a slow start to spring

Once again I am falling behind as a blogger. Work catches up with me and when I get home it is all I can do to throw something together for dinner and spend a few hours with Martin before climbing into bed. Ever since we got back from the US in January my routine has been off. I’ve been too tired to get up as frequently for the gym in the morning and the lack of consistent exercise limits my energy level even more.  It hasn’t helped that the beginning of Spring in Zurich has been so wintry.  Given this, I couldn’t have been more excited to join Martin at a spring training camp in Tuscany for 10 days and recharge my battery.

One week in, and I am really starting to relax. Of course this means the trip is almost over, but I still have time to lounge on our patio and catch you on our last two months. We really have had a few exceptionally good weekends since February.

LONDON

We headed off to London for a long weekend of shopping and exploring over Easter. Highlights included a return trip to Ottolenghi, breakfast at Nopi, an evening at the theatre seeing The 39 Steps, and visiting with some Seattle friends.

We also toured Westminster Abbey (a first for Martin), and I had the chance to explore Chelsea and Kensington, including Anthropologie and Lululemon, which was almost as fun as finding a new summer rug for our living room. All in all, we got lucky with the weather (mostly sunny) and despite the fact that I picked up a nasty cold, it was a fun getaway.

SECHSELÄUTEN

Two weekends ago we had my friend and former housemate, Mark, visit from a Seattle over Sechselauten weekend. Mark is on a near month long biking tour around Holland and thoughtfully detoured our way via overnight train so we could give him the chocolate, coffee, and mountain view tour of Zurich.

Despite the fact that the Böögg snowman predicted an awful summer by waiting nearly 40 minutes to explode, the weather was perfect for grilling and a walk along the Uetliberg (first photo above). After the long weekend, we had only two more days of work before leaving for Tuscany last Thursday. Just enough time to catch up on work, rent a car, and convince Martin to take a “quick trip” to Ikea.

I hope you all are well and I am sending you spring greetings! I am hoping to post more photos and details of our Italian trip soon.