I know I set this blog up to be a constant reflection upon my travels, encounters, foreign tastebuds and useful travel tips, but life kinda got in the way. And by kinda, I mean that in the blink of an eye, I graduated college, accepted an amazing job offer (with amazing travel benefits!!), moved to the city ( outskirts... whatever, close enough), traveled approximately 20,000 miles, built my own furniture, and mastered the art of Zumba. Sorry I'm not sorry, blog world. But hey, we're back on track.
To catch you up on the travel bits, I travelled through Europe (France, Switzerland and good old Deutschland) in the months of May and June. It was a family vacation - a sight not frequently seen for our family- and from what we recall, it occurred during the resurrection of the ice age. Whatever happened to beautiful Parisian springtime was beyond me. For heavens sake, it snowed twice. For those of you who don't know this, Paris barely has snow in the winter, much less May 24th. But what can you do? Drink wine and eat macaroons. Duh.
I wasn't kidding. Many of these photos were actually taken in Bordeaux, a south-western port city, which is basically the wine capital of heaven. I kid you not. If you haven't heard of Bordeaux wine, well you haven't graduated from Boones farm, and are approximately 16 years old. And you don't concern me. However, even for me, a woman who enjoys frequent a glass of wine (and embarassingly cannot tell the difference between a $5 bottle and $50 bottle), it was like walking around in a five o'clock classy dream, minus the awkward Jimmy Buffet theme songs. Fun fact, the university Science Po in Bordeaux has a wine tasting team who challenges other students from all over the world (and often wins!) on identifying the location, make, year, aging method and "fruits" of the wine. I am still stunned by this. I honestly believe they should add it to the list of new olympic sports; if pole dancing can be considered, can't wine tasting make the cut? I'd imagine lovely burgundy uniforms. Oh the possibilities.
Lyon, on the other hand, was a city bristling with gastronomic potential. Unfortunately due to only having a brief 24 hour stint in the city, I was unable to grasp this concept during this trip, nor the way out of the business center of their city. Luckily my job will be sending me back in a week or two, in which I hopefully will gain a more well-rounded perspective. We did manage to see their infamous cathedral, a lovely botanical walkway, And eat delicious seafood.
From Lyon we carted off across Switzerland to lauterbrunnen, a small town filled with old ski chalets and Swiss cows. This was definitely a place for my father, who prefers the country side and a chance to stop and smell the roses (or in this case, Wiener schnitzel). We hiked the alps, bonded to our deepest deaths in unpredictable cable cars, and discussed the economics of postcards quite thoroughly. Lauterbrunnen: bringing families together under the shadows and quiet of the alps since god knows when.
Outside the wine, schnitzel, cathedrals, cable cars and macaroons, Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Lauterbrunnen held tons of culture to offer; so much that I honestly have no hope of fitting it into one blog post. However, here is a mini attempt in photos. (And a few from Marburg and hamburg, per usual).
