randomness...

for some reason, i've gotten addicted to olives since i've been here...no clue why...but just can't stop eating them...

every couple of weeks, we just get a rotisserie chicken from the local grocery store...its so good and cheap...they have lemon herb, garlic, bbq, and just plain ol' regular there...we still dip it in sweet chilli sauice...mmm mmm...plus, the leftovers make a nice fried rice treat for the day after...also, its gus' favorite meal as well...because it means he gets some pieces here and there...he just sits there staring at us...waiting and wishing and waiting and wishing...

last episode of ER is this week...geez, we're old...

the drink cartons here (OJ, fruit juice, milk, etc..even the gatorade containers) do not have that extra seal when you open up the screw top...you just unscrew the top and the juice is right there? hmmm...why the heck is that...and why do we have that in the U.S. and not here? is it less fresh? contaminated? the first time i opened up a carton, i paused and thought it was already tampered with...i guess i'm used to it...

this headhunter called me "negative nancy" today...i was hurt deeply...

good times with the NHS...

ok...so, my eyes were bothering me and i needed to see a doctor right away...m and i have private insurance (which is a big luxury here apparently), but it was a hassle finding a doctor and making an appointment last minute...so, i did what most fun-loving brits do...i took advantage of the NHS...National Health Service...the UK's publicly funded healthcare system...or in other words, a U.S. Democrat's wet dream...

since m and i pay for the NHS through our taxes, may as well go, especially since there is a whole hospital devoted to Eyecare just a 15 minute walk away from work...so, I took a walk and went straight into the A&E Department (which stands for Accidents and Emergencies...basically, the ER...just another difference between the US and the UK)...

i waited in line for the initial consultation...the nurse took down my symptoms and gave me a card which read:

Green Triage Category
"This category means that you have been assessed as having a less serious problem. Patients with more serious problems will be prioritised in the queue, so you may see people who arrived after you be called in first. You will see a nurse, then either a nurse practitioner or a doctor will provide appropriate treatment and advice."

that basically meant that I had a 3-4 hour wait...great...just great...so, i just sat there listening to my Ipod...i knew i was in the right waiting room because the lights were so dimmed out and half the people were wearing sunglasses!

After about 2.5 hours, I was called in to see a nurse...the nurse took down more symptoms and tested my eyes a little...at that point, she came to the conclusion that i needed to see a doctor...so, she escorted me into ANOTHER waiting room!!!...ahhhhh...

so, i waited for another 45 minutes until one of the doctors finally called my name...he appeared to be one of the head honchos as he referred to himself as the eye surgeon on staff...anyways, he came to the conclusion that i had Viral Conjunctivitis...PINK EYE!...when he figured that out, he immediately ran to the sink to wash his hands...hehehe...

the doc told me that like most viruses, there isn't much he could do...my body just had to fight it off...so, he gave me a prescription for eye drops for comfort and showed me to the pharmacy...

all in all, i spent 7 pounds for the eye drops...and that was it...everything else was completely "free"...so, basically, everyone in britain gets healthcare...so, even if you were homeless or jobless (meaning you don't even pay taxes for the healthcare)...you still get this benefit...good or bad? hmmm...i'll stay away from my political views here...

so, the entire hospital was devoted to eye care...so, i walked through the hospital and noted departments for all sorts of eye problems...four floors and three buildings worth i think...the thing with the NHS is you obviously have to wait in long lines...and when you do make an appointment, it usually is like 2 months out...the equipment they have isn't exactly the most high tech and the facilities are straight from the 70s...oh well...

one thing that remains the same is that the hospital was littered with filipino nurses...they were everywhere!...the two nurses that saw me were filipinas! yikes!

oh gus...ya big ol' heed.

here are a couple of gratuitous pics of gus for your amusement...these were taken last night...he just plopped on the couch and went to sleep which is his regular thing...he curls up into this ball...where his paws are all grouped together...i think he likes to smell all four of his feet at the same time...

Happy Birthday TTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thirty-five years young right??????????????? hehehehe...

Great Eats Swiss-Style (and fresh too…literally!)

So, I wanted to post a separate blog here about the food and service in Zermatt...because it deserves its own posting...it was great...really great...granted, we couldn't find a restaurant that was even close to average priced...average price there is expensive everywhere else...and expensive there is ridiculously expensive everywhere else...

anyways, we bucked up, and just ate well...and it was great...the service was always really good...it was the kind of service where they treated you like you were a guest in their house...and just catered to you and tried to anticipate what else you wanted...good stuff...

for our last night, we ate at this restaurant...Chez Max Julen...that we couldn't get into the night before cause its always packed...so, i wanted to eat seafood cause we hit the red meats pretty hard the other nights...

so, i see trout on the menu...which i would say is rare (you always see bass, cod, salmon, tuna, etc. etc.)...anyways, i tell the waitress that i wanted trout...and she says "you can pick it yourself or i can pick it for you"...at that point, i didn't understand what was going on and just nodded my head and said you can pick it i guess...i thought it was just something lost in translation or something...

we were by one of the windows...i was facing the window and m was against the window facing the restaurant...anyways, behind me, m sees the waitress take out this big ol' net...m was like "what is going on"...i turn back to check it out, and see the waitress dip the net into this big ol' tank (which i didn't even notice at all when we walked in the restaurant) and yank out my TROUT!...i was like "holy shhhhh"...that is going to be really fresh fish!!!

here is the view of the fish tank from where we were sitting...those things are huge...
and...20 minutes later...the fish is on my plate...the waitress deboned it in front of me and everything...tasted spectacular...

an addendum to waterloo's march 24th 1:50pm CST post

...i'm seriously not that afraid of heights, even though the pictures appear differently to all of you. but waterloo and i routinely make the *quivering lip* face whenever we are fake-sad, or fake-scared, or maybe even really sad (ie: whenever we leave gus) or really scared (ie: whenever waterloo is high up in the air). we try to make things into a bigger deal than they are, and it helps take the sadness/scared-ness away.

so the pictures below are just of me imitating how waterloo was really feeling deep inside, but didn't want to show everyone. good ole fear. he's a wimp!

and he's not kidding when he says his hands sweat just thinking about it. it's gross.

Fear of Heights!

Okay…despite all the boarding I have done over the last five or so years…I still can’t ever shake my fear of heights…and being in Zermatt is as freaky a place as any to reinforce my fear…most of the time, we rode on gondolas and sky trams…which can go much much higher than a regular chair lift and usually bridge gaps through these big valleys and crevices (as I type this, my hands just started sweating profusely even thinking about how high we got)…the key is to really just look out in the distance to enjoy the view…but obviously, I always decide to just look straight down every minute or so, at which point my knees buckle a bit, my sweat glands work over time, and I try to figure out my escape route if the darn thing just snaps and falls to the ground (how do I save M? how do I save myself? Do we try to cushion the blow by trying to crowd against the fattest person on the tram? Should I cover my head? Should we use our boards as a sort of shield? If we fall, I hope we fall on a down slope or a place without jagged rocks…maybe a powder stack?)…anyways, this scenario plays itself out at least five times during every lift ride…

So, here are a couple of funny pics of m freaking out on a couple of the lifts…m isn’t generally afraid of heights, but this trip was an exception cause I definitely smelled fear…these pics are ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!

Zermatt, Switzerland (and Cervinia, Italy too)

As I stated in the previous blog, Zermatt is basically your picturesque swiss ski town at the end of this amazing valley…surrounded by the mammoth alps…the valley that ends with the Matterhorn...on the other side of the Matterhorn is the Italian side which I discuss later...

Zermatt is an interesting little town because I can't quite figure out what a "local" really is...since Zermatt is basically on the border of Switzerland and Italy, you constantly here Swiss-German and Italian being spoken (with multi-lingual signs everywhere as well)...additionally, the southeastern tip of Switzerland is heavily French speaking also...so, you can add that language to the mix...so, we heard every form of hello, goodbye and thank you...so, i just stuck with english because i didn't know if i was saying ciao to a German or a French dude...or danke schoen to an Italian guy...

So, its Saturday night 21 March as I write this…I’m in the hotel room here in Zermatt…I may as well write about our time here to keep the posts going on the blog…even though I won’t upload this until we get back on Monday night…so, here’s the first three days of the trip…

Thursday the 19th

This whole day was dedicated to travel as it takes a while to get over here to Zermatt…it was seriously planes trains and automobiles…we got up at 4am as we had an 8am flight, but still needed to make it all the way to Gatwick…so, we had a car service pick us up at 5am sharp to get us to Victoria station…from there, we took the 530 Gatwick Xpress which was a quick 30 minute train ride…then we loaded into the long long long long line for EasyJet customers…flights are cheap, but when they say no frills…it really is no frills…anyways, our flight ended up being an hour delayed, which was annoying…but oh well, they smell…

So, we landed in Geneva…it was about a 90 minute flight I think…from there, we picked up our luggage and took a few escalators to get to the train station…Geneva is about a four hour train ride to Zermatt…it isn’t a high speed ride or anything…it makes a bunch of stops…but its pretty sweet… swiss trains are well known around the world…so, we bucked up and paid for first class round trip tix…it was a great scenic train ride…Geneva is on the southeast tip of Lake Geneva, so we ended up riding the length of the lakeside (which was at least an hour, maybe more)…with the big ol’ lake in front of us, and the mountains behind it, it was sweet…after the lake, it was of course the mountains…so, we had to connect at Visp…which was 3 hours in…then took the last hour on this old school train…it was really nice…it went very slow because it was winding through the valley…took about 4 stops before it ended up at Zermatt, which was the very end of the valley…it was definitely worth the full day trip…we ended up getting to Zermatt before 5ish…

So, we roll into the station at Zermatt…and the thing about Zermatt is that its a car-free town…no gas cars at all…they only have these cabs which are electric…and the cabs are really tiny…really thin and stiff passenger cars which may fit 6 if your lucky and ride like golf carts…the wing span of my arms is definitely longer than the width of these cars…so, there’s probably 100 total cars in the whole village…most of them are really just owned by the hotels for shuttling guests back and forth to the station…so, no stop signs…no stop lights…

We went to get our rental gear…we went to the first shop and they just had mid-tier burton gear…I can’t have that…so, we found the most popular place in Zermatt for boarders…it was a bit of a walk…but worth it…I ended up with a brand new twin tip Burton Dominant (same board I road in Ischgl) with Cartel bindings…when I say brand new, I mean that they ran out of rental Dominants, and the guy just went to the sales rack and pulled a new dominant out…ripped of the stickers, and gave it to me…m ended up with a sweet kit as well…she got a burton lex…good board, but she liked the fact that it was purple and white and her bindings were white…and since her jacket was white…and her goggles were purple and white, then it was a win win win win for her…she was excited…what a loser…

Friday the 20th

Ok…so, we have breakfast at the hotel cause its included…typical European breakfast…different cold meats including salmon, fruit, lots of cheese (lactose heart attack), lots of different breads and spread…the one thing I liked was the honey, which I just had with a couple of croissants…the honey was in this old school wooden tub…it looked like a hollowed out tree stump…anyways, you dipped the spoon into the tub and it was the thickest honey ever…it was definitely very rich…so I needed the croissants to dilute it…as I couldn’t just eat it straight which is what I’ve been known to do…hehehehe…

The hotel is about 50 yards from the main gondola…so, very close…we walked over and got our 3 day “International” pass…International is because the actual ski area is about half on the Swiss side and half on the Italian side…but since it was our first day, we just stuck to the Swiss side because that was more than enough for us…

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Europeans definitely love their snow sports and Switzerland is no different…the lifts were world class…most of the time, we were riding in different gondolas…then we rode a couple of trams…and then this weird funnel train or whatever it is (basically this slanted 45 degree angle train that just goes straight through the inside of the mountain)…the most picturesque part of the swiss side though was that this regular ol’ choo choo train went from the bottom to almost the top of the mountain…never seen that before…it must be one of the highest trains in the world…we were probably near 10,000 feet up when we got on the train to get back down to the village (since M didn’t want to ride down…it would have taken us forever to get down…probably a 3-4 mile run from there)…anyways, it was just pure railroad tracks winding down the mountain…so, if you don’t like heights, you can seriously just get on a freakin’ train to ride the slopes…crazy…

The snow was okay…it was basically hard pack…but at least it too icey…but you could definitely still hear the grinding…but everything was so well groomed that it was smooth riding…we had to stay on the piste though…because off piste was treacherous…it was basically concrete…apparently, they’ve had the most snow this season in years and years…and when the powder hit, everyone hit it…the issue was, when it got cold, everything froze off piste…so, if you went off the beaten path, then you had issues with such uneven terrain…and it was hard hard hard…

Although there is no snow forecast while we are here…the huge positive side was that its forecast to be completely sunny…so, our first day was completely sunny, just a couple of lazy clouds…and tomorrow (which is actually today as I write this) was even better…not one cloud in the sky at all…so, the sun was beating down despite it being cold…the issue was that we had to watch out for sunburn and the dreaded raccoon face…we’ve seen some very very bad raccoon faces since we’ve been here…and everyone seems to be completely burnt...we definitely got burnt so far, but were able to at least keep our faces an even color for now at least…

Saturday the 21st

Okay…so, today was the second day of riding…and it was a cloudless sky…absolutely beautiful…we ventured off to ride on the Italian side of the ski area…anyways, the ski area is absolutely massive…it dwarfs every ski resort I’ve ever been too…I swear that its bigger than park city, vail, heavenly, and mt. hood combined…

In order to get to the Italian side which is called Cervinia…we had to cross over to the other side of the Matterhorn…first we had to take the gondola through two mid stations…then got off to board a sky tram to a second midway point…then got off that to board another sky tram to the very highest lift in the ski area…12,736 feet up…yikes…apparently, it’s the highest lift in all of Europe which says quite a lot…here is a pic of the sign...So, the journey continues in that we had to board down from there to get to this other peak…where we got on another sky tram to ride down the Cervinia side (we could have ridden all the way down, but it would have been very challenging for M)…the sky tram led us to this last and final gondola, where we road it down to an area where we could finally finally board down a reasonable run…so, from the start to the finish here, it took probably 90 minutes to even begin to board…so, it was more of a scenic tour rather than riding…

Anyways, the Cervinia side was absolutely lovely because we found this run that was easy enough for M to hit and was picturesque in that you rode down through the valley to the town…it was sweet and we hit that run a couple of times…

Now, getting back to Zermatt from Cervinia was definitely much harder…because we had to take a little different route…and ride through this valley at the top where the wind was ridiculous and it was much colder (imagine little pellets of ice being shot at you with 30-40 mph winds…it hurts)…additionally, the run flattened out in parts, so m had a difficult time gaining enough speed to get through them…so, lots of unstrapping and walking…oh well…I had a lot of time to rest and enjoy the view, while waiting for princess to catch up…hehehehe…

here is a one of my favorite pics of the trip...this is probably near 11,000 feet up as we were making our way down on a cat trail to this other lift...

Hitting Zermatt...

So, we just got back from a five-day trip to Zermatt...this ski resort in Switzerland...THE ski resort in Switzerland...Zermatt is one of the most well known resorts in the world actually...always rated in the top five in the world in most every ranking...so, since we are here in Europe, may as well check out the best the Alps has to offer...here is a description of Zermatt on a random ski website...

"This is what everybody imagines a ski resort to look like. Perfect for the top of a chocolate box picture. Known for its beautiful scenery and location in the Matter Valley on the Swiss and Italian border, Zematt offers a panorama of 33 4,000m peaks including the Matterhorn."

Here is a quick pic i took of the famed Matterhorn from our hotel...

guinness and saint paddy...

so, just had a "quick drink" (equals three pints of guinness) after work at a couple of pubs (which is actually a normal day for me it seems nowadays)...anyways, the last place we went to was offering a free hat with every guinness ordered...so, i got this hat and gave it to m....on the back of the hat, it says happy st. patrick's day 2009...but the front is more interesting...250 years of G...its older than America...sweet...i can actually say i got addicted to G in their 250th year...yeah yeah yeah (inside joke)...and also visited dublin and the home of guinness in the 250th year...yeah yeah yeah...

in honor of st. pat's day...

...here's my quick and dirty review of our dublin trip. yes, we went in january, so i'm basically 2 months late. but at least i'm posting it on st. patrick's day, so it's relevant to today!

we flew to dublin from gatwick and getting there was a such a pain, since we were going with the commuters, so the train was packed. add to that, the fact that i was a wee bit hungover from the previous night, and you'll see why i wasn't in such a great mood that friday. anyways, we got to dublin, and i had to learn how to readjust my brain to comprehend english with an irish accent. they are so much more difficult to understand than the british. we basically settled in friday night, and planned our day for saturday.

saturday, we decided to take the dublin bus tour...except that it rained almost the whole day. but we had a good time and hit the most famous places, including the guinness factory. you've all seen mr. rude there in a's previous post. the factory itself was kinda cool, since the building was built after some building in chicago (yeah, can't remember right now. oopsie!). and yeah, we got a free pint of guinness at the bar at the top when the tour was over. whoop-dee-do. i will say i was enlightened when i put 2+2 together and realized that the guinness book of world records is also from the makers of guinness the beer! stuuuuuupid. (yeah, whatever...how many of you out there knew that??)

anyways, my friend aisling, who i used to work with at pwc, is from/lives in dublin, and she was kind enough to take us to a proper irish restaurant in the 'mountains' (and i use that term loosely), for an authentic irish meal and entertainment which included irish folk songs and dancing. yes, DANCING! the following is a clip that reminds us our favorite italian stallion's irish jig at his wedding last sept:


and t, we know you will watch this next video over and over and over again until you've perfected it. we look forward to your performance when we move back to chicago:


as for the rest of the weekend, we went back into the mountains sunday and took a tour of the wicklow mountains. very historic with lots and lots of greenery. it also rained on sunday, which wasn't a huge surprise. i would say dublin is similar to london, except that it's smaller, with lots more greenery. oh, and people with accents that are difficult to understand!

happy st. patrick's day!

Mr. Rude in Bruges...

bruges (or brugge) was more than ordinary...it was a great place...and definitely worth going...its a very well preserved belgian town and it definitely has a feel much like florence did...we stayed at a well-known top notch hotel (#1 rated on tripadvisor) where we had a chandelier over our bed (there's a different chandelier in every room of the hotel apparently)...we ate tons of chocolates from so many chocolate stores there...they were pretty unbelievable despite me not being much of a chocolate fan...we definitely ODed on chocolates...although each piece was like paying for gold so we spent a fortune also...yeeks...

this is m torturing mr. rude...we were in the bell tower in the center of it all...

and of course, no posting about belgium would be complete without a picture of mr. rude having a famous belgian waffle...can you say mmm mmm...

Mr. Rude in Brussels...

Since we are clearly too lazy to write about our trip to belgium...here are a couple of pictures of mr. rude in brussels...brussels is ordinary unfortunately...we planned less than a day there, which was more than enough (plus, i've been there before already to visit the LackLusterLolita aka L-cubed aka Triple L)...but the belgium food and the beer were of course suuuuweeeeeeeeeeeeettttttttt....

since m doesn't like beer...it helps that belgium has all sorts for all tastes...tons of flavored beers...m especially liked the raspberry ones...belgium beer is also pretty hardcore...with alcho content up to 10%+...which is lethal!...so you have to watch out what you order...hehehe...

this statue is a tourist must see in brussels...as you can see, belgiums have an interesting sense of humor...

getting fit...old skool...

okay...maybe i just don't want to pay for a gym membership...there are two nice full service gyms a couple of blocks from our flat...and also one a block away from work (right in m's building)...but memberships are too expensive here...and i don't feel like paying for a monthly pass just to work out 5 times the entire month...hehehe...

anyways, so, i bought one of those pull up bars that you can place on your doorway...and i also bought that perfect push up thingie as well...and i have a nice yoga mat for doing situps...oh yeah, i also have that wheel that you can roll while on your knees to strengthen your abs...anyways, so this isn't quite old skool...but close enough as i have no weights or cables or anything...

so, been doing this since january 1...part of the new year's resolution type of thing...just doing it regularly...not very hard core, but just regular once a week type of thing...and i am definitely noticing slow and steady results...i mean, i would definitely have progressed a lot faster if i had a gym membership hitting the free weights and machines, but this is just as good...i'm never going to get quite as ripped or anything because i don't have anything specific to target certain muscles...but the wonderful ups - pull ups, push ups, and sit ups definitely work and target most muscles in a very simple motion...plus, it combats laziness of having to go into the gym...and i can watch tv...and hang out with gusieppe...

also, it is nice living in london near hyde park and kensington gardens...so many places to run...nice trails...plus, regent and hampstead heath are close enough...so, great places to run...no need for treadmills...the only issue is that it usually doesn't rain inside a gym...

greetings.

long time no post. i know, i've been mia. it's been a mix of working hard, playing hard, and then traveling or sleeping on weekends. what can i say, i'm leaving the blogging up to waterloo.

anyways, i don't have much to say right now. just that i have to post later about:
- our trip to ireland
- what i did during archie's boarding trip to austria
- brussels (crap) and then bruges (so lovely)
- signing up for the berlin marathon (woohoo!)

for now, i'll leave you with a little bit of our homelife with gus. a few months ago, we finally decided he could be outside of his crate when we're not home. it's easy over here since the dining area is a small 8X8 room or so...it's also known as gus' room, because there are glass doors that we can close and block him from the rest of the flat. often when we come home, he is hiding/sleeping under his blanket and is almost always too scared to come out when he hears someone is home. when one of us calls out to him and he recognizes us, he becomes a monster and rises from the dead from under his blanket...so cute. he's so not a watch dog, and his bark is defo worse than his bite. this little guy is scared of everything.

Meet BODE!

my sister's new puppy...related to our Gus (same parents we think...or at least half bro)...ab named Bode after the road we grew up by in Streamwood...Bode is pretty rare in that he is a white puggle...crazy cute...

the first day of training...

m is running the berlin marathon in september...booked flights and hotel for the both of us already...well, since i'm already there, may as well run it too...all signed up...ready to rock...we've both run the chicago marathons twice, but not the same time...uh oh...