Vin and his Grade 5 schoolmates took a week-long class trip to Verbier, Switzerland to attend camp at Les Elfes International, an international winter camp. Verbier! For a Grade 5 trip! They could’ve skied in Wisconsin and Grade 5 kids would be happy. But they got to go to Verbier. How crazy lucky these kids are.… Continue reading Vin goes to Verbier Camp
Ski season is in full swing here. Since this is our second year skiing the Alps, there are a few places we want to check off our list. One of them in St. Anton am Arlberg in the Austrian state of Tyrol. St. Anton is often called the “cradle of alpine skiing” for its role… Continue reading Seeing what the hype is all about in St. Anton, Austria
On Tuesdays in winter, our hiking group straps snowshoes onto our feet and we hit the Alps. It’s probably my most favorite thing to do in winter. It’s so beautiful, like a winter wonderland, and so quiet and peaceful. We get into good conversations about school or marriage or travel or life back home. We… Continue reading Snowshoe Tuesdays
We decided to drive to Zermatt for a ski trip in December. After all, we’re living in Switzerland, we really should visit the most iconic mountain here! After a beautiful trip south, we drove the car onto the train that takes you toward Zermatt in the Valais canton, drove off the train, parked the car,… Continue reading Zermatt: It’s as cool as people say
We took a quick day trip to Strasbourg, France to see the city’s famous Christmas market. It’s listed on just about every “Best Christmas Markets in Europe” lists, I thought we should go. It’s only about an hour and half away, so it made a perfect day trip. It was beautiful! Lots of yummy sweets, gluwein,… Continue reading Merry Merry at the Strasbourg Christmas Market
Every year on December 6, Samichlaus and his partner Schmutzli, along with his donkey, emerge from their cottage in the woods and visit Swiss children. This day in Switzerland is perhaps even bigger than Christmas, when Swiss children believe that the Christkind, or Christ Child, brings them presents instead of Santa Claus. Samichlaus looks a little… Continue reading Samichlaus visits
This was our second Thanksgiving while living abroad. It’s a strange thing, living outside the country on Thanksgiving. It’s such an important holiday for Americans, but of course, the day is meaningless to everyone else. So, work and school go on, as usual, on Thanksgiving. It feels like any other day. We Facetime with family… Continue reading Thanksgiving abroad
We had some free time near the end of Fall Break and after some digging around, scored some cheap flights to London to celebrate my 40th. There is SO much to do and see in London, and we only had a weekend, but we checked off some things on our long London list. We stayed… Continue reading London Calling
After spending so much time in Poland, and having more time left in the kids’ spring break, it felt natural to take a train to Prague. I had very fond memories of being in Prague back in 1998, and I was excited to show Marc one of my favorite cities in the world. Our night… Continue reading Prague: The City of Spires. And crowds.
When I was looking at logistics for our Poland/Czech Republic trip, there were a lot of dots to connect. We would be flying into Berlin and out of Prague. In between, I had to plan a few train routes. I stumbled upon the AWESOME site Seat 61. (http://www.seat61.com/) This guy is the best! Everything and… Continue reading Taking the Night Train
Let's Go Mama 