lucerne brunch

On a fairly chilly and overcast July Sunday, my friend Matt and I decided to head to Lucerne and treat ourselves to a nice brunch. We relaxed and enjoyed the brunch buffet and coffee at one of the nice hotels along the lake. We then decided to go to the Swiss transport museum. The museum would be so much fun for little kids.

blindekuh

I finally made it to one of Zurich's most talked-about restaurants, the "blind cow" or "blindekuh". The restaurant is only about a block away from my apartment, but it is very difficult to get a reservation. Due to the summer holidays, we were able to get in. The concept of the restaurant is described in more detail on their website (http://www.blindekuh.ch/en/blindekuh_zuerich/), but in general, you eat your dinner in complete darkness. The waiters are blind or partially-sighted.

The dinner was something like I've never experienced before. There were five of us - me, Lise, Piotr, Elivra, and Davis. We all thought that our eyes would somewhat adjust to the darkness once we got inside, but it was complete darkness. You could not see your own hand one inch in front of your face. Our phones, watches, and anything else which would create light were left in lockers outside. We had to be led to the tables by our waiter holding onto the person's shoulder in front of you. Pouring our own wine proved to be a hilarious experiment - some ended up with full (almost overflowing) glasses and some ended up with just a sip. We all chose to do the surprise menu which meant we received three courses and didn't know what any of them were. At first, you tried to eat "normally", but by the end there was a lot more fingers being used and less fork/knife usage. The food was absolutley delicious (they told us afterwards what it was we'd eaten), and the experience was something I would highly recommend to everyone. Its true that your other senses were more aware when you couldn't see, which heightened the dining experience with all the smells and also was interesting to have a dinner conversation when you could not get all of the non-verbal cues you would get if you could see.

 

Outside of the restaurant - an old church which has been renovated:

 

Piotr and I and the cow (I guess he's blind):

 

After our return to the light - drinks at local wine bar - Lise, Piotr, Davis & Elvira:

 

The card stating what was included in the surprise menu. We received this at the end of our meal (after we returned to the light):

venice

To continue our little weekend in Italy, we arrived Saturday late afternoon in Venice. Since there was a huge festival going on that day, we knew ahead of time that parking was going to be a nightmare, so we parked at the airport and took the bus into the city. We arrived at the bus station without any clue where we were. For those that have been to Venice before, you know how difficult it is to navigate. After walking around the hot city for what seemed like hours (lugging our suitcases as well!), we finally found our hotel.

 

 

After a much needed shower, we headed out for dinner.

 

Gondola parking:

 

St. Mark's Square

 

At the water's edge, there were so many people and so many boats out on the water. The festival meant that they would have a fireworks show at 11:30pm, people started staking out there spots on the ground at 9pm. We had dinner (pizza and wine) on an outdoor patio right on the water. We were able to stay there and continue drinking wine all through the fireworks show.

 

My second fireworks show in two weeks, but this one was really impressive. It lasted over an hour.

 

This was the crowd of people after the show trying to make their way home.

 

On Sunday we walked around a bit, did some leather shopping (yay new purses!), and then sprung for a gondola ride, which is something I didn't do when I was there the last time because we were a group of college students on a budget :P

 

Rialto Bridge

 

Beautiful canals

 

Our gondolier:

verona

This past weekend, Piotr and I decided to rent a car and go on a little road trip to Italy. We left after work on Friday evening and drove down to Verona. Our road trip took a little longer than planned due to traffic going through the Gotthard Tunnel. Our GPS took us all the way around the tunnel through the mountains. Made for a cool view during the drive.

 

Saturday morning's hotel breakfast included mimosas, so I was a happy camper!

 

 

Verona is a walled city. We walked into the city and around a bit. It was absolutely beautiful.

 

 

The Arena:

 

Graffitied wall outside Juliet's house:

 

Juliet's balcony:

 

Soave wine from the region with lunch

 

Gelato!!! (of course)

 

The hotel recommended a nearby winery where we could go and do a tasting and buy some wine. I've visited several wineries in France and in the US, but this was my first in Italy.

 

Trees which are "Tuscan" (according to my friend Abby and our 2003 Euro trip) ;)

 

Since Piotr was driving, I took advantage of the free and delicious tastings

 

And everything was so delicious, bought nearly one of every bottle!

 

 

brest



With only five months left in Europe, I wanted to take the opportunity while I was here to go back to the city of Brest, where I was the first time I was ever in Europe in 2002 for my french study abroad program for the summer. I hadn't been to Brest since 2005 when my family went to France and visited with my "french family" in Brest. I was able to visit my "french brother" in Rennes, where he lives now in December 2012. The trip was great. Again, it was a struggle to recall my french! But, I managed to get by. I flew into the tiny Brest airport on Friday night. Jean-Marie ("french father") picked me up at the airport and took me back to his house where I ate some bread and ham as a late dinner/snack. On Saturday he took me to the local market in a nearby village where we walked around, shopped for some fresh produce, and bought mussels for lunch (for "moules-frites").

 

 

Jean-Marie made the moules frites for us and they were definitely the best mussels I've ever had. Together, the two of us ate 1.2kilos of mussels - here are the remnants:

 

He taught me how to make them, but he said what makes them good is when they are fresh, and obviously these were as we just brought them home from the market and Brest is right at the ocean. After lunch, we went into the city of Brest. I was surprised that I didn't remember more about the city/the road from the city to their house. However, the key parts of the city were just as I remembered.

 

Jean-Marie told me that the only thing that had changed in Brest was that they now have a tram (big news)!

 

After our walk around the city, buying chocolates, having tea and dessert at a cafe, and shopping a bit, Jean-Marie took me to the train station and I took the train to Rennes, where Julien lives. My time in Brest was really great, especially the fact that I got to spend so much time with Jean-Marie. I arrived in Rennes and Julien picked me up with his 2 year old son, Tybalt. Tybalt wasn't so sure about me and was very shy. It took him one day and then he wanted to be my best friend :) When we got to their house, his wife, Laurence, and daughter, Cassandre, had just arrived home from shopping. Cassandre (age 5) remembered me from when I was there a year and a half ago. She was so excited to see me and play barbies and princesses again.

 

The rest of the weekend I spent playing with the kids, "practicing" my french by playing Taboo with Julien and Laurence, watching the world cup finale, eating wonderful food (Laurence even made crepes on Saturday night!), and drinking wonderful wine (because, as Julien told me, I'm was in France so I had to)!

 

On Sunday, while the kids were napping, Julien and I went to visit the Roche-aux-Fees (rocks of the fairies):

 

Saturday night, we woke the kids up at 11pm and went to a fireworks show for the French national holiday, which was Monday. The kids were so excited (Cassandre because she got to wake up again and Tybalt because he thought all of the fireworks were targets that he shot with his fake gun).

 

I had such a lovely weekend spending the weekend with this family (even if they aren't my own real family). Thanks to the Roux for everything they did for me, especially all the amazing home-cooked food!