so the week after running the marathon, my legs were just in the some pretty good residual pain, walking up stairs and down stairs, slight inclines and declines were just terrible. after a few days though things got better and i cannot wait to run the next one now. basically every day this week we ended up playing settlers of catan, for some reason our catan playing has increased exponentially - it's such a sweet game though. on the saturday, headed to this 'alpamare' park, basically just a bunch of waterslides - not nearly as good as the one in edmonton mall, but pretty good nonetheless, with some good friends it was a great time. on the sunday, just chilled out, good breakfast, played some ultimate frisbee. had to clean the apartment though, for the house inspection and subsequent damage deposit refund....the whole situation was terrible and i don't think i'll mention more than i cleaned more than i thought i really needed to.
on another note, i guess i'll just write down quickly what kind of stuff i've been cooking lately: beef stew, onion soup, herb and cheese stuffed turkey breasts, moussaka, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, eggs benedict - could go on and on haha - can't wait actually to get home and get access to more/better ingredients!
okay so basically a lot more settlers of catan playing, a night playing at the playground, and with all of this also trying to get my knee to feel better - basically just got some pretty bad IT band tightness, really want it to go away. anyways, this next weekend we were supposed to hop on a train to get to fruehlingsfest in stuttgart - basically a 'spring festival' which is just a mini oktoberfest - but with all the goodbye parties and such, basically failed to wake up on saturday morning due to friday night. in any case, turned out to be a really really good relaxing weekend, bought a bunch of bread from the local bakery - i'll miss that part, it's really good - had a nice picnic in a field, beautiful weather, made some gazpacho. head out to luzern for the day on sunday, went on a boat on the lake - very nice - and did a short hike at some point on the lake (burgenstock?) in any case, basically miss the trail that we were supposed to get on, but in the end it turned out really nice anyways. definitely a pretty city, luzern - as such, lots of tourists. there is also a badass carving of a lion in stone there. went home, ate some more bread - and it's asparagus season now (even though it's so expensive), so definitely made some bacon wrapped asparagus for dinner. it's getting to the point now where everyone's basically gearing up to leave, and it kinda feels like the dream is coming to an end..although, i'm really looking forward to going home too - things i miss from home, but also obviously things i'll miss from here. life goes on though - 'don't cry cause it's over, be happy that it happened.'
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
paris
so a couple days of work, and then hop on a super fast tgv train bound for paris on friday night. 4 hours later, arrive in paris, hang out for a bit, then immediately to sleep. wake up, grab a delicious sandwich from a nearby bakery, head to the catacombs. so basically there used to be this extensive underground network of quarries in the city, and then years later they decided to use it as a place to put dead people, and then now it's like a tourist thing to go and walk around down there. so down this huge spiral staircase, and then walk through a virtual labyrinth of tunnels, with some carvings and stuff in the rock as well. then came the massive piles of bones - the skulls and tibias and humerus' and femurs were stacked in some neat patterns, with countless other bones piled in behind. walked through what must have been several kilometers of these passages, with bones the whole way...countless thousands of people...by the time we went up the stairs back in to the open air i was ready to leave, pretty dark and musty in there. pretty cool though, definitely something to see. turns out it's turned into a great day outside, stopped for roadside crepes, walked by this really amazing looking market, fish and seafood and great looking fruit and vegetables, a neighbourhood type thing that i would love to be able to have the chance to shop at. the day when fresh community markets pop up in calgary, i'll be happy. stop for some pastries, take the metro to see the notre dame cathedral. yea, the one in the hunchback of notre dame. obviously, a lot of people here, tourists of all kinds and people selling 10 mini eiffel tower keychains for 2 euro? wtf, why would i need 10 keychains. pretty cool cathedral, but man oh man, i can't count the number of cathedrals i've been in this year, and harder even to remember them and compare them all. heard the organ blasting in there though which was pretty cool. took a walk around the area, stopped in at this place for some quick pasta on the go - carboloading as much as possible - for cheap too, like 5 euros for a full meal, even in pricey paris, take that switzerland. continue on this walk by some other sweet buildings, and then end up at the louvre. lots of tourists here too. see all these glass pyramids and stuff, there's a gate that kinda looks like the brandenburg gate in berlin - weird. didn't actually go in the museum, huge lineup and allegedly, not supposed to be the best one of them anyhow. perhaps, when i go back the next time i'll give it a shot. but from here, we continue down to the champs d'elysses, the biggest trendiest street kinda thing that's famous all over the world. find a good spot in an immaculately trimmed garden on the way, and join the numerous other people lounging in the grass on a beautiful sunny day. a short nap, and we're walking again, while mike and dave insist on stopping at as many crepe stands on the way as possible. pass by some cool statues and fountains, the place de la concorde, tree lined paths, all the good stuff. then we hit the busy champs d'elysses, packed with people, fancy restaurants, shops, and in general the classier things in life. meandering down the street, we end up at the arc de triomphe. snap a few pictures, decide not to pay the 5 euros or whatever it is to go to the top. now, it's time to face the inevitable, i guess i had signed up to run the paris marathon months ago. time to go pick up the race package from the run expo place. pretty cool actually, picked up a sweet asics bag, some bananas, powerbars, and then ate some pasta at the pasta party. lots of merchandise and inspirational posters and the like, which i actually appreciated so much. really helped the mindset. in fact, i was just terrified. headed back to try to get some sleep, hoping that i had eaten enough pasta and drank enough water.
wake up at 7:00 am for the 8:30 am start. at this point, the realization really dawns on me. basically, the background here is that i had signed up for this run in like, maybe october or november, purely on peer pressure, mostly from patrick meunier. so naturally, with the whole traveling every weekend, drinking, fast food eating, and cold weather all winter, rigorous training had not been done. in fact, in two months before this marathon, i racked up at most 50 k i would say. so basically going into this thing cold. strap on the shoes, and get down the the arc de triomphe to get it started. about 30 000 people are in this run, and the amount of public urination at the starting area is outrageous. also old clothes, ponchos, banana peels, water bottles etc. are littered everywhere. with 'tonight's gonna be a good night' playing on repeat forever, i start running. take it easy out of the gate, and before i know it 5 and 10 k are gone just like that. of course, the beauty of running 42 k in paris is that you get to see all the sights. so pass by the louvre and place de la concorde again, tuileries, notre dame cathedral again, the bastille...at this point we're feeling pretty good (running with chris and chan) and stop at the 5 k markers for some food and water and stretches, mitigate a blister formation problem with a handy band aid, take measures against potential nipple chafing later as well. and so, 21 k goes by, and i've just casually ran a half marathon in a casual 2:10 - seems like i'm on a good solid pace now. running next to the river now, and can see the eiffel tower in the distance. 25 k goes by, and by about 28 or 29 the legs start feeling it. by 30 k, i'm strugglin with stiff legs. this is about when i lose chris as he continues ahead, and chan has fallen back already. passing by the eiffel tower, luckily there is a massage station where i go ahead and rub on some menthol/freezing type thing which helps to numb the pain for a few km. really cramping up now. basically trying to keep the feet shuffling and stop to walk when it gets too bad. terrified of getting those dreaded debilitating cramps that seize up your whole legs, cause at that point, it's game over. by 36 or 37 i'm walking more than running, and now is when the people watching are helping me along. really amazing to get so much support from strangers - the whole atmosphere i'm liking a lot. this guy on a bike gets me going after i'm struggling to walk, gives me a little pep talk about how the hardest part i've already done and all i gotta do is a few more k's. keep pace with one or two people around me, helps me and helps them too i think. this other guy basically forces me to run with him for a while, and i get my feet shuffling again. by 40 i just want it to end. walking with this one guy who won't let me stop haha, like i said, really really cool experience how we all look for something to hold on to when in so much pain. force the legs to get going for the last kilometer and a bit, gotta run through the finish line, right? so yup. i finished it. not exactly the most respectable time at a little over 5 hours - i was shooting for 4 - but really, all things considered, i'm on top of the world. the run itself was great, in retrospect. did see a lot of paris, through some nice parks, lots of cheers, ate lots of bananas and raisins, went to the bathroom a few times off to the side of the road. got a medal, drank some powerade, hung out for awhile. turns out that three of my friends did under 4:10, chris kept it just under 5 with a sore knee, and even chan finished. all in all, pretty happy bunch. i'm addicted to running - that runner's high - amazing, better than any drug i am so sure. so obviously at this point, my legs are stiff as boards, and walking is impossible. getting through all the stairs to the metro station is a challenge, and the 6 flights of stairs back up to the hostel room are all but impossible. man taking off those shoes felt great. after all that though - i can't wait to do it again, and this time to do it properly with some legitimate training and preparation. after laying down to slightly recover from the physical exhaustion, we headed out to this nice part of town to find some dinner. needless to say the 5 minute walk to the nearest metro station took about 20 minutes, and by the time we sat down i was pretty hungry. a really solid meal of onion soup, steak and potatoes, and apple pie indeed made that night a good night. and just the relief of it all being over was really amazing. another long tired walk to try and get some sleep, before waking up at 5 am to catch the early train back to switzerland. the weekend was too short - definitely could stay in paris for a while i think - one thing i guess i'd love to do at some more is to do the whole culinary traveling thing, not like i haven't been trying to eat a lot of unique local stuff but more like being able to buy the fresh and seasonal and local food at the market and then try to cook it in the style of where it is. definitely an idea that i want to explore some more. anyways, paris was a good time just as all the weekend trips have been, especially with good friends and good laughs. back to work for just a few more weeks and then it's already time to go home!
wake up at 7:00 am for the 8:30 am start. at this point, the realization really dawns on me. basically, the background here is that i had signed up for this run in like, maybe october or november, purely on peer pressure, mostly from patrick meunier. so naturally, with the whole traveling every weekend, drinking, fast food eating, and cold weather all winter, rigorous training had not been done. in fact, in two months before this marathon, i racked up at most 50 k i would say. so basically going into this thing cold. strap on the shoes, and get down the the arc de triomphe to get it started. about 30 000 people are in this run, and the amount of public urination at the starting area is outrageous. also old clothes, ponchos, banana peels, water bottles etc. are littered everywhere. with 'tonight's gonna be a good night' playing on repeat forever, i start running. take it easy out of the gate, and before i know it 5 and 10 k are gone just like that. of course, the beauty of running 42 k in paris is that you get to see all the sights. so pass by the louvre and place de la concorde again, tuileries, notre dame cathedral again, the bastille...at this point we're feeling pretty good (running with chris and chan) and stop at the 5 k markers for some food and water and stretches, mitigate a blister formation problem with a handy band aid, take measures against potential nipple chafing later as well. and so, 21 k goes by, and i've just casually ran a half marathon in a casual 2:10 - seems like i'm on a good solid pace now. running next to the river now, and can see the eiffel tower in the distance. 25 k goes by, and by about 28 or 29 the legs start feeling it. by 30 k, i'm strugglin with stiff legs. this is about when i lose chris as he continues ahead, and chan has fallen back already. passing by the eiffel tower, luckily there is a massage station where i go ahead and rub on some menthol/freezing type thing which helps to numb the pain for a few km. really cramping up now. basically trying to keep the feet shuffling and stop to walk when it gets too bad. terrified of getting those dreaded debilitating cramps that seize up your whole legs, cause at that point, it's game over. by 36 or 37 i'm walking more than running, and now is when the people watching are helping me along. really amazing to get so much support from strangers - the whole atmosphere i'm liking a lot. this guy on a bike gets me going after i'm struggling to walk, gives me a little pep talk about how the hardest part i've already done and all i gotta do is a few more k's. keep pace with one or two people around me, helps me and helps them too i think. this other guy basically forces me to run with him for a while, and i get my feet shuffling again. by 40 i just want it to end. walking with this one guy who won't let me stop haha, like i said, really really cool experience how we all look for something to hold on to when in so much pain. force the legs to get going for the last kilometer and a bit, gotta run through the finish line, right? so yup. i finished it. not exactly the most respectable time at a little over 5 hours - i was shooting for 4 - but really, all things considered, i'm on top of the world. the run itself was great, in retrospect. did see a lot of paris, through some nice parks, lots of cheers, ate lots of bananas and raisins, went to the bathroom a few times off to the side of the road. got a medal, drank some powerade, hung out for awhile. turns out that three of my friends did under 4:10, chris kept it just under 5 with a sore knee, and even chan finished. all in all, pretty happy bunch. i'm addicted to running - that runner's high - amazing, better than any drug i am so sure. so obviously at this point, my legs are stiff as boards, and walking is impossible. getting through all the stairs to the metro station is a challenge, and the 6 flights of stairs back up to the hostel room are all but impossible. man taking off those shoes felt great. after all that though - i can't wait to do it again, and this time to do it properly with some legitimate training and preparation. after laying down to slightly recover from the physical exhaustion, we headed out to this nice part of town to find some dinner. needless to say the 5 minute walk to the nearest metro station took about 20 minutes, and by the time we sat down i was pretty hungry. a really solid meal of onion soup, steak and potatoes, and apple pie indeed made that night a good night. and just the relief of it all being over was really amazing. another long tired walk to try and get some sleep, before waking up at 5 am to catch the early train back to switzerland. the weekend was too short - definitely could stay in paris for a while i think - one thing i guess i'd love to do at some more is to do the whole culinary traveling thing, not like i haven't been trying to eat a lot of unique local stuff but more like being able to buy the fresh and seasonal and local food at the market and then try to cook it in the style of where it is. definitely an idea that i want to explore some more. anyways, paris was a good time just as all the weekend trips have been, especially with good friends and good laughs. back to work for just a few more weeks and then it's already time to go home!
Friday, April 9, 2010
mallorca
so, for easter weekend we got the friday and the monday off, so took the time to head out to the spanish island of mallorca in the mediterranean sea for awhile. flight was on saturday night, so this trip was preceded by going out to zurich on thursday night, went out far too early, didn't want to line up for the club originally intended, ended up in some random bar, ate way too much mac donalds and then had to wait for the train for some time before going home. also, one thing that has been terrible about this year for me is eating terrible macdonald's/other fast food. not a really significant amount, but between a combination of the routine being thrown off by the travel and the peer pressure it's been kinda terrible. looking forward to getting back to the brown rice and whole wheat pasta, spinach and salad, fruit and lean meat when i get home, where it's not an exorbitant price and there's the gym and everything else to keep me in line. anyhow, after thursday night, friday was a good relaxing day. took the camera out to finally get some more photos of the town i live in, looking good as spring rolls around. warm day, lots of people out and about and around the churches on good friday. had some ice cream, walked by the river, then packed up some stuff for the weekend.
flight was at 6:00 am on saturday morning from basel, so the only option to make the time was to catch the train the night before and sleep in the airport. from a suggestion by other interns who had slept at this airport before, i brought a sleeping pad and pillow along, which made the night actually quite comfortable. not bad at all. a quick hour and a half flight had us land in palma early enough to sit down at this little cafe for some breakfast. tasty spanish cafe con leches, and really good serrano ham bocadillos - basically baguette like sandwiches - with some olives were eaten. at this point, we hopped on an old ass train that went north across the island to the town of soller. the north coast of the island is dominated by the tramuntana mountains, which we had an amazing view of on the slow and steady hour train ride. beautiful blue sky day, with olive groves, orange and lemon trees on the side of the track made for a pretty cool trip. never seen lemon or orange trees before, and here there were about a million i'm pretty sure. arrived in soller, a small village of like 10 000 people in a mountain valley. on a side note here, there are a lot of german tourists that go to mallorca for some strange reason, and indeed, there were german people everywhere, just couldn't escape the german basically. at the airport, at least half the flights were from like hamburg or frankfurt or dusseldorf, pretty funny actually. so weaving our way through the german tourists we found our nice little hostel in a side street, owned by this 70 something year old lady. haha, kinda felt like someone's spanish grandma's house, but cool nonetheless. so dropped off some stuff, headed towards the town square where there's this pretty cool looking cathedral and a couple other buildings with some gaudi influence in them. there was a little saturday market going on, so lots of olives, ham, and white clothes were on sale. pretty crowded at this point in time, and so we made our way towards the bike rental shop. this very nice lady from new zealand set us up with some road bikes and put on on the way towards this small town called fornalutx. a short (but uphill) ride later through many many orange, lemon and olive groves, stopped at a hill overlooking the soller valley and the town, very nice indeed. and then a straight downhill to the port of soller, ripping down the winding highway at breakneck speeds. got to this port, a small cove of sorts, with a short stretch of beach, pretty windy though, and starting to get overcast. a bunch of kids skateboarding on the boardwalk, apparently it's still cool. saw some really ugly looking ducks/geese type things, and then biked/walked around the port/beach area. pretty cool, again, lots of german tourists, a few people braving the winds and hanging out on the beach, lots of boats, and lots of restaurants and stuff on the boardwalk. stopped for some ice cream, read a book, and then biked back the 4 k's to the town of soller. had a nap, then went in search of some dinner. kinda hungry at this point, so basically just found a place in the main square, had some wine, assorted tapas platter and some paella, solid meal for the day.
woke up, had a very nice breakfast of some hard boiled eggs, fresh bread, tea and some what i can only assume to be orange marmalade made from the nearby orange trees. looked outside, and it's just pouring rain. decide to delay the planned bike ride until it clears up, so read for awhile while looking out the window. also i have started reading this fantasy fiction series called 'a song of ice and fire' by george martin, apparently one of the best series out there, and now i have finished two massive volumes. anyways, the sky clears up for a little bit, so we head out and get two meat pies from the bakery across the street to put in a backpack and start on the bike ride. the plan is to ride about 200 m elevation 10 k or so up to this other mountain village called deia, but about 2 or 3 k in, nature shows up and a torrential storm begins. in the process of riding up a bunch of switchbacks we take some shelter under some small trees, and eat a meat pie which is quite tasty. thinking that i was going to a tropical climate, i had obviously only brought a cotton sweater, and now i am cold and wet. call off the bike ride, ride back to the port of soller to return the bikes, and get even more wet on the way - good times though, definitely something to remember - even got some money back from the bike rental place cause the lady felt bad for us. hung out in a cafe for a bit, then took the tram back to soller. of course, at this point the rain has all but stopped, and the sun comes out for a beautiful sunny blue sky day. after taking some time to warm up and dry off again, headed out on a very beautiful walk around the area. now that's it's sunny again, the valleys full of orange and lemon orchards are amazing, flowers, chickens, sheep and donkeys are roaming around, pretty little farmhouses, forest, mountains - amazing. in our flip flops we end up hiking through some trail, a little rocky but really cool. in the end, an awesome little walk around, kinda makes up for the getting rained on earlier in the day. getting dark, so went to this fairly classy restaurant on a side street off the main square, and definitely the best choice ever. got some tasty olives and aioli, and then this massive pan of paella arrives, definitely legit this time, lots of crab and mussels and shrimp and other seafood on it, soooo good. also some pretty good wine to go with it too. yup, without a doubt the best paella i've had, totally worth it. kinda cool on the walk back, kinda unintentionally got into the cathedral where there was some easter stuff going on (obviously) and the priest was definitely playing a nice little song on guitar. haha pretty neat actually.
got up the next day, hopped on the old ass train back to palma, but not before getting some more delicious meat pies from the bakery. a stop in the park by the train station in palma, and then a nice walk through the tiny streets to our hostal as it was called. got on a bus, then half an hour later we're at the beach 'ses illetes', it's basically a bunch of smaller coves, with just some white sand beaches and crystal clear water, that's all. on the bus ride there, we pass by many all-inclusive type hotels and resorts, and on the beach there are obviously the germans but lots of spanish and british people as well. water's a little too cold to be comfortable swimming in, but the sand and sun is nice, hang out for quite some time, don't really actually know if i got any darker but still good anyways. finally do jump in the sea for a bit, and then start walking back towards the city center to dry off. pass by another bakery for some more baked goods, and then take a bus the rest of the way back home - by now the sun had gone away and it looked as if the rain was gonna start again...so getting rid of all the sand everywhere, and then going out for dinner, at this place about 10 meters down the street. another amazing restaurant, sitting right next to the open kitchen we see all the fresh fish and tasty food going by. a fried spinach thing and an egg/potato/tuna salad and another really tasty bottle of wine precede a massive seafood platter, just so much fresh fish and squid and mussels and clams and shrimp, just grilled with some salt and pepper and lemon juice - i'm in heaven. another amazing meal complete with some real good chocolate dessert still only like 20 euros, even in a tourist town like palma - 20 euros would definitely buy you nothing remotely close to as good in switzerland. go for a night walk on the boardwalk by the sea, waves on one side and the massive cathedral on the other side, warm spring night - and then back to sleep, a day on the beach really takes a lot outta you, haha.
this next day is for walking around the massive pedestrian zone that is the old town of palma, like actually maybe a hundred blocks of narrow cobblestone streets - somehow this is the place where i really feel like walking in a really old city. pass by a museum with the obvious spanish artist names like picasso and miro, but also some really cool sculptures outside by calatrava - really cool. spend actually quite a long time just wandering the streets, looking in at some courtyards, at least a few smaller cathedrals, a street that was strictly for florists, lots of food and bread, people playing spanish guitar and such. hang out in the main square and watch a pretty random capoeira show, pass by some apparently famous arab baths, and then went inside this fairly big cathedral. some of the nicest stained glass windows i have seen, gothic spires are still as cool as ever, and some sweet architecture allowed for the thinnest and highest stone pillars i have seen. gaudi did some work on this as well which was pretty cool. weather outside got a little nicer, so yup, went for a long walk on the beach. hung out, watched this one guy just running laps on this section of beach, then went for some supper. this tapas restaurant, with some smaller cold plates of olives/salads etc. up for grabs and then other sandwich fried things as well. some octopus too, but that was really just some middling octopus i thought. overall still pretty good though. lots of walking today, so call it a day.
wake up, eat breakfast, get a couple more coffees, and then head to the airport. fly back to basel, eat some sandwiches, and then have most of the day left without work to just chill out. really, not being at work is about 50000 times better than being at work. two day workweek coming up, then off to paris!
woke up, had a very nice breakfast of some hard boiled eggs, fresh bread, tea and some what i can only assume to be orange marmalade made from the nearby orange trees. looked outside, and it's just pouring rain. decide to delay the planned bike ride until it clears up, so read for awhile while looking out the window. also i have started reading this fantasy fiction series called 'a song of ice and fire' by george martin, apparently one of the best series out there, and now i have finished two massive volumes. anyways, the sky clears up for a little bit, so we head out and get two meat pies from the bakery across the street to put in a backpack and start on the bike ride. the plan is to ride about 200 m elevation 10 k or so up to this other mountain village called deia, but about 2 or 3 k in, nature shows up and a torrential storm begins. in the process of riding up a bunch of switchbacks we take some shelter under some small trees, and eat a meat pie which is quite tasty. thinking that i was going to a tropical climate, i had obviously only brought a cotton sweater, and now i am cold and wet. call off the bike ride, ride back to the port of soller to return the bikes, and get even more wet on the way - good times though, definitely something to remember - even got some money back from the bike rental place cause the lady felt bad for us. hung out in a cafe for a bit, then took the tram back to soller. of course, at this point the rain has all but stopped, and the sun comes out for a beautiful sunny blue sky day. after taking some time to warm up and dry off again, headed out on a very beautiful walk around the area. now that's it's sunny again, the valleys full of orange and lemon orchards are amazing, flowers, chickens, sheep and donkeys are roaming around, pretty little farmhouses, forest, mountains - amazing. in our flip flops we end up hiking through some trail, a little rocky but really cool. in the end, an awesome little walk around, kinda makes up for the getting rained on earlier in the day. getting dark, so went to this fairly classy restaurant on a side street off the main square, and definitely the best choice ever. got some tasty olives and aioli, and then this massive pan of paella arrives, definitely legit this time, lots of crab and mussels and shrimp and other seafood on it, soooo good. also some pretty good wine to go with it too. yup, without a doubt the best paella i've had, totally worth it. kinda cool on the walk back, kinda unintentionally got into the cathedral where there was some easter stuff going on (obviously) and the priest was definitely playing a nice little song on guitar. haha pretty neat actually.
got up the next day, hopped on the old ass train back to palma, but not before getting some more delicious meat pies from the bakery. a stop in the park by the train station in palma, and then a nice walk through the tiny streets to our hostal as it was called. got on a bus, then half an hour later we're at the beach 'ses illetes', it's basically a bunch of smaller coves, with just some white sand beaches and crystal clear water, that's all. on the bus ride there, we pass by many all-inclusive type hotels and resorts, and on the beach there are obviously the germans but lots of spanish and british people as well. water's a little too cold to be comfortable swimming in, but the sand and sun is nice, hang out for quite some time, don't really actually know if i got any darker but still good anyways. finally do jump in the sea for a bit, and then start walking back towards the city center to dry off. pass by another bakery for some more baked goods, and then take a bus the rest of the way back home - by now the sun had gone away and it looked as if the rain was gonna start again...so getting rid of all the sand everywhere, and then going out for dinner, at this place about 10 meters down the street. another amazing restaurant, sitting right next to the open kitchen we see all the fresh fish and tasty food going by. a fried spinach thing and an egg/potato/tuna salad and another really tasty bottle of wine precede a massive seafood platter, just so much fresh fish and squid and mussels and clams and shrimp, just grilled with some salt and pepper and lemon juice - i'm in heaven. another amazing meal complete with some real good chocolate dessert still only like 20 euros, even in a tourist town like palma - 20 euros would definitely buy you nothing remotely close to as good in switzerland. go for a night walk on the boardwalk by the sea, waves on one side and the massive cathedral on the other side, warm spring night - and then back to sleep, a day on the beach really takes a lot outta you, haha.
this next day is for walking around the massive pedestrian zone that is the old town of palma, like actually maybe a hundred blocks of narrow cobblestone streets - somehow this is the place where i really feel like walking in a really old city. pass by a museum with the obvious spanish artist names like picasso and miro, but also some really cool sculptures outside by calatrava - really cool. spend actually quite a long time just wandering the streets, looking in at some courtyards, at least a few smaller cathedrals, a street that was strictly for florists, lots of food and bread, people playing spanish guitar and such. hang out in the main square and watch a pretty random capoeira show, pass by some apparently famous arab baths, and then went inside this fairly big cathedral. some of the nicest stained glass windows i have seen, gothic spires are still as cool as ever, and some sweet architecture allowed for the thinnest and highest stone pillars i have seen. gaudi did some work on this as well which was pretty cool. weather outside got a little nicer, so yup, went for a long walk on the beach. hung out, watched this one guy just running laps on this section of beach, then went for some supper. this tapas restaurant, with some smaller cold plates of olives/salads etc. up for grabs and then other sandwich fried things as well. some octopus too, but that was really just some middling octopus i thought. overall still pretty good though. lots of walking today, so call it a day.
wake up, eat breakfast, get a couple more coffees, and then head to the airport. fly back to basel, eat some sandwiches, and then have most of the day left without work to just chill out. really, not being at work is about 50000 times better than being at work. two day workweek coming up, then off to paris!
Friday, April 2, 2010
skiing in laax
so after a week of recovery from egypt, we went from sandy desert to hitting some slopes again. rented out this chalet type thing in the village of laax, about 2.5 hours away by bus and train. headed out friday night, loaded down with some supplies for a weekend of good times. got my free sbb snow'n rail ski bag so took that bad boy out for a spin. turns out they do in fact hold skis. arrived in laax to some nice wet slushy snow on the ground. for a pretty cheap hostel price the 'chalet' wasn't too bad, good enough for a couple nights anyhow. dropped off our stuff and got right down to business, steve ate the worst smelling egg salad ever and a bottle of grey goose made it's way around, leading to a fairly short night involving a bath and a good night's sleep.
got up nice and early next morning, strapped on the gear, ran across the street to take the 1 minute bus to the bottom of the gondola. turns out there's this big ski festival called 'the brits' going on where there are a ton of british people hanging out and partying with some events and club nights etc. this was the last weekend though but there were still kids hitting big jumps and the halfpipe which we had a good view of on the lifts. first time skiing spring snow, not bad, some fresh stuff at the top and it did get a little heavy towards the bottom but overall it was really good. my second time at laax, and it's a big mountain, so there was lots of stuff to ski, had a nice lunch at the top of the mountain and then closed it down for the day with a slushy ski out. there was no kitchen in this 'chalet' so basically i ended up eating 7 hard boiled eggs this day. a quick disco nap, a game of shoulders, and we were ready to go out for some apres ski action. there was a big wind-up party for the brits festival as mentioned, so a short walk up the hill took us to 'riders palace', basically a big hotel/restaurant/bar building. some pretty good djs, some dubstep, some drum and bass, in all a pretty good night.
woke up a little earlier, had some fresh snow overnight so some good skiing to be had. cleared up later in the day, and then came the time to throw on the snowboard for a bit. so basically it had been a year or so since i went riding, and it definitely took a couple runs to get back into it, but definitely still really fun. switching from skis to the board feels really weird on your legs. so basically i have never been good at t-bars on a board anyways, and pretty much just got owned on my first time back on one. so, basically epic fail on the t bar...so impossible on a snowboard anyways, also not having done it for awhile may have had something to do with it. so just fell off the t-bar, struggling in the snow, see chris moore coming up from a distance, think to myself 'hey i think i could try and hop on with him' and flail around, miraculously manage to get up and grab the bar, lose grip on the bar, at this point chris is hanging on with just his hands, i'm holding on to his arm, we're going up this hill and i just bail again. ski down, take it back like 80% of the way up, then this other guy's like 'hey dude, can i hop on with you' and i'm like '....uhhhhhhhhhhh' so he comes and knocks me over at which point i've just resigned myself to defeat. but in the end i did get the feeling of the boarding back and it was pretty good to get going on that again. stupid t-bars, skiing is the way to go on those. anyways had another good day of skiing, probably the last in the alps, unfortunately, but had a great season with something like 15 days, which i'm really happy about and definitely glad that i learned to ski and all that.
got up nice and early next morning, strapped on the gear, ran across the street to take the 1 minute bus to the bottom of the gondola. turns out there's this big ski festival called 'the brits' going on where there are a ton of british people hanging out and partying with some events and club nights etc. this was the last weekend though but there were still kids hitting big jumps and the halfpipe which we had a good view of on the lifts. first time skiing spring snow, not bad, some fresh stuff at the top and it did get a little heavy towards the bottom but overall it was really good. my second time at laax, and it's a big mountain, so there was lots of stuff to ski, had a nice lunch at the top of the mountain and then closed it down for the day with a slushy ski out. there was no kitchen in this 'chalet' so basically i ended up eating 7 hard boiled eggs this day. a quick disco nap, a game of shoulders, and we were ready to go out for some apres ski action. there was a big wind-up party for the brits festival as mentioned, so a short walk up the hill took us to 'riders palace', basically a big hotel/restaurant/bar building. some pretty good djs, some dubstep, some drum and bass, in all a pretty good night.
woke up a little earlier, had some fresh snow overnight so some good skiing to be had. cleared up later in the day, and then came the time to throw on the snowboard for a bit. so basically it had been a year or so since i went riding, and it definitely took a couple runs to get back into it, but definitely still really fun. switching from skis to the board feels really weird on your legs. so basically i have never been good at t-bars on a board anyways, and pretty much just got owned on my first time back on one. so, basically epic fail on the t bar...so impossible on a snowboard anyways, also not having done it for awhile may have had something to do with it. so just fell off the t-bar, struggling in the snow, see chris moore coming up from a distance, think to myself 'hey i think i could try and hop on with him' and flail around, miraculously manage to get up and grab the bar, lose grip on the bar, at this point chris is hanging on with just his hands, i'm holding on to his arm, we're going up this hill and i just bail again. ski down, take it back like 80% of the way up, then this other guy's like 'hey dude, can i hop on with you' and i'm like '....uhhhhhhhhhhh' so he comes and knocks me over at which point i've just resigned myself to defeat. but in the end i did get the feeling of the boarding back and it was pretty good to get going on that again. stupid t-bars, skiing is the way to go on those. anyways had another good day of skiing, probably the last in the alps, unfortunately, but had a great season with something like 15 days, which i'm really happy about and definitely glad that i learned to ski and all that.
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