ilovenachos

Switzerland with Christa

We just returned from the trip of a lifetime and one look at Kurt's feet can prove it. We headed to Switzerland to visit my friend Christa. She and I used to teach skiing together on Mt. Hood when she was in the states going to chiropractic school. Now she's back in her homeland and totally in her element. Her e-mails asking what size we were for the harness and  what kind of hiking boots we had for the cramp-ons made me clarify that we were city folks now and not in mountain climbing shape. Perhaps she's not the best listener but she is an amazing trip planner. She and her friend Stephan lead us through a 3 day hiking journey where we summited a mountain and successfully navigated a crevasse field. Probably the coolest thing I've ever done. 

Upon arrival in Thun she took us up to a mountain hut for lunch and an adventure ride down on bike scooters. Not the safest little contraptions which is precisely what made it so fun. Kurt managed to do a full flip over his and tore up his foot pretty good before the mountain climbing ever began. I wish I'd had my video camera. The following morning Christa's dad joined us for the first day of our hike. It was the "easy" day which consisted of shooting up 100o meters from the valley floor of Lenk to our little mountain hut. Stephan met us there and brought the wine, good man. The next morning we rose before sunrise and started hiking by 6 am. The plan was to summit and get roped up to cross the glacier on the other side before it warmed up too much for our cramp-ons to be effective. The Wildstrubel stands at 3200m (10,500 ft) and by summiting it we had nearly climbed Mt. Hood(11,235 ft). Actually we covered about 9,000 ft of vertical gain. Hood is just over 5,000 which gives a little perspective. Words can not describe the beauty, amazement and accomplishment we felt when we reached the peak. 10 hours of hiking later and after battling a little altitude sickness we reached the second hut on the other side. The dinner was incredible and perfect. Just what you would expect in the Swiss Alps. Mashed potatoes, stewed meats and cabbage never tasted so good. The next day we descended into the spa town of Leukerbad for a dip in the pools before making our way back into Thun and on to Zurich to catch our flight home. 

What an epic weekend in the mountains. And before Kurt's feet were even healed we were talking about doing it again. 

 


 

  

 

 

For more photos you can go to our flickr page

Wales

Well, it turns out there is no family castle. But there is a beautiful estate that was built by someone with a very similar name, spelled Meyrick not Myrick, after our branch left. Mom and Dad were in England visiting cousin Jenn and her husband Bob so we popped up for a long weekend to trace our roots. Grandma was a Myrick and they were from Bodorgan, Wales. After much circling, we finally did find Bodorgan so our searching was not fruitless. It was a beautiful journey and Kurt took on the opposite side of the road like a champ. By day 3 of driving we were almost used to it. Jenn had rented a true cottage which was a real treat. Complete with comfy couches, and tea and cake to greet us upon arrival. I could have spent the whole weekend on that couch, but we would have missed all the castles and pubs, and the steak and ale pies! 

Kurt's sunglasses met their demise as they were sucked down the toilet pipes at the Black Boy Pub.

Caernarfon castle. Prince Charles was invested here. 

Dad at the cottage.

Coal for the fireplace.

The Meyrick Estate.

All signage is in Gaelic and English.

The cousins and our tour guide.

Beaumaris castle

Sheep of Snowdonia.

Anita, Jim, Jenn, Mom, Dad, and Bob

Texel

For our latest last minute adventure we headed to Texel. Texel is the closest island of 4 just off the north coast of Holland. It's mostly farmland and felt a little like Sauvie's Island but with lots and lots of sheep. We traveled by bike, then train, then foot, then ferry, then back to bike. It's so nice to be able to do so much and still not need a car. Texel is beautiful. We started by biking along the dyke on the south side of the island to arrive at our hotel, Camp Silver, where we slept in a designer airstream trailer with our own private sauna. What a treat. Now we are back in town refreshed and ready to start a new week. This is the good life.

The North Sea

 

 

Lucky number 7

 

 

The mud mask treatment. Glamorous.

 

The geodesic dome tent was purchased from a company based in Ashland, Oregon, and was where they served breakfast.

 

 

Last Days of Summer

Two weeks ago on a Tuesday was the day. I could tell something was different when I woke up in the morning. There was a nip in the air and the leaves had made their first leap from the tree, laying yellow in the lawn outside our window. Fall had arrived. But there was still sunshine and that is reason enough in this town to get out and see something. You never know when you'll be caught in the next down pour. Below are a few shots taken from some of our day trips. One to Oudekerke aan de Amstel by boat and the other a bike trip to a beautiful little fortress town called Naarden. You don't have to go far to get out of the city and be in a totally different world. The dutch know how to live. 

 

 

De Parade

Last weekend we went to an annual event called De Parade. Part circus, part theatre, part food festival, De Parade last over a few months in the summer and moves from one town to the next like a traveling show. The down side is that all of the performances are in dutch but it's still quite a scene and fun place to spend an evening. The cute part is that the performers walk around the grounds touting their performance in order to boost ticket sales and their promos are pretty cute. It feels a little like a blast from the past.

Poffertjes!!!!!!!!!!!

Poffertjes are dutch pancakes. This was a make your own pofferties stand and it was the highlight of the evening for me.

The best part is when they're done cooking and their all hot and delicious you top them with butter and powdered sugar to make them even tastier. Have to say not much beats a fresh proffertje. 

I don't know what they were singing but they were outside their tent dancing to promote their show and it made me wish I knew how to speak dutch. Looked like good comedy. 

We found a sea of Fatboys at the end of the night. If you don't know what a Fatboy is you're missing out. (ok, ok, they're bean bags of the modern age dutchified. We might try to ship one home.)

Gay Pride Parade

The gay pride fest hit Amsterdam a couple of weekends ago and what a party. It's a parade of boats down the Prinsengraacht so that makes it more fun than any old parade at home. Lots of singing and lip syncing and pink and feathers mixed with a little touch of leather. Pretty innocent actually. We made it out long enough to document that we were there but by 8:00 we were asleep on the couch. I guess that's what you get for drinking wine before noon on a steamy dutch day. 

1 Year Later, Lake Como Italy

Believe it or not a year has passed. One action packed, fun-filled, love-filled year has passed. And in order to celebrate our anniversary we took a trip to Lake Como, Italy. We had an amazing room right on the water where we slept with the balcony doors open and let the sounds of the lake lull us to sleep. The days were sunny, with the exception of our arrival night where a crazy storm ripped across the lake with strikes of lightening between us and the opposite shore. The town of Varenna was our base but we explored the area around us by foot and ferry. It was like a second honeymoon. I'm digging this marriage thing.

Download MOV01824 

Varenna. The red building on the left was our hotel.

The good life.

Looking down on Varenna from the castle on the hill above.

Detail from a motorcycle in the town square bike rally.

Scrabble time. 

Italian stallion

Random Dutchie Tidbits from the Past 2 Months

Here's a random assortment of shots taken over the past couple of months. Nothing to tie them together really except the theme that this is our life.   

Toby and Sonia made us Thai food. Here Toby is being Sonia's vege slave.

The Food on Wheels festival at Westerpark. A series of cute little food trucks set up surrounding a bonfire and movie screen.

We bought oysters from this adorable little truck.

Anna and Brad hidden by the sun flare at the end of Haarlemmerstraat. Meeting them At The Movies.

A day in Den Haag surprises us with this gay pride festival. His skin was very soft.

They were beautiful!

Random street inspiration.

Adorable mother/daughter situation on the road in front of me. Pardon the motion blur and I didn't capture the popsicle this little girl was chowing on. But what a life kid! You got it good. Likely headed to the park.

The flower basket on our front railing is doing well.

And this is my crowning glory. My first tomato plant. This is the inspiration for this entire post actually. Caprese salad here we come! 

Kroller-Muller Birthday

It's been a while since I have blogged so this is a bit late. However, our day spent at the Kroller-Muller Museum and sculpture park is certainly blog worthy. It was my birthday which happened to fall on a dutch holiday. Ascension day in the Netherlands marks the time when Jesus ascended to heaven for the final time following his crucifixion and resurrection. But we preferred to call it Assumption Day instead. We packed our bestest friends and a nice picnic and headed out to the dutch countryside. It is a beautiful place and our day will not soon be forgotten. I'm glad to be alive!

Barry+Sara Visit Amsterdam

Barry and Sara were our latest visitors. They had done their research and arrived with a well laid out plan of Amsterdam must do's. The weather was beautiful so we set out to experience the city. From the Rijksmuseum to the Bols Genevere tasting bar, we did a lot of new things. On their last night in town Sara even taught me to make Paella, something she learned from her time living in Spain. Delish!

Line for Vlames Frites

Vlames Frites!

Ducking out of the rain and into the Bols Genever tasting bar.

The last of the beautiful tulips that Barry+Sara filled the house with (literally 275 blooms!) for my birthday.