puzumaki

We spent five days in Switzerland around the New Year as a last minute get away to relieve stress. I have been incredibly stressed at work, without breaks and mountains of work to do as others took vacation or were on the road to meet a tight deadline. Regardless, I was past breaking point. Our original plan was to go to Iceland and stay at the spa, hang out in the Blue Lagoon, but airfare is horrendous. That canceled, we were going to stay home; then we decided a getaway was necessary.

30 December 2009

After picking up the Ford Fiesta, we ran the dogs over to the kennel (it was so sad!), then south we went. We stopped just inside the Swiss border at the town of Basel for lunch at the train station, which is when we found out how expensive it was to eat. The Swiss Franc is only a little stronger than the U.S. dollar, which is at least better than the euro.

We took a circuitous route farther into the countryside, tunneling through mountains, crisscrossing up them, and eventually driving up and along a narrow serpentine cliff-like road (with no guard rails!) before reaching our destination: the Emmantal dairy farm. Switzerland is known for its cheese and chocolate (and watches), and Emmantaler is one of the four main cheeses. It also happens to have an open floor plan for visitors to watch the cheese action live. It was worth seeing.

Afterward, we left for Zurich. We were upgraded to business room at the hotel, then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I really like pumpkin risotto. A little after dinner, we had massages at the wellness center on the top floor, where the pool and exercise rooms are also located. All the rooms had a great view of the city, but I highly recommend NOT getting massages. They were okay, but the cost two or three times more than a normal spa. It was ridiculous; just go to Baden Baden.

31 December 2009

We spent most of New Years Eve in Lucerne. The city is gorgeous, with the Alps hemming it and a huge lake. There’s also a great shopping district we wandered through after checking out the infamous water bridge (it burned back in 1993 after standing for 500 years) and water tower. It felt great to be walking along the water front, and the birds were amusing to watch.

We got a quick bite at a pizza place (trying to stay in a budget with food is not easy), then headed around the lake to a small town with an aerial tram that met up with a rack railway train to take us up to the top of Rigi. The views on the way up were spectacular, but definitely not for the faint of heart (or heights). It was getting dark when we finally made it to the top, so we watched the sunset above the clouds and the city spring to lights (ha ha) down below. The moon was also much bigger from a peak in the Alps.

The only problem with our itinerary was the running around we did on the peak made me dizzy and lightheaded, so when we returned to Zurich, I had no energy to go out to the New Year celebrations going on downtown. I wish we could have, from what we heard it was quite a party along the lake with live music and fireworks. As it was, we watched fireworks go off in different cities around the world in the comfort of the hotel room. I know, sad, but lesson learned; do not run around the peaks of the Alps (at least if you want to do something later).

I realize I never posted how I did with National Novel Writing Month in November. I finally got a good technique down for writing. I was hopeful to continue writing after November because I have a good plot going, but I got some major curveballs. I opened my Christmas gift a month early so I could perform in Oliver! the musical. Herr purchased a full electric drum set, and less than a week later I was playing for the opening. To say the least, it was extremely stressful. We start up with performances again this Friday.

At work I was also stressed with too many projects and no one around. That means even more work for me. So when I did have time off, I didn’t do much. I got fat though, oh boy… stress eating and holidays, not a good combination!

In any case, my story was much more successful than last year with nearly 11,000 words in one month! I am not certain of the title, but for now it is “The Sensitives: Case of the Unfortunate Daughter.” Think of it as a Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins meets paranormal ghost hunting, detective work, and mystery (for teens). Set in 1904 on the East Coast with a wide range of characters.

I will load what I have to the Web site, and I will hopefully continue writing soon, now that Oliver! performances end this month. Herr has a main part in the musical Cats! this March, and we may be playing in the orchestra for Little Shop of Horrors (at least I’ll get some good practice with the drums before then). However, we are hoping to make this a year of travel, and do have some plans starting to take shape.

We’ll see how it all goes.

We have enjoyed some good eats around town, and I threw together a list of current memorable eats that expanded into a more general memories of good eats. I have a lot more, but these are my current top ten:

1. Vetters (downtown Heidelberg, Germany): swabian ravioli and apfelstrudel, Herr recommends the fleischpfanne and a local beer (ought to try the Vetters 33 at least once if you drink alcohol)
2. Dubliner (downtown Heidelberg): Irish; the Irish Stew (made with lamb) and shepherd’s pie, my brother would recommend the farmer’s burger (it has egg on it)
3. Hackteufel (downtown Heidelberg, Germany): Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup
4. Die Kartoffel (Ladenburg, Germany): any potato with sour cream (or the variations available) with the veal to cook on a hot slab of marble (it comes with cranberries, pear, and three sauces)
5. Fouquets (Champs Elysees, Paris, France): shepherd’s pie (Irish dish, go figure ;-))
6. Food stand in Ueno Park (cherry blossom viewing in Tokyo, Japan): yakisoba noodles (fried noodles)
7. Havana (New Hope, New Jersey): Havana Club sandwich
8. Totogin (sushi conveyor belt bar, Nara, Japan): corn nigiri with butter sauce (I have never found this anywhere else!)
9. Babcock Hall Dairy Store (Madison, WI): chocolate chip cookie dough, pumpkin pie, and peppermint stick (standards and holiday specials are all fantastic) - life doesn’t get much better than this
10. Elephant Bar (Overland Park, KS): MisoYaki Fire Grilled Salmon

I also came up with my current list of favorite foods. This actually doesn’t change much, except when new foods are introduced, like rice balls in Japan.

1. frozen fruits (primarily blueberries and pineapple); fresh fruit when the mood strikes
2. sweet potato (oooh, candied yams!!)
3. onigiri! (rice balls, mostly plum and herb; and also just plain steamed rice)
4. peas and corn
5. hot chocolate
6. fresh strawberries covered in dark chocolate
7. shepherd’s pie
8. Irish (lamb) stew
9. ice cream (spaghetti eis!)
10. spiral pasta (usually with a tomato viniagrette and peas or even spiral Mac and Cheese!)

For those who know me well, the list of foods I do not like is much larger than what I like. Needless to say, although not on my top ten and not really a favorite of mine, I am obsessive compulsive when eating candy. Best to keep it away from me… sugar highs can be very scary.

Things I am thankful for:

• My husband, who is lighthearted and and lactose intolerant
• My job, which is once again stable, gives me great experiences, and the opportunity to live in Germany
• My family (including friends), who is always there even though I haven’t seen them in forever
• My dogs, who whine incessantly but in the most adorable way
• My health, and I am trying to cut back on sweets… really…
• Music, for the good times and the bad
• Books, for the needed escape
• My Playstation 3, for even more needed escape
• Everything cute, because there isn’t enough innocence in the world
• Everything fluffy, as long as it isn’t accompanied by sharp teeth and doesn’t like me
• Mother Earth, who puts up with our crap with too much tolerance (just don’t get angry and send a mile high tidal wave!)
• And so much more!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.