Grindelwald, Switzerland

Another team event allowed Nancy to visit quintessential Switzerland for three days - Grindelwald. This village is surrounded by terrific mountains (Mönch, Eiger and Jungfrau among others) and the Roche team was able to participate in several outdoor activities while we were there. Our first evening out, we took a bus up to Bussalp to start the Big Pintenfritz: the longest toboggan run in Europe (15km). Everyone got a sled, a light for their head and some simple instructions before we left. Mid-way we stopped at a terrific place for a wonderful fondue dinner before finishing the sledding. The next day we took the train to Kleine Scheidegg and started downhill on traditional velogemels (snow bikes). Before we got to the bottom we created some snow sculptures like the ones they create for the winter snow festival every January. Robert joined us on Friday evening so he could go skiing on Saturday. See the skiing pictures here, see pictures from the "workshop" here.

A sunny day in Switzerland!

Today was a warm and sunny day in Switzerland, so we decided to go for a short tour in the middle of the country. The first stop was the town of Zug. It's a small town of approximately 25K and located on a lake with the same name. It provides fantastic views to the snow covered Alps just a few miles away. We enjoyed walking through the old town and seeing the buildings, shops, narrow streets, and even caged birds including Owls. (Nancy's favorite). Next up, a cogwheel train took us past the sledders and skiers on the way to the top of a mountain called Rigi. After a few beers, we took in the breathtaking views and took pictures and a video of the surrounding mountains and lakes (Robert's favorite). You can see pictures of Zug here, and from Rigi here.

Basel Museum Night 2008

For such a small town (~150,000 people), Basel has over 35 terrific museums to visit and they are all open from 6pm-2am on Museum Night. We took it easy and saw only two new ones this year: the Firefighter Museum and the Pharmacy Museum. The fire museum had terrific displays of old ladders, buckets, fire hydrants, fire trucks, helmets, etc. The 3-man bike from 1899 was of particular note. The pharmacy museum made us thankful to live in modern times. There were many jars and bottles of things like frog tongues and dog teeth that made you wonder if it was a voodoo shop or a animal center. See Museum Night pictures from the last three years here.

Curling

Last week my project team met for a 4-day workshop and we arranged to go curling as our team event. Only 5 of us were able to participate, but we had a great time. There is a curling center about 10 minutes from Basel and an instructor was there to tell us about the history, rules and techniques of the game. Lying prone on the ice I could tell that this sport is a lot harder than it looks! See Curling and other Basel event pictures here.

St. Gallen, Switzerland

St. Gallen is the 7th largest city in Switzerland. We decided to take the city tour to see the Abbey District (a UNESCO world heritage site). The church and library are absolutely stunning! The Stiftsbibliothek has never been renovated since it was built in 1758, but it was in perfect condition. Along with terrific bookshelves and a wood inlay floor, we saw a mummy from 700 B.C, 150,000 books and a book containing the first written musical notes! St. Gallen is also known for its oriels(bay windows) and textiles. The textile museum had lots of great examples and the history of textiles in Switzerland (even a dress that Napoleon's wife wore!). It was a very wet and cold day so we left right after the tour - we need to go back to visit Switzerland's oldest brewery and a couple of Santiago Calatrava structures (bus stop and emergency service center). See our pictures from St. Gallen here.

Basel Architecture Museum

Today we took a short trip... A ten minute walk to the Architecture Museum in Basel. It is currently featuring an exhibit from Pancho Guedes. He's a very creative Painter, Sculptor and Architect from Portugal. Although small, the exhibit has a little of everything, but we were most impressed by the architecture. Take a look at some of his drawings here. Overall, we enjoyed the short trip, and it was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. See all of our Basel pictures here.

Christmas 2007

Another year has come and gone and our only trip back to Indy this year was packed full of family, friends and shopping! We were able to take in the new Marion County Public Library, the Roman Art exhibit at the Museum, and took a peek at the new Colts stadium as well. Qdoba was on Robert’s list and Nancy was able to enjoy some Cracker Barrel favorites - we both miss Taco Bell (if you can believe that) and Quiznos too, but somehow we didn't make it to Dairy Queen. We were reminded of the appalling amount of trash generated at the fast food places. We went out of our way to visit our old gym just about every day, watch several football games and were also able to stake out the outline of our new house on the lot. 2008 will bring lots more work, travel and good times –this will be our third and final year in Switzerland and we still have tons of things to see and do. Here’s wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year!! See our Christmas pictures here, and our house pictures here.