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 And so we begin the “work” portion of our journey to Switzerland. My sister-in-law started work again, the permanant babysitter can’t start till mid-August, so that’s why we’re here. Taking care of young Mattia (9 months on July 30th) has been a delight. In addition to babysitting, we spent our first full week in Switzerland going on walks, singing, eating delicious food, reading (lots of reading), biking, grocery shopping, and so on. Basically just hanging out and enjoying time with our nephew/Godson (finally, I’m The Godfather).
 Mattia learning the guitar. So, I thought for this post, I’ll list some of the food we’ve eaten, share some places we’ve visited, post some pictures of the nephew, and list some of the books I’ve read.
Food!
Pesto – Mmm, an Italian classic. Made with fresh basil from the garden on top of wide spaghetti noodles (isn’t that linguini?).
Fondue – A Swiss classic, though not “native” to the region of Valais where we’re staying. Included – white wine and hot tea.
 Raclette. Melt the cheese, scrape onto potatoes, enjoy. – Exported from the US, my own recipe! Chicken, bacon, and sauteed onions with something close to enchilada cheese, added chili powder to tomato sauce with italian seasoning, wrapped with corn tortillas (6 CHF [$7.69] for a pack of 8), topped with shredded mozzarella: a delicious European twist on a mexican classic.
Raclette – For our first meal out of the house, all you can eat raclette (melted cheese) in Gruyeres (again, not the “native” region for this cheese).
 Walking outside Le Château de Gruyères Chateau de Villa – A very trendy wine bar featuring wines from the Valais region. 8 different wines featured each week, ordered the way they should be drunk. Outside: ~25 different vines so you can see the difference in the grapes (i.e. Pinot Noir vs Syrah). The service here is terrible, but apparently that’s to be expected in Suisse.
Les Bains de Lavey – For 25CHF ($32) you can spend 3 hours meandering through the various steam rooms, saunas, and mineral pools of different temperatures, all accompanied by unaccompanied children. Regardless of the roustabouts, this is a very relaxing place. For an invigorating experience, submerge yourself completely in the ice pool then jump back into the warm pool. Ghaaaaaaaaah.
Gruyères – A medieval town dating to the 15th century, this landmark city is now a quaint but busy tourist location. Found up on a hill and attached to a castle, Guyreres is covered in cobblestone streets and lined with ivy-covered buildings. The city walls offer a great view of the surrounding green countryside. Things to see here include:
HR Giger Museum. Nate Mahaffey will be pissed when he reads that we didn’t go inside.
Château de Gruyères Medieval castle and formerly the monarch of the region. Kirstin says this is her favorite castle next to Neuschwanstein.
Gruyere cheese factory – if you’ve had Gruyere cheese somewhere in the world, it was probably made here.
Lausanne, CH – This is where my brother-in-law works for a Swiss bank. The city seems very hip, a la NYC. We wandered the city for a bit, visited the Blatti flat overlooking a large square, and went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pt. 2 in English with French and German subtitles in 3D: 21CHF ($26.92)/person.
 Mattia and Aunt Katy Since we’ve been here, Mattia has grown in more ways than one. He’s moved up from dragging himself across the floor to crawling on all fours. With a hand, he’ll stand on two feet and almost walk. Mom is making his food less mushy since two tiny teeth appeared out of his bottom gums. He’ll imitate facial expressions and sounds, when he feels like it. He’s been very busy exploring and tasting all kinds of new things, and hates to nap because there’s so much to do and see. During 2 gatherings, he’s been the life of the party, and likes to be passed around to visit with all the guests. He loves it when mom or dad gets home after spending the day with Aunt Katy and Uncle Dan and gets very giddy when looking at pictures of daddy.
Books:
And now, for the boring part: you get to read about the books I’ve read (or finished reading) on my Nook after I fooled Barnes and Noble into thinking I was in the US. A warning to NOOK users travelling outside the US: stock up on your books before you leave or else you’ll spend 4 days trying to email BN customer service and then end up setting up a proxy to the USA so you can buy your books with the money that’ll never leave USA.
Eating The Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
A very entertaining collection of essays about pop culture. I found the essay on the “laugh track” especially intersting, as well as the final essay about the unibomber.
State of Fear by Michael Crichton
Not the first time I’ve read this, but still a great novel on mass media manipulation, the perpetuation of faux-scientific ideas, and the need for the return to real science. Especially noteworthy is the appendix, the annotated bibliography, and 3 speeches Chrichton gave on the subject before he wrote the novel (eBook bonus).
Love Wins by Rob Bell
“A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.” A unique take on the freedom God gives us to live with Him or not, creating our own heaven or hell now and for all eternity, and the unconditional love that the Creator of the Universe showers upon us every second of our lives. I’ve read reviews that say this book borders on sacrilege, and though I’m not exactly a fan of his writing style I’d say it’s still worth the read (only ~110 pages) whether you’re a believer or not.
In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla
Carolla discusses all kinds of things, from airports to ketchup packets to the feminization of our school system to world cuisine to… you name it. Great read but be warned of offensive language.
John Adams by David McCullough
Still plowing through this one. Adams reminds me of myself with his refusal to be anyone but himself and his inability to keep his opinion quiet.
Coming soon: Week 3 in Suisse. Stay tuned…
  
 Aren't we just adorable? – On a beautiful Saturday morning, after a lovely breakfast of croissant with strawberry rhubarb jam and coffee, we drove to the opposite side of the Rhône valley and began our hike to peaceful meadows in Vallée du Rèche.
The hike began uphill along a dirt road and after several switchbacks we arrived at a beautiful vista: perfect place for a token “couple” photo. Just up from there, a trailhead for an almost flat hiking trail along a timeworn but still used irrigation ditch.  We said “Bonjour!” (yay for learning French) to several other parties going the other direction and crossed several well-constructed walkways along some steep, rocky sections. After perhaps an hour and a half of walking, we arrived at a chalet situated at the edge of a meadow where ringing Swiss cows peacefully meandered about; a picturesque waterfall lay just ahead at the end of the meadow. We took our picnic of cheese, bread, dried meats, and apples under a tree near the meadow.
Finishing our meal and subsequently wrangling my wedding ring that decided to fling itself into the grass, my beau-frère JJ and I continued up into the valley along a trail much steeper than the path we had just traversed along the irrigation canal.  Swiss cows in the meadow. Wife, belle-sœur, and nephew would return to the vehicle where we would meet up later. Pausing only a moment so JJ could explain that there is a person appointed by the community to manipulate the various locks along the canal (to change the flow of the water without permission was unlawful), we trekked upward along the waterfall.
About an hour and 15 minutes later we arrived at the top of a second waterfall. At the edge of the top of the fall which interrupted a serene alpine pasture, we took only a moment to take in the view, worried that our spouses would begin to fret over our already overdue return (which turned out to be an undue thought, they hardly realized we were gone).  Descending the steep trail. Rapidly descending the trail, we passed our picnic location and continued down a steep road past small farms and houses, bypassing the flat canal-trail we used to ascend. Eventually meeing our loved ones at the now-awaiting vehicle, we drove back into town as my legs sighed in relief and my sweat dried. 2 days later, my legs would still be upset about our accelerated down-hike, but I was content: sore legs are a sign of a great hike.
      
What happened to day 2? Ask my wife, at your own risk.
 En route to Montreux We jumped in the car around 3pm and headed west towards Montreux to visit the annual “Jazz” festival; the tickets to see Liza Minnelli didn’t pan out. I use the word “Jazz” in quotes because this festival has grown to include all kinds of music, including jazz.
We parked just outside Château de Chillon and walked along Lake Geneva towards Montreux. Parking inside the city was reported to be difficult to find, but it was a lovely day worthy of some time outside. My adorable nephew Matia was enjoying the sights and the people we encountered along the way.  Past the casino, the vendor stalls started to appear along the walkway, hocking all kinds of clothing and trinkets. On the lake, one of the Belle Epoque steam boats that transports people between all the villages in Switzerland and France blew its horn as it passed by us. The crowds of all nationalities grew thicker as we approached the city center.
The beer tents appeared, sporting the logos of what was apparently one of the headline sponsors of the event, Heinekin. 4 Swiss francs for a half pint; kinda pricy, but still cheaper than a Coors at a Rockies game.  Matia, enjoying the crowds. Don’t worry, I didn’t drink, like, 5. Ate a sort of grilld cheese, Croc Raclette: deliciuos. We wandered around some more, listened to “The Amazing Sax Band” from the UK (likely a student band… seemed most of the free concerts were student bands), before we staked our claim on a bench and waited for my beau-frère
JJ to meet us after he left work in Lausanne.
Soon we ate a dinner: I could not resist the smell of Thai curry. Delicious. We hung out for a bit longer before heading back to the car, opting to take the bus instead of retracing our long walk from earlier. The sun was setting just as we left, giving the opportunity for some lovely photos.
  
 Road through Aspen forest Please visit 14ers.com for a complete route description including maps and pictures.
July 3rd, 2011 – After meeting in Minutrn at a timely 5am, we drove south through Leadville to Hwy 82 and the Twin Lakes trailhead. The “4×4″ road from the lower trailhead to the upper has been recently graded, so can likely be traversed by standard passenger cars; indeed we saw many of them parked up and down the road. We drove 3/4 of the way up and parked just below an ominous stream crossing (which likely wouldn’t have been a problem, i’m just a softie when it comes to off-roading). By 7am we were on the trail.
 Trail Junction
The first ~1/2 mile of the trail follows the CDT (Continental Divide Trail)/Colorado trail. At an obvious junction after a slight downward slope, we turned west onto the Mt Elbert trail. After this point, the trail turns sharply uphill and never looks back.
Meandering uphill through a lovely aspen grove, the trail eventually peeks out of treeline with a smattering of small pine trees. We took a break under the shade of one of the last clumps of trees before ascending into the alpine zone.  "Its that one, there!" At this point, Jesse took off ahead of me, I could see him passing other groups who were meandering up. (He later told me that he got it in his head that he was going to go all out and not stop till the summit.) I however, took my time, though I was still passing people (and a couple of speedsters passed me). The crowd on this relatively tame 14er (and there was quite the crowd. There were at least 30 people on the summit while I was there, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were >100 hikers on the mountain that day) were newbies, the extent of which we did not realize until later. Many of the people I talked to were climbing their first 14er — compared to the “crowd” we saw the previous week on Mt Sneffels who made us look like the noobs.
 Up, up, up. There’s not much else to say about the trail beyond timberline, except that it goes up, up, up! The trail never becomes rocky, even when you are approaching the summit. As I approached the summit, I saw a familiar face descending; Jesse had summited almost half an hour previous and said that there were some not-happy clouds approaching from the north-west. Jesse waited for me, and about half an hour later I was on the summit (crowded!). As if welcoming me to the top, a low roll of thunder caused everyone up there to quickly snap their photos, throw on their gear, and start the walk down. After jogging down and meeting up with Jesse again, we quickly began our descent through some blowing snow (remember, its July).
As we went down, we passed several groups that were still going up! Had they not climbed a peak before? (Oh, yeah, they were all noobs.) It was after noon, there were ominous clouds and thunder, and they’re still going up? Jesse, being the proper Eagle Scout, stopped almost every up-bound group we passed saying “We heard thunder around noon.” “OH,” they’d reply, “we heard that too.” or “We’ve got friends on the top. They’re sending us info.” (how?) or “Cool!” Not a single group decided to turn back.  Me at the summit. Ominous clouds in the background. (by the way, if you’re above timberline and you hear thunder, it’s a pretty good queue to get the hell out of timberline. Ironically, the previous week was lightning safety awareness week sponsored by the National Weather Service, When thunder roars, go indoors! especially if you’re above 12,000 feet and you’re the tallest thing for miles around you. Mountain safety, people!)
We took a rest once we reached the relative safety of timberline, and eased our way through the beautiful aspens, back to the car. Though this is a class 1 route, we were both physically exhausted at the end, unlike the previous climb up Mt Sneffels (west ridge) which Jesse aptly noted was mentally exhausting. But, we had fun climbing Colorado’s highest peak!
    
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And so we begin the “work” portion of our journey to Switzerland. My sister-in-law started work again, the permanant babysitter can’t start till mid-August, so that’s why we’re here. Taking care of young Mattia (9 months on July 30th) has been a delight. In addition to babysitting, we spent our first full week in Switzerland going on walks, singing, eating delicious food, reading (lots of reading), biking, grocery shopping, and so on. Basically just hanging out and enjoying time with our nephew/Godson (finally, I’m The Godfather).
Denver, CO