home sweet.

meg and alan at the j.j. hill library

After being home for 2.5 weeks, it feels a little strange to be waiting for my flight back to Switzerland. Somehow it feels as though I never left. It was so great to be surrounded by family and friends the entire time I was back- I didn't even have a chance to see everyone. But it did make me feel a little like a celebrity to have such a warm welcome and to be constantly meeting everyone and talking about my adventures. I attended two weddings while I was back- both were so amazing and touching- also just fun to dance and eat and relax. Congrats to Annie & Julie and Meg & Alan as they begin their new lives together!

i enjoyed sneaking around the upper levels of the library!

a blurry pic of the family looking sharp.

trying to stay warm!

the ladies know how to rock!

I met three new babies- Sydney, Freida and Stella- and have been trying to convince poppy to come out and meet the world while I was around, but he/she decided to wait until after I left. I also saw Rhia who was barely 3 months old when I left, now a squirming playful little girl who is ready to run. 

sydney loved my hair- hopefully didn't scare her too much!

friends!!!

Rob is getting anxious!

I am so grateful for all of my friendships and I'm leaving the country with a mission to keep in better touch. I have missed everyone and will miss you all so much. See you again in December! 

<3,

a

p.s. since i started writing this post, Erin and Rob gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Hazel Grace Augustine. Welcome to the world, Hazel! I can't wait to meet you soon :)

vals, therme.

its official, i am returning to vals! i just booked 2 nights at the therme-vals hotel because this is something that howie MUST see before leaving switzerland. and i must see again. :)

images from "Stone and Water, Bells" found in my hotel room.

let me rewind- a few weeks ago amber and dan were visiting switzerland after spending some time in lisbon where i hung out with them for a bit. we had pretty much decided to make our time together in switzerland into a peter zumthor pilgrimage, of sorts. if you don't know what i'm talking about, you can get the idea here.

the thermal baths/spa that he designed is studied in all schools of architecture- a seriously famous building. i do admit there is a lot of hype about this building, and i was trying to prepare myself just in case it wasn't all that amazing, or perhaps spending a semester hearing about the building would have spoiled everything.

hotel info packet

let me just say now that it didn't matter how much i'd studied this building from afar- it is really the most amazing architectural + bathing experience that i've ever had.  in both separate and combined categories. even my hair felt nice after soaking in the amazing mineral water. (or maybe it had been a few days since last washed??) one can wander from room to room, pool to pool for hours, it is a true sensory experience- all 5. this is the kind of place that you literally have no idea how much time is passing and i know we could have stayed longer. hence upcoming visit #2.

green roof of the spa looking towards Vals

i'm not going to spoil it for you (and mostly for howie). there is nothing like exploring this building for the first time- especially in the darkness of the evening. if you are a guest of the hotel you have special guests-only use of the bath in the morning from 8-11ish and again at night from 11-12:30. we decided that our first experience would be at night and so we walked around town in the afternoon and had ourselves a nice, "light" swiss dinner so that we wouldn't drown later. (there is no such thing as "light" swiss food.)  in the end we survived dinner and enjoyed floating and looking at the stars. we all slept like babies in our "spirit of the sixties" naval-themed hotel rooms only to head back to bathing at 8am.

outdoor portion of the spa

after bathing we gorged ourselves at the enormous breakfast buffet complete with a looseleaf tea bar (including many types of tea that dan may or may not have read to us several times ;-)  i've had many daydreams about that breakfast...

netflix for books?

lets just say that i have redeemed myself this year for the lack of books read during the m. arch years. last summer i started my reading binge with the millenium series by Steig Larson and i've done pretty well ever since. when i arrived in lausanne i was reading Barbara Kingsolver's latest book, The Lacuna. although it was a good book, it was terribly slow. ever since i finished that monster in may i've read about 8 more.  (of course it helps that i've had some travel time)

for christmas Howie and I received kindles. i've realized that it doesn't necessarily make prices cheaper than paperback copies in the US, but the convenience of downloading a new book in about 10 seconds before the plane takes off is pretty amazing. english books are not abundant (or reasonably priced) in switzerland, so at this point i'm not feeling too guilty for buying all of my books through amazon.*  also, its so light, easy to hold and carry, and you don't have to choose one book to bring with you.

the kindle store browsing (when you're actually using the kindle to look for new books) is not the best. it uses typical amazon "people who viewed this book also bought..." which is helpful, but i've found myself getting trapped into cycles of kindle/nytimes bestsellers because i haven't kept up on recent literature and i don't have a list of books i've been meaning to read.  also, i miss paper, ink, and beautifully designed book covers.

today after a bit of research, signed up for goodreads where one can keep track of books they've read, see what their friends are reading, get recommendations and keep a list of books to read in the future. i've found a few friends on there, and hope to add all of the books i've read recently. (look at me, finding more things to do before i leave town!)

if any of you have any recommendations, feel free to email me or leave a comment! i love reading fiction and historical fiction- i'm a sucker for a well crafted stories, unique perspectives and books that make me want to travel to another place or time.  its difficult to enjoy non-fiction but i'd like to read more (help!) and have just dipped my toe into the world of philosophy and haven't decided if i should wade in a bit further or walk on by.

free e-book on cheese: not as tasty as the actual stuff. 

*but i am feeling a little guilty for not having properly explored the local library...

cheese and chocolate all begin with the cows

to the mountains!

the ladies of Murren

earlier this spring we were lucky to have good friends erin and rob (and baby bump!) visit us in lausanne. since howie was really busy with school at the time, the rest of us took off for the mountains. i now know why the interlaken area is such a well known spot in switzerland- the views and the mountains there are amazingly beautiful!

crazy slide while waiting for our gondola

we stayed in Murren for two nights, which is a tiny town away from all the tourist activity which was great. it is well known for its cows, probably because there are more cows than people (i just made that up, but it seems true?!), perched on the steep hillsides eating grass mixed with billions of wildflowers. our b&b was amazing, and it was a good thing because we spent almost an entire day there when the skies clouded over, it started raining, then hailing, then snowing. (!)

we had great fun reading books, playing cards, napping, and when it finally cleared up, e&r played some chess while i sketched a little.

it was so much fun to have them here- since their visit we have taken all other visitors for breakfast by the lake, and picnics in the vineyards (not forgetting food!)

Rob decided I needed a real size beer

balancing act at Epesses

thank you guys for coming all the way over here for one last adventure together before parenthood :)

lisbon- uncropped.

in order to get these out quickly i'm letting go of the urge to crop, adjust levels and color, resize. the uneven images are making me itch. but, here you go. lisboa!

i just spent a great few days wandering the streets of lisbon with good friends amber and dan, here from MN. since they are both great sketchers and had just attended the Urban Sketchers annual symposium before i arrived, we spent our days meandering, eating and sketching. 

pre-ink

post-ink

after recently coming from rome, it was very refreshing to be in a bright, vibrant city with [seemingly] few tourists. prices were great- especially on food- and it makes it a little hard to go back to the land of CHFs. oh well. i think howie will be jealous when he hears about all the seafood we ate and how delicious it was. i'm drooling a little now just thinking about it! 

Jeronimos Monastery, Belem

we squeezed in a visit to the azulejos museum and it was too bad we didn't have more time there. besides the fantastic tiles filling my love for geometric patterns, color and ceramics all in one, the monastery that houses the collection is a beautiful space where one could spend some time. 

azulejos beauties

another highlight was sketching around belem at the tower, monument to the discoveries and the monastery ***, which was literally sandwiched in the day by two visits to the pasteis de belem shop for coffee and the most magnificent egg tarts. 

to die for!  (for shelley)

i'll be dreaming tonight of armillary spheres and azulejos…