Fall Soccer Matches (Milan - 10/15 and London - 10/22)

Continuing on a goal to see some of the major European soccer teams while living abroad as noted in the Paris post; I went to the Milan to see Inter vs AC at San Siro and then London to see Tottenham vs Liverpool at Wembley.

Milan - Wkd. Oct. 14

I traveled to Milan with Bryan on Sunday for the game that same day; Milan is quite easy to travel to as there is a 4 hour train from Geneva.  We stayed with a friend of his who was a PwC US employee he had known from the US and was now on secondment.

Up to the game, we did our own walking/eating tour of Milan:

- Pizzeria Spontini near the Duomo

- Rice Ball near Naviglio Pavese-

The game was at 9pm was the stereotypical experience that you would expect from a European soccer match between two rival teams (city rivals) with screaming fans.  The stadium was quite large compared to others in Europe (80k vs 40k capacity).  The game had plenty of excitement as the final was 3-2 with the tiebreaker being a controversial penalty kick at the 89’.

Following the game, we had pizza again and then took the train home the following morning to return to work.  Coincidentally, I received a note that morning for an audit in Italy and the individual we stayed with was joining a team I was working with so it was helpful to meet face-to-face.

London - Wkd. Oct. 21

The following weekend of the Milan trip, I had planned a trip to go to London to see some friends from when I lived in Royal Oak (Jamie, Yanai, Adam, and Milena) while they were traveling the UK for two weeks along with another friend that had moved to London when I moved to Geneva (Kate).  Coincidentally, I had to be in London already for work already.

While in London, we went to the the School of Rock musical on Friday and the British Museum/National Gallery on Saturday.  On Sunday, we then went to the game before the full group flew out at various times on Monday.  

The game atmosphere was quite different from the other game as there were very few away fans or at least they were quite secretive about it so.  The game was quite exciting as there were many goals (4-1 final score) and we were quite close to the field.

Food in London was a good change of pace from the French cuisine of Geneva and Italian food in Milan.  On Sunday, we had a large roast dinner at the neighboring pub from where we were staying.  I also was sure to visit Chipotle once in the trip to get some spicy food given there are not many Mexican food options near me.

Both trips were a blast with not much sleep, Milan was day trip where I returned the next morning via train and in London, I flew Friday morning to be at work on time and left Monday morning to do the same (two 4am mornings); wouldn't do it any other way!

Oktoberfest (Wkd. Sept. 23) and Trail Runs (Oct. 8)

So the two trips included in this post could not be further opposites...

Munich - Oktoberfest - Wkd. Sept. 23rd

As a break from work, I went to Oktoberfest this year for my 4th time (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017) and my 6th time in Munich.

I spent the trip with a few Hastings friends (Paul) and then also some old friends from Royal Oak and Switzerland (Brad, John, Pat) and we had a fun few days in the tents and on the carnival rides of Oktoberfest.  We stayed very close to Oktoberfest and went to the HB, Hacker-Pschorr, and Schottenhanmel tents.  We also had our fill of German food eating in the area; needless to say and consistent with my prior trip, I was excited to see vegetables/fruits when returning home!

Royal Oak Crew

Hastings Crew

Let me know if any of you plan a trip to Europe as I feel like I could be a tour guide after visiting this city more times as a tourist than any other location in Europe.

Vallee de Joux - 8 Oct.

Trail Valle de Joux is a 22km trail race in the Jura mountains, which are about 1 hour by car from Geneva.  A group of friends decided to try a trail race and trained together during the weeks up to the race and then we had a potluck dinner the night with the group the evening before the race.

Before

The style of race is very typical in Switzerland, but something that I had never experienced.  I would compare it to more of a speed hike than a true run given the inclines are at a degree where almost all participants are walking.  The declines were then steep, rocky descents where runners would try to remain on the paths while dodging rocks to avoid a sprained ankle.  Our race was one peak ascent in the middle followed by one descent; however, typically these races are 50-160km and have multiple peaks.

Climb to the top!

Crossing the Top of the Mountain

The day after I was extremely sore consistent with what I would feel following a Marathon.  When training for the race, I did road runs of almost twice the distance of the trail run; it was different set of muscles from what I was accustomed.  The race was very pretty and I would do another.  

After

Of course the Swiss/French give out wheels of cheese and wine to every finisher!

Paris - Wkd. 16 Sept.

I decided to take a free weekend to spend time in Paris as I wanted to come for the Paris vs. Lyon soccer game; this was on my list of notable games/teams to see while living in Europe before moving.  I have not done much traveling since returning from the US mid-August; however, Geneva in the summer has been quite nice with the lake and sunny weather.  I swam for my first time in the water after living in the area for two years and this was long overdue!

I flew to Paris in Friday night and immediately had a bit of a surprise when sitting on the runway in Geneva and went to check my hotel reservation and realized I had the incorrect dates on my hotel reservation......Luckily, Paris is huge and I would cancel and re-book another location still in central Paris and was not homeless for the evening.

For Saturday in Paris, I took a bike tour of Versailles.  This was an area that had not seen in the past in my previous visits to Paris (2012, 2016, and now).  The Versailles gardens were massive and it was quite interesting to see one set of traditional decor in straight lines and highly structured and then the Queen's garden was meant to feel like an escape to a peasant village; learning the history was fun.

The day was mostly rainy and cold so any chance that we had to go indoors for the palace or other buildings in the garden was great. Following the group, I went for a run and grabbed dinner to then prepare for the following days' 17 mile long run and the PSG game.

The long run in Paris was nice as I was able to run by Parc des Princes (PSG stadium) and Roland Garros (French Open); it's always fun running in large cities as you can often find many landmarks that are are both very known and/or off the beaten bath that you would not otherwise find:

Following the run, I went to the Louvre for the first time and then to the soccer game before taking a train back to the Geneva to start work for the week:

Cinque Terre/Munich - Road Trip with the Bellgraph - Wk of 23 July

On Kyle and Sam arrived Sunday at 1pm to start their Eurotrip for the next two weeks and I picked them up at the airport.  This was my 2nd time at the airport that day as I arrived from a work trip in Istanbul earlier that morning (11am) after spending an extra day to sightsee.  Quite a whirlwind Sunday!

Cinque Terre

Upon arrival, we quickly stopped by my apartment and then started our road trip to Cinque Terre (about 4.5 to 5 hours); specifically, we were staying in Monterosso al Mare.  We arrived near 9 and grabbed pizza near our AirBnB, which was right on the beach near the train station.  Finding parking was a bit of a challenge at first as the cities of Cinque Terre are connected by hiking trails and trains, but none offer the best automobile access; we found a local lot a few minute walk away, but all-in-all a great location.

View from our apt.

For our first day, we grabbed croissants at the Wonderland bakery and then coffee at a nearby wine bar before taking the train to the furthest city (Riomaggiore) where we had planned to hike back to our apartment.  We quickly learned that trains were not the most timely as we boarded the train at the correct platform and time; however, the train that we boarded was actually a previous train that was arriving late.  When the conductor asked for tickets after departure, we quickly learned we were on a regional train and in the words of the conductor "No stop Cinque Terre."  Luckily, it travelled only 10 minutes past our planned destination and we were not pressed on time so could then grab the next train to our intended destination.  Once in Riomaggiore, I grabbed a quick lemon crepe before starting the day's hikes.

Pre-hike Crepe

To travel from Riomaggiore to Manarola, we took a "more difficult" hike as the coastal route was closed.  The hike was up-and-down the hills of wine vineyards, so very pretty, but tiring (1.5 hours).  We grabbed a seafood in Manarola and then took a train to the 3rd city (Corniglia) to get gelato.  From Corniglia, we took an easier hike to Vernazza (2 hours) where we had planned a wine tasting that was on the edge of the mountainside and recommended by the Bellgraph parents.  We then took the train home and did a wine tasting at the same wine bar we had coffee at that morning and had dinner.

View from the hike

The following morning, we did an identical breakfast to the prior day and hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza (1.5 hours); this was the prettiest of our hikes as there were many views of the ocean, cliff sides, and vineyards.  Both of the hikes were filled with the noises of an insect similar to a cicada.  The weather was also much nicer as it was sunny and hot; good for views, but definitely made the hiked more difficult.  When reaching to Vernazza we quickly changed as we brought our swimming suits and went for a swim in the bay to cool off.  Following the swim, we did a mini bar crawl of Monterosso and tried the local specialty (lemon, salted anchovies) and grabbed dinner at the same pizza place where we had eaten the first night (Lapos).  Highly recommend that restaurant for anyone going to the area.

Piemonte

The following morning was early as we needed to get to Geneva and had planned 3 wine tastings in Piemonte to break up the drive; l had travelled here in the past, but lost the wine when my basement was broken into so it was good to get back.  Once in Geneva, we returned the car and I took everyone for a Swiss fondue for dinner.

Munich

Next morning, we had an easy morning and went to the airport to head to Munich for the next leg of our trip; we started the trip on the Cinque Terry sunny coast hiking and the next leg would be quite different in Bavaria with strong WWII history and a beer culture.

Upon reaching Munich, we took the train directly to Marienplatz to see the old town and grabbed beers and pretzels at Hofbrauhaus while waiting for the keys to our AirBnB.  Our Airbnb was basically an art gallery with very interesting decor.  We then grabbed dinner at one of my favorite restaurants since my first trip to Munich in 2011, Zum Alten Kreuz.  The trip this time was more difficult as the menu was in German and our waitress spoke no English where as on previous trips we had had someone help translate.  All of us ordered versions of weinerschnitzel for dinner (grilled vs. normal vs. Munchner style).  Following dinner, we grabbed a few drinks from bars on the way home as it was down pouring!  We ended up taking the bus home even though it would have been very walkable if dry.

On our first full day in Munich, we grabbed breakfast pastries at a nearby bakery and did a walking tour; this was my 4th time taking this same tour, but always a fun way to see the city.  For lunch, we had sausages and Munich schnitzel at the Weisses Brauhaus; this was one of the oldest wheat beer breweries in Munich and somewhere that I went when in Munich following the Berlin marathon the previous year.  We then found Sam and Kyle some Bavarian clothes (Liederhosen and Dirndl) before going for a walk through the English Garden.  We had a light dinner of first grabbing beers, a cheese platter, and apple strudel at Hackerhaus followed by sausages and drinks at the Viktualienmarkt before calling it a night.

Our next day was early as we had an early morning tour of Neuschwenstein castle where we had to pick up a rental car and then drive to the castle.  We grabbed pastries quickly at the Viktualienmarkt and then grabbed our Ford Fiesta for the drive.  The castle was very pretty with very diverse decorations throughout; following the tour, we grabbed sausages in the small town and drove to the Andechs brewery.  At Andechs, we walked around the abbey, into a wedding service, and then grabbed one beer before continuing our drive back to Munich.  In Munich, I went for a quick run to see the Eisbachwelle in the English Garden; this is a permanent wave on the river where people are able to surf.  We then grabbed drinks at Der Pschorr biergarten before dinner where we all had Pork Knuckle at the Haxenbauer and then had drinks at the HB.

With our 3rd day, we grabbed a large American sized breakfast at Kochspielhaus.  I then caught up on work and went for a run while the Bellgraphs went to Dachau.  When they returned, we grabbed dinner at the Paulaner Im Tal (Sauage Platter, Spatzle, and Pork Belly) before going to a walk to show the crew the Eisbachwelle.

For the final day in Munich, we had breakfast as the same location of the previous day and then went and did a BMW factory tour.  I've tried to do this in the past and it is quite interesting as it's a combined engine and assembly plant; if interested in going then book early as it fills 2-3 months in advance!  We then headed back to Geneva as I was returning to the US the following day while the Bellgraphs were to fly onwards to Amsterdam and continue their journey.

4th of July and Provence

The 4th of July is not quite the same in Switzerland, or Europe, compared to traditions of the US.  For one, everyone works, but there are also no fireworks.  The Americans in the area still celebrated and I BBQ'ed with some friends at a local park where we all brought food to pass and we had a fun experience celebrating with one another.  I tried to be festive and carved my first bowl from a watermelon to serve a fruit salad.

On Friday, two friends that ran the Berlin Marathon Lisa and Josh) came to Geneva for the evening before we started a small France road trip over the weekend.

On Saturday, we started our drive mid morning to Les Rousses to see the 8th leg of the Tour de France.  We over estimated slightly and had about 2 hours to kill prior to when the racers arrived although the caravan of cars and small parade prior to the riders is quite large!  When originally planning a trip we had misinterpreted the route thinking the start was the end and vice versa leading to a later start following the race than expected.

During our drive, we stopped and had dinner in Avignon; a random stop, but a very pretty city with a huge old town and castle within the original city walls.  Following dinner, we continued the drive and finally arrived in Nice at 2am!

While in Nice, we toured around the city our first day visiting the promenade, beach, and hiking the old city fort.  Pretty city with very blue water!

Notice the beach can be rocky!

On our second day, we visited Monaco; the country and city did feel slightly different from Nice as the architecture differed.  We walked around the city (and country as it's only 2.5 miles large), had lunch near the palace and attempted to enter the casino; however, the dress code was no open-toed shoes, no shorts after 7, and required suit and tie after 10.  Needless to say we were unsuccessful...

The 3rd day, Josh flew home and Lisa and I spent the day in Cannes seeing the red carpet of the film festival and walking the promenade before heading back to Nice for the night and one last meal before she flew out the next day and I then drove home.  During my drive home, I took the long, scenic route and was able to drive through the lavender fields of Provence.

Great long weekend trip and would recommend going back for the blue water and great seafood although will definitely dress up next time to be able to experience all of Monaco!

June - Month of Travel

So....June was been a busy month of travel that initially started with a 25 May trip and concluded with a return trip from Bratislava on 29 June with only 5 nights sleeping in my Geneva apartment during that time frame...

Luxembourg

The day after landing from the Norway ski trip, I flew to Luxembourg for a one week internal firm review, back to Geneva for the weekend in between and then back for a 2nd week of review.  Luxembourg was a very pretty city with large city walls from its historic city center and was very hilly so running was not the easiest!

Crans-Montana

After spending one night at home, the Romandie office year-end party was in Crans-Montana, which is a mountain town about 2.5 hours from Geneva.  The year-end party is a weekend long event with a different site each year to get the office together and celebrate the end of the busy season with team building activity (mud run in the current year), large dinner, and a night out.

Dubai

The same day returning from Crans-Montana, I swapped my weekend bag for already packed bags to fly to Dubai for a work site visit.  We landed in Dubai and 11:30pm and it was hot (11:30pm)!

The city itself is quite modern with many sky scrapers and large infrastructure projects everywhere.  Our hotel was located on the mainland near one of the artificial palm islands and the entire area was quite nice.

Our first day at the plant featured a unique twist. Most foreign companies operate in the free trade zone (FTZ), which is a tax free area with gated entry.  Once at the gate, we had obtain pre-approval; however, our taxi driver was not licensed to drive in the FTZ so we had to walk from the border to the plant offices.  This was not far (~300 meters), but it was quite funny as the team wandered the desert.  That evening, I went for a short indoor run and we ate dinner near our hotel at a Benihana, which none of the European team members had been to or heard of the restaurant concept as this is a fairly common chain in the US.

The following day, we had the same issue at the FTZ entrance only this time our taxi driver must have been more persuasive as the driver didn't have the pass, but convinced security to let us drive to our drop off point.  After work that day, we went for a team swim in the pool.  Note that this is an outdoor pool that is cooled rather than heated.  We then had an Iftar dinner with our local contact; this was quite good as there was tons of food and we were able to try many types of the local cuisine.

The next morning was my final day so I woke early to jump in the ocean (5 min.) walk from the hotel.  The sand here was white sand and quite nice and the seawater was warmer than the pool!

For work that day, we successfully entered the FTZ with no issues and I worked a half day and headed to the airport for the first stop of the multisite journey before returning back to Geneva.

Greece

I flew from Dubai to Athens and stayed the night before boarding an early morning ferry to Mykonos for a friend's 30th birthday weekend (7am).

Day 1 Dinner - Greek Salad and Octopus

The birthday party weekend was 5 days long and about 20 people where we rented a villa in the city center.  Each day we went to a different beach club to enjoy the Mediterranean and then dinners were typically souvlaki within the city after watching the sunsets from the mountain restaurants.  For the actual birthday dinner, we had a family style dinner at the villa that was catered with many different types of Greek food; it was quite fun as we even had a bartender for the dinner!  I really enjoyed my 2nd trip to the Greek isles; the weather is always great and the food is amazing!

Mykonos Beach Club

Birthday Dinner at the Villa

PwC Crew

Following Greece, I then had two work trips back to back.  The first to Amsterdam for 1.5 days to see a plant visit and the 2nd to Bratislava.  Coincidentally, Bratislava was the first international location that I ever visited for work back in 2012.

It was quite a relief to get home after these trips after spending the past 5-6 weeks out of town; I flew home on Thursday and then on Friday I had my first visitors for the summer.

Weather wasn't great for their trip, but we visited the Olympic museum in Lausanne; this was actually quite interesting as the museum has medals from all of the Olympics as well as the torches that are carried around the world to then light the flame at the open ceremony.  We then had a glass of wine in the vineyards at Le Deck, saw a concert at the Montreux Jazz Fest, and on Sunday did a day trip to Yvoire for filet-de-perche before my friends returned home.

Montreux Jazz Fest