Easter in Ischgl

With the extended holiday for Easter, I went on one last ski trip with friends to Ischgl, Austria.  In Switzerland, we were conveniently prohibited from working on the Friday and Monday of Easter Weekend.

Two friends from Geneva and myself drove to Ischgl on Friday morning; the town is 45 drive from St.Anton where I had stayed earlier in the year.  A fourth friend (Shilling) who was working in Munich from Hastings joined us as well.

Weather was awesome and there was a lot of snow on Saturday and Sunday so skiing was a lot of fun. 

Ischgl's ski resort is different than most as there is a large concert venue mid-mountain where concerts are held every weekend of ski season and they host large artists.  While we were there, there was a German artist popular during the prior World Cup, which was fun. 

The town is Ischgl was very comparable to that of St. Anton with great restaurants and fun Après ski bars after the ski day.  Fun way to celebrate Easter and definitely looking forward to the the next ski trip.

Completely unaware of the sign on this one

Après Ski in Ski Boots

Black Forest - Wkd. of April 8

I decided to take a break from ski trips in the spring to take a road trip to the Black Forest while the Roses were working in Frankfurt the week prior.

I met them late Friday at our B&B in Gengenbach, Germany; I'm quite sure they arrived before I left Geneva.  It's fun to get the chance to drive again as I have limited access to cars while living here even if I was to spend several hours over the next days within a minivan.

Gengenbach was what you would expect of a small German town from the movies and very pretty.  I would tend to argue it felt more German than Bavaria.

Gengenbach

Town Hall (Real Life Advent Calendar)

During our time in the Black Forest we spent Saturday morning hiking and then visited a few wineries in the afternoon.

On Sunday, we started our drive to Geneva and spent the afternoon in Bern to break out the road trip.  Afternoon was nice and we grabbed lunch, walked the old town, and I saw the Bern bears for the first time!

Bern Bears

The remainder of the Roses trip we did a Fondue as you need to when visiting Switzerland.

Black Forest Cake while in the Black Forest

           

Dolomiti Seconda Parte - Wkd. March 16

For those of you that don't remember, I went to the Dolomites during the prior year to ski the Sella Ronda loop (see Dolomites post on March 1, 2016).  Unfortunately, this first attempt was unsuccessful as the result of my smart car being unable to handle the snow.  For St. Patrick's day this year, I went back with friends to the region to attempt the loop again.

We arrived on March 16th in Venice and did some sightseeing on the island the first days before starting the drive to La Villa (Alta Badia).  



Venice Pier

Immediately upon landing, we ran into our first trip hiccup as the rental car was accidentally booked for the following weekend; luckily, this was quickly solved when talking to the rental desk.  Once this happened, I did a quick re-check of the hotel dates and realized that I had also booked our hotel for one day late and immediately contacted the hotel for help and was told they were full, but would call the neighboring resorts to try to find an alternative and would call me back in 30 min.

After 30 minutes, the hotel called and said they had an extra room in a condo near the hotel for rent for 400 EUR, which I decided I would accept in order to not be homeless although very steep.

After the 2.5 hour drive, we arrived and the hotel was able to rearrange and rooms for us to stay the duration of our visit at our original location, with no added cost, the only casualty being that I was now forced to sleep on the couch for the trip.  I felt this was a minimal price to pay after almost single-handedily ruining the weekend!

All three days of skiing we had were quite sunny and warm (50-60 degrees Fahrenheit), but the snow was quite good.  I did not realize, but this area of Italy is also considered as part of Tirol (Austrian) so I had yet another week of pizza and Wiener schnitzel.


Lunch on the Hill


On day one of skiing, we spent most of our time in Alta Badia and Corvara.  This day brought back many memories of skiing down the Gran Risa World Cup piste.

For day two, we skied the Sella Ronda loop and it took 6:15 including stops for wrong turns, lunch, and Après ski.  The Sella Ronda is a loop of runs/lifts that connects several cities (Corvara, Via Fasso, Arabba, and Gardena) around the central rock formation of the Dolomites (Sella).  The terrain is not challenging, but does take time as we skied 21.7 miles.  The loop was a lot of fun and great way to see the full resort.

For day three, we skied the Lagazuoi tour, which requires a cable car to one of the highest points of the Dolomites and then the run down takes over an hour and requires being towed by horseback for the last portion of the trip.  Scenery was gorgeous and a great great run to finalize the Dolomite trip!

Top of  Lagazuoi

Trail of skiers towed by horse after ski tour

We arrived back in Geneva where I think got home at 10p, unpacked, then repacked for a work flight at 9a the following morning!

   

Après Ski at Top of Gran Risa

Austria Ski Trip

I haven't had many updates in quite sometime.

  

Since November.....

 

1) I was in the US most of December for scaphoid surgery and to spend time with friends and family.

2) In January, only skied once for a friend's birthday weekend as I was in a cast and was working nonstop.

3) I was in the US all of February for US busy season and to get my cast removed on Feb. 17 (2.5 month after surgery).

...and now it's March...

After returning from the US, I worked one week and then took a week off from work for a ski week in Austria.  This was my first trip to Ski in Austria and I went with Marc, Steve, and Adam and Milena also joined.

As the Americans were to arrive late Saturday in Zurich, I spent Saturday morning with a skiing warm-up in France and took advantage of having a rental car.  This turned out to be an extremely good idea as it was then I discovered that the initial car I was given had a Magnesium roof (not magnetic) that was incompatible with the ski rack the rental company provided.  Prior to picking up the Americans in Zurich, I had to then call the rental company and go to the Geneva airport to exchange cards for an SUV that was automatic (given the risk); please note that its very difficult to find automatic cards in Europe!  Everything worked out and I eventually arrived in Zurich and picked up Steve and Marc at 11 to then drive to Saalbach where we arrived at 4:30a.  The next day we took advantage of the 1:30p half day pass and skied Sunday and Monday.

Saalbach is one of the larger resort systems in Austria and we were able to ski half in two days.  Conditions were alright as the resort's peaks are about 2K meters and we had nice sunny days with the day of driving (Tuesday) where we received a foot of snow!

Kicking off the trip in Saalbach!

Top of Saalbach

Lunch at Saalbach

Following Saalbach, we spent the remainder of our trip in St. Anton; this was a three hour drive towards Switzerland and we skied Wednesday to Saturday. 

Our first day was one of the better ski days I've ever had as it was sunny and we were making fresh tracks in bowls with over 1' of fresh snow!  The 2nd day we received 4" of rain in the city, which translated to snow and no visibility on the mountain.  The 3rd and 4th days we were able to find some fresh tracks while skiing in the sun.

View from the top during 4" rain in the city.

St. Anton is a great ski destination with tons of terrain (we skied less than half), the city has great restaurants, and also one of the best Après ski locations in Europe although definitely not the safest as going to the Krazy Kangaroo requires you to party hard and then need to ski 200m down a mogulled run in the dark.  

Off Piste Crew

Apres Ski

Krazy Kangaroo

All-in-all, we had one or the better weeks of conditions in Europe with the ski conditions and our trip was during the quarter finals of the Champions league so the city was quite lively as we were able to watch one of the greatest soccer comebacks in history (Barca v PSG).

Skiing Bowls

Rare site of both Nitz brothers buried in snow.

It was sad to see the trip come to an end after many wiener schnitzels and aperol spritzes; great trip and was excited to ski with Marc again and have him take advantage of my time abroad.

The Whole Ski Crew in St. Anton

Thanksgiving and Ski Trips

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always an interesting time in Geneva as the city is full of Americans and expats from all over the world; however, Wednesday is not a bar night, it's difficult to find Turkey, and there isn't a general expectation that very little work will be getting finalized the entire week.

As one of the more memorable American holidays; many of us are eager to find others to celebrate with.  During the prior year, I hosted fellow coworkers at my apartment and in the current year, I celebrated a US partner's apartment in Lausanne.  There were 38 of us in total so quite a large group of people for dinner.

Everyone brought a dish or two to pass and there was no shortage of food; I think we had 7 kinds of stuffing!  It's always fun to try to make an American recipe while in Europe as not all ingredients are available; for example, I made green bean casserole and the following ingredients don't exist here:

1) French cut canned beans - Replaced with fresh beans

2) French style fried onions - Replaced with actual fried onions

3) Sour Cream - Replaced with Creme acidulee

4) Cheddar cheese - Exists, but hard to find and definitely grated!

Casserole turned out great and it's fun cooking as I enjoy the small challenges that are my grocery store scavenger hunts.

All of the food was delicious and definitely a fun night!

Verbier - Wkd Nov. 26

I spent the the weekend skiing in Verbier and renting a Chalet with friends.  Always a fun city that I've been to several times the past ski seasons.  Slopes were great for this early in the season and kept the Swiss tradition by getting the first raclette of the season.

CAT Team Cook Off - December 1st

Beginning with 2015, our team started the an annual tradition of having a team potluck where each person must make a food from their home country.  I feel a bit disadvantaged as an American with few options outside of grilling and tailgate options while competing with the French, Italians, Swiss, English, and Canadians.  Only rules were you must make the recipe and we were assigned a category to avoid all desserts; the menu:

Starters

Foie Gras*

Salmon Tartar with Avocado

Mushroom Soup

Entrees

4 Cheese Pasta

Sloppy Joes*

Desserts

Macaroons*

Cheesecake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

I made the sloppy joes with a Swiss twist of adding Gruyere cheese and brown sugar imported from the US (also doesn't exist in Europe).  Everyone voted for their favorite within each category, which I've noted with the *s above.  Always a fun event with the team and looking forward to next year's!

Zermatt - Wkd of December 3rd.

As my last trip of the year and to kick off the formal SCIG (local ski club) ski season, I spent the weekend in Zermatt.  I did the same trip during the prior year as well.

Skiing was great although I purchased new boots that were a bit too tight and could barely walk the following day so I was only able to ski for 1 day.  I did go to the Dr. and luckily no break, but pretty sure I'll have no nail in about a week.

In addition to skiing in view of the iconic Matterhorn, this is also a fun weekend as it falls close to my birthday so I was able to spend the weekend and Saturday night out with friends.

Last update of 2016; let's see what 2017 brings!

Lausanne Half Marathon and Budapest

Lausanne Half Marathon - October 30th

While still in running shape, but losing my marathon form I ran the Lausanne half marathon on October 30th.  I've ran this race in the prior year and it's is likely one of the prettiest races that I've ever run; PwC also sponsors any employee in the canton that would like to run so the registration is free so why not run!

After running two marathons in 2016, I've really relaxed my weekly running routine so I took this race as an opportunity to sightsee and appreciate the scenery; even stopping for pictures where I was asked if anything was wrong.

The course runs along Lake Geneva with mountains in the background and through the Lavaeux vineyards, it was quite a scenic run!

Following the run, the PwC runners grabbed dinner and drinks before I made my way back to Geneva on the train.

Budapest - November 5th

With work requiring me to be in Brno, Czech Republic the following week, I took advantage of the flight in the region and spent the weekend in Budapest.

I arrived late on Friday and spent Saturday on a walking tour to see the cities' sites.  Budapest fest very similar to visiting Prague although I did not anticipate how cold it would be while there and was quite underdressed.  

After shivering through the walking tour, I grabbed lunch with someone from the walking tour.  Fun fact from lunch would be Hungarian goulash is more so a soup rather than stew; although apparently American goulash is thought to have originated from Hungary (only similarities are there's meat, paprika, and red sauce).

To warm up from being outside in the elements, I went to a Hungarian bath house.  There are several throughout the city as the entire country has many thermal springs.  The baths are Turkish baths with large pools and hot tubs.

After warming up, I grabbed drinks at a local wine bar with some fellow Americans in town for a medical conference, grabbed dinner, and went to a ruin bar (szimpla).  The ruin bars are a theme of Budapest of buildings from the communist regime that were vacant following the fall of communism and are now very popular bars within the city.

The following day, I relaxed and did a wine tasting in the city and prepared for the upcoming work week.  Hungarian famous wines are Bull's Blood, which is a blend of reds and also sweet white wines (similar to mead).  It was all quite good, and a good contrast compared to my visits to Bordeaux and Burgundy the prior summer.

Very fun trip and would love to get back again soon to tour outside of the city.

Jordan - Nov. 19

This weekend I planned a 4 day trip to Jordan as I've always wanted to see Petra after seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Friday

I worked while traveling and didn't realize until midway through flights that it's roughly a 5 hour flight from London; luckily, I planned to spend a few days here to take advantage.  

Upon arriving at the airport, getting my visa, and then through customs, I encountered my first challenge.  Given the language barrier and I was staying at a smaller hotel, I had to call the hotel and then hand my phone to the taxi manager so that they could discuss where to drive me.  Needless to say I made it, but then learned that someone had smoked earlier that day in the hotel and triggered all of the sprinklers so all reservations for the night were cancelled.  Luckily, the affiliate I was transferred was across the street (note this was all taking place at midnight to 1am).

Saturday

My driver picked me up at 7am to drive to 2.5 hours to Petra.  Within Petra, I had a guide for the first 2 hours who described each of the sights and walked me through the Siq and main walking path.  After the tour, I hiked to the Monastery (1 hour), grabbed lunch (30 minutes), and then did a looped hike to the sacrificial obelisk on top of the mountain (2.5 hours).  Hiking was very pretty with the ancient carvings and temples from 200BC-200AD with the colorful rocks from the varying minerals adding to the effect.

Treasury

Monastery

View from inside a tomb

Hiking path

At the end of the day, I started a hike that appeared to reconnect to the main path leading to the gate from looking at a map; however, it ended with an elevated view of the Treasury, thus at a dead end >100 meters above the path that I needed.  It's also important to note that I had started this hike at dusk planning to reach the end at sunset.  Luckily, there was a group of us and by the time I had retraced the path and reached the entry gate, it was dark.  

Dead end of my hike

The hotel that night was great!  Probably one of the nicer hotels I've stayed while traveling outside of work.

Sunday

My driver picked me at 10am and we drove 1.5 hours to Wadi Rum to meet my guide for the day.  We toured Wadi Run for 5 hours by jeep, touring different rock formations, having tea with the Bedouins, and doing small hikes.  The tea here is probably the best I've had while traveling; black, mint, sweet tea with cardamom.  Wadi Rum is the Jordanian Grand Canyon.

Following the tour, my guide dropped me off at the Bedouin camp for the night for dinner and camping with a larger group.  It was myself, 2 Aussies taking a year of travel, the cook, and a German that was volunteering at camp for the month while also taking a year of travel.  The Bedouin food is traditionally cooked in an underground over of coals buried with the food in the sand.  We had essentially chicken with vegetables and a variety of sides; it was all quite good!  Our campsites were less campsites and more so small huts with beds and power.  This was a stark contrast from my last camping trip at Kilimanjaro!

Lounging at the campsite

Monday

We awoke and had breakfast at our camp before heading to town for each tourist group to depart ways for the next leg of their journey.  My original driver picked me up and we drove to the Dead Sea.  The Dead Sea is the lowest point in earth and is 8x saltier than the ocean; so salty that you float with no effort.  The muds are famous for their healing/spa qualities so I partook and had someone coat me for 3 JD (4 USD), let it dry, and then went in the water.  Washing my face was 'interesting' as the water was so salty it burned your nose and I had to run to the beach to my chair to rinse my face with a bottle of water so that I could then open my eyes.  After the Dead Sea, I returned to Amman for the evening to fly out the following morning.  Note that this was my original hotel that I was supposed to stay at on my first night in Amman, but no issues this time.

Vantage point along the road trip

Dead Sea

Mudded Up!

Jordan was a blast and I would highly recommend going!  The country is quite safe; the tour experience is very interesting as everyone knows each other and it's quite a network.  See below for an example:

Day 1

I had a single driver take me from Amman to Petra, to a separate guide, to then another driver (friend of my original driver) who led me to my Petra hotel.

Day 2

My original driver drove me from Petra to Wadi Rum with directions that someone will pick me up the following morning at the same location at 8:30am (note I'm in the desert with no reception), to a separate jeep guide, to a then separate campsite.

Day 3

Rode from the camp with another group's jeep driver to town and arrived at the location.  That driver then called someone to pick me up and it was my original driver.