JuckerFarm

Last Saturday we ventured out with some friends to JuckerFarm. It was a clear day so we enjoyed some great views of mountains, as well as dinosaurs decorated with pumpkins, ate some yummy pumpkin soup and oogled huge ugly pumpkins. Apparently the farm grows things other than pumpkins as well, but we were committed to the pumpkin theme; now if only I had a pumpkin latte to go with it that I hear all you American dwellers talking about...
Later that evening we had few friends over, ate butternut squash with coconut milk & shrimp soup, sat by the fire and talked. So, although fall's been fun and all, I'm really really not ready for the big W. And she's in the air here alright, I can see her on the mountains closest to Zurich and I want that frosty bitch to just back off for a bit.

"We'd Be Better off Without Italy"

Says the Fiat CEO. I say to you Mr. Marchionne, would you really be Italian anymore, if you had nothing to bitch about? I wonder this often with my parents when they threaten to get rid of Bosco. What would you have to bitch about then Mr. & Mrs. Viggiano?

Switzerland & Paris, Ron Style

Ron sent us 170 photos, I pared it down to 30 for you all. Thanks Ron for the great shots, it almost makes me want to read that photography textbook you gave us for Christmas last year;)

Relax don't do it...

 

These are three of my closest girlfriends here, as well as one of my most notable features (that had just been given a one-hour treatment) at the spa in Adelboden. It's 11.30, we've just finished a four-course dinner, enjoyed spa treatments, sat in the outdoor hot pool while it snowed...no wonder everyone's looking so relax(ed).

Oh My God!

We recently had the pleasure of Ron, Mary, Auntie Mary & Uncle Bob for a 10-day visit. As it goes with the Duchek's - Ron & Bob are obsessive photographers, so we left ours at home & let the experts get down to business. However, that does mean we don't have too many photos to share (yet) from our time with them as they are all on harddrives in America. I'll honestly be surprised if we ever see any of the elusive photos Robert took --- he has quite the reputation for taking gazillions of photos, yet no one ever sees them. I do want that one of Joe & I in the Orangerie if you are reading this UB!

I believe I speak for most of us when I say, this was the highlight of the visit:

 

This was taken from the hotel room balcony with our small digital (thanks AMaryMeell) --- so you can imagine what the SLR shots look like. Zermatt is to me the absolute pinnacle, the perfect example of a gorgeous, cozy Swiss town. It's all chalets, cow bells, 500 year old barns, wood stacks, and flower boxes. We couldn't turn a corner without our resident awe-struck Auntie Mary saying "oh my God," "Oh my GOD." It was so charming & she was smitten by Switzerland that she started asking us about what kind of temporary job she could get out here!;) Honestly, it was quite the relief to have someone else as vocal about their love for the place, sometimes I think I'm uber-annoying with all my talk of 'how great it is here.'

 

Here the boys are in our favorite little hotel bar in Zermatt -- complete with fireplace, cushy couches & stuffed animal heads (my fav;).

The other main adventure for the visit was Paris. We scored a fantastic apartment a block from Saint Michel fountain and a few more from Notre Dame. There were street performers, boulangeries, beggars, McDs & Starbucks all within blocks of our door. We had fabulous breakfasts, complements of many of these listed things! Honestly, if you are in Paris, GO HERE . As many of you know, I am in a serious, commited relationship with....food. This place was most likely the highlight of Paris for me. Although, our happy hour experience after a garbled first day was quite enjoyable as well. We hit up a lot of the major sights, but we also went a few places we'd not been before.
I know how I feel about Paris (which is most likely more about my dislike for crowds, being underground and a relentless fatherly opinion that the French & France are loathsome) -- but what do you think of it? Traveling with an enthusiastic lover of all things French while in Paris, slowing down the pace & staying in a great part of town certainly made the experience enjoyable....even if it was France (sorryDaddyo - please don't disown me).

First Video on the Blog!

As you will see this video is from our trip to Italy in July... took us a little while to format. Hopefully future videos won't take so long. Thanks Ron-ode!

Wies'n/Oktoberfest 2010

This is our formal invitation to my 6 readers to join next year for Oktoberfest, 2011. My official, legitimate dirndle (can you believe the one I'm wearing in the photos is from a costume shop? I mean, it's oozes class & taste, right?) arrived to Zurich during our weekend at Oktoberfest (not helpful), so I have at least one reason to return next year. 2010 went down in history for the most visitors (6.4 million of your closest friends), an impressive 7 million liters of bier consumed and of course, the honor of hosting super awesome people, Adam, Trish, Joe & myself. Help us to break the record again next year!;) We all kept ourselves in reasonably good shape, although it did become clear that Adam was pretty drunk at the end of our first night when he had his arm around me for a solid 15 (atypical Adam style). Joe was feeling ill, so I suppose it was better than cuddling up to him! The weekend was just another reminder that we have super awesome friends (thanks to Trisha who took most of the photos above, then emailed them all to me!), beer is tasty and Munich is one of the best cities in Europe, if not the world! Prost!

It's Fall Party Peoples

And what a gorgeous one we are having here in Zurich. As I type, the warm fall sun is glowing in through our enormous picture window, warming my legs. It's cozy.
It also requires a fall blog revamp. The cows are all off the mountains now --- and as you'll soon hear, we have first hand experience that there is plenty of snow on them already to boot! We've had our first fire, courtesy of wood delivered by our good friends, the Schaubs (they rock) and family here to enjoy it with us. Lots of updates from our recent adventures coming soon.
Thanks to Adam, Trish, Mary, Ron, Auntie Mary & Uncle Bob for making the past few weeks anything but ordinary!