Blogfest 2013 - #2 - the Swiss Grand Canyon

After a busy and hot summer, we decided to do as the Swiss do and go to the mountains for a weekend.    We found a nice hike in Flims which is about a 2 hour train ride away from Zurich.

Here's a link to the hike should you ever find yourself in Switzerland and looking for a nice half day wander through the mountains.

We took plenty of pictures of course!

Before we get started, a nice shot of a typical Swiss village:

And now, the Swiss Grand Canyon!

For next year, we must figure out how those folks got down there with rafts and canoes.  That looks totally awesome!

Andre and Sophs checking out the view

the hilllllls are alive with the sound of muuuusic!

We also hiked by the absolutely amazing Lake Cauma.  

So, who wants to come visit now!?!?!?

Blogfest 2013 - #1 - We Moved!

Sooooo, seems I've been a bit remiss in my blogging over the last few months.  Time to catch up!

First up.....we moved!  After over a year of commuting for over an hour each way, Andre finally convinced me to move apartments.  We moved to the other side of the Zurich lake.

Here's some perspective:

It's about a five minute walk from our new place to the lake which should be totally awesome (in about 10 months...).  In the meantime, we have an excellent view of the train tracks and the lake!

Here's a shot of one of Switzerland's finest trains.

The trains are a bit loud but everyone we've talked to says you get used to it.  Here's hoping that's true!

We have an excellent picture window (please ignore the boxes - we're not 100% unpacked yet)

The new place is basically the same size as the old place but our bedrooms and the bathroom are much bigger so as a result, we have waaaaay too much living room type of furniture.  Time to get on the Swiss version of e-bay and get to selling!

Our old apartment had a glass shower door so when we moved in to the new place, we had to buy an emergency shower curtain.  There's wasn't a lot of choice.  It's growing on me though!

And of course, with the new deck we have, Andre had to go out and buy himself a present...

We've already put it to some serious good use!

Coming up next...the Swiss Grand Canyon

oh and come visit!

Pura Vida!

Pura Vida!  The literal translation is "pure life" but the Costa Ricans (or Ticos) use it all the time.  For thank you, hello, please - seems like it might be similar to Aloha.

Anywho, so I just got back from Costa Rica.  I met some friends there to celebrate one particular friend's 40th birthday (he shall remain unnamed but his initials are: A.L.A.N.)   :)

Leaves and Lizards

This place was fantastic.  It's in the middle of nowhere.  You must absolutely have a car with 4x4 to get to this place.  Especially if it's been raining.  In general, the roads in Costa Rica aren't the best.  There are some paved roads but there are also a lot of unpaved gravely roads.  Driving was quite the adventure!  We were really glad to see this sign:

We stayed at the Hummingbird Hacienda which is a nice big cabin with two bedrooms and two baths and a seriously awesome porch.

The house was surrounded by some crazy colorful flora and fauna.  Some of my favorites:

Lorita helped check us in

I don't what this is but it's hot pink so I like it!

We saw a toucan while eating breakfast

One of the gardeners actually caught this guy and brought him to breakfast for us all to check out

of course, there are hummingbirds at the hummingbird hacienda

Bird of Paradise

this guy was huuuge - love his stylish orange antennae though

it's a sloth!  (mostly it's a sloth ass)

Since we were hanging out in the jungle, we did jungle-y stuff!

We're ready to zipline and repel!

uhh - you want me to what?

Here I come to save the daaaay!

I totally got stuck on the line.  So I had to turn around backwards and pull myself the rest of the way.
What you don't see is everyone on the platform laughing their asses off.

On one of the lines, we came in and hit a cork thingy.  Scared the stuffing out of me.

Repelling down was totally awesome

repelling = awesome / climbing back up = not so awesome

The famous La Fortuna Waterfall

If you'd like to see more, check out the pics in the album below:

Zipling & Repelling - Costa Rica July 2013

We also did a jungle night walk.

We thought we were wearing boots for mud.
Turns out, we were wearing boots in case of snake attacks.  Grrrrreat.

frog!

And we went horseback riding and saw some excellent frogs and monkeys!

they call the frog on the left a "blue jeans" frog

we had a delicious lunch with a view of this waterfall

Alan and I managed to get across the rocks.  Coming back wasn't so easy!

monkey!

Our last day at Leaves and Lizards and we finally got to see the Arenal Volcano!

Riu Guanacaste

After three days of rainforest fun, we headed to the beach for some sun and sand.

This guy was just catching some rays by the pool

and his cousin too

spot the tourist!

wave came right as I clicked 

hey look at that!

I love how they store the fish while they keep fishing.
oh and Go Vols!

these two dudes were fighting over the empty shell - guess it was moving day!

i thought this was one crab when i took the picture
didn't see the other guy until I reviewed the pics  :)

For more flora and fauna, check out the album below:

Flora and Fauna - Costa Rica style

and for more scenery shots, check out this album:

Costa Rica Scenery

That's all folks!  If ever you want to go to Costa Rica, give me a call.  I've got some great recommendations for you!