Winter Wonderland

I just got home from the most AMAZING weekend with Raisa in Zermatt. It was the most beautiful place I've been in my whole life, and never wanted to leave.

Friday, I woke up at 8am and headed to the Edinburgh Airport. From there I had a 2-hour flight to Geneva, Switzerland (the French part), and from there a train to Lousanne, switched to a train to Visp, and on to a train to Zermatt. The town our hotel was in was about a 15 minute train ride from Zermatt, in a cute little town called Randa. I finally got to the hotel at 9pm Friday night, and Raisa was already in the room. It was a cute room with a beautiful balcony and view.
Our bathroom, with a toilet and sink and a shower head just in the middle of the bathroom..causing a very flooded bathroom after every shower.



We headed down to the hotel restaurant for a delicious dinner of toast with prociutto (I'm a great vegetarian, salad, penne pasta with eggplant, and sangria with fresh fruit. We went to bed early for a full day Saturday!

Saturday we got up early, enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, and hopped on the train to Zermatt. We explored the city for the day, took the gondola all the way up to the top of the mountain. At the very very top, you could either go over to the Italy side of the mountain and take black diamond trails all the way down (yikes!) or go to the Glacier Palace, as we did. It was this whole place carved in a glacier with ice statues and a slice and all different information. It was very cool.


The view from lunch

We then went to the Matterhorn Museum, which was very odd. It sort of described the first climbing of the Matterhorn Mountain (aka the mountain on the Toblerone box), and the fatalities that happened. Except there were strange exhibits, with miniature sheep, scary looking dolls, and a color-changing/post card/light show on a mountain. Odd.



Afterwards, we got dinner at a little restaurant called The Pipe. I had a delicious chicken burrito with jalepenos, and then Raisa and I shared chocolate banana cake and homemade caramel vodka. MMM!

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early again...for SKIING! We had breakfast at the hotel again, and headed back to Zermatt to rent our skis and hit the slopes. We did a half-day, skiing from noon and not finishing until almost 6! We started out slow, on the blue trails (the lowest), getting the feel for things. After doing the same slope a few times and mastering it, we decided to move up a level and challenge ourselves. That was...an adventure. It had the most amazing views, yet was a rather narrow trail, on the edge of a mountain cliff, with a mix between steep hills and complete flatness. It was exhausting. The trail took us almost 2 1/2 hours to finally get back down to the gondolas. Today I can honestly say my entire body hurts, after a few falls, twisted knees, ankles, and some bumps here and there...but I think over the course of the day Raisa and I became much better skiers!

We had dinner again a the Pipe, where I had a super yummy falafel wrap with goat cheese. Then we went to the market and bought a variety of swiss cheeses and wine, and brought it home to snack on.

Today, we got up at 7am to head back out on the train, plane, and bus trek home. I finally got home around 6:30, exhausted, and wanting to turn around and go back immediately. It was by far the most magical place I had ever been in my whole entire life, worth the long travel and all that came along with it! If you ever get the chance to go - GO!

If you'd like to view the rest of the pictures, they are available on my FB! Or click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=1357332408450&id=1085670017&aid=2036658

Life

The week started with going out to celebrate Kyle's 21st birthday on Monday night. We went to a bar called Rush, which is basically known to local visitors/backpackers/students for its very cheap drinks (and poor ambiance). A good place to go to first for cheap drinks, but kind of a strange crowd and a bit dirty. We got a fishbowl of course (£7 compared to Espionage's £17, if you can understand how cheap I'm talking!!)


There was also this boxing game, which we all had to have our try at, in attempt to beat the 700 highscore and win a free sweatshirt.


I'll admit...I scored 005. I'm a beginner, and obviously need to work on my upper body strength.
Afterwards, I came home and skyped in on Cara's 21st birthday preparations. I watched everyone dress her up as a Smurf and it was nice to get to feel like I was there (after all, it is her first birthday at UNH we are apart!)

Wednesday night (last night), my roommate Lindsay (who is part of Journalism) had a fundraiser at Electric Circus. There was live music, and they opened up the back private karaoke rooms for karaoke, rockband, dress up costumes, and other fun things.




After hearing Karaoke renditions of everything from Queen to Kanye, we headed to Cabaret Voltaire for a little dancing.

And the best part...on the way home, we stopped at this place called Pizza Paradise, which was, like most late-night pizza places here, a combo of pizza, fried food, kabobs, and falafel. I had THE BEST falafel I have had here yet. It was sooooo yummy. It is interesting because here they make the falafel wrap, and then panini it, so it is warm and crispy and unreal.

Today, I mostly slept all day. I have developed this terrible head cold from all of my sick roommates, and am trying desperately to kick it. I caught up on sleep and then went to Pancho Villas for dinner with Kat and Craig (the waitstaff should know us by now!)

Tomorrow morning I leave bright & early to meet Raisa in Zermatt in the Swiss Alps! I'm so excited.
Details and pictures to come when I get home Monday!!

Bleary

I'm ready for some sunshine.

BBQ

Tonight for family dinner, we had BBQ night. We had BBQ chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, potato wedges, salad, and french bread. It was delicious!

Cheese grating teamwork.






To make this macaroni and cheese yourself at home, you need:
-4 cups milk
-8 Tbsp butter
-2 Tbsp flour
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-3 cups grated cheddar
-1 lb elbow pasta
-Ritz crackers

1) Heat the milk (but do not boil)
2) Add the butter and flour, mix until smooth.
3) Take off of the burner and add the cheese, salt and pepper.
4) In separate pot, boil water and cook the elbow pasta.
5) Add the cheese mixture and cooked pasta into a casserole dish. Sprinkle crushed RItz crackers on top.
6) Bake in oven at 375 for about 10-15 minutes (or until slightly brown on top)

YUMM!

Plaid Gone Mad

Last night for Kat and Lindsay's 3/4 birthday, we celebrated by dressing up in our best Scottish plaids.


We then when out to Espionage, where Leah karoeked her rendition of "Something to talk about."

After that, we headed to the Liquid Room for some dancing.

Kat, and her boyfriend Craig who is visiting!

LIndsay, Zach & Kat dancing
On our way home, we had no choice but to stop at Made In Italy for some delicious pizza!

Champagne High

Today for my wine studies class, the topic of discussion was Champagne & Sparkling Wines. It was definitely my favorite class thus far, so I figured, why not share my newfound knowledge??

Do you know the difference between Champagne & Sparkling Wine? I didn't either - until today. CHAMPAGNE is sparkling wine from the region of France called Champagne. SPARKING WINE is exactly the same, but if it is from any other region besides Champagne, France, then it is called sparking wine. Therefore, it should never be assumed that champagne is better than sparkling wine from elsewhere; that is not the case.

I alos learned that Dom Perignon, a the very fine and expensive champagne is named after, was a blind monk who used to create sparkling wine.

Also, sparkling wine is usually a mix of different grapes, and there are various kinds. As soon as it is put out on the shelves to be sold, it is good to drink. It does not get better with time. In fact, it gets worse, as air seeps in through the cork and the champagne can go rotten. Therefore, there is no reason to hold on to champagne for years hoping it will age - it won't, so drink up!

And my last fun fact we learned today, (I won't get into the difference processes of how they are made), is that people feel the alcohol faster drinking champagne and sparkling wine because the bubbles carry the alcohol to your blood stream quicker.

We tried four different ones in class, ranging in price.

The first was called "Toso", from Mendoza, Argentina. It was a brut (meaning dry), priced at £6.95 ($11), with 12.5% alcohol.

It was very crisp, dry, fresh, and fruity. The bubbles were on the larger side. It wash high in acidity (as all sparking wines are), and very light in taste. I really enjoyed this one, especially for being the cheapest one we tried all day.

The second one was "Prosecco" from Veneto, Italy. Produced by Passaparola, it was £9.95 ($16), and 11% alcohol.

This one was more bubbly, with smaller bubbles. It was light, fresh, and fruity, with a green apple-y taste.

The third one was Miru Miru, from Marlborough, New Zealand. It was more expensive, £13.95 ($22), and 12.5% alcohol.

It had small, delicate bubbles. It had an intense aroma of florals and fruits, and a dry, highly acidic taste. It tasted of peaches and other ripe, stone fruits.

The last one we tried was Pol Roger from Champagne, France. It was a whopping £26.95 ($44), and 12.5% alcohol.

This one had the deepest color, a yellow/gold, and lots of tiny bubbles. It smelled of florals and green apples. It tasted highly acidic, with a fresh fruity taste that was long on the palate.

I hope I have given you some information, if not ideas, of your next champagne/sparking wine purchase, and not just bored you!

XOXO

Class At The Castle

Today, for my Scottish Culture & Society class, we all met at the Edinburgh Castle. The whole class met at the entrance, where our professor handed out the tickets, and we proceeded inside to grab a guided tour headset and basically just do whatever we wanted. I'm pretty sure he left as soon as we entered. Either way, it was great!

Unfortunately...it was pouring. Horrible day for pictures with such a gray sky, but we made the most of it. The castle was really different than I expected. Inside, it was all not covered, and there were a lot of different small museums cafes - very few actual castle rooms. Kat and I spent about two hours there exploring all of the different areas and museums, seeing everything from war memorials to the national Crown Jewels. By the time we left, I'm pretty sure we were the last from our class to depart...

We'll Be Kings In Castles By The End...

Today, we did our typical adventuring Tuesday. We went to Craigmillar Castle. It is one of the most intact castles, and so pretty.





Afterwards, we followed the normal Tuesday routine...Brass Monkey, free Tuesday dinner at Frankensteins, and trivia at Electric Circus!

Be Mine

Happy Valentines Day!!

I woke up this morning to my roommate bringing this in that she had just signed for!


Thank you Mom & Barry! They are beautiful!

Missing and loving all of my valentines...