Blogs from Leysin, South-West, Switzerland, Europe

Today I actually had to work (for an hour)! We had a bbq with the winter staff here at Leysin and then went on a hike. We planned on hiking part-way to Bernuse but found signs to "Prafunduz", the trail that we backed off of the other day because of the swarming bugs. This way, however, was pretty open paths so we decided to try again. Although it was a fairly steep climb up the mountain, we were surprised to find a restaurant and a bbq area overlooking Lake Lioson. We also found a great place to boulder! After rock climbing for a few feet however, we decided it would be best to find a few ropes before scaling yet another mountainside (I had enough of being rescued last summer!) Tomorrow we shall dog sled on ... read more

Today was our last day of class. In the afternoon we decided to hike the 2,048 meters up to Mt. Berneuse. This was all fine until the "off roading" attempt. I LOVE rock climbing, but as I am the smallest and quickest I was up in front scaling rocks, plowing through vegetation, finding my "chi" as I was instructed to do by my friend Cassie. In fact, I thought I was in some "Climbing Mt. Everest" movie and kind of lost myself in the adrenaline rush. Next thing I know I am calling down to my friends and heard nothing back. I tried looking down and it seemed as if the path I took up the mountain was no where to be found! Marc's voice finally came in my direction and as I yelled down to ... read more

Last night my friend Cassie finally arrived. I took the drive down the mountain and picked her up. We had some local wine and turned in for the first real day of classes. After class Marc and I decided to explore the mountain (in the car!) Our intention was to find a lovely grassy knoll and spend the afternoon lying in the sun. Well, bothered by constant bees we drove a bit further and decided to take the cable car up to Berneuse which is 2048 metres high. There is actually a revolving restaurant up there with a little playground and spectacular views. One minute it was sunny and beautiful, the next I could barely see Marc the clouds were so thick. We had a drink in the revolving restaurant and headed back down for the ... read more

Last chance for a true travelblog, as I'm returning to the States soon. So it seems like an entry highlighting my 2 months in Switzerland is in order. It has been amazing to spend time in a quiet, cozy, tight-knit mountain village. It's a place a little separated from the rest of the world, where your main focus is about what is right in front of you, the people, the nature, and you. No politics, no marketing infiltration, no tv, and no pollution, yah. Fresh Air and Sunshine galore. The sports here are awesome, my job involved running rec activities twice daily: ropes course, whitewater rafting, lots of soccer, hockey, ice skating, BMX and mountain bikes, hot damn. It's gonna be hard returning to a hardworking, indoor lifestyle, because the sporting life feels good my friends. ... read more

I was never so much into weddings, yet here I was, flying back to Switzerland to celebrate our third wedding. Adam and I got married in Telluride, Oct 26th, with just our parents. So, we felt that we should do a wedding reception with his side of the family in New Hampshire (happened in Feb 2007) and one with my side of the family and my friends in Switzerland. We set the date for Oct 6th. Adam was in Switzerland when I arrived there from Seattle. He had just finished his Alpine Guide Course in Chamonix and had been in Switzerland for already three weeks. My parents had organized everything for the wedding and the only thing left to do was to buy something to wear for the bride -aka- Me! My parents had rented a ... read more