London

I’m a bit behind in my blogging. My latest adventure was a four day trip with my friend, Jen, to London. This was a few weeks ago. Our husbands surprised us with the trip. Mine because he felt guilty that he was unable to take vacation time and go on a trip with me on my Easter holiday from school. Jen’s husband, Dan, wanted her to have one last girls’ trip before they make the big move back to Milwaukee this summer. Jen and I travel well together and we were going to a country where they speak English, so we were thrilled.

We lucked out with the weather while there. With the exception of the day we arrived, it was warm and sunny as we toured around London. We did not get so lucky with our hotel selection. Despite the good reviews on tripadvisor, it was not the greatest of places. Luckily, Jen has a good sense of humor and we made the best of the situation. The hotel’s location was ideal though. It was just a few minutes’ walk to the tube. We mastered their underground system, the ‘tube,’ fairly quick. I have my sister, Andrea, to thank for that. She made me take a ‘tube test’ when I went to visit her several years ago when she was studying abroad there for a semester. She wouldn’t let me go off on my own until I had passed her little test. This time the only difficulty I had with it was when I managed to get stuck in the door as it was closing. It was actually just my purse that got stuck but it freaked me out a little. Jen made a good point afterwards: at least it wasn’t my head that got stuck. Always an optimist, that Jen. We were so careful to mind the gap (the space between the train and the platform) that we didn’t give enough thought to the closing doors.

We accomplished a lot of sightseeing in a few days including the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels, St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is by far the most beautiful church I’ve seen in Europe yet and I’ve seen a lot of churches over the past 1 ½ years, Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard (we actually didn’t see much because of the crowds), Big Ben, Harrods and Westminster Abbey. At the end of our tour of Westminster Abbey, we had a famous person sighting. Actually, it was Jen that spotted him, Zach Braff from the TV show ‘Scrubs.’ I didn’t believe her at first so I was gawking at him with a stupid look on my face and scared him away. After looking in our direction he quickly put on his sunglasses and hat and exited the building! In addition to seeing the sights, we spent a lot of time wandering through the different neighborhoods and parks: Notting Hill, Covent Garden, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. We also spent some quality time eating fish and chips and drinking cider and ale. A very successful trip to London!

Ice!

Matt and I made a huge discovery this weekend. We found a store that sells bags of ice! This discovery comes just in time for grilling out at the park. Now Matt is talking about needing a cooler. Hmm, I think we have about three of them sitting in our garage in Minnesota. Why didn’t we bring one with us?!

Joyeux Pâques

That means, ‘Happy Easter.’ I think. Still struggling with our French…

We spent the holiday weekend getting together with friends. On Friday night we had our friends, the Ultes, over for salmon that Matt grilled on cedar planks. It was a great way to start off the long weekend.

On Monday night we walked across town to the Elko’s house for some homemade pasta. The Elkos have perfected the art of pasta-making. It was a delicious dinner. The Elko boys, Sam (age 5) and Ben (age 2) adore Matt, so that’s always fun to see them together.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend with friends. It’s hard to be so far from family on holidays, but the friends we’ve made here have become our family-away-from-home. We’re very thankful for our friends in Swiejflkdjfidt (that’s how I type Switzerland really fast).

Springtime and PDA

Spring has arrived in Switzerland. The sun is shining. The sailboats are out on the lake again. The daffodils are in full bloom with the tulips not far behind. The ice cream stands popped up overnight. Springtime also means people making out everywhere! I think I may have blushed as I walked through the park today because of all the French kissing going on around me. Public display of affection (PDA) is a lot more common around Europe than it is in the US. I’m probably sounding like a prude, but I think these people should go back to wherever they were hiding out during the winter months and do it there. Some of these couples never came up for air!

Top Cheese

And the best cheese award goes to Switzerland! I love trying all the types of cheese here, which probably explains why we have seven different kinds in our refrigerator at the moment.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/lifestyle/88428987.html

La Bise

My friend, Doppler Darcy (I’ve given her this nickname because of her love for the weather) will enjoy this blog entry…

Last week we had a strong, cold wind which lasted several days. It was the strangest thing. It felt like a Minnesota winter in Switzerland. I learned that this wind has a special name. It is called la bise (pronounced ‘bees’), which means ‘kiss’ in French. The bise is a unique wind to parts of France and Switzerland. It is a north-east wind that occurs in the winter months. The effects of the bise are strongest in Geneva, which is situated in a narrow passage between the Jura mountains in the West and the Alps in the South. After three days of this bitter cold wind, it was gone just like that. Here are some pictures of what the bise did in 2005. http://www.glocals.com/forums/geneva/where-how-in-geneva/Re--Geneva-Sous-la-Glace--Geneva-Under-Ice--85557.htm

Happy Birthday!

My Grandma Klenz is celebrating her 80th birthday today. She and Grandpa started the festivities yesterday with a happy hour. They have a full schedule today as well, which includes a game of ladders and a fish fry. The past year has had its ups and downs for Grandma, but she’s one tough cookie. Love you, Grandma!