Catching up

It’s been a while! New job(s), new memories, new friends, new family, and a new approach to life. It feels good being in Switzerland once again. And as much as it feels right, I have to say, I’m glad to be in a place where travel comes so easily alongside work. I’ve definitely been taking advantage of that! So, here’s a little re-cap of the mini-adventures I’ve had this last half year. 

August: London

At the end of summer I had an itch to go to London. I thought it would be a fun trip to do with Mom and Dad, so I asked if they wanted to join! Upon arrival in London we dropped off our bags and headed straight to dinner at Kricket in Soho. Wow - did we have an amazing meal! A spread of all the best with such intense and amazing flavors. A truly memorable meal! 

Day two started with breakfast at Borough Market, including the infamous chocolate covered strawberries (sooooo good!) and some pastries by Bread Ahead. After a stroll through the city and drinks at a local pub, we went on a bike tour through the city, hitting all the best spots, learning some fun facts about the city, and ending with a ride over the (busy, busy) London Bridge! Spontaneous as we are, we decided to see if we could get tickets to a show. So, we hustled on over to the theater district and lo and behold got some good seats for “The Book of Mormon”. If you haven’t seen it - I totally recommend it! It’s hilarious, raunchy, and an absolute blast! 

Day three we headed back to Borough Market for breakfast, this time with the mission of trying the popular Crème Brûlé Donuts. After strolling through the market and wandering along the riverside, we headed to our lunch reservation at a West African restaurant called Akara. This was another amazing dining experience with dishes and flavors we had never tried before. Following our tasty meal we hopped on one of the river boats for a short cruise before heading to another show - this time a play called “Till the Stars Come Down”. We all agreed that we enjoyed the musical the previous day much better. The play was very heavy, and ended up putting us all in pretty negative moods. We were able to brighten those though by taking a sunny stroll to Buckingham Palace and Westminster. 

Our final day was spent doing a quick visit to the Tate Modern, followed by a super tasty brunch with Sam & Wayne - some lovely friends I made on the Central America leg of my trip! How wonderful to meet them on their turf 😀

In summary - a super awesome weekend trip with the parents! 

September: Ljubljana by Train

One advantage of living in central Europe are the train connections. I absolutely love taking the train long distances. So, in September I decided on taking the overnight train from Zürich to Ljubljana (Slovenia). The ride was super smooth but the best part was waking up to the forest landscape with the first rays of sun shining through the mist. Serene! 

I spent my day wandering around the gorgeous old town, visited a local market, and grabbed lunch at a little food festival that was going on. In the afternoon I went on a bike tour to see more of the city and even found two of Invader's mosaics*! My last stop for the day was a visit to the castle with a great view of the city. 

Day two I took a bus tour to the Lake Bled area to check out another castle with splendid views. I spent the day strolling along the turquoise lake, sketching in my notebook, visiting a crafts market, grabbing a geo-cache, and trying a piece of the famous Bled Cake - basically a mille feuille without the pastry layers in the middle. So creamy! 

Day three was time to head back to Switzerland, this time a train trip by day. Due to a delay in Slovenia, I missed my connection in Villach, Austria, meaning I had a little time to check out the cute town and grab another geocache. The rest of the ride home was smooth and rounded off a wonderful little weekend trip to a new country. 

January: Magical Norway

This past weekend I spent a magical few days in the soft light of northern Norway with one of my besties. Wow-oh-wow! A gorgeous snowy wonderland with the most beautiful pastel skies you could imagine. While there we indulged in a few amazing activities. Our first full day we travelled about an hour and a half inland to a remote area. This is where we got to gear up with some heavy duty snow gear and explore trails on the snowmobile! It was super fun despite the frigid temps. Once we returned to camp we got to warm up with some hot reindeer soup and black current tea - yum! The afternoon was filled with exploring the area, visiting the local reindeer herd, and taking some time to relax and read. Once evening approached we geared up again to go on a snowy walk in search of the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any but took some hilarious pics anyway :) Dinner was then served - a delectable fish soup. While we were all enjoying our dinner, the Northern LIghts guide kept checking the skies to see if the lights would show themselves…and sure enough they did! We all ran outside and lo and behold - the Aurora Borealis in all its magnificence! I was amazed and wowed by the phenomenon. Such a magical, incredible thing to see with your bare eyes. The colors, the movements, the science behind it all to make it happen - just wow! A truly unforgettable evening! 

After a cozy night in our snug little cabin, we headed out to the dog kennel - it was dog sledding time! We were both nervous and unsure how it would be to manage the sled and dogs. But, our musher was super nice and encouraging and was convinced that us being from Switzerland and knowing how to snowboard, we wouldn’t have any trouble with the sled at all. It did take some getting used to, but balancing the sled and understanding how the dogs worked came quite naturally. We had an absolute blast speeding through the landscape and watching the dogs do what they love to do! Upon returning to the kennel we got to hang out with the dogs and enjoy their company and playfulness. All in all another fantastic experience! Later that afternoon we returned to the city of Tromso, where we got some shopping done and grabbed an early dinner before heading out to our Fjord cruise. This would have been another chance to view the Northern Lights away from the city lights. However, the clouds were too dense and we couldn’t spot any. 

The next day was reserved for a chill city day. We started off with a tasty breakfast followed by a visit to the Arctic Museum where we learned all about various polar expeditions and the amazing adventurers that embarked on so many ridiculous and crazy tours. We spent two whole hours in the museum because it was so interesting and inspiring! After that, despite the snowfall, we went and grabbed a geocache before warming up with hot drinks at a local bakery. The rest of the afternoon we spent reading our books and sipping champagne. Because, why not?! For dinner we headed a little out of the center to a nice restaurant that serves local dishes with a modern twist. We had a wonderful time and fully enjoyed every single dish we tried! 

My conclusion after these few days in Norway - I will be back. No doubt at all. I already have a vision for 2-3 other trips that I want to take there. So - stay tuned for the next adventures!!

Hasta pronto, 

Annamarie

*Invader is a French artist who creates funky mosaics that are usually placed on facades of buildings. Many of them are in France, but he also has pieces all across the globe! The cool thing is: there is an app that you can download, and anytime you find one of his pieces, you can take a picture and log it into your account. (kinda like geocaching or pokemon go)