Serious Update!

Oh boy. So I have plenty to catch up on. I haven't written in close to a month, not to mention, that month included a week of vacation! So here goes...

So by the middle and end of September, I think I really started to get into the swing of things. I have now been here over 3 months, so I guess it was about time! But things are going well with the kids and I was able to settle into my new French class, my church small group and a new basketball team. The weather is all nice and cold, which was actually a welcome change for me. I enjoy the heat, but not so much getting all sweaty carrying the boys around! So it's nice that it is cooler and all windy. It is also really foggy here now, which makes the lake look endless and mysterious. It's a pretty cool effect. There really hasn't been too much rain recently, so that's nice as well. We'll see if I am still enjoying the cold in a couple more weeks...

I was able to spend a weekend with my friend and fellow au pair, Jessalyn, up in Germany at the end of September. She lives in Bremen (in the northern part of Germany) and it was an absolute blast. It was the first person from home that I had seen, and we just had the best time. We talked and laughed constantly (in English!!!). I arrived bright and early on Saturday morning and was greeted at the station with a sign that said "Wilkommen Lindsay". Jessalyn and I explored the city, which is beautiful and historic. We had PLENTY of good food to eat (chocolate, sausages, fries... all that good healthy stuff) and took a tour of the Beck's Brewery Factory up in Bremen. That was quite an interesting and educational experience... We wandered around downtown and did some shopping and then Jessalyn cut my hair and we attempted to go to a Latin dance club downtown. Turns out, it wasn't really a place to dance, but rather a place to drink and listen to Latin music. So we headed back home for good girl talk time instead. I had to head out fairly early on Sunday, so we simply had time to eat a good German breakfast and load up on Milka chocolate (my favorite German kind that I have been unable to find in Switzerland) before I took off. I took the train home (about 8 hours) and got back to work the next morning. It was a short but fantastic weekend. It was unbelievably wonderful to get to spend time with a friend from home!

The next weekend was the wine festival here in Neuchatel. It was a bit crazy for my liking, but again, a rather interesting experience :) I was forewarned, but was still surprised at how crazy it was. The streets were PACKED with people (apparently they come from all over Switzerland and France to enjoy the weekend's festivities) and it's basically just an excuse for everyone to drink as much as they please. I stayed downtown to watch the parade and be amazed by the millions and millions of pieces of confetti they spread all over the streets. But I headed back for a good night sleep when most people were just getting started...

It was a great week of work and time with the family, and then I headed off for a week of vacation! It took a good amount of time and effort (on my end, as well as my mother's) to figure out what to do during the week, but it turned out to be amazing. I purchased a Eurail pass in September, thinking I could use it for Germany and for my week of vacation. What I didn't realize before buying it was that there are a limited number of seats for people with passes on each train, and it costs a LOT to make a reservation (which most trains now require). So I was limited on places that I could actually go. I ended up using the pass to go to Paris for the weekend, and then just flew to Madrid, as I could not find a train to get me there... Paris was aboslutely spectacular. I met up with my friend Halley, who is an au pair in a town about an hour away. She and I did tons and tons of stuff on Saturday. We started off at the Eiffel Tower and made our way through a good bit of the city. We saw the Louvre, the Champs Elysees, many museums and bridges, as well as the cathedral of Sacre Coeur. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the Monmarte area, which is a little ways outside of the city, but has a very quaint Parisian feel. We ate great food in front of Sacre Coeur and then wandered around and had coffee and sweets. That evening, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with a friend of Halley's and have a fabulous meal. It was so neat to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. I absolutely love that city! Halley had to leave on Sunday morning, so I got up bright and early to see her off and then spent a good 5 hours exploring myself before I caught the train back to Geneva. I made the mistake of lugging around my roll-on suitcase the entire morning. Not such a great idea with all the cobblestone streets... I had blisters covering my hands and severely damaged the wheels. But it was still amazing. Paris was so quiet on Sunday morning. I hardly saw anyone besides all of the rowers in the Seine River. I saw Notre Dame, some more of the Eiffel Tower, some various bridges, and spent some good time just sitting on park benches and taking everything in. After a couple of metro mistakes, I finally made my way to the train station and headed back to Switzerland.

I had to fly out of Geneva to get to Madrid, so I stayed with a family friend in town. She (Maddy) met my parents a while back in Switzerland, and they have talked so fondly of her ever since. So I was so pleased to meet her and be able to stay with her for the night. She cooked a fantastic meal and was oh so hospitable. I was able to relax for the night before heading off the next morning.

My flight fromm Geneva to Madrid was a nice, quick, easy one. I made it from the doors of the airport to my gate in 6 minutes! It was a really wonderful experience, because I had been worried about making it there in time for my flight, but God worked wonders and opened up traffic and airport security to get me on that plane. So that was a great way to kick off the trip. I flew to Madrid and was greeted by some friends of my Mom's that I had actually never met before. Steve and Leila are the couple that I stayed with, and they have 2 great kids, David and Vanessa. Leila was the ambassador from Hondurus in Spain for 4 years, so they know their way around Madrid. They were so welcoming and generous and gave me so many ideas about things to do while I was there. I enjoyed plenty of delicious Spanish food as well as some Latin food from their company (CasaLatina). Monday night, they took me on a drive through downtown, which really is incredibly lively at all hours. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent exploring the city of Madrid. I saw just about everything, as I took a guided tour bus both days. I was also able to spend lots of time in the parks and restaurants eating and relaxing. Wednesday night, I went with Steve and Leila to the Taiwanese ambassador's reception. That was so much fun and such a great experience. I spent most of the day on Thursday in Toledo, which is only about 30 minutes south of Madrid. It is very histric and unique, and I enjoyed it very much. It would have been great to have a travel buddy for that day in particular, but it was still good fun. I spent all day Friday in the Prado Museum, which is incredible. I'm not a real artsy person, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning history and techniques from my guided tour there. On Friday night, I went to a medieaval festival in a small Spanish town with a group of young people from Steve and Leila's church. It was a great time for talking and laughing, and felt a little like being back home with a big group of friends. I had to leave bright and early on Saturday morning, but it was the most wonderful and relaxing vacation. I stayed with some of the most hospitable and welcoming friends and got to experience 2 really great cities.

I was happy to be home and get back to taking care of the boys, but I have plenty more traveling in the near future! I am off to Lugano in 2 weeks, then going to Liechtenstein/Austria for a weekend, and then down to Florence/Cinque Terre. I am so very excited! Oh, and Molly, I will indeed be going to Lake Como when I go down to Lugano in a couple of weeks! Thanks for the suggestion, and I am so excited! And for all of these trips, I will have 1 or 2 girls with me, so it will be even more enjoyable.

Well, that's it for now... I need some good rest to rid myself of this cold. But I will try to be better at updating more often after all of my vacations!