A taste of Switzerland

I definitely need to start a diet after indulging in the food in Switzerland. It was a combination of French and Swiss food and it was delicious. I started a list of the foods I ate: Fresh melt-in-your-mouth croissants daily, strong espresso and coffee (I also treated myself to a soy latte at Starbucks since I don't get that in SA), goat cheese salad with truffle oil, filet served practically rare and melted in your mouth, thai chicken green curry, prawn salad with guacamole (huge prawns), one gaufres with nutella and one with chocolate sauce,

cheese fondue, air dried beef,


swiss wine, french wine, seafood salad with salmon shrimp and trout, swiss meringue, and the list could go on...but my tummy is very full.

A bit of Switzerland

Medtronic's European headquarters are located in Switzerland and I had the chance to visit last week. South Africa sends both employees and customers to receive training to Tolochenaz which is between Geneva and Lausanne. I also took the opportunity to discover a tiny bit of the French speaking area of this country walking throughout Lauzanne which is on Lake Geneva (Lac Leman).

View from my hotel room.

Notre Dame de Lausanne

The waterfront in the town of Ouchy

Sunset in Lausanne

A wooden tower with 360 deg view of the town a 20 minute uphill from the city center.

Politics...Can't seem to get away from it!

Usually, the topic of conversation surrounding politics is the U.S. presidential election, even in South Africa. But, local news this past weekend has shifted the topic to SA politics and their president...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1843253,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Spring is in the air (Or is it summer?!)

As the northern hemisphere gets ready for Fall, we are getting ready for Spring. But, everyone seems to skip spring and just say, "Summer is just around the corner!" We've had glimpses of this in the weather with over 30 degC days these past 2 weeks. Hot! Laura left to go home to the U.S. this past week after spending 6 months in the RSA. I am thankful for her friendship which brought some U.S. connection to my life. We spent one of her last weekends shopping (we bought the same South African designed dress, different color and pattern) and getting Thai massages! Great fun.

SA Rugby: The Spingboks versus the Wallabees

Rugby is huge in South Africa, especially after becoming World Champs last year! Unfortunately, the Boks did not do so well this year in the tri-nations competition but regardless, they completely smashed the Australia Wallabees at the game we went to see. Very exciting. Truly a fun atmosphere (except for the guy behind me who decided it was ok to let his cigarette ashes drop on me) before, during, and after the game. Thanks Maurice for getting the tickets!

More pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/backroads.traveler/SARugby#

Zanzibar

After the physicially and mentally challenging task of hiking up Kilimanjaro, we took a few days to relax in Zanzibar. The first 2 days were on the beach to the north in the town of Nungwi where we walked along the water, dove at Mnemba Atoll, got massages, and saw the sunset via a dhow (traditional Arab sailing vessel).

The next 2 days were spent exploring Stone Town and learning about the history of Zanzibar. A neat little town with a lot of not so good history including a very active slave trade market. Also, ST is really run down with no obvious efforts to improve. But, we had a fun time getting lost in the narrow streets and looking at all the intricate doors, having a taste of the spiced coffee, and watching the magical sunsets. (As a side note, we were very disappointed with the food in Zanzibar especially considering they catch fresh seafood every day. We much rather preferred our Kilimanjaro food prepared by our cook Joseph!)

More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/backroads.traveler/Zanzibar#

Kilimanjaro

Brian and I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro! But, the best part of the trip for us was to get to know the guides, cook, and porters that helped us throughout the 6 days on the trail. We feel blessed to have been surrounded by such kind and friendly people. A great experience for the books.





Some more posted pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/backroads.traveler/Kilimanjaro#