La Petite Venis

14-15 Feb 2012, 3 March 2012
Updating!

Chris had to work in Brescia over Valentines so I headed down to Italy with him on the train.  We stayed at a beautiful hotel set in the middle of vineyards and close to the lake.  This was our view from our window.  Valentine's night we went to the hotel's restaraunt for dinner.  The Italian's know how to do Valentines!  They had decorated one of the ballrooms in all white.  We had a lovely 6 course meal and we were continuously serenaded by a wonderful Italian gentleman.  The night was great! The next day we headed to Milan and did some shopping then hopped on a train back to Zurich.

 A couple weekends ago when we had a free Saturday we decided to take a day trip to Colmar France.

 Saint Martin's Church. 

 We had a wonderful Alsatian lunch at a brasserie right outside of the church. 

 Most of the old town was spared bombings during the wars. 

 I love the tile roof.

 yum!

 Looking for a good patisserie.

 Colmar is also called "Little Venice" because of the canals from the Lauch river flowing through the old town. 

 Cute and fun little city in the Alsace region.

King of the Mountains

26-30 December 2011
Chris had a week off of work between Christmas and New Years so we went to Chamonix, FR which is one of his favorite places.

We took the dog because I was feeling bad she hasn't been on a trip with us in a while.  We stayed outside of the city in Les Houches at Les Campanules which was a surprisingly inexpensive, but great hotel with incredible views of Mont Blanc.

After a walk with the dog Chris and I headed to the city center which is mostly pedestrian streets lined with good eats and great shopping. 

The next day we headed to the slopes!

The following day was so clear and the perfect opportunity to take the highest cable car in the world to the top of Aiguille du Midi.  The first section of the trip starts in Chamonix and ends at Plan de l'Aiguille at 2317m (7602 ft).  Next was another cable car.  This section is the longest single span cableway in the world with a change in elevation of 1471m (4826 ft).  And it scared me to death!

But the view from the top is amazing!

Piton Nord where you can take another cable way to Italy (Helbronner Point/Torino).

Once up there I immediately felt dizzy and nauseous.  I don't think it was just the elevation change, but also the terrifyingly fantastic trip up the mountain. 

After a couple of minutes sitting down and composing myself I was fine.  Just a little weak in the knees!  If you think I'm kidding there was a young lady that passed out on the way down who was next to me.  The operator did mention that it happens regularly. 
 

And this is why a lot of people come up.  It is the start for skiing the Vallee Blanche.  12.5 miles of skiing on a glacier.  Next time for sure! 

Start of Vallee Blanche.  Experienced guides and climbing gear highly recommended.  While I was there a rescue helicopter flew by. 

They say the most dangerous part is actually getting to the start site on the Arete.  Skiers die here each and every year.  It is a 45 degree pitch on both sides.  One leading straight to Chamonix. 

Chamonix Valley

Mont Blanc which is another 986m (3235 ft) higher. 



After coming back down to planet earth, we got aboard a cute old cog-wheeled train and headed to the Mer de Glace (Sea of Ice).

People were just getting back from hiking on the glacier.  I don't know if they knew they were 20ft away from a giant crevasse? 

800 steps down and 800 steps up!  At the bottom was an ice cave. 

Mer de Glace covered in snow, la Verte and les Grandes Jorasses in the background. 

Standing in front of Le Dru at Montenvers. 

Back safe and sound at the train station.

We had another day of skiing planned the next day and headed hopefully up the gondola into the thickest fog I've ever seen (including Logan, UT).  We never came out of the fog and it was miserable conditions especially being on a mountain we didn't know real well.  Needless to say, we ended a little early. 

That night we drove about 2 hours to the city of Grenoble where we had planned to meet up with our friends' daughter for dinner.  Soeur Kate Sullivan is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

It was so fun seeing her.  We left for Switzerland around the same time she left for France. So we had our fingers crossed we could meet up sometime while we were there. 

That area of France was expecting a huge snowstorm the following morning so we decided not to chance it and get up as early as we could.  When we made it out to the car there was already a good 7 inches of the fresh stuff!  Fun drive home...

Swissmas

18-25 December 2011
Although we missed our families this year we really enjoyed our European Christmas and all the festivities associated with it.  Here is a little taste of what we did:

The week before Christmas we headed downtown to see "The Singing Tree".  This was the Children's Yodel Choir from St. Gallen.  We made a video for our families and it features a couple of clips of them singing.  You can see it here. 

We enjoyed several wonderful walks along the river.  Day or night it is always beautiful!

 On the 23rd we headed to the mountains to take advantage of the good weather and great skiing conditions.  We headed to our closest ski hill at Flumserberg.  We were a little concerned when our gondola headed into the clouds, but at the top of the ski lift was beautiful blue skies and sun!

 Chris at the top of one of the lifts.

 All the fog was gone by lunch time.

 This guy rode up with us in the gondola.

So as the German tradition goes we lit real candles on the tree on Christmas Eve.  Then Chris made wonderful crepes for dinner.  There was only one scary moment when I almost knocked the tree over while still fully lit. 

Tradition also states that you open your presents on Christmas Eve (or so Chris says).  This book was from my parents. 

 Christmas Day we attended church and came home to start cooking.  We invited several friends over to celebrate with us and had so much food it was a little ridiculous.  Luckily every body brought their appetites. 

 My favorite part of the meal was dessert since I didn't have to make it!  Thanks Sprungli!

Our fun guests (from top clockwise): Ekene Okeke, Jeffery, Elder Allen, Nathan and Meg Barnhart and myself.

O Tannenbaum!

10 December 2011
After hearing such great things about this tree farm in Hedingen which is across the lake from us, we headed out there on a Saturday afternoon to fell our own Christmas Tree. 

 Slightly drizzly, but a beautiful setting none the less.

 Heading out with our wagon and saw.

 Picking the "right" tree was the hardest part!

 I wasn't much help...

 Chris has a go...

 And it's down in 2 minutes!

Since Chris cut it down, I pulled it back.

Here it is!

Gotcha!

  The Swarovski tree in the Hauptbahnhoff.  Someday...someday...

Freiburg Weihnachts Markt

1 December 2011
After a family and food filled Thanksgiving in Franklin, Tennessee, Chris and I came back to a very Christmassy Switzerland. The first stop on my Christmas agenda was a day trip to Freiburg, Germany with Alicia and the AWC-Zurich. 

I was so excited to do some shopping and get in the Christmas mood by going to Weihnachts Markt.  We walked around the town and decided on the stores we wanted to go back to.  Then we decided on Mexican food for lunch.  It wasn't the greatest but it also wasn't the worst I've had since living here! 

The Freiburg Münster in the town center was surrounded by a morning farmer's market. 

Entry to the Cathedral.

It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany.  Completed in 1330 and survived the bombing in November 1944. 

The pretty red building is the Kaufhaus or Merchant's Hall.

The Martinstor, one of the original city gates.  Yes, there is a McDonald's next to it...


We had a great day of shopping which included make-up, decorations, warm clothes, and food!

I can't remember what this is called, but it is essentially funnel cake with apple sauce.  My kind of dinner!