prague before our early evening flight back to Zürich. We decided to check out all the cathedrals in Old Town that we had skipped before, including climbing to the top of the Old Town Hall tower to see Prague from above. We were also lucky enough to watch all the people below gather to watch the clock chime noon and hear the trumpet player play his song. It turns out that I am "that tourist" who got so far in his way that he actually had to ask me to move. After my utter embarassment we headed off to see St. Wenceslas Square, which was like any over popularized tourist location in a large city. Designer stores, tourist shops, banks, and of course, McDonalds.
We may or may not have eaten lunch at McDonalds, but I cannot disclose any further information. Ok, I had the Big Mac...and a McFlurry (with Toblerone chocolate!).
Our trip had come to an end and, thanks to my Mommy and Daddy, I learned more about the history of Prague than I have learned about the history of any other city I have visited in Europe combined. While it may not be completely my style to rock the Eyewitness Travel book everywhere I go, I am grateful for the experience I had traveling with two of the world's most wonderful people. Without them I wouldn't be the woman I am today, nor have the strength or means to live abroad for an entire year. I love you Mommy and Daddy!!
Two weeks ago my parents arrived in Switzerland - just in time to hop a plane to Prague, Czech Republic. After living in Switzerland for 10 months (queue the gasps of astonishment) and traveling with a variety of types of people and sometimes even alone, it is interesting to see the differences in the ways certain people travel. For example, my host family makes spontaneous day trips but ultimately seeks relaxation with a splash of adventure here and there. When I travel alone I book a train ticket and figure all the rest out when I get there, including my accommodations. My parents, on the other hand, plan and research months in advance spending hours reading about the history and sites before even stepping out of their living room. When we got to Prague wherever we ventured my mother, tour guide in hand, was able to share some very interesting tidbits along the way. Unbeknownst to me Prague actually has a fascinating history so this blog will be a little more focused on what I learned about the things we saw than other travel blogs I have written in the past.
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| Prague from the Old Town Hall Tower |
Thanks Dad, but if I could divide 1,659 by 13 in my head I would be an architect, not an interior designer.
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| Old Town Hall |
Anyways, we arrived in Prague on a Wednesday morning and after the help of a nice Albanian man living in the area we found our way to the city center and then to our hotel. Prague is divided into four distinct quadrants: Old Town, New Town, The Little Quarter, and the Jewish Quarter. Seeing as we stayed in Old Town, we ventured there first. We stayed at Hotel Josef, which was a swanky mondern hotel about a five minute walk from Old Town Square. Old Town Square is famous for lots of buildings but most known for the old astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall. Built in 1490, the clock does not show the time, but actually the supposed orbits of the sun and moon around the earth (idiots).
The next thing that we went to see was the Old Jewish Quarter. In the Middle Ages all of the Jews in Prague were confined to live in one enclosed ghetto of the city. In the 16th century all of the Jews were required to wear yellow circles as a mark of shame. It wasn't until 1850 that the area was officially incorporated as a part of Prague. Almost all of it was torn down for lack of sanitation reasons, but a few significant buildings were protected.
The Pinkas Synagogue is probably one of the most tragically moving buildings I have ever been inside. The synagogue serves as a memorial for the Jewish Czechoslovak citizens that were imprisioned in various concentration camps and later transported to Nazi extermination camps. The names of almost 80,000 people are alphabetically inscribed on the walls along with the date of birth and last known date that they were seen alive in Prague. Upstairs there was an exhibit of drawings made by the children at the Terezin concentration camp. (I respected the no photography rule in the synagogue so you should look at the pictures on google images. It is worth seeing.)
After wandering through the synagogue we made our way outside to the Jewish cemetary that was the only permitted burial ground for Jews for over 300 years. Because of the lack of space some of the people had to be burried on top of each other (sometimes 12 layers deep). Additionally, it has close to 12,000 gravestones crammed into the small yard. While walking through the gravestones it was hard not to notice the small coins, stones, candles, and folded up notes that people left on the gravestones as prayers for the lives lost during the holocaust and those burried in the graveyard.
We visited three other synagogues all housing the world's largest and most important collection of Jewish artifacts. After an afternoon filled with nothing but tragic Jewish history we stopped at a restaurant for a much needed beer and then after dinner turned in for the night for our next adventure.
In the morning we were on a mission to see the Prague castle and the Charles Bridge. The Charles Bridge connects the Old Town with the Little Quarter and functions today as a pedestrian street lined with statues and sale booths with art and jewelry.
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| The Charles Bridge |
We crossed the Charles Bridge and headed up to the Prague Castle just in time for the big changing of the guards at noon. The whole thing lasted about 20 minutes and included a little instrumental part which made standing in the hot sun a little more bearable. Once inside the castle walls we headed off to explore St. Vitus' Cathedral, the Royal Palace, and the Golden Lane.
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| The Changing of the Guards at the Prague Castle |
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| The Crests of the clerks who worked here from 1561-1774 |
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| The Window |
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| The Fall |
After my guilty chuckle over the people that got "de-windowed" (it's ok to laugh because they survived, right?), we headed through some more windy streets before coming to the Golden Lane. This street is along the outer castle wall where small cottages were built into the wall in the late 16th century for the castle's guards and gunners. Today some have been restored to show what the homes may have looked like while other cottages are used as souvenir shops.
After venturing through all there was to see in the castle (including me dragging my mom down to the dungeon to see medieval torture divices), we decided to meander our way back towards the Charles Bridge to find some authentic Czech food. I ordered rabbit and practically licked my plate clean (my apologies to Peter Rabbit and Cottontail). We wandered through the streets, checked out some classic tourist shops so I could purchase a beer mug for my growing collection, and then headed off to bed.
Friday was our last day in Prague before our early evening flight back to Zürich. We decided to check out all the cathedrals in Old Town that we had skipped before, including climbing to the top of the Old Town Hall tower to see Prague from above. We were also lucky enough to watch all the people below gather to watch the clock chime noon and hear the trumpet player play his song. It turns out that I am "that tourist" who got so far in his way that he actually had to ask me to move. After my utter embarassment we headed off to see St. Wenceslas Square, which was like any over popularized tourist location in a large city. Designer stores, tourist shops, banks, and of course, McDonalds. We may or may not have eaten lunch at McDonalds, but I cannot disclose any further information. Ok, I had the Big Mac...and a McFlurry (with Toblerone chocolate!).
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| People gathered to watch the clock |
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| Me in the Old Town Hall Tower (in the background: Church of Our Lady before Tyn) |
Monday, July 4, 2011
Espania
Hola mi amogos! Unfortunately that is about the extent of my Spanish since I have started to learn German, but it didn't slow me down on my trip to ESPANIA!
This is the second trip that I have taken with my host family, and despite working on vacation, I could hardly complain. Traveling alone has its advantages, but staying in a hotel with a California King sized bed, a jaccuzi, indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and fancy breakfast - yes please! I took advantage of all the perks because opportunites like this don't come knocking twice.
The first three days we stayed at Hotel Mas Salvi in Pals, Spain, about 2 hours north or Barcelona in Coasta Brava. The hotel, opened only for a few months of the year and used mostly for weddings, is romantically secluded in the small town and gave me little wiggle room to entertain an energetic almost-3-year-old. As we were there to attend a wedding of a friend of my host dad's, I was in charge of the kid nearly 24 hours a day and even shared a room with the tyke. During the day I was with my host family and we took some day trips to neighboring towns or trips to the beach. I even did Tequila shots with my host dad on the beach, which was an experience in itself (the kid tried to steal it, which was highly entertatining).
The following three days after the wedding, we moved to Hotel Sa Punta which was a little more family oriented and closer to the beach. There was a huge pool, a nice yard, and most importantly I had my own room. We spend a lot of time at the beach and I did my best to get my tan on while protecting against skin cancer and a giant sunburn. I may have failed at not getting a sunburn since I am pretty sure I am borderline albino.
One of the highlights of the trip was a spontaneous evening in which one of the waitors at the hotel approached me one night and asked me to join him for a drink after work. I was in the mood for adventure and at half past midnight jumped in his car to find myself returning in the wee hours of the morning after a night full of dancing and glowing drinks (seriously, the water glowed!). While some might call me crazy for going out with a stranger in a foreign country in the middle of the night, I find that the locals are the best people to give a real experience so why pass up the opportunity to see the night life? I had a blast!
After six days with the family we parted ways, I hopped on a bus, and slept the 2 hour ride into Barcelona to meet my brother, Chris, and his girlfriend, Courtney, who were flying in from Paris that afternoon. After meeting at the hotel we soon realized there was a problem - apparently when the reservation was made it was made for 2 adults and a cot. Well aparently a "cot" means "baby bed" not "fold-out bed." I know I am an au pair and supposed to buck up in certain situations and take my place in the caste system, but sleeping in a crib is where I draw the line. I feed, clothe, and raise babies, I refuse to sleep like one too. So we canceled the reservation and ended up finding a cheaper place, in a better part of town, with a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchenette. Yeah, baller.
So if you have ever met me or my brother, you know that when we are together we are....something awesome. The night began with some light champagne and tapas and ended many hours later with an advil in the morning. The next day we got a slow start at about 11am when we headed for the beach. The three of us bummed on the beach for a few hours turning down all sorts of services offered by all sorts of nationalities trying to make a living off the thousands of tourists. I have to admit, it was almost as annoying as Mexico. Eventually we found our way wandering down the beach in the direction of Ice Barcelona, an ice bar on the beach (yeah, get jealous). We finally found our way there and after a short drink outside we met up with my my college friend, Scott, who happened to be in Barcelona the same weekend. Then, in my bathing suit and summer dress, I put on a sub-zero parka and fleece gloves and headed into the -11 degree celcuis bar. It was one of the coolest bars (pun intended) I have ever been in. The drink I had inside was delicious and it was hard work to keep the liquid from spilling out of my cup made of ice from my unavoidable shivering. That night was a repeat of the night before, including the delicious food and amazing mixed drinks. I have been to many countries, but Barcelona has by far the best mixed drinks of any other country I have ever been to. And that is a Fact.
The next day was my last full day in Barcelona before heading back to Zürich the following morning. I had two items on my agenda: Gaudi architecture and shopping. Courtney and I woke up early in the morning and left my brother behind to sleep and relax while we hit the stores. I have to say that Courtney is probably one of the best people in the world to shop with. She can spot cute stores with good deals and will be honest about how you look when you try things on. Oh, and if it is your birthday, she will downright spoil you. Chris has my everlasting approval of this chick for sure. After an entire morning of shopping I had bought a pair of flat shoes, a shirt from Desigual, a faux leather jacket, and a pair of Dolce & Gabana stilletos. Success is an understatement. In the afternoon we met up with my brother and after confirming that Rebecca Steiner should never ride a bike, we split ways so the couple could do a biking tour of the city and I could wander ever so slowly by foot to the various Gaudi masterpieces.
Well seeing as this blog is already ridiculously long and Gaudi is probably one of the few architects that is impossible to describe, I have attached a slideshow of my photos so you can get confused all by yourself. Enjoy!
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| Barcelona Coastline |
The first three days we stayed at Hotel Mas Salvi in Pals, Spain, about 2 hours north or Barcelona in Coasta Brava. The hotel, opened only for a few months of the year and used mostly for weddings, is romantically secluded in the small town and gave me little wiggle room to entertain an energetic almost-3-year-old. As we were there to attend a wedding of a friend of my host dad's, I was in charge of the kid nearly 24 hours a day and even shared a room with the tyke. During the day I was with my host family and we took some day trips to neighboring towns or trips to the beach. I even did Tequila shots with my host dad on the beach, which was an experience in itself (the kid tried to steal it, which was highly entertatining). The following three days after the wedding, we moved to Hotel Sa Punta which was a little more family oriented and closer to the beach. There was a huge pool, a nice yard, and most importantly I had my own room. We spend a lot of time at the beach and I did my best to get my tan on while protecting against skin cancer and a giant sunburn. I may have failed at not getting a sunburn since I am pretty sure I am borderline albino.One of the highlights of the trip was a spontaneous evening in which one of the waitors at the hotel approached me one night and asked me to join him for a drink after work. I was in the mood for adventure and at half past midnight jumped in his car to find myself returning in the wee hours of the morning after a night full of dancing and glowing drinks (seriously, the water glowed!). While some might call me crazy for going out with a stranger in a foreign country in the middle of the night, I find that the locals are the best people to give a real experience so why pass up the opportunity to see the night life? I had a blast!After six days with the family we parted ways, I hopped on a bus, and slept the 2 hour ride into Barcelona to meet my brother, Chris, and his girlfriend, Courtney, who were flying in from Paris that afternoon. After meeting at the hotel we soon realized there was a problem - apparently when the reservation was made it was made for 2 adults and a cot. Well aparently a "cot" means "baby bed" not "fold-out bed." I know I am an au pair and supposed to buck up in certain situations and take my place in the caste system, but sleeping in a crib is where I draw the line. I feed, clothe, and raise babies, I refuse to sleep like one too. So we canceled the reservation and ended up finding a cheaper place, in a better part of town, with a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and kitchenette. Yeah, baller.
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| Arc de Triomf |
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| Me and Chris at Ice Barcelona |
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| Me in front of an ice sculpture of Sagrada Familia (Gaudi) |
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| Dolce & Gabana Stilettos |
Well seeing as this blog is already ridiculously long and Gaudi is probably one of the few architects that is impossible to describe, I have attached a slideshow of my photos so you can get confused all by yourself. Enjoy!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Home Sweet Home
I don't care where you live or where you are from, there is no place like home. If you try to argue with me, that is fine, I will gladly tune you out.
I was lucky to have two friends get married and give me the world's best excuse to come home for two weeks. I flew directly from Zürich, Switzerland to Seattle, Washington (with a 5 hour delay in Philadelphia that turned slowly into 7 hours when a water leak was discovered on the plane). It took me 24 hours to finnaly arrive in Seattle (but with the time change I only lost about 13 hours), and I was beyond excited to be greeted at the airport by the bride-and-groom-to-be.
The following days left no time for jet-leg adjustments because of all of the wedding preparations - but boy was I excited! Over the past year I had spent hours on the phone with Christie listening to her swoon over Barry, hours scheming with Barry on how to get a ring on Christie's finger, 30 seconds booking it miles up a mountain ahead of the two to hide in the bushes for an hour while Barry popped the question, and then 9 long months in Switzerland awaiting the wedding. I am a hopeless romantic so I was more than ready to share the day when they tied the knot. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and I wouldn't have missed the occasion for the world. I mean, seriously, is there a prettier bride in the world? (If you are reading this and married, I am sure you were the prettiest bride in the world on your wedding day too, as will I be on mine!)
(I do not have pictures of the actual wedding as I was a Bridesmaid and have been told it is tacky to snap photos of a wedding you are in.)
While my time in Seattle was short and definitely more than sweet, I was excited to go home and spend time with my family and friends in Boulder, Colorado. The week was filled with lots of hugs, kisses (mostly sticky lip gloss ones from my mommy), and playing the guitar and piano. There is nothing better than returning home for two weeks of relaxation and rejuvination.
One of my favorite Boulder traditions is the Bolder Boulder - a 10k run/race through the city of Boulder on Memorial Day. I can remember numerous times as a child "running" this race with my best friend, Ali (and by running I mean hit every lemonade stand, sprinkler, and slip-and-slide along the way). This year, as I have been experiencing European culture (and cuisine) at its best, I did not run the race, but my parents did. So I went to the stadium in the morning to meet up with my parents after the race and watch the Memorial Day show. And it wouldn't be complete without the 6 skydivers and "Proud to be and American" by Lee Greenwood.
On June 2, my 25th Birthday, I was surprised with a mother/daugher facial followed by dinner at Outback Steakhouse for the perfect medium rare steak and mashed potatoes. I seriously ate it all...and then licked my cheesecake plate clean. I mean, seriously, you would think I had been starved in Switzerland (which I can assure you is not the case).
Besides the wonderful food I ate and soul food of spending time with friends and family, I always spend time reflecting on the absolute beauty that Boulder, Colorado offers. I am sure that your hometown is spectacular, but I guarantee you that there is no place like Boulder. It will always hold a special place in my heart and will always, always be Home.
I was lucky to have two friends get married and give me the world's best excuse to come home for two weeks. I flew directly from Zürich, Switzerland to Seattle, Washington (with a 5 hour delay in Philadelphia that turned slowly into 7 hours when a water leak was discovered on the plane). It took me 24 hours to finnaly arrive in Seattle (but with the time change I only lost about 13 hours), and I was beyond excited to be greeted at the airport by the bride-and-groom-to-be.
The following days left no time for jet-leg adjustments because of all of the wedding preparations - but boy was I excited! Over the past year I had spent hours on the phone with Christie listening to her swoon over Barry, hours scheming with Barry on how to get a ring on Christie's finger, 30 seconds booking it miles up a mountain ahead of the two to hide in the bushes for an hour while Barry popped the question, and then 9 long months in Switzerland awaiting the wedding. I am a hopeless romantic so I was more than ready to share the day when they tied the knot. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and I wouldn't have missed the occasion for the world. I mean, seriously, is there a prettier bride in the world? (If you are reading this and married, I am sure you were the prettiest bride in the world on your wedding day too, as will I be on mine!)
(I do not have pictures of the actual wedding as I was a Bridesmaid and have been told it is tacky to snap photos of a wedding you are in.)
While my time in Seattle was short and definitely more than sweet, I was excited to go home and spend time with my family and friends in Boulder, Colorado. The week was filled with lots of hugs, kisses (mostly sticky lip gloss ones from my mommy), and playing the guitar and piano. There is nothing better than returning home for two weeks of relaxation and rejuvination.
One of my favorite Boulder traditions is the Bolder Boulder - a 10k run/race through the city of Boulder on Memorial Day. I can remember numerous times as a child "running" this race with my best friend, Ali (and by running I mean hit every lemonade stand, sprinkler, and slip-and-slide along the way). This year, as I have been experiencing European culture (and cuisine) at its best, I did not run the race, but my parents did. So I went to the stadium in the morning to meet up with my parents after the race and watch the Memorial Day show. And it wouldn't be complete without the 6 skydivers and "Proud to be and American" by Lee Greenwood.
On June 2, my 25th Birthday, I was surprised with a mother/daugher facial followed by dinner at Outback Steakhouse for the perfect medium rare steak and mashed potatoes. I seriously ate it all...and then licked my cheesecake plate clean. I mean, seriously, you would think I had been starved in Switzerland (which I can assure you is not the case).
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| 8 oz. Steak (cooked medium rare), 3 half lobster tails, mashed potatos, and broccoli. YUM! |
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| (Photo not computer edited) |
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Viva Italia
Venice is the kind of place I would love to get lost in - forever. The winding narrow walkways and twisting canals on this sinking island are enough for someone with a prefect sense of direction to get caught up in the atmosphere and succumb to the confusion of the city. I don't know if it is the romance of the country, the smell of fresh pasta and pizza, or the sound of the language echoing off the walls, but I have never felt more surrounded by Italy in my life.
Heading into the weekend I was sure that I would spend my time in Venice being rowed about in a Gondela by a ridiculously handsome Italian Stalion who would sing to me as I laid back and fanticized about my own Under the Tuscan Sun future. Unfortunately the gondela rides were 100 Euros, not all of the men are as handsome as I made them out to be in my head, and every Gondelier I spoke to told me that they only sing in the shower. So instead I spent my time photographing, window shopping, and laughing to the point of not being able to breathe with Nynette. What may sound silly is that we really didn't spend time seeking out the well-known sights that are recommended in my tour guide book. Instead we preferred romaning the streets and adventuring down whatever street looked the most interesting at an intersection. Most of the time it was whatever street was less crowded in order to discover the best kept secrets of Venice.
Some people say that Venice is nothing you haven't already seen in the movies. If Venice was about high speed boat chase through the canals and leaving with $10 million in gold bricks, then yes, Venice is exactly what it looks like in the movies. Unfortunately I saw no such excitement on the island. Regardless of the fact that the movies reveal a nice backdrop of the corridors that wind around the small island, canals, and lots of boats, Venice, Italy is actually not done justice by Hollywood. There is an unmistakable atmosphere in Venice that can only be experienced while physically present in the city. And no, the knockoff Venice Beach, California doesn't count. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even blog about certain places when all you need to know is to put it on your "Places to See Before I Die" list. If you have such a list, I suggest putting Venice towards the top of your priorities.
Despite the ridiculous amount of people that shared Nynette's and my interest in visiting Venice on Easter Sunday weekend, we did a pretty good job avoiding the crowds of people and frequently found ourselves walking down corridors with not a soul in sight. Over 5 million people visit this city every year and while I am convinced that over half that amount populated the streets this weekend Nynette and I managed to still feel like we were the only two people wandering the island. We even busted out the iPod with speakers a couple times and had a dance party for two "from the window to the wall." On a couple occasions a native Italian stumbled upon our freak show, but surprisingly found our behavior entertaining and even joined in on our hip hop grooves as they passed by.
Another entertaining aspect of the trip was staying in an International Youth Hostel (Ostello Venezia) and meeting several characters from around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Germany, and of course the USA. Making temporary friends over a shared bottle of the wine (only 6 Euros at the concessions stand) always makes for interesting conversation and exchange of accents, stories, traditions, and travel stories and suggestions. There is something comforting about the comonality of meeing other people on extended travel who are just drifting in time and taking advantage of what the world has to offer.
I think the best thing about traveling to Venice with a best friend is the ability to get lost in time and geographic location. We spent as much time as we wanted taking countless pictures of whatever peaked our interest, wining and dining (and then wining again), eating gilati, and continuing our game of "Your Team My Team" (refer to previous blog for explanation).
Another useful attribute about a best friend is that they can talk you into purchasing an outrageously expensive pair of shoes that never in a million years you would consider walking out of the store with but secretly can't live without. And better yet, when you come up short in cash, they chip in the difference as an early birthday present. All in all, if I had to do it all over again there is not one thing I would have changed about this trip. It was beyond paradise :)
Heading into the weekend I was sure that I would spend my time in Venice being rowed about in a Gondela by a ridiculously handsome Italian Stalion who would sing to me as I laid back and fanticized about my own Under the Tuscan Sun future. Unfortunately the gondela rides were 100 Euros, not all of the men are as handsome as I made them out to be in my head, and every Gondelier I spoke to told me that they only sing in the shower. So instead I spent my time photographing, window shopping, and laughing to the point of not being able to breathe with Nynette. What may sound silly is that we really didn't spend time seeking out the well-known sights that are recommended in my tour guide book. Instead we preferred romaning the streets and adventuring down whatever street looked the most interesting at an intersection. Most of the time it was whatever street was less crowded in order to discover the best kept secrets of Venice. Some people say that Venice is nothing you haven't already seen in the movies. If Venice was about high speed boat chase through the canals and leaving with $10 million in gold bricks, then yes, Venice is exactly what it looks like in the movies. Unfortunately I saw no such excitement on the island. Regardless of the fact that the movies reveal a nice backdrop of the corridors that wind around the small island, canals, and lots of boats, Venice, Italy is actually not done justice by Hollywood. There is an unmistakable atmosphere in Venice that can only be experienced while physically present in the city. And no, the knockoff Venice Beach, California doesn't count. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I even blog about certain places when all you need to know is to put it on your "Places to See Before I Die" list. If you have such a list, I suggest putting Venice towards the top of your priorities.
Despite the ridiculous amount of people that shared Nynette's and my interest in visiting Venice on Easter Sunday weekend, we did a pretty good job avoiding the crowds of people and frequently found ourselves walking down corridors with not a soul in sight. Over 5 million people visit this city every year and while I am convinced that over half that amount populated the streets this weekend Nynette and I managed to still feel like we were the only two people wandering the island. We even busted out the iPod with speakers a couple times and had a dance party for two "from the window to the wall." On a couple occasions a native Italian stumbled upon our freak show, but surprisingly found our behavior entertaining and even joined in on our hip hop grooves as they passed by.Another entertaining aspect of the trip was staying in an International Youth Hostel (Ostello Venezia) and meeting several characters from around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Germany, and of course the USA. Making temporary friends over a shared bottle of the wine (only 6 Euros at the concessions stand) always makes for interesting conversation and exchange of accents, stories, traditions, and travel stories and suggestions. There is something comforting about the comonality of meeing other people on extended travel who are just drifting in time and taking advantage of what the world has to offer.
I think the best thing about traveling to Venice with a best friend is the ability to get lost in time and geographic location. We spent as much time as we wanted taking countless pictures of whatever peaked our interest, wining and dining (and then wining again), eating gilati, and continuing our game of "Your Team My Team" (refer to previous blog for explanation).
Another useful attribute about a best friend is that they can talk you into purchasing an outrageously expensive pair of shoes that never in a million years you would consider walking out of the store with but secretly can't live without. And better yet, when you come up short in cash, they chip in the difference as an early birthday present. All in all, if I had to do it all over again there is not one thing I would have changed about this trip. It was beyond paradise :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Glacier Express to Awesome
I am so blessed to have amazing friends. If you are reading this, I consider it a blessing that you would take time out of your day to get a preview of my life abroad. However, one friend in particular has greatly exceeded my expectations and flown all the way from Los Angeles, California to spend 10 days with me in my world. So this blog is dedicated to a Miss Nynette Marceth. Without her I would have taken the Galcier Express to the Matterhorn, but instead we took the Glacier Express to Awesome.
Saturday morning Nynette and I boarded a short train to Chur, Switzerland where we had a 30 minute layover (including a quick photo op of a Denver Broncos Banner randomly hung in the street) before the departure of the Glacier Express. As Nynette's travel book puts it, there is nothing "express" about the Glacier Express. The train crawls at a top speed of probably 30-40 mph and travels through one of the most picturesque treks in the Swiss Alps. It daparts from St. Moritz/Davos and 6 hours later arrives in Zermatt, Switzerland, the famous town at the base of the Matterhorn.
For obvious reasons, this particular train ride is a popular experience for tourists (such as Nynette and I). But no highly touristic experience is complete without the token Asian tourists (excuse the racist generalization, but don't pretend you don't know what I am talking about). For some reason Asian tourists, with their mega zoom lenses and baseball caps purchased at the local souvenier shop, somehow make everything more entertatining. I don't know if it is because they take pictures of everything and thus the rest of us are able to notice things that we may have missed otherwise or if it is because they travel in multi-generational herds, but no tourist experience is complete without these fabulously interesting people. This train ride was no excuse. About two hours into the ride, Nynette and my train cabin, which originally was virtually empty, was invaded by a family of Asians. At first, the kid playing video games on his iPad with the volume on blast-out- your-eardrums made these new travelers a nuisance, but after the concept of headphones was discovered Nynette and I spent the remainder of the train ride trying not to pee our pants laughing at an Asian man who was singing along out loud to his iPod without a care in the world. Another Asian man we are sure was randomly taking pictures of us throughout the ride and finally mustered up the courage to ask to take a picture of us...with the sequential picture setting that ended up being a dozen picture montage of us awkwardly smiling for the camera. Not to worry though, because I got revenge by returning the favor when the man was napping. Nevertheless our tourist experience on the train was completed by our fellow travelers. Between the scenery, great conversation (7 months of catching up to do), and comedic relief of the Asian tourists the ride was well worth the 54 Swiss Francs.
We arrived in Zermatt at around 4pm which was pleanty of time to check into our hotel before exploriing the ancent town. I had previously booked the hotel online soley based on the price and comepletely ignored the location so with the help of Google Maps via my Blackberry I was pleased to discover that it was on the side of the town closest to the mountain. However, I think Nynette and I can both agree that we could have gone without the Level 4 vertical ice pick climb we had to endure to get to the place. Ok, that was a giant exageration, but for two girls who constitute exercise as the distance to and from the snack cabinet, the hike was definitely a butt burner. After discarding our backpacks in the hotel room we headed back down the cliff to explore Zermatt.
The first order of business was to eat dinner so we stopped at the first restaurant that had Racklette on the menu for only 7 Swiss Francs. We shared our meal, which was d-e-licious and then continued on to the center of town. We wandered past old chalets, wheat storage structures that have since been abandoned, and of course a million souvenier shops. We came to discover that the preceeding week was "Zermatt Unplugged" which was a compilation of performances by various upcoming artists as well as a few famous artists such as Seal, OneRepublic, and David Grey. Unfortunately the showcased artists performed earlier in the week, so instead of paying 67 Swiss Francs to watch a no-name band, we decided to sit outside the paper thin tent, listen to the music for free and play "Your Team, My Team."
If you are with a good friend and have time to waste I highly recommend this game for endless entertainment. There is no winner, there is no loser, just hypothetical teams. You begin by people watching for a while and then you start accumulating your "team." You can add people to your own team as well as place people on your opponent's team. The rating scale is completely objective and there is no score keeping. The goal of the game is to estimate that you have more awesome people than lame people on your team. For example, if you see a tall dark and hansome man walking down the street with an irresistable swagger (refer to previous blog), it might be a good idea to snag him onto your team before you opponent snatches him up. Adversely, if that same man were to, say, trip over a crack in the sidewalk and roadrash his face upon impact with the concrete, it might be a good idea to force him onto your opponent's team before he ends up on yours. Here are some unfortunate souls who ended up on my team that night:
After playing "Your Team, My Team" until the moon rose well above the mountains, we decided to make our way back to the hotel for the night. Something you may have noticed in looking through my travel pictures is that I strongly believe that you can't express how much fun you are having in a photograph unless you are jumping. So when Nynette and I discovered the thermometer reading 6 degrees celcius, it was only natural for me to want a jumping picture below. Unfortunately, Nynette is, let's just say, an amature. After teaching her how to properly jump for the photo I got a goodie on the third take. Taking a jumping photo is somewhat of an art because you have to time it perfectly when the person is airborn or you get a lot of pictures of the person looking constipated. When it was Nynette's turn behind the camera all hell broke loose. I was jumping so many times with failed lense captures that there came a point when Nynette and I were sprawled out on the sidewalk laughing so hard everyone walking by thought we were both wasted drunk. A few people (pictured above, as they ended up on my team) stopped to inquire about our strange behavior. Finally, after a half decent picture was taken, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning Nynette and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:40am to take pictures of the sunrise on the Matterhorn. It turned out to be well worth it:
We went back to sleep until about 9:00 when we woke up, ate breakfast, showered, and started our day. One thing I would like to mention about European adventures in general, is that there are things that happen in Europe that would never happen in the USA. For example, building codes don't really apply to buildings built in the 1800s and are converted into hotels at a later time. So in Zermatt, it was no big deal to cram a bathroom in the atic of the building with ceilings so low that I literally had to shower on my knees because I couldn't stand up. Oh Europe, how I love you.
After the interesting shower experience, we packed up our things, checked out of the hotel and decided to go shopping. We wandered around Zermatt taking pictures, ducking into shops that caught our interest here and there, and buying a few things. Mainly postcards. At about 3:30pm we had seen enough of the little town and decided to head back to Zurich. On our way, we realized that we could hop off the train at any city on the way home and just catch another train back to Zürich at a later time. So that is what we did....
Saturday morning Nynette and I boarded a short train to Chur, Switzerland where we had a 30 minute layover (including a quick photo op of a Denver Broncos Banner randomly hung in the street) before the departure of the Glacier Express. As Nynette's travel book puts it, there is nothing "express" about the Glacier Express. The train crawls at a top speed of probably 30-40 mph and travels through one of the most picturesque treks in the Swiss Alps. It daparts from St. Moritz/Davos and 6 hours later arrives in Zermatt, Switzerland, the famous town at the base of the Matterhorn.
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| The Matterhorn at Noon |
For obvious reasons, this particular train ride is a popular experience for tourists (such as Nynette and I). But no highly touristic experience is complete without the token Asian tourists (excuse the racist generalization, but don't pretend you don't know what I am talking about). For some reason Asian tourists, with their mega zoom lenses and baseball caps purchased at the local souvenier shop, somehow make everything more entertatining. I don't know if it is because they take pictures of everything and thus the rest of us are able to notice things that we may have missed otherwise or if it is because they travel in multi-generational herds, but no tourist experience is complete without these fabulously interesting people. This train ride was no excuse. About two hours into the ride, Nynette and my train cabin, which originally was virtually empty, was invaded by a family of Asians. At first, the kid playing video games on his iPad with the volume on blast-out- your-eardrums made these new travelers a nuisance, but after the concept of headphones was discovered Nynette and I spent the remainder of the train ride trying not to pee our pants laughing at an Asian man who was singing along out loud to his iPod without a care in the world. Another Asian man we are sure was randomly taking pictures of us throughout the ride and finally mustered up the courage to ask to take a picture of us...with the sequential picture setting that ended up being a dozen picture montage of us awkwardly smiling for the camera. Not to worry though, because I got revenge by returning the favor when the man was napping. Nevertheless our tourist experience on the train was completed by our fellow travelers. Between the scenery, great conversation (7 months of catching up to do), and comedic relief of the Asian tourists the ride was well worth the 54 Swiss Francs. We arrived in Zermatt at around 4pm which was pleanty of time to check into our hotel before exploriing the ancent town. I had previously booked the hotel online soley based on the price and comepletely ignored the location so with the help of Google Maps via my Blackberry I was pleased to discover that it was on the side of the town closest to the mountain. However, I think Nynette and I can both agree that we could have gone without the Level 4 vertical ice pick climb we had to endure to get to the place. Ok, that was a giant exageration, but for two girls who constitute exercise as the distance to and from the snack cabinet, the hike was definitely a butt burner. After discarding our backpacks in the hotel room we headed back down the cliff to explore Zermatt.
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| The Matterhorn at Sunset |
The first order of business was to eat dinner so we stopped at the first restaurant that had Racklette on the menu for only 7 Swiss Francs. We shared our meal, which was d-e-licious and then continued on to the center of town. We wandered past old chalets, wheat storage structures that have since been abandoned, and of course a million souvenier shops. We came to discover that the preceeding week was "Zermatt Unplugged" which was a compilation of performances by various upcoming artists as well as a few famous artists such as Seal, OneRepublic, and David Grey. Unfortunately the showcased artists performed earlier in the week, so instead of paying 67 Swiss Francs to watch a no-name band, we decided to sit outside the paper thin tent, listen to the music for free and play "Your Team, My Team."  |
| Nynette and me |
After playing "Your Team, My Team" until the moon rose well above the mountains, we decided to make our way back to the hotel for the night. Something you may have noticed in looking through my travel pictures is that I strongly believe that you can't express how much fun you are having in a photograph unless you are jumping. So when Nynette and I discovered the thermometer reading 6 degrees celcius, it was only natural for me to want a jumping picture below. Unfortunately, Nynette is, let's just say, an amature. After teaching her how to properly jump for the photo I got a goodie on the third take. Taking a jumping photo is somewhat of an art because you have to time it perfectly when the person is airborn or you get a lot of pictures of the person looking constipated. When it was Nynette's turn behind the camera all hell broke loose. I was jumping so many times with failed lense captures that there came a point when Nynette and I were sprawled out on the sidewalk laughing so hard everyone walking by thought we were both wasted drunk. A few people (pictured above, as they ended up on my team) stopped to inquire about our strange behavior. Finally, after a half decent picture was taken, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning Nynette and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 6:40am to take pictures of the sunrise on the Matterhorn. It turned out to be well worth it:
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| The Matterhorn at Sunrise |
After the interesting shower experience, we packed up our things, checked out of the hotel and decided to go shopping. We wandered around Zermatt taking pictures, ducking into shops that caught our interest here and there, and buying a few things. Mainly postcards. At about 3:30pm we had seen enough of the little town and decided to head back to Zurich. On our way, we realized that we could hop off the train at any city on the way home and just catch another train back to Zürich at a later time. So that is what we did....
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