Posts

charming chamonix & l’aiguille du midi

chamonix

A few weeks ago, when the fall colors really started turning and I was finally starting to recover from being sick, we spent the weekend in Chamonix, France. Martin and Reese picked me up from work and after a quick dinner stop we headed south. One of Martin’s acquaintances from the world of rugby was staying in Chamonix for a few more days at a place owned by his sister’s family and we were invited to join. I was a little on the fence about the whole weekend as I still wasn’t feeling amazing and didn’t really know what to expect, but Martin drove and we visited and listened to podcasts and the 3.5 hours went by quite quickly.

Read more

freitag favorites + the woolly wonders of fall

One good thing about spending several days earlier this week home alone on the couch nursing a cold and sore throat was that I had plenty of time to catch up on all my favorites online. And, while I cuddled under a blanket with my laptop and endless cups of tea, fall really arrived in Zürich. The air is crisp. The fields and forest along my running trails are foggy. The sheep are getting woolly and perhaps a little crazy (note this one kneeling to decrease neck strain while eating). And, I also layered my down jacket over my work clothes nearly every morning this week. Read more

freitag favorites + fall running

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm so we are considering a day trip to the mountains for a little hiking and fall foliage. In the last two weeks, the best views around here have really been on my afternoon/evening runs. I’ve been slowly expanding my knowledge of the trails within a few miles of our house and have found all sorts of great new hills and views to inspire even more exploring. Read more

freitag favorites + freedom

Well, I’ve done it. German B1 is complete. I seriously surprised myself with my result this time as I really had negative feelings about the whole test experience, but now I just have to find the courage to keep speaking more and more. Luckily my teacher wants to also improve her English so we will start a so-called “tandem” in January and help each other, probably speaking English one week and then German the next. And I also have to force to speak more at work instead of defaulting to English, which is probably the biggest challenge. Read more

the beauty of fall

After tomorrow, I will be just one oral exam away from finishing my current German course (B1). This means that I should probably be studying tonight, but instead I am catching up on my favorite blogs, listening to NPR (today’s Morning Edition), and contemplating how nice it will be to re-discover the joy that is regular free evenings. I already have lots of plans about how I will spend my evenings this fall, but one thing I hope to do is blog more and keep up on sharing photos from our latest adventures. So, in lieu of Deutsch lernen, let’s look back at the rest of the highlights from our October, and the best of fall, around Zürich… Read more