davos ski weekend

Our team at work planned a ski weekend for the last weekend in March in Davos. Marija, Daniela, and I arrived Friday night and then went to Lukas' girlfriend's apartment in Davos to meet up with the group for a few drinks. We went back to the hotel fairly early and met up with Elvira there. On Saturday morning, we woke up, Elvira and I rented our skis, and then we met up with a couple of the boys. After buying our ski passes, Elvira, Marija and I decided to stay near the bottom of the mountain to start. We are all new skiers/snowboarders and wanted to practice up. Also we didn't want the others to see us :)

My fellow newbies to the slopes:

Me and Daniela with our fighting State shirts. Go HOOSIERS! 

The group met for lunch at the top of the mountain.

Then Marija and I headed back down the mountain on a more difficult slope. We each only fell a few times. 

We met up with Jelena at the bottom of the mountain and then took the gondola up to meet the others for Apres Ski #1.

We skied down to meet up with the others who I believe started drinking at Apres Ski #1 immediately after lunch! 

When we arrived, this is what we found - people dancing and partying on top of the roof. I have never seen anything like this apres ski. It was so much fun! 

Here's our whole group: 

Lots of shots were had... 

New favorite picture of Saxer opening champagne and Aline and everyone else fearing for their lives:

Then there was dancing on the bar... 

We finally met at the bottom for Apres Ski #2 just before it got dark out.

The rest of the night included a nice dinner (which all except one managed to make it on time to), then a club, then pizza, then another bar until 6am. I've never before been at a bar when the sun came up and walked home in broad daylight. What a fun weekend (and great bonding with co-workers)!

march visitors

Lauren and "Tree" came to visit in March with their friends Derrick and Audrey. We had a great time while they were here and it was fun to show them around Zurich.

The girls - Lauren, Audrey, Jenna & Daniela at Zeughauskeller with our big flaming beers.

The Americans at Longstrasse

I got them hooked on Raclette

On Lauren and Tree's last day in Zurich (Audrey and Derrick left one day earlier), Kenton Zimmermon arrived in Zurich. He is working here for a week in Neuchatel. We took the train up to Uetliberg (even though it was cloudy/windy/cold) and then went to an Irish pub to watch some March Madness.



zermatt

On Sunday, we woke up SUPER early and drove to Zermatt (almost 4 hours away). Thanks to Tree for driving the whole way there and back while the rest of us snoozed off and on! We all had a first on the trip - we went on a "car train". That's right, it's kind of like a ferry that you drive on, only its a train you drive on and then the train takes you through a tunnel through the mountain. It was fun and gave Tree a short break from driving:

This is what the "car train" looks like:

Unfortunately it was cloudy in Zermatt (and windy and snowing), so it made seeing to ski difficult. The group helped me to improve A LOT and I made it down a couple slopes I never would have gone down without them. Thanks to Tree's help, I ended up with Tree falling on top of me at one point. Tree thought he killed me, Lauren thought he broke my leg/gave me a concussion, but it was fine :) The highlight of the day for me was gluwein in an igloo!

When my feet and legs couldn't handle it anymore, I went back down the mountain to Zermatt and found a bar for lunch.

I couldn't resist - it was St. Patrick's Day. With every Guinness purchase, you got a free hat! 

So I got a hat each for the boys: 

Despite the weather and pain in my feet, it was a fun day. I'm looking forward to going back so I can actually see the Matterhorn!

luzern & zurich

On Saturday after our night out at Longstrasse, I went with Lauren, Tree, Derrick, and Audrey to Luzern. We walked around and took in the beautiful sights. When we got back to Zurich, we walked around Zurich a bit as well.

This is my new favorite picture. It took me about 6 times for the flag to actually be blowing perfectly straight.

Luzern - always beautiful. It never gets old.

The view from the top of the hill in Old Town in Zurich. With the mountains in the background it was so beautiful!

winter fun

It's been awhile, so here's a quick summary of what I've been up to this winter:

Working in Shaffhausen in February, I took the train past (or sometimes directly over) Rhine Falls everyday:

Daniela's Birthday:

Walking home from the bars in a beautiful snowstorm:

On the first sunny day I had free, I went up to the roof and for a walk by the lake to take some pictures:

Zurich hockey game in Oerlikon:

Jelena and Daniela at our romantic Valentine's Day dinner:

Skiing in Flumserberg with some girls from work - we laughed so much learning a new "skiing on your butt" style and also having Daniela teach Elvira how to stand up when she fell!

Elvira and our ski instructor:

Marija, Elvira, & Daniela

 Flumserberg:

Jelena's birthday:

Spa day for myself in Lucerne:

 A fun night out in Niederdorf: