We're in Switzerland now!

One of our goals before most of you come visit is to become expert tour guides, so after being here about a month we decided we better start visiting more cities in Switzerland. The first stop for a weekend getaway was about as Swiss as you can get, Zermatt - home of the Matterhorn. I was fortunate enough to have visited the town for a day last summer, but Steve had yet to go. Not many people outside of Europe have probably heard of Zermatt, but for those here it is famous for not only the Matterhorn but some of the best Alpine skiing in Europe with the highest and longest runs. And for those of you that are fans of the Amazing Race, Zermatt was a stop on their run several seasons ago where they had to either deliver an overflowing luggage cart through the snow or else eat the world's largest pot of fondue. Although we participated in both activities while there, we did so in much more reasonable proportions (it was only our luggage we were bringing to the hotel)!

The best way to describe the town of

Zermatt is magical. No matter what time of the year or the weather it is difficult to dampen the spirit of the town. From the train ride there where you just watch the mountains grow outside your window, to your arrival at the train station where you are greeted by only electric vehicles and horse drawn carriages it is a special place. There are no gas vehicles allowed and as a result you see every other form of possible transportation! People ski off the mountains straight to their hotel, parents pull their children on toboggans, or children push parents on sleds. However, this man topped it off when we saw him hiking with skis on his back, a dog tied to his waist, and pulling his child in a makeshift stroller/sled!

We hope to make many more trips back to Zermatt (after all cloudy skies prevented us from actually seeing the Matterhorn), so we thought of this trip as a taste test in more than one way. There was no downhill skiing this go around (we figured our first ski trip in the Alps should probably not be while I was pregnant - well that and my ski pants don't fit very well anymore!), but we did do some cross country skiing. We also took in stunning views on a mountain hike.

And then most importantly we ate fondue and sampled fresh chocolates! After all, it is a necessity that we are experts in chocolate tasting so we can only share the best with all of you!

Needless to say, if there was any doubt before we were fully convinced that we were in Switzerland after this weekend trip. However, I caught Steve looking a little confused on our mountain hike when we found this spot for sunbathing - maybe next time!

Ringing in the New Year in Amsterdam

Lucky for us Steve was scheduled to work in Amsterdam shortly after the New Year, so I was able to tag along for a few days to explore the city. Amsterdam was not originally on either of our "must visit" lists, but we are glad we had the opportunity to visit the land of canals, wooden clogs, windmills, crazy bike riders, and legal marijuana (which to all of your disappointment we did not sample).

We were able to hit several of the big name museums including the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum on the New Year's weekend while avoiding the firecrackers and fireworks being lit on small, busy side streets. We were glad we did our homework before visiting on New Year's Eve and prepared ourselves to stay out of the way of the people shooting these off while having complete disregard for everyone else around them! We have since heard that Amsterdam has some of the busiest emergency rooms in all of Europe on New Year's Eve... now we fully understand why.

Unfortunately during our trip the weather was less than ideal with some fierce wind and rain (yet evidently 30 and 40 mph wind is still not enough to stop the Dutch from getting on their bikes around town), but we still managed to get in a boat ride on the canals, visit the flower markets, and see some beautiful architecture.

However, perhaps our favorite memory from the trip is the time we spent outside of Amsterdam in the Dutch countryside. We took a day tour that included visiting a wooden clog maker, an old fishermens' village, several authentic windmills, and a cheese factory (good, but not as good as the Swiss). Here are a few photos from the tour...

A pair of Dutch wedding shoes - pretty cool, but not as cool as the thieves' wooden shoes that were made so your footprints looked like they were going in the opposite direction!

Around the fishing villages and windmills...

Inside a windmill on a very windy day...

And of course no trip would be complete without trying new food and Steve's sampling of new beers... I think the highlight (maybe to Steve's surprise) was the Indonesian Rijsttafel. If you are unfamiliar with it, a rijsttafel is a combination of many different side dishes that are a mixture of rice, meat, and vegetable based. We choose 11 different dishes, but many rijsttafel's for large groups can me upwards of 40 or 50 different dishes. It is truly a small feast of many flavors!

However, as with everywhere we visit, there is always a takeaway lesson for us. There were two for us in Amsterdam... first, always buy wooden clogs that fit.

And second, watch out for pickpocketers (or as we decided, just watch out for anyone that is reaching for your rear end)!