Hi, Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I added a new element to our blog which you can see over to the right of this posting. You should see the "blogarithm.com" box. You can input your email address there so that you receive a notification email whenever we post something new. Just thought that would help (thanks, Amylee).
Ok, onto our latest adventure: Zurich, Switzerland! Eric had to be there for work last week, so we made a trip out of it and I tagged along. We had a great time. It was cold, but not as cold as I thought it was going to be. And it was actually sunny for a few of the days too!
We were going to take a day trip out of the city to Bern (Switzerland's capital) or Lucerne, but then we decided just to take it easy and explore the winding streets of Zurich. There are three main churches in the city of Zurich: The Grossmunster, the Fraumunster and St. Peter's. We checked out all three of them, and it was really interesting because churches we've seen on most of the other travels have all been Catholic, however, these were all Protestant. So it was interesting to see the differences. From what we could tell, they were much less ornate and elaborate (although equally as beautiful) than Catholic churches.
Here's a picture of the Fraumunster: The Church had a convent and was also inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany, and was thus called the Frau-munster.
And here's a picture of St. Peter's: St. Peter's steeple boasts the largest clock face in Europe. It is 8.7 meters in diameter.
And here's a picture of the Grossmunster: The Grossmunster was the coolest because you could climb up the left steeple and (if you made it to the top), the views were awesome! You could see the Limmat river which separates the Grossmunster from the Fraumunster and St. Peter's and which runs into Lake Zurich. Plus you could see most of the city. Here are a few pictures: I don't think these pictures can do it justice!
So, the first night we were there, Eric had to work that day. By the time he got to the hotel, it was kind of late and our hotel was a bit of a walk to the city center. So we decided to go across the street to this little tavern and it was really cute. There was this table full of a dozen or so old men toasting and having a grand ol' time. They were so cute: I don't know why I like taking pictures of menus (and Eric thinks it's strange), but I like showing you guys what our choices were and basically that we had no idea what our choices were!! So this was our menu that night: And this is what we ended up getting: Weinerschnitzel and Bratwurst And of course our beverages of choice: isn't he cute? So mostly we just wandered around, enjoyed the views, did a little shopping and walked... a lot! Here are a few more pictures from our trip: Thanks for reading! Have a great day!
Happy New Year! Eric and I rang in 2008 from Barcelona this year. Poor Eric actually ended up getting really sick right before our trip there, so we layed pretty low for the most part. I was able to use all those years of Spanish to explain to the Pharmacist what I needed for him. And after he was sufficiently drugged, I lugged him out the door so we could see at least a little of Barcelona. Thankfully, we actually did get to see quite a bit. Here's a recap of some of our adventures..........
La Boqueria is Barcelona's main food market. It was right down the street from where we were staying, and although we weren't looking to buy food for our stay, I just love markets and wanted to look around. There was so much beautiful food - fruit stands, seafood stands, cheese stands, veggie stands, meat stands. Everything so colorful and neatly organized. I did end up buying some fresh coconut - Yummy!
Well, no one can say you wouldn't know what you're eating if you bought dinner from this stand! Rabbit anyone?
Las Ramblas is the major street running from the main square, Plaza Catalunya, to the waterfront. All along Las Ramblas are small stalls selling magazines, flowers and birds, fish, and small furry creatures. Also along Las Ramblas are the famous street performers. Basically they sit/stand still until someone drops a coin in their bucket. Then they come to life, or you can have your picture taken with them. Some are more creative than others. Interesting nonetheless. Here are a few we saw:
You may not be able to tell, but this guy doesn't have a head (well, he has a head, but it's hidden in his shirt..... you know what I mean).
One day, when Eric felt well enough to venture out, we strolled along Las Ramblas and decided to try out a seafood restaurant. We chose a traditional mixed seafood dish and the menu said it was for two. When it arrived, we were pretty stunned. It was a massive hill of seafood. This is a picture after we had already made a big dent. It was really good - especially the calamari. However, we decided the menu should more accurately say, "for AT LEAST dos personas" ! On another day we searched and searched for a certain recommended restaurant. When we finally found it, the line was out the door. We were pretty hungry and opted to find an alternative. When we went into our new choice, this was the menu for the day. I could pick out very few words, so we just pointed and hoped for the best. For our first course, Eric got some sort of weird pasta or potato salad with big slices of salami on the side and I got some sort of vegetable soup, but I couldn't recognize the veggies by sight or taste! For the main course, I got a chicken filet and fries. Eric got some kind of fried fish. All and all not too weird. Could have been much worse. Anyway, we took a picture of the menu so my friend Renee (who is a Spanish Teacher) could help us figure out what we COULD HAVE eaten! A fun adventure!
No trip to Barcelona is complete without a trip to see La Segrada Familia. This church was designed by Antoni Gaudi and construction began in the 1880s. Gaudi died suddenly in 1926, and it's been a struggle to complete the church since. It's perhaps one of the most unique churches we've ever seen. Extremely elaborate, with very non-traditional shapes. You can't really tell from the picture, but the tops of the towers are all covered in tilework. If you can see it closer up, you'd see it's very colorful. Ok, I know this post is getting really long. Thanks for reading. I'll wrap it up now with our last day:
On our last day we set out to explore Montserrat, a monastery in the mountains about an hour outside of Barcelona and over 4,000 feet up. It's said to be the spiritual heart of Catalonia (the region in Spain of which Barcelona is the capital), with reports of miracles taking place. It was definitely a serene place with absolutely beautiful scenery. I think if we had ventured up further into the mountain and hiking paths, away from the many tourists, it may have revealed a more spiritual feeling, but it was a bit difficult to separate yourself from all the throngs of people. Anyway, it still had amazing views and a beautiful church where La Escolania (the oldest boys' choir in Europe) sings at daily mass.
We decided to take the tram up the mountain (as opposed to the funicular train). Here's a short video of part of that ride. Yes, I know I need to work on my filming skills. Sorry.
This little room was off the courtyard of the church and monastery. At first, because we saw several walking canes propped up in a corner, we thought it was memorabilia from all the miracles that had taken place at Montserrat. But after seeing the sheer volume of pictures, baby clothes, molded limbs, and other strange objects, we decided it was a room of prayer requests for sick or deceased loved ones. Most of all the writing/prayers was in Catalan or other languages so we couldn't be sure, but that was our guess. Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our trip. I tried to be brief, but you know me! Love and miss you all! Thanks for reading!
A cute video of my nieces. While in Albuquerque for Christmas, my mom and I brought the three Udell girls back to my hotel room so Amylee could have some time to get a few things done at the house. After getting Zia set up with a project, I noticed Lane playing with something in her purse. This was the outcome. Pretty cute. Enjoy.
The Church had a convent and was also inhabited by the female members of the aristocracy of southern Germany, and was thus called the Frau-munster.
St. Peter's steeple boasts the largest clock face in Europe. It is 8.7 meters in diameter.
I don't think these pictures can do it justice!
Thanks for reading! Have a great day!
