Weekend in Italy

A few months ago, Chris and I were discussing the idea of my mom visiting for a month, and we thought it was a great idea.  So, we convinced her that she could make her way through the airport and customs on her own and booked a flight!  We have been looking forward to her visit for many reasons; girls get quality time with grandma, I have a person to help with daily tasks, we get to enjoy new experiences together, and Chris and I get free babysitting!  She arrived last Tuesday, and unfortunately we put her right to work.  I became sick on Wednesday night and was not able to get out of bed until Friday, which meant she was taking care of the girls.

When we found out my mom was coming, Chris and I planned a weekend getaway to Italy and were so excited.  I went to the doctor Friday morning and discovered I had strep, and had to make the decision of whether to go or not.  I googled 'wine and penicillin' and could not find any bad side effects, so we decided to go!

Pretty as a picture- 

Chris had traveled to the Piedmont region of Italy last spring with his brothers and absolutely fell in love and wanted to share this unique place with me, so we planned a trip to Neive, Italy.  Neive is a very quaint village known for its wine producing of four well known wines; Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbaresco, Moscato, and Barbera d'Alba.  The region is also known for white truffles, which are an edible fungi, similar to mushrooms, that grow underground near the roots of certain tree species, and are incredibly hard to find.  They actually hunt them with dogs usually around midnight when the dogs have the best sense of smell.  Since they are so hard to find, and seen in the culinary world as being 'food of the gods,' they are literally worth their weight in gold.  Right now, about 100 grams (less than one cup) of white truffles would cost about $250-300.  Chris and I are not huge truffle fans, but it is interesting to learn about them.

Friday we arrived in the village and I quickly discovered why Chris had fallen in love with this region.  Everywhere you look, it looks like a painted picture- absolutely beautiful.

Saturday we woke up early and headed to Alba, which is another town in the Piedmont region.  Alba has an amazing market on Saturdays that we wanted to experience.  The cobblestone streets were packed with local merchants selling their goods, mainly clothes and food items.

Saturday afternoon, we hiked around the vineyards- taking in the fall colors.  We also stumbled upon a winery, Cantina del Glicine.  The cellar dates back to the 1500's and has remained intact for the last 500 years.  It was an absolute amazing site to see.  The owners were so kind and led us through the underground caves offering so much history.  After the tour we were able to enjoy a relaxing, kid-free, wine tasting session.  Saturday night, we were fortunate and there was a festival going on in the tiny village of Neive.  We walked around the cobblestone streets enjoying authentic Italian food and drinking their famous wines.

The vines were so much taller than the ones in Switzerland-

Fall colors at their finest- 

Wine cellar- 500 years old- so cool!  

Beautiful grapes produce delicious wine!  

Street festival in Neive- you wore a pouch to hold your wine glass!

Sunday we spent a couple hours walking around Barbaresco, another village, and the vineyards.

We had a wonderful weekend get-away!  This past week my mom has been able to experience what our daily life is like.  Unfortunately, the weather has not been the best, so we have not been able to take many adventures with her yet.  Adalyn is off from school all next week, so we are planning many day trips and a weekend trip to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle.  We are looking forward to a great week!

** Blog written last week**

Roger and Jeanie Visit!

We had a wonderful time hosting Chris' aunt and uncle, Roger and Jeanie.  They visited us for four days, and we were able to show them some of our favorite places during their visit. We visited Lake Geneva, Lavaux Wine Region, Chamonix, and Annecy.

The highlight of the trip was taking them to the Desalpe, also known as the cow parade, in St. Cergue.   Every fall around Switzerland the desalpes happen when the cows move down to the low valley region for the winter months.  Roger and Jeanie had read our blog about the cow parade last year and instantly knew they wanted to be part of the cultural event.  It definitely did not disappoint.  The weather was beautiful, around 700 cows were parading, the cow bells were ringing, and the folk music was playing!  We really enjoyed being able to share this Swiss tradition with them.   

Roger is a cow expert, so it was fun to have him give us some insight about the many cows we see in Switzerland.  Chris had always told us every cow was, "a Brown Swiss."  Unfortunately for Chris, Roger saw many different breeds of cows, yet very few Brown Swiss!!!    

Christmas in October-

Jeanie brought a large red suitcase full of goodies from the US!  

Lots of peanut butter treats!  

Enjoying the cow parade-

Lake Geneva

We found this Saint Bernard walking the streets of Chamonix-

Baking with Jeanie!

Brown Swiss???

Enjoying ice cream for Roger's Birthday!  

We had such a great time with Roger and Jeanie!  The girls loved having them visit- they love getting to spend special time with relatives!

Weekend in the Bernese Alps

Fall is a wonderful time to visit the mountains in Switzerland.  They are absolutely beautiful and the perfect temperature for hiking.  This past weekend, we visited the Bernese Alps, which are a mountain range of the Alps located in Central Switzerland, about three hours from Geneva.  We went with our good friends, Chris and Katie, who recently moved from Lakeville to Geneva with their three girls. Their girls are around the same age as ours, so they have a great time together.

We left early Saturday morning and arrived at the Trummelbach Falls, which are located near Interlaken, in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.  I had read that they were a must-do in the area, so we wanted to definitely check it out.  Unfortunately, in my pre-visit research, I never read that you have to be over four to visit the falls.  So, Eliza and I were not able to see the falls.  The Trummelbach Falls consists of ten glacier-waterfalls inside a mountain.  The Trummelbach Falls are the only glacier-waterfalls in Europe inside a mountain that people can visit.  According the Chris and Adalyn, it was amazing to see and hear the water flowing- up to 20,000 liters of water per second.  While we were there enjoying a picnic, we also witnessed two base jumpers and a cow being pulled by a helicopter, the cow must have been wandering in the wrong pasture!

After visiting the falls, we drove to Stechelberg and boarded a cable car to a mountain village, Murren.  From there, we took a funicular up to Allmendhubel, where we discovered a playground 2000m up in the mountains.  The kids all enjoyed playing at the park, especially the underground part of the park where they could pretend they were gophers.  There were tunnels underneath that the children could crawl around in- at one point we lost Eliza underground!

Playground- 

Underground tunnels- 

Cable car ride-

"We are on top of the World!"

After a busy day, we drove to another mountain village, Grindelwald, where we stayed overnight.

Sunday morning, we woke up and the kids had heard us talking about a pool in town, so that was on the top of their priority list.  After swimming, we took a cable car up to another playground in the mountains in Bort.  After enjoying some time at the playground, we decided to hike down the trail instead of taking the cable car down.  The hike was about five miles with spectacular views of the glaciers and mountains.

Lunch time!

Unfortunately, we had to head back to Geneva Sunday night to get ready for the week.  We had a wonderful weekend with great friends.  We definitely want to visit this area again and discover more along the Bernese Alps.

Now we are looking forward to the arrival of Chris' aunt and uncle, Roger and Jeanie, who arrive in ten days.    

Rick and Judy visit!

It's been a busy past two weeks.  Adalyn and Eliza both started school two weeks ago.  Adalyn is in her second year at the International school.  Her teacher is Mr. E.W. and he is from Australia.  Adalyn was very excited to start and has already met some great new friends!  They offer after school activities at Adalyn's school, so she is doing the cooking class.  Hopefully she will be preparing dinner soon!!  Eliza is back at her Garderie (preschool) twice a week.  She was hesitant to start at first, but is now getting used to her new schedule.

In addition to back to school fun, we were lucky to have Chris' uncle and aunt, Rick and Judy, visit us this past weekend.  They were only here for the weekend, but we were able to show them around to our favorite spots.

On Saturday we went to Annecy and around Lake Geneva.  We walked around the village of Annecy and enjoyed lunch along the canal.  In the evening, we visited the lake and Old Town Geneva.  The kids were so excited to have new people around to show them around.  Adalyn is very proud of her tour guide skills, and always wants to be the leader!

On Sunday, we went to Gruyeres, our favorite spot to take people to show them a picturesque view of Switzerland.  It was a beautiful day.  On the way back, we stopped n the vineyards which is always a highlight for people.

It was a very quick visit, but we were able to catch up and had a great time!

Holiday in Corsica

We have just returned from a fabulous vacation in Calvi, Corsica.  Before May, we did not know much about Corisca.  It was never on our list of places we wanted travel, but our friends, Ashley and Lucasz were planning a trip there, so we decided to tag along.  Corsica is an absolutely beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea, 100 miles South of France and 50 miles West of Italy.  It is a part of France and shares the French culture.  It was a perfect travel destination for us because it offered kid-friendly beaches, an abundance of hiking trails in the mountains, and amazing weather.

We were there for six days and spent most of our time at the beach, hiking, and in the pool at the house we stayed in.  The family we traveled with have two young boys and the kids got along so well.  They absolutely loved the beach.  They loved playing in the sand and riding the waves.  The beaches we visited in Calvi were very shallow- about 100 feet out it was still only four feet deep.  A perfect depth for the kids to play in and feel safe.

Calvi Beach Coastline

They had a kid area out in the sea- Adalyn and Jonah loved it!  

Playing in the sand-

Some mornings we spent time at the beach, other mornings we went for hikes.  The first hike we went on was to visit the Chapelle de Notre Dame de la Serra.  The Chapel was rebuilt in the 19th century on the ruins of an earlier sanctuary destroyed during the Siege of Calvi in 1740. 

A statue of the Virgin Mary standing on a rock protects the city.

View from the Chapel overlooking Calvi

Hiking buddies- 

Our second hike we did was to Village d'Occi.  This is a small abandoned village high up in the mountains overlooking Calvi.   It was deserted by its inhabitants in the nineteenth century.  People are  unsure why it was abandoned, but theories are that they either ran out of water or ants drove them out of the village.  There were a lot of ants, but I am guessing it was lack of water.  There is a church in the village that was restored and during festivals and holidays people still go there to celebrate. 

Rocky hiking path- 

Enjoying a snack above the sea!

Village d'Occi

Between the beach and hikes, we spent a lot of time in the pool.  We were able to find an amazing villa with a pool - which was perfect for relaxing afternoons.

Adalyn and Jonah swimming-  

One night, we were able to get a babysitter, and just the adults were able to go out to dinner.  We ate at a restaurant in the middle of nature amongst the most beautiful scenery, U Nichjaretu.  It was an intense thirty minute drive through the mountains to get there, winding through the mountains with one side a cliff leading to the sea, but once we got there it was definitely worth the scary ride. 

The restaurant-

The view from the restaurant- 

Memorable night out with Ashley and Lucasz

We had such an enjoyable week in Corsica.  I would highly recommend this destination to anyone that enjoys the sea and mountains. 

      

One Year!

“On some level we all fear the unknown, and we all fear being blown away, having our skirts blown skyward, having a blow to our pride, and somehow we know in our bones that however narrow and colorless that strip of comfort zone ledge might be that we’re teetering on, leaving it, flinging ourselves off into a major geographic and cultural relocation, will expose us. It will expose our limitations, insecurities, and weaknesses."

"But another part of us wants to take that step, to fall in love with a new place, a new people, a new way of living in the world. Sometimes that move just begins in a cursory, sideways glance of curiosity about the place. We study the map. We watch the people, their way of moving and talking and gesturing in conversation and we take note of how they sing to their babies in the city park and how they greet old friends in the marketplace and how they drive their cars or their rickshaws or their camels and by now we’re fascinated by observing how they hold their canteen or wine goblet or beer stein or how they hold their liquor at all. Before we know it, we’re mirroring how they fold their origami or their crêpe Suzette or their slice of pizza con funghi, and next we’re eating at their pace, slurping miso soup, spitting seeds over our shoulder, ripping the tip off the hot baguette, peeling our raw shrimp, and all of this with our eyes blindfolded and both hands tied behind our back.”

Excerpt From: Melissa Dalton-Bradford. “Global Mom.” Familius, 2013-08-13. iBooks. 

We have officially made it ONE YEAR being an expat family!!!  It is hard to believe that it has been a year since we moved to Geneva, a place that was completely unknown, yet now is called home.  When I read the above excerpt from the book, "Global Mom," I was amazed at how well it summed up what I was feeling a year ago.  When first arriving, I was totally exposed.  I would go out with the kids, and had a definite feeling of insecurity as we tried to get through each day.  Is this road a one way?  Where can I park?  What is the cashier asking me?  Do we totally stick out as being completely clueless Americans?  Will we ever have friends?  The list was endless. The major underlining question was, "Have we made the right decision?"  Everyone wants happiness for their kids, family, friends, and themselves, and can you continue that happiness when you take that huge step in life?  After living here for a year, I can honestly say, yes.  

Is it tough?  Of course.  Our life is not all adventures.  We have days when we feel alone, anonymous,  and unsure of what's to come.  We miss out on family celebrations back in Minnesota.  We miss family and friends.  That's the hardest part.  Fortunately, this past year we have hosted 18 visitors, much more than anticipated and we are looking forward to hosting that many this upcoming year or more.  During the past year I have also learned the importance of friendships.  When you are all alone away from your friends you have known forever, and your family, you rely a lot on the new friendships you create.  Thankfully we have met some great friends who have helped immensely during the transition.          

People have asked, "How has this move changed you?"  If you were to ask me two years ago if I would ever live abroad, I would quickly answer, no.  I enjoyed living in the known.  I had spent my entire life in Minnesota.  My family and friends are all in Minnesota, Target was a mile away, why would I leave that comfort?  I was hesitant, but now with one year in the books, I can say that taking that jump was the best decision for me, and our entire family.  Before I spent our days taking the kids to familiar places with familiar people.  Now, our days are spent going to many different activities where we don't know anyone and are forced to leave our comfort zone.  We have all gained more confidence through this experience.  We have immersed ourselves in their way of life and learned so much along the way.  

Is it worth being away from the known?  Absolutely.  We know that it is temporary and that this wonderful experience will one day come to an end and we will have these memories to look back on. I can only hope that year two goes just as well and we continue to discover more of the unknown.


A few pics from the past week....

Happy Swiss Day!  August 1st is their national holiday- they have a huge festival down by the lake for a week to celebrate- Adalyn insisted on wearing her Heidi dress to celebrate!

Eliza riding the ride!  (Adalyn was too scared!)

Dancing with friends at the festival-