November was actually quite a busy month for us. We had plans almost every weekend, which was fantastic! The first weekend (Nov 1st) we went to the Zurich wine boats. We attended this event last year and had a great time. This year's event was just as fun, if not better. Basically, at the lake front they have about 7 or 8 large boats docked. Inside the boats are stands with wine vendors from all around the world. There are planks for you to walk across from one boat to the next. It's a pretty cool set up!
There was a large group of us that met up and went, and we did our fair share of tasting delicious wines. Afterwards, we headed to Bellevue (one of the main center areas of town) and grabbed some yummy pizza. Then we headed to a bar where there was live entertainment. It was a great night and of course, we ordered some wine from the boats! Oh, and one of the crazy things about this thing with ordering the wine: you pick what you want that evening by filling out a form at the vendor stand. The vendor then delivers the wine to your doorstep. About a week or so later, THEN you actually pay for the wine. Everyone is just so trustworthy...it's refreshing!
The work week came, and later that week Aggie and and our buddy, John, met myself and our other good friend, Danielle, for drinks at a cool Aussie bar. They have some of the best fries in town and Ag and Danielle were lovin' them!
That weekend (the 8th) we went on a weekend trip away to Lugano, Switzerland....also known as "Clean Italy". Lugano is the largest city in Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. It is also very close to Lake Como. This was our second time there - we went to Lugano one of the first weekends we had moved to Switzerland over a year and a 1/2 ago.
This trip was 110% fun and crazy! We went with two other couples, Dave and Ali and Carole and Kevin. Carole is Swiss and her family has an apartment in the city of Lugano, so accomodation was free. It was a great set up!
We left Friday after work and we all upgraded our train tickets to 1st class. Carole had packed wine, beer and snacks for all of us to enjoy on the way down (about 3.5 hours)! We played cards and just chilled and enjoyed the company the whole way there. Once we arrived, we jumped in a cab to her place, got settled in and started playing more card games. It was fun evening of eating, drinking and chillin' which is exactly what we all needed after a long work week.
On Saturday morning we headed to the grocery store and got some goods for the next few days.
Dave whipped up some tasty omlettes and we all ate out on the patio that overlooked the city and the lake. Even though it was mid-November, the sun was shining and it was pleasently warm outside. We then headed into town and took a nice hike through the woods to a church that overlooked the lake. The hike was a bit challenging and it was great to be out in the nice sunny weather. Oh, I must note, so Aggie must have dried my hiking pants in the dryer by accident...long story short, they were a bit tight on me. I decided to still wear them though as I became the "butt" of many jokes!! It was too funny, and I had to keep them on....
Afterwards we walked around in town and grabbed some coffees and drinks at a cafe. Then, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. Carole took us to an awesome pizza place that the locals go to. It was delicious and we all left very full and happy! That evening we went back to the apartment and played some more cards (we couldn't get enough!). It was a great ending to a wonderful day.
On Sunday we all ate an amazing breakfast again and then cleaned the apartment. We headed to the train station and got back to Zurich later that evening. It was a great weekend!
The work week came and went....
Then, the weekend of the 22nd we had our good friend, Sarah, came into town. Sarah used to live here and Aggie became good friends with her. She moved back to the States this past February and I know Ag misses having her around...so, needless to say, she was excited Sarah was coming for a long weekend visit!
Ag met Sarah at the airport and helped her get things settled at her friend's place where she was staying. Later that Thursday evening, Ag, Carole and Sarah were out catching up at a local watering hole. Kevin, Danielle and myself met them a bit later after work. It was a nice night out.
Friday Aggie went out for pizza with everyone (I got caught up at work...blah!). Saturday, I "tried" to go skiing with John. It was going to be our first run of the year and we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, we took the train out (2 hrs into the mountains) and the lifts were closed! John had called earlier that week and they were supposed to be open. However, a snow storm had blown in and they weren't opening...So, we trekked back to Zurich all sad.
Saturday evening we had a party at our place to kick off the holiday season and the fact that Sarah was in town. We had a great time and really enjoyed the night. Aggie went over and beyond again with the food and such, which was great and obviously much appreciated!
Sunday was pretty chill and we said "Auf Wiedersehen" (aka, goodbye!) to Sarah.
The week of Thanksgiving came and we had plans the upcoming weekend (the 29th) to go to Dave and Ali's for a full-fledged ex-pat Thanksgiving day party. On Wednesday night Aggie had made a pumpkin pie for us to have as dessert on Thursday evening. (Even though we were going to be working on Thursday and not really celebrating our holiday, we thought we should do something traditional...and eating pumpkin pie seemed to be the ticket!) Well, that pie didn't even have a chance...we sat and ate it for dinner on Wednesday evening!
On Friday, November 28th I went to the whiskey boats with John and our other Russian friend, Vlad. It was a similar set up to how the wine boats were. The only exception is you paid for your liquor on the spot. There were bottles of whiskey over 1,000 dollars, so that seemed more appropriate. It was crazy...there were definitely some high rollers present, and if you were a single lady in the city, this was the place to be to meet a dude!
Saturday we went to Dave and Ali's for the Thanksgiving Day feast. It was a great time and the food was awesome! Everyone brought a few dishes or drinks to share and no one left hungry. The next day, John and I attempted another ski day. This time we succeeded! It was a great day as the sun was shining, and we had a blast. The plan is to go skiing again this weekend so we will see...
Last weekend (Dec 6th) we went to our old stomping grounds, Luxembourg. We also stopped in Trier, Germany and Colmar, France. We got to see lots of friends, and check out all the Christmas markets which definitely gets you in the holiday spirit! The trip was awesome and we will blog about that next....Ciao for now!!
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