Fete des Vendanges

Bonjour everyone!  It is a sunny Sunday here in Geneva today.  Sundays are usually pretty quiet here, since the day is designated for family time and relaxation, so pretty much all the shops are closed.

I'm pretty happy to have a relaxing day today, as the past couple of days have left me a bit tired!  I was working in France earlier in the week, and yesterday, I took the train with some friends over to Russin to go to my first Swiss wine event!  Fete des Vendanges is a harvest festival that takes place during the fall.  Lots of tents of food and wine and just a really relaxed atmosphere.  A perfect way to spend a Saturday!

Beautiful views as soon as we stepped off the train

Grapes!

This giant cauldron of bacon and onions smelled awesome.  He is making tartiflette, which is basically just potatoes, onions, bacon, and cheese... yummm!

Hours later, we came back for the finished product!

Village street

We also found a man making apple tarts.  Super fresh ingredients!

We ended up sharing one as a group, and it was spectacular.

After a while, we found a lovely hillside to just have a seat and enjoy the views.

And the dogs made friends :)

 

Fetes des Vendages - I will be back next year!

Adventure recap: The Inca Trail

Bonjour!  As promised, I wanted to tell you all about our trip on the Inca Trail!  Earlier in the year, a group of us (most of the crew who came to visit me in Singapore last year) decided to do an adventure trip this year, and Machu Picchu was our destination!  We chose to do the classic four-day Inca Trail, and after lots of research by John, we decided to book with Llama Path.

To hike the Inca Trail is quite the undertaking.  It's four days of trekking, with the longest day being about 10 hours of walking.  You camp along the trail (no showers, squat toilets only!), and of course, there is also the altitude to contend with!  We did the best we could to #prepareperu, and on 25 August, the nine of us went off the grid and headed into the mountains.

After being picked up at 4:30 in the morning by our two guides, William and Edy, we made our way to the start of the trail.  The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and we were all super excited.

The first day was a challenging hike, but I think we were all pretty high on adrenaline as we trekked, though I think everyone was really happy when we finally made it to camp for the day!!  According to my Fitbit, we covered about ten miles on the first day.

Day two of the Inca Trail is the most challenging.  You climb the most, you hit the highest altitude, and you are on your feet for the longest amount of time.  It was a tough day for me.  My legs were feeling pretty fatigued, particularly in the afternoon, but I was perfectly happy to just take my time and enjoy the spectacular views.

Day three was such a treat compared to the first two!!  We only had to hike for about five or six hours, and we got to spend some time relaxing near some Inca sights along the way!!  Knowing that we had already crossed the halfway mark was a huge mental boost.  It was also really nice to be able to get to camp early and have some time to just relax in the daylight before it was dinnertime.

On the final day of the Inca Trail, we woke up super early to get in line at the checkpoint to the Sun Gate.  It's about one hour from the final campsite to the Sun Gate, and we practically ran up the trail to get there!!  From there, we went about another hour to our final destination - Machu Picchu!!

It was cloudy, but I don't think any of us really cared.  It was a great feeling to have finally made it.. and to have made it all together!!  Machu Picchu itself was actually everything it is cracked up to be.  It is a massive site that is really stunning.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about our two guides, William and Edy.  They were so great with us the entire time.. even when some of us were feeling really ill from the altitude.  Llama Path was really a great tour company, and I am so glad we chose them.  They made this experience so great, and although I'm not sure I would ever do the Inca Trail again, I had such an amazing time!!

And we're back!!

Bonjour all!!  Remember me?  I know that it has been a while, but here I am again!  The past month has been crazy, so I apologize for my lack of recent updates, but I've had a lot going on.  In case you missed it, after flying out of Singapore on 2 August, I:

- spent approximately 12 hours in Tampa (thanks Leslie!!)
- went to San Diego for a week (work)
- spent a (short) weekend in Seattle with family (Seahawks!)
- was in Tampa for a few days (and finally met little Jason)
- went to Nashville (and marveled at how different everything is)
- went back to Tampa (and attended my first baby sprinkle)
- went to Peru
- did the Inca Trail!! (epic)
- went back to Tampa (and panicked)
- moved to Switzerland (with three very full suitcases)

Whew!

So obviously, a lot has happened.  I guess I'm still not really sure how to go about catching up on all this here on this blog?  I guess for this post, I will try to just address the questions that I get most commonly for now.

Are you going to have a new blog?
I'm planning to keep blogging right here in this space. I have given some thought to changing the title of the blog that you see in the header, but I just haven't had time to figure that out yet.

How was the trip to Peru?
Incredible.  It was my first time to South America, and it was all so fantastic. I did a few days in Lima, a few days in Cusco, and the Camino Inka. I will do a full recap of the Peru trip in the coming days, but suffice it to say that it was such an awesome time!!  There were a few hiccups here and there, but I think that we all had a really nice time.

Why Geneva?  How long are you going to be there?
I moved here for (another great!) work opportunity.  Similar to my experience in Singapore, my contract in Geneva is for two years.

How is it going so far?
So far, so good!  I arrived on 4 September, so it's been just about a week and a half.  I am currently living in temporary housing, but I've found an apartment that I will be moving into at the end of this month!  It has an oven!  And a dishwasher!!

Ok, so that's what's been going on with me lately.  More updates soon, I promise!  I've got a massive backlog of photos and words to share!


 

Bonjour

Hi all - sorry for dropping off for a bit! Things have been nuts lately. I promise that normal blogging will resume soon!

Two days in and two days out

Hello friends! I've spent the last two days at home in Tampa, and now I'm waiting for my (delayed) flight to go spend two days in Nashville! So far, my time back in America has been really enjoyable. Usually, I have breakfast, lunch, coffee, dinner, and drinks dates all over town since I try to see as many people and hit up as many favorite spots as possible, but this time is a bit different! I had only arranged one lunch date in advance of this trip, and I have to say - I've really enjoyed having less of a schedule and just taking time to get things done!

Some things that I noticed after this first week of no longer living in Asia:

1.  I might be a bad tipper? I went to lunch with two girlfriends, and we all paid separately. But I left the smallest tip!! This is particularly hilarious/embarrassing for me since I was a server for such a long time!

2.  I crave super simple foods. My first meal back in America was at Panera Bread lol.  For some reason, an easy salad and sandwich sounded perfect to me. 

3.  Radio stations are boring. I listened to the same 10 songs over and over in my rental car. 

4.  Online shopping can really be hit or miss.  Per usual, I ordered a ton of stuff online and was really excited to get home and try it all on! Unfortunately, tons of it just didn't look great once I put it in, and I would guess that I ended up returning about 70 percent of what I had ordered. 

5.  I hate buying suits. I think they are ugly, and they are expensive! Lose-lose. 

6.  I am still gravitating towards summer clothes. After two years of basically never wearing pants or anything with long sleeves, it's a hard habit to break!

7.  I still love Tampa. In my first hour back in town, I randomly ran into an old friend from high school in the grocery store parking lot. 

8.  I still should not be allowed to have cable TV. Real Housewives and Teen Mom update shows are distracting me from the copies of Fortune, The New Yorker, and The Economist that I bought lol. 

One other random note - I'm looking for navy blue heels for work.  Either pumps or wedges, closed toe, and not sky high. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!!

The Happiness Project: August

Hi all - two posts in two days!  Training ended a bit early today, so I've got some free time before heading to the airport.  I'm meeting my mom and cousins in Seattle for the weekend - super exciting!!

The end of July went by in an absolute fury, and to be honest, August 1st came and went, and I realized that I hadn't even read the next chapter of the book!  So, things are a bit scattered this month.  Sorry.  Anyway, let's check in with how I did on my July goals:

Go to bed on time:  Absolute fail.  In my last month in Singapore, I was trying to maximize all of my time there, so I was rarely able to go to bed on time.

Get out of bed on time:  Unsurprisingly, this was also a fail.  I did a better job of getting up on time than I did at going to bed at time, but this was still not a good success.  I did a TON of sleeping in during July.

Exercise at least three times a week:  I did okay at this one.  For most of the month, I think I exercised at least three times a week, but there was definitely one week of the month where I didn't exercise at all.  Oops.

Eat vegetables every day:  Success!  I didn't keep track of this very well, but I would be surprised if there was a day where I didn't eat vegetables.  Since I was trying to eat tons of Asian food during my last weeks in Singapore, I think I was probably extra mindful of eating veggies since most of my favorite Asian foods are a bit deficient in nutrition and a bit indulgent on salt, oil, and MSG.

Spend ten minutes a day straightening up at home:  Fail.  I had blocked out a long three day weekend for packing, and because of this, I completely ignored all cleaning, organizing, or any other "straightening up" until then.

Alright.  On to August.  The focus for the month of August was to contemplate the heavens. Many of you may already know that I grew up going to church, but the book's focus on eternity is a bit less spiritual than the title may lead you to assume. 

Gretchen offers the following points of focus for the month:
1.  Read memoirs of catastrophe
2.  Keep a gratitude notebook
3.  Imitate a spiritual master

The narrative that goes with these actions seems pretty relatable.  But seeing as how it is already August 8th, I guess I'd better get cracking.  I haven't done (or really even thought much about) any of these items yet.  Maybe I'll give it some thought on the plane tonight?  (Or maybe I will just think about what new Seahawks gear I will be looking for in Seattle!)

Talk to you guys soon :)

Exit strategy

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the sporadic blogging lately - I've been busy!  Last weekend, I went from Asia to Florida to California (so efficient), and I've spent this week attending a work training in San Diego.  I'll try to write a bit more later about my first week back in America, but for now, here is a look at my last few days in Singapore in pictures.

High tea at the Fullerton Bay

Frog leg porridge for dinner

Roti prata

Chinatown

Ladies night at the Lantern Bar

Fishball noodles and sugarcane juice

Murtabak

Banh mi

Din Tai Fung

Cramped quarters on moving day

All packed up!

Shophouses

Satay street

Singapore!

Korean for lunch

Chirashi at my local spot

Drinks!

Beautiful last meal in Singapore

Coming home!