Lovely Lucerne

After a lot of walking in Barcelona, my parents and I flew back to Geneva to do a load of laundry, re-pack, and meet Travers at the train station to head to beautiful Lucerne!  I had been here only once before, when I was in college, studying abroad in Italy. I stayed one night and loved it there. So when my parents said they would be willing to go, I was really excited to see what I could remember from my visit years ago.

Mt. Pilatus

Well, turns out I don't have that great of a memory because I couldn't tell you where I stayed or what I did last time I was in Lucerne, but I was right about it being beautiful. It is one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in Europe. And even with some overcast weather, we could tell that it was a very beautiful place.  We got in late Friday night and found a place right on the water for dinner.  After travelling all day, we were pretty tired, so we went to bed early to get an early start the next morning. And this is what we woke up to. A view of Mount Pilatus rising above Lucerne and the lake.

Mom and Travers at Chapel Bridge

We started out by walking around town that morning, walking through the farmer's market that lined the lakeside. Then crossing the famous Chapel Bridge and Water Tower. We strolled past lots of stores and restaurants, crossing more bridges and watching all the ducks and swans floating in the lake.  Then we walked through Old Town, headed back to the hotel area to re-group and catch a bus so we could go up to the top of Mt. Pilatus.

Mom and Me with Chapel Bridge

A duck diving for breakfast

Dad and Mom on Gondola
withLucerne behind them

We hopped on the #1 bus and went to the base of Mt. Pilatus, Kriens, so we could take a mini gondola up the mountain to Frakmuntegg. It was a 30 min ride, and we flew over lots of beautiful trees and mountainside.  At Frakmuntegg, we got out of the small gondola, and got on a larger gondola which took us up to the top of Mt. Pilatus. It was an amazing trip up. The gondola just kept climbing and climbing up to 2,132 meters. I'm not afraid of heights, but it was definitely high up there and made me a bit nervous being suspended by cables in this huge heavy gondola. But we made it, and it was worth it as you could practically see the entire lake below, along with the pockets of towns below. You can see at these pics below the difference in height from the start to the end of this ride. Amazing!

At beginning of Pilatus Gondola Ride

Towards end of Pilatus Gondola Ride

It was pretty cold up there, but we braved it for a bit, walked around the viewing areas, then had lunch at one of the cafes there.  While Mom and Dad stayed warm, Travers and I headed back outside, and climbed up some more to the top of this viewing area. You could see panoramic views from up there. My pictures don't do it justice, but here is one of me and Travers at the top taking a self-portrait.  And then here is one of the Gondola that we took up.

me and T at the top!

Gondola!

We headed back down the mountain after that, and grabbed some drinks at Mr. Pickwick's. Then went back to our hotel, got ready for dinner, then headed back out to a delicious dinner.  M&D were tired, so we let them go back to the hotel, while Travers and I headed to the casino. We didn't gamble, but just wanted to check it out as we had heard it was one of the places to see in Lucerne.  We were surprised by all the teenagers in line outside for the club that was downstairs. So we headed upstairs for a drink, took in the scene of even more teenagers, debated going to the club, decided we were too old, then headed back to the hotel.


The next day, we checked out of our hotel, and walked to one of the most famous sites in Lucerne, the Dying Lion.  It is a stone sculpture, carved into the side of a mountain, of a dying lion. It commemorates the Swiss Guards that were massacred during the French Revolution.  It is the saddest lion I have ever seen.   Mark Twain apparently said it was the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.

Lion's Sad Face

Dying Lion

We continued our walk around the original wall of the city. It was cool to see how the city defended itself. Unfortunately, we were just a few weeks too early to be able to climb up one of the towers, but it was still really neat to see the wall.  We also got to see some of my favorite cows. Something about them being short and fat and furry is just so fun to me!

Exterior Wall of Lucerne

Cows!!

We headed back to collect our bags, grabbed some lunch, then headed back to the train station.  The weather was turning on us so we were glad to be on a nice warm train.  Travers and I headed back to Geneva, while my parents were off to Interlaken for a few days, then to Zermatt, and would return to Geneva later in the week.  We will be going back to Lucerne when the weather is warmer and the sun is out, cause it is definitely one of the best places we've been in Switzerland so far.

Love the bright orange beak!

Mom and Dad on a bridge in Lucerne!

3rd Time's a Charm

My third trip to Barcelona in the past 6 months was just as successful as the first two. My parents and I flew in on Sunday afternoon, and checked into an apartment on Carrer d'Arago. The three bedroom apartment was in a brand new building, and walking distance to Passeig de Gracia, so my mom and I could shop, as well as the Mobile World Congress, where my Dad would be holding meetings for the next three days.

We settled in and went to one of my favorite restaurants in Barcelona, Brown 33.  Its delicious italian fusion food, and I have been there all three times that I have visited Barcelona. Its that good.  My parents enjoyed it and it was a perfect way to start our trip.

We're ready to see Barcelona!!

Monday, my Dad went off to the Mobile World Congress for the day, so my mom and I decided to take our time getting ready, then headed off to Passeig de Gracia, to see the city and shop.  We went to all my favorite stores, Zara, Mango, and H&M, and strolled through Placa Catalunya and down Avinguda del Portal de l'Angel, which is another major shopping street that parallels La Rambla.  It also goes right through the gothic quarter, so we were able to see lots of the old buildings and streets. We eventually made our way to La Rambla for a late lunch, filling ourselves up with a variety of tasty tapas and red wine.

Then we went to the Mercat de Sant Josep/La Boqueria, which is a covered, but open air market with lots of stands selling fruit, vegetables, sweets, meat etc...We walked through the stalls, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at all the things for sale, and laughing at a few as well. We settled on a cheese shop and bought some cheese to have at the apartment before dinner.

Yep! Boobs made out of chocolate!

Beautiful fruit and veggie stands

We then realized we were a bit tired, so we headed to Placa Reial to have a cup of coffee and rest our legs. Placa Reial is one of my favorite squares to sit in. Its just off of the bustling La Rambla, but you wouldn't know it as its quiet and sunny and people are just sitting at the outdoor cafes and restaurants.  I have come here each time I've been in Barcelona, and its never disappointed. We drank our coffees and took in our surroundings. We soaked in the last hour or so of good sun, which I was loving as it was a good 10 degrees or more warmer than Geneva.

After thoroughly resting, we headed back to the apartment, stopping at the Carrefour for some wine and snacks to meet my dad before dinner. He surprised us, and decided to ditch his work-dinner and came with us towards Barceloneta and the Port Olympic area to have dinner near the beach at Sotavento. Unfortunately it was a bit too early to be dining near the beach, and most of the restaurants were empty and had plastic screens covering the outdoor patios so you felt like you were in a bubble. The food was delicious though and it was fun for my parents to see a different part of town, but for the future, its probably best to go when its the height of summer and warm enough to sit outside.

Day 2 in Barcelona, my dad went back to the Mobile World Congress, and my mom and I decided to take the train to Figueres to see the Dali Museum.  It was a 2-1/2 hour train ride, so my mom and I got in some quality conversation time. In Figueres, we found the main square to sit and have lunch at a restaurant called Sentits Gastrobar. Again, just sitting in the sun was so wonderful. Its amazing what a little Vitamin D can do for you.

After more yummy tapas for lunch, we headed to the museum and were both awed and perplexed by the art that was on display. I didn't really know what Dali was all about, but after seeing the museum, he must have a crazy imagination. A lot of his pieces were very strange and intriguing, but boiled down to just plain weird if you're not an art buff. We enjoyed it, but I'm curious if we had had a tour guide explaining to us some of his crazy pieces, if we would have enjoyed it more. This is one of the strange but not too strange pieces that I thought looked pretty cool. Could you see this in your living room?

We called it a day at the museum, and headed back to the train station for our 2-1/2 hour ride back. Getting back into Barcelona late that afternoon, we headed straight back to the apartment for our usualy happy hour party of cheese, crackers and wine with Dad.  He had had a long couple of days, so we decided to go to a restaurant we'd seen two nights earlier on Passieg de Gracia, called Divinus.  It was packed inside and had a hustling, bustling feeling to it. We thankfully got a table towards the back, but still had to talk quite loudly to hear one another. The food was delicious as usual though and we all had a good time overall.

Our third day in Barcelona, Dad again had meetings all day at the MWC, so Mom and I decided to go back to some of the shops we had browsed the first day, trying on clothes and buying some as well.  We then walked down La Rambla, all the way to Barceloneta, to have a late lunch along Passeig de Joan de Borbo. As we had walked a TON the past few days, we took our time and had a long lunch, again, sitting outside, enjoying the sun and each other's company.  We decided to keep up our walking, and took some random streets/alleyways through the gothic quarter as we tried to head back towards Passeig de Gracia.
We stopped again at a few shops along the way, and just strolled through the town. We happened to see a building that had some interesting people standing on the balcony too. From a distance, I wasn't quite sure, but after getting closer, it reminded me of the building in San Francisco that has all the furniture hanging from the exterior wall. Strange.

Finally, our 4th day there, Thursday, Dad was done with work and was able to hang out with mom and me all day.  We aren't big on museums, so we decided to take the metro out to Mount Tibidabo, and take the funicular up the mountain so we could see the entire city below from 512 meters up. The ride up was fun, as most funiculars are, but unfortunately, it was pretty hazy/foggy/smoggy and we weren't able to get a very clear picture of the the city below us.

But we walked around and went into the church that sits up there, and enjoyed it as much as we could. I think it was still neat for my parents to see how high up we were and even though the cameras don't show it, you could see most of the city through the haze.



We headed back down the mountain, and walked down La Rambla, something my Dad had wanted to do the entire trip.  It was busy as ever, and we took it all in, but eventually headed to Placa Reial for lunch, to get away from all the people for a bit.

M&D on La Rambla

Me and Dad at Placa Reial

Sangria and Beer were definitely the thing to order. HUGE!

We then wandered aimlessly through the Gothic Quarter, going down streets I'd never been down, seeing buildings I hadn't seen before.  Eventually tiring, we headed back to the apartment to pack and rest since we were leaving the next morning.  We ended our night with a tasty dinner at Can Majo, one of the most recommended restaurants, located in Barceloneta.

We checked out the next morning, and headed to the airport back to Geneva.  I really loved being in Barcelona and I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so much time there in the past 6 months. Till next time Barcelona!!

M&D Come to Geneva

After a few months of planning, my mom and dad (m&d) made it out to Geneva for a visit.  Overall, they had a wonderful trip, with a few hitches here and there, but ended up walking away really enjoying Switzerland and loving our life here in Geneva.

The first hitch started with their flight from SF to Frankfurt getting cancelled. Gotta love the airlines. Luckily they found out before they go to the airport, and were able to re-route themselves on another flight through DC. So they ended up getting to Geneva about 5 hours later than expected, but were still in good spirits, even with the jetlag.  Knowing it was going to be a long flight for them, we kept things simple their first night, catching up, showing them our apartment, and cooking dinner at home.

Their 1st day in Geneva, I took them on the tram to Carouge to walk around the cute town for a bit. Unfortunately, in typical Swiss fashion, most of the shops were closed, and it was still too cold for any outdoor seating. So we walked around and then decided to head back to Geneva. We walked through the Parc des Bastions to see the Reformation Wall. Then strolled around Old Town, up the cobblestone streets, past the antique stores, and stopped at the St. Pierre Cathedral before heading toward Rive for lunch. We went to one of my favorite places, Le Pain Quotidien, for tasty open faced sandwiches and salads.

After a long leisurely lunch, we walked towards Eaux-Vives to stop by Travers' office, then onto the quai to see the Jet d'eau and the lake.  Since they were still a bit jet-lagged, we headed back towards home, stopping at the Coop (local grocery store) for some cheese and crackers to have as an appetizer before dinner.  Dad took a nap, and mom and I relaxed and chatted.

A few hours later, when Travers got home, we had a little happy hour at the house before heading into Old Town for dinner at Cafe du Bourg de Four, a restaurant that Travers and I have wanted to go to for awhile.  We were not disappointed. The food was delicious, the service was friendly, and the atmosphere was lively but not too loud. Its great to have a new restaurant to add to our list of favorites.  After dinner, we stopped in at a bar in Old Town called 22 Grand Rue for an after dinner drink, before heading home for everyone to get some much needed sleep.

Saturday we got up and out the door early (for a saturday) and headed to the train station to go to Nyon, and then to take a boat to Yvoire.  We got to Nyon, strolled through the town which had a farmer's market on the main street, then walked through the castle that sits on top of the hill and overlooks the rest of town and the lake. After finding our way down to the water, we had some cappuccinos at an outdoor cafe and waited for the next boat to take us to Yvoire.  When the time came for the next boat, we bought our tickets and waited. And waited. And waited. Realizing that the boat was not coming when it was scheduled (this being very strange because the Swiss are very prompt with their public transportation), we did some more research on the schedules posted, and called the help line that was listed.  All to find out that the boats did not run on Saturdays during the month of February. Who knew!

So we changed our plans quickly, and headed back to the train station to continue up to Lausanne. M&D had been to Lausanne before about 20 years earlier, so were excited to see what they could remember from that trip.  We caught the train, and then the metro up the hill to see the Cathedral of Lausanne, which gave us wonderful views of the city and lake below.  After realizing they didn't remember anything about Lausanne, we headed down through the Old Town, which also had a farmer's market going on, and found a crowded cafe for a late lunch.  My dad and I each had a traditional swiss dish called Croute, which comes in a small crockpot with cheese, ham, and toasted bread all melted together, topped off with a fried egg. Delicious!

We called it a day and headed back to Geneva to get some rest before our evening plans began.  We made another tasty dinner at home that evening, then our friend Mike came over, and the five of us headed to our friends, Jasmine and Chris' house for their going away party. They were moving to London in a few days, so they had a "garage sale" for all the things they couldn't take with them, and a party to say good bye to all their friends.  M&D were happy to meet everyone, and see who we had been hanging out with these past several months.  Everyone was getting along so we decided to play a game of Celebrity to top the night off. (If you want to know how to play, let me know and I'll send you the "rules").  Needless to say, it was an exciting game, and made the night go much later than anticipated. But everyone had a fun time and we all got to sleep in a bit the next morning.

Sunday was spent packing and travelling.  My dad had a work conference in Barcelona the next week, so my mom and I tagged along with him and I left Travers on his own for a whole week.  We caught a flight on EasyJet mid-day Sunday, and checked into an apartment in Barcelona a few hours later.  Gotta love Easy Jet and the convenience of flying between countries in Europe.  I think M&D got to see a lot of Geneva, but I was happy they were returning at the end of their trip for a couple days before flying home, so they could see even more.

Barcelona and rest of their trip to be continued....

Our V-Day Ski Day

So this post is a little late, but better late than never....

Travers and I celebrated Valentine's Day this year in our typical way, at home, with a nice steak dinner and a chocolaty dessert. He surprised me with chocolates and flowers, which we don't typically like to have on Valentine's Day since its always overpriced. He is a big believer of giving flowers when they are least expected. Well, I guess he got me there, since I was not expecting flowers or candy on Valentine's Day at all.  All in all, it was a wonderful day, but we both wanted to do something more. So we decided that Saturday, we would go skiing, just the two of us!

We have always gone skiing with our friends, and the last time we went skiing just the two of us was 2 years ago in Tahoe, so it was definitely time to make a trip.  We did some research and asked some other friends where the best place to go for a day trip would be.  We got several recommendations, and finally decided to drive to an area called Le Grand Massif, which has several different ski resort areas we could go to. We figured we'd drive to the area and just see which looked best.

After only an hour's drive, we decided to go to Flaine, which was one of the furthest resorts, but well worth it. We finally made it there, found some free parking, and after a bit of a scare, found a ski boot rental place for me to rent boots. I've been trying to find a pair to buy, but after the last pair I bought not working well and giving excrutiating pain to my shins, I am hesitant to invest in another pair too quickly. So I've been renting. But it has become more of a pain as it takes up precious ski time, and as we found out in Flaine, there aren't always convenient rental shops nearby.

So once we got all our gear and ski passes on, we took the gondola up the mountain to ski. Here is a nice panoramic shot I put together of one of the views we got to see from the top.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the slopes were amazingly empty. We often felt we were the only two on the mountain!  And with only the two of us, we were able to go down the mountain as fast or slow as we wanted.  The snow was wonderful, and we just had an amazing time.









We stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants at the top and enjoyed the views. It was fun to see people setting up picnics in the snow, just off piste in the fluffy roped off area, taking in the views of the surrounding mountains.











After lunch we skied another hour or so, then decided to stop for some hot chocolate and coffees at a mid-slope cafe.  People were really enjoying the day, sitting in the sun, playing card games, lounging in the beach chairs that the cafe provided.  Skiing here was not all about going up and down the slopes, but really taking in the entire atmosphere, the surroundings, the sun, and just having a good time. It was one of the best Valentine's Day celebrations we've ever had.  And will have to be repeated again next year!

Looks like I'm standing in front a poster,
but, no, that is the real scenery of Flaine behind me.