Out and about with friends and family in Switzerland…
Trying out a new sport: urban golf!
The golf balls are rubbery and bigger than your regulation golf ball, and the golf club is made in such a way that it is both driver (side) and putter (back). The bottom of the club is hollow so that you can store your ball!
There are 18 holes placed in different areas all around the medieval town of Fribourg. I hit my ball in the river, Stéphane hit his in a goat field; there are holes under old bridges, next to an abbey, etc
GREAT idea, Lolo and GaGa! An awesome way to spend a day outside with great friends and to see more of the town of Fribourg.
Right before sending my ball into the river.
I have noticed all around Switzerland these diagnal-stiped shutters, in all different colors. The shutters on this building are painted black and white because it is in the town of Fribourg, in canton (state) Fribourg, whose flag is black/white. It’s all coming together now…
Crane (homage to Gruyère) sculpture / funculaire – a little train car that carries passengers up/down a steep section of the city. The way it works? The car that is going down carries sewer water with it – the weight of the sewer water pulls it down and in turn the car moving down pulls its counterpart car UP. / Airing out some pillows.
We learned a new card game to play back home – Jass (pronounced “yass”). The suits here are: acorns, shields, flowers, and bells.
The scoreboard. MUCH more complicated than euchre.
We drove to Saint-Étienne, France, to see our brother-in-law’s band, Deos, play. Deos is a Death Metal band. We have never experienced this kind of music before so didn’t really know what to expect.
A pre-concert beverage with the band. These guys are awesome! A great band and really good people.
So there are different kinds of genres within Death Metal. Deos is inspired by ancient Rome and so their music / lyrics revolve around ancient Roman themes. Fabio calls it “war music”, and it’s really true. Total adrenaline. If I were skydiving and about to jump out of a plane, I’d probably have Deos cranked up in the background.
We got to listen to three different Death Metal bands at Thunderbird Lounge. Deos’s vibe was ancient Rome. Then there was NeverCold and MythArk. NeverCold had organ music playing in the background and the singer was more screechy and high-pitched than Deos. Of the three, I liked Deos the best.
Fabio wowed us with his top-notch cooking skills. He made us pasta (from scratch!). The noodles are made with flour and egg.
I’m sure Adriano will be just as good a cook as daddy one day.
I don’t have a picture of it, but for dinner we ate mutton kebobs, pork, and duck with a yummy salad. I think this is the longest I’ve gone without eating my boring chicken – so many other flavors out there!! Merci beaucoup, Fabio!!
We strolled around Annecy Lake and checked out the medieval part of Fabio & Yvonne’s town, Annecy (France).
They call it “The Venice of France” because of the canals that run through the old part of the city.
Super tourists!
Cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways.
Our visit would not be complete without a timed Family photo!
Amazing view from a Swisscom tower, high up on a hill. Love the layers: green meadows, forest, fog, mountains.
View from the top of the Swisscom tower – yeah!! —
360 degrees.
With the boys.
Look at this conference room!!! Who could pay attention to a meeting with these mountains in the background?
Swisscom’s generator – nothing but the best: DETROIT DIESEL!
A visit to the quaint village of Villette to walk through the vines.
A walk through the vineyards of Villette.
These vineyards are right on Lake Lemon and the views are beautiful. In the right season, you can walk from village to vallage on narrow roads through the vines and stop at different “wine caves” to sample the local fare.
We were *just* above “the soup” (fog). The fog visits the area in the winter and settles over Lake Lemon. If you are at just a slightly higher altitude, you are up and out of it, like us.
Sunset shot.
Sunset over fog and vines.
We checked out “Marche de Noël” – it is a Christmas market where local (and not-so-local artisans Yvonne Hefti wink emoticon ) sell their wares. You can buy a vin chaude (hot wine with spices) and Hot Fondue (think Hot Dog but instead of the hot dog in the bun, you have melted cheese), woolen sweaters, blown-glass baubles and other such schnick-schnack. And…CANDY!
A kindred spirit.
Next…time for more cheese!!!! Matthieu and Christelle had us over for raclette at their new and beautiful apartment.
This is the little raclette oven. Each person gets their own mini-pan on where you put a slice of cheese. You can also put things like onions (pickled or salted or regular), pickles, tomatoes, olives on the cheese. Once the cheese has melted (it has to be goey but not TOO melty to the point where its oily), you scrape it onto your plate and eat with potatoes.
The mini-pans and scrapers for the cheese.
Mmmmmmmmm Raclette cheese slices…MERCI BEAUCOUP Matthieu et Christelle, pour la bonne journée / soirée!!
The Grizz (Winnebago View - active duty)
1,800 miles and counting
The Hungry hippo (Popup camper - retired)
1,200 miles
The Gruffalo (Tow behind camper - retired):
12,000 miles and counting
The Baby Bison (Tow behind toy hauler - retired):
7000+ miles
Maine > New Mexico + adventures in between
The Great White Buffalo (5th wheel camper - retired):
3,000 miles
Free Range (Slocum 37 sailboat - resting; getting overhauled in Nova Scotia):
Traveled 2,400 nautical miles from Oriental, NC > Antigua (end of the road).
