Hitting the slopes

And I mean that in the most literal sense - more on that later.

For my Xmas present, Keshava arranged a trip to a local ski park, Flumserberg, which we could access by train. We had a ski instructor for the morning, however, he quickly became my new best friend and K was off to the intermediate slopes without me.

This was the second time I had ever skied. And the first time was 14 years ago. Due to the heroic efforts of the instructor, I actually only fell once, but when I did, it was spectacular. I fell getting on the magic carpet - a ski lift for babies. The kid behind me was 18months old. And as I lay there on the snow, I had the humiliating opportunity to watch my poles go up the hill without me.

All and all is was a fun day. The alps are beautiful and the weather was glorious that day. We took a gondola ride to 2200 meters and got to watch three para-jumpers throw themselves off the mountain and float way. In the meantime, someone absconded with Keshavas skis and while he was not able to ski in the afternoon, the culprit kindly returned them to the ski rental place so that we did not have to pay.


I am fairly confident that I will never be able to ski, but Keshava is determined and has already gone a second time. Maybe some of it will eventually rub off on me...

See more of Flumserberg at http://picasaweb.google.ch/keshava/SkiingAtFlumserberg/photo#s5180316179103820386

Barcelona - City of Picasso and Gaudi

Much like many airlines in the US, Swiss Air has weekly last minute flight deals. Looking at the destinations though, all similarities end. Our second week in Zurich, we saw a deal for Barcelona, so off we went!

Barcelona is definitely not a city for the traditionalist - anchored by the cubism of Picasso, and the architecture of Gaudi, the city surprises you around every corner.

Even the markets are designed to be visually appealing - the Boqueria is the biggest market in the city, and the sights and smells can be overwhelming.

But the most overwhelming sights in the city are the churches - the old Gothic Cathedral, and the still under construction Sagrada Familia are both amazing, but are about as far apart as you can get in style.




See more of Barcelona at: http://picasaweb.google.com/keshava/Barcelona

First trip - Off to Basel!

After one week of exploring Zurich (which isn't nearly as big as we thought), it was time for our first trip - visiting good friends from NYC, Astrid and Val, and their daughter Lola, who have been living in Basel for the last year. A quick walk around Basel took us to the banks of the Rhine river. In the meantime, Astrid and Val filled us in on all the insider tips and tricks for surviving as an American in Switzerland.



See more of Basel at http://picasaweb.google.com/keshava/VisitingAstridAndValInBasel

Our first days in Zurich....

We started off living in style, as we stayed right on the lake for our first night in Zurich. Gorgeous weather greeted us, unusual for this time of year, but we were not about to complain. It was so nice, the Zurichers even took to the lake (although we didn't think it was THAT warm). The next day, we moved to a furnished apartment a few blocks away, and the search for an apartment began. Supposedly, finding an apartment in Zurich is one of the hardest places to find one - but we got lucky, and ended getting the first apartment we saw!




See more of our first days at http://picasaweb.google.com/keshava/FirstDaysInZurich

Moving out!

Its a great city, but it was time to say Auf Wiedersehen! (or at least, see you later) to New York. One of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to the apartment (as anyone who lives in Manhattan will understand), but at least we had great friends to see us off and make our last night in the city a memorable one!



See more at: http://picasaweb.google.com/keshava/LeavingNY

Our Zurich / European Adventure!

So, it's been almost six weeks since we packed up our belongings, sent them on a slow boat to Switzerland, and started our European adventure. While we haven't been nearly as in touch as we'd like, we've already been having some great adventures, and rather than bore all of you, our dear family and friends, with an email everytime we go off and try something new, we thought we'd just set up this photo blog showing the things we've done. We'll try and give a quick background of the pics, and show your our few favorites, and then for those of you with an appetite for more - give you the link to the full set.

Hope you all enjoy the pictures, and we can't wait for all of you to come join us in taking some here in Europe!

Diana & Keshava