Easter holiday!

Here in Switzerland, Easter Friday and Monday are official holidays here, and I'm headed down to Ticino for a holiday weekend (along with most of the people in Zurich, it seems)! I got to my train 15 minutes early and almost didn't get a seat! But I'm super happy to be on the train, especially after seeing (from the train) the kilometers-long traffic jam/parking lot of people trying to get through the Gotthard Tunnel. Hooray for trains!

View from the hill by my house.

When I went for a run last week, I grabbed this panoramic view from the top of the hill. I love that I can run here whenever I want (or, at least, whenever the weather is nice enough...)!

A sunset spring walk.

Last week, when it was spring, I walked home from work around sunset and took some photos at the top of the hill. I love it here!

Please come back, spring!

View from my balcony this morning. Woof.

View from my run today.

Spring!!! Eeeeeee!

Post-conference weekend in Ticino.

Two weeks ago, I attended a super interesting conference on iron biogeochemistry, which featured talks about acid mine drainage, iron-rich sediments, hydrothermal vents, ferruginous oceans, bacterial siderophores, volcanoes, and all sorts of other super interesting things. Going to conferences like these reminds me that science is totally amazing and that I love what I do (most days).

After this conference, I stayed for a weekend visit with Stefanie and her family, which so nice. After being sequestered in my flat for almost 2 weeks and then going directly to an intense conference, it was perfect to have some relaxing time with friends.

We cooked dinner together on Friday night: hamburgers!

On Saturday, her parents picked us up and brought us back to Brissago, which is the smaller town near Italy where they live. Stefanie gave me the grand tour of Brissago, including the Sacro Monte di Brissago, the lakefront, and their family's store, which has a sign with their family name (Kuchler). We also had a really nice afternoon coffee at a cafe in downtown Brissago. Aside from the Brissago tour, we mostly relaxed, which I was quite happy about.

Lago Maggiore.

Sacro Monte di Brissago.

Super skinny road! Eeek!

Spring is coming! Primrose by the road!

On Sunday, after a leisurely brunch and some time playing in the garden with Cali (their golden retriever), we traipsed off to Cardada, which is a little mountain above Locarno that is accessible by cable car almost directly from the train station. We walked around a little bit to a lookout over Lago Maggiore, and then sat in the sun with some drinks for about an hour, just enjoying the weather and the scenery.

Mimosas, the flower of women's day.

Cali!

After that, it was time to head back to Zürich. It was really a fantastic and relaxing weekend, and just what I needed. I'm sad that Stefanie no longer lives in Zürich, but it's always great to visit her, and I love Ticino. It is also fun since we spoke German all weekend; this sort of immersion always improves my German skills. Not to mention that I also am picking up some Italian, as well! I just heart Switzerland!

My visit to London last month.

As I mentioned before, I have been down and out with the cold that just won't go away. It's been about a month, and I'm still not back to 100%, although I'm definitely doing much, much better. Hence, I've been a little slow on the blogging front. I decided to take this weekend slow, so now's time to catch up!

Last month, I went to London for a long weekend to visit my dear friends the Pattons. The last time I saw them was around Christmas time, when we all met in Munich, so it was lovely to see them again. Jessi, Jr. is a complete doll and so much fun to play with. It's hard to believe that a year ago she was just a little baby that I was visiting in Tel Aviv!

The first day that I was in London, Jessi, Jessi Jr. and I hung out in their neighborhood, doing some shopping, taking a walk, and having lunch at a cute little cafe in the area. There were already little flowers blooming, which made me so excited for spring!

Jessi at lunch.

One of the major reasons that I visited this particular weekend was for Jessi, Jr.'s first birthday party. Jessi put together a really nice party with a Dr. Seuss theme, and it seemed like everyone had a very nice time. It was rather chaotic with lots of little babies running around, but I guess that's what a 1-year-old's birthday party is like.

The funniest part about this party was that Jessi made green eggs and ham, but the "ham" was actually turkey-ham open-faced sandwiches with mustard and cheddar that were warmed in the oven. Everyone totally went crazy for them! The concept of turkey that tasted like ham was apparently a revelation of huge proportions to those who didn't eat ham, and apparently no one had ever had a sandwich that was this good. Several people wanted the recipe, which was easy enough... But, seriously, you'd think they never had a hot ham-and-cheese sandwich before!

The next day we drove outside of London and took two separate little walks. First, around Box Hill. The weather was really great, and it was quite nice to get outside and walk. It was, without a doubt, one of the muddiest hikes I've ever been on. Jessi definitely had the right idea with her Wellies- not only because of the mud, but also because the stepping-stone bridge that was a highlight of this walk was underwater, and could only really be crossed with knee-high rubber boots. I'd always thought that people just got these boots because they're totally "in" right now, but it turns out that they are actually quite practical!

Jessi crossing on the stepping stones!

Thankfully, there was another bridge so that I didn't have to use the stepping stones!

After lunch, we drove a short distance to Leith Hill, which features a tower that can be climbed to get fantastic views. You can actually see London in the distance!

London is this direction.

With the super nice weather, it was lovely to be outside and enjoy the sun and to be with such great friends. Even though we still haven't managed to live in the same time zone, it's great to have the Pattons living so close! I'm afraid that this was the fateful weekend where I caught the superbug that has haunted me this past month, but it was still a nice trip, and I'm already looking forward to meeting up with the Pattons in France this May!