Backtracking: November in York

One of the most amazing things that happened in this year of amazing things was my best friend moving to York England to take her masters in Saving the World (and I say that without a hint of sarcasm, the people in this program WILL save the world, no doubt about it).

As a result, I got to go see her for a too-quick weekend.

You know how you have those weekends where it feels like you were able to pack 5 days into just 2? This was one of those occasions. Sleeping was not a priority when there were musicals to see, chance encounters with long lost friends to have and vampire movies to watch. 

Sunday morning, before heading home we took a nice long stroll through York and admired all it's quaint and adorable winding roads.

I have seen a lot of cathedrals since arriving in Europe, this one was by far the biggest. Seriously impressive.

It is amazing to me how different things are within such a small area. Cute Swiss towns are so vastly different from cute English towns. Yet they have so many things in common. Cobblestones, for instance. And intriguing little alleyways.

The center of town is enclosed by a massive Roman wall. We strolled along it with our coffees and chatted about important things.

So excited to go back.

High Elevation Marmot Encounters

In Montreaux, there is a cog-wheel train that will take you on a 45-minute journey up into the mountains.

Standing on the lakeshore in Montreaux, you would never imagine views like this exist so far above your head.

But they do.

As we hiked along one of the many ridges, climbers appeared out of (seemingly) nowhere. Upon further inspection, it we discovered that they had climbed up the face of the mountain. My brain could not comprehend this until we inspected further:

This is the Via Ferrata. One of our Swiss friends explained it to us - apparently it's somewhere between really daring ladder climbing and really tame rock climbing. You clip into the ladder so it's quite safe. I think we will be trying this when the weather warms up. I am attempting pull ups in the meantime to build strength. So far I can do one-half of a pull up. Progress.

View back to the train station/hut/marmot village/yurts/platters of delicious assorted meats. This looks like the edge of the world, doesn't it?

Amazing views and epic mountain scenery isn't enough you say? You were expecting something more you say? WELL. Let me tell you about the marmots. They live in marmot villages. 

Because they are totally classy. And friendly.

And completely unaware they have giant front teeth. But they want to get to know you so badly that they'll throw themselves at the fence that stands between them and you. And the apple in your pocket. They really want to make friends with that apple.

Speaking of marmots, if you want your heart to explode from happy fuzziness, read THIS. 

After a super Swiss lunch, we started along one of the many other trails that run through the area.

There was a car rally going on somewhere below us and the sound of vintage engines got Anthony all distracted.

While we spent the entire day exploring, we only covered about a quarter of the trails that stem from Rochers-de-Naye. When the summer comes again I think we'll come properly equipped to do some serious hiking. 

Christmas Spirit in Strasbourg

Winter is coming. And with winter comes the Christmas markets! One of our coworkers is Alsatian and highly recommended the one in Strasbourg, so we decided to take a long weekend and check it out.

We arrived the day before the market officially opened. Since Strasbourg is pretty incredible on its own, we kept ourselves occupied by wandering the little winding streets and eating. Oh the eating. But we will get to that in a moment. First, some architecture:

The city is dominated by an incredible Baroque cathedral. The size and detail of which are mind-boggling.

The color is amazing too, this coppery color with greenish tinges. And it's enormous.

All over the city were these incredible, old buildings. Like a storybook.

The Christmas decorations were amazing. Every street in the city center, no matter the size, was festive beyond belief - everything from Baccarat crystal chandeliers to mechanical polar bears to bubble machines. The mechanical bears might have you raising an eyebrow but trust me –it was magical.

Vintage fiats. I am compelled to photograph them.

In a back alley, I found my future home amongst old, French books. Then I was informed that the proprietor might be unhappy if I began squatting in his shop. Also I don't read in French. Details.

Above: my favorite section of the market (it is scattered throughout the city). All local Alsatian vendors selling delicious things.

Market stalls by the cathedral.

Okay, let's talk about food. Every street in this city is lined with beautiful little places to buy, eat and stare at food. The window displays are so intricate. For an example, see above –who knew that meats could look so festive?

This bread broke my heart it was so delicious.

Before moving to Lausanne, I thought that roasted chestnuts were a thing of Victorian children's stories. I had no idea that a) they exist in such quantities and b) are edible. In French they are called marron and in the fall and winter are served candied, roasted or covered in a sweet glaze alongside the traditional la chasse meal. Having tried two of these three varieties I can attest to their awesomeness. Especially when served with venison. Mmmm.

After spending so many hours looking at food, I was in serious need of sustenance. We stopped in a tea room and ordered vin chaud (aka glühwein aka spiced wine aka dangerously delicious), tea and pain d'epice. This particular version of pain d'epice was filled with marzipan. It didn't last long.

For lunch the following day we stopped into a little butcher shop with a tiny restaurant upstairs. I wanted to move in here as well. Pork has more nutritional value than books. In theoretical squatting terms, I am fickle.

More pain d'epice. The man helping me at this stall knew the trick to good salesmanship - just keep handing me samples and then I will go into a trance and buy one of everything.

You know how you aren't supposed to grocery shop hungry? Well I did, and all I bought was cake and chocolate. Being an adult is great.

All in all, a great trip. On the way, we passed many interesting little towns so I think that Strasbourg is just the first of many trips to the Alsace region.

Hot liquid with bits of weeds in it

I find tea an excellent excuse to eat cookies. Swiss Christmas cookies are amazing - the white one is my current favorite- it's called chrabeli and according to my coworker is shaped like the

comb

of a rooster. Of all things. The other is something I impulse-purchased at the market this weekend...not quite sure what it's called but the combination of marzipan and gingerbread is, in my stomach's opinion, a total winner.

Happy Weekend!

Sunday Drive

The elevation changes where we live mean that weather can change drastically from one place to another. On Sunday we drove out of overcast, drenched Lausanne and headed up into the mountains.

All of the rain we've gotten in the past two weeks had fallen as snow in the mountains. It was like driving through a snow globe.

The pines, which fade into the scenery during the bright green summer, are truly magnificent when covered with snow.

As we headed into the town of Le Pont, we passed what might just be the best sledding hill ever.

The light during our drive was incredible. And as we rounded the turn into Le Pont...

Somewhere, Elton John began tinkling 'Circle of Life' on a piano...perfect Sunday.

Down Schilthorn: A Delayed Third Act

So as we learned in our last installment, hiking from Schilthorn down to Mürren was not really a great idea. But after discussing the issue over a delicious starch-filled lunch, we decided to take the telecab down to Brig (the next vantage point). There, we eyed the smoother terrain and thought, 'hey this looks totally more doable.'

So we began our final descent. Kind of looks like the surface of the moon, doesn't it?

Mountains are deceiving. From the top of one, you can see all the way down to the place you are sleeping. Walking seems like a piece of cake.

But that view is full of lies. For close to three hours we meandered our way down. For the first two-thirds of that journey I could have sworn that we were on a treadmill as our destination seemed to remain impossibly far away. On the way we saw people hiking UP. As in started hiking all the way down where we parked our car with the intention of going alll the way up to Schilthorn. Using nothing but their feet. What is this sorcery? We (royal use) have invented telecabs for a reason. I am trying to ignore the fact that among these intrepid explorers were people both much younger and significantly older then us. And moving at a much faster pace. These encounters made me feel extremely lazy and unfit

(she says, as she types lethargically from the couch with a plate of cookies two inches away)

At last we began seeing familiar territory.

This is where I leave out the part about how we could barely walk for the next three days. I thought gravity was kinder on the muscles. I was wrong. I wonder how the upward hikers fared.

(probably better what with being magical elves and whatnot).

All in all, it was a great trip and worth it for the views alone. Someday when I learn to snowboard it will be fun to come back and try the slopes.