hut hiking engelberg

My friend Matt and I decided to go hiking one weekend in October. It had already started snowing in the mountains, so we knew we could only go as high as 2000m. We found a "hut" where you can stay overnight and decided it sounded like a fun thing to try so took the train Saturday to Engelberg and started our hike to the hut from there.

 

 

The weather was perfect - very sunny. The snow at the tops of the mountains made for beautiful views throughout the hike.

 

 

When Matt called to make our reservation at the "hut", she said it was a "snowless" hike. This was not completely accurate. Since I still haven't bought hiking boots and usually hike in my trail running shoes, the last stretch of the trail covered in snow was a little tricky, but I managed!

 

Here is our "hut". It is basically a mountain cabin that they've turned into a hostel. There are huts located throughout Switzerland. This one had recently been renovated and was really nice. They served us a three course dinner too! The hut has food and supplies helicoptered in approximately once a month. There were 3 employees that live there and run the hut. It was an interesting experience. I would definitely do it again.

 

My cold beer on the deck after our hike:

 

Watching the beautiful sunset:

 

The next morning we woke up early and hiked back a slightly different trail.

 

beautiful sunday in zurich

October is a very busy month for me at work, so there wasn't a lot of time for travel or other fun activities. One Sunday, the weather was beautiful (but quite cold!), so I decided to walk to the office to enjoy the little bit of sunshine. The view at Lake Zurich was so amazing that I had to stop and take a few pictures. Makes me realize how lucky I am to be here!

 

hornussen

As the winners of the previous team event, me and Paul ("the Americans") were responsible for planning the next team event and we planned to play hornussen. Hornussen (which I had never heard of before) is the sport of Swiss farmers. There is really no way to describe this sport, so just watch the youtube video if you are interested.

 

Me & Claudia - Enjoying some beers on the train there

 

 

Matthias being anti-social on the train ride there

 

This is our adorable old instructor telling Adrian how its done

 



 

Just happy to hit the dang hornuss

It was a cold, cloudy, and somewhat rainy day, but we managed to stay dry and the sun actually came out by the end of the day!



 

The whole team

 

After hornussen, we went back to Burgdorf for dinner in the cellar of a brewery there. After beers and wine, we headed back to Zurich and ended up at Paddy's.

 

 

 

oktoberfest

We went back to Munich this year for round #2 of Oktoberfest. We were much more prepared this time - we had our dirndls from last year, our apartment book months in advance, tickets to a tent, and several other beer gardens in the city to check out before our reservation at the tent.

 

Me & Alayna--fun games on the party train to Munich

 

Alayna & Luca on Friday night

 



 

The dirndls are ready! 

 

 

Our first beer of the day with lunch at the local Hofbrauhaus

A beer garden we stopped at for beer #2 of the day

 



 

Our attempts to hold Emily up failed miserably!

 

 

We ended the night at a club and danced the night away. We had so much fun!

poland

At the end of September, I went for a long weekend in Poland with my friend from work Piotr. It was such a great trip and so nice to have my own personal tour guide and definitely have the "local" experience.

 

We flew into Krakow and the next day toured the city.

 

The Wawel Castle

 



 

Statue of Pope John Paul II

 

The "Dragon's Cave" of the castle

 

 

Yummy lunch in Krakow

 

 

After our tour of Krakow, we drove to Auschwitz and then Birkenau (where "Auschwitz II" concentration camp was). This was something I thought was important to see and I'm glad I did see, but it was difficult. There are really no words to describe the visit, but this quote on the wall struck me:

 

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it" -George Santayana

 

 

 

After our somber visits, we made the rest of the drive to Piotr's hometown - Olawa, which is a small town outside of Wroclaw.

 

His family is so nice and was so welcoming. I couldn't thank them enough for their wonderful hospitality. Piotr did a great job translating too!

 

The next day we went into the city of Wroclaw. We toured the city and had an amazing lunch of soup and pierogis.

 

 

And the tour wouldn't be complete without seeing the Deloitte office

 



 

When we got back to the house, Piotr's grandma had made us pierogis. The homemade were of course even better than in the restaurant (if that was even possible). Then I made white chocolate covered oreos and we went over to Piotr's friend's house. The five of us went into the city and had some beers at a local brewery.

 

 

Saturday we went grocery shopping in preparation for a party Piotr had for his birthday. Then we went go-cart racing with his brother. I'd never been go-cart racing before and it was soooooo much fun! Such an adrenaline rush. I was also happy not to finish last!

 

 

Saturday night was the birthday party. Piotr's friends were all very nice. I managed not to get too lost in conversation with a couple of them translating the important parts for me.

 

On Sunday, we went with Piotr's siblings and climbed the Olawa tower.

 

 

Sunday evening we went to church and then left Monday morning. It was a wonderful trip :)