curi·ous {Old French curios} Drawn to investigate, prick up the ears, ponder for the sake of pondering. Enticed by mysteriously labeled bottles.
vo·luptu·ary {Late Latin volupturius} A lass devoted to the pursuit of pleasure. An unabashed epicurean, hedonist, libertine, sensualist, lotus-eater.
We visited our friends Klaus and Sabine and their two sons in their vacation cabin for a night. It was heaven, and very much needed! We stayed near Chur, in the Medieval village of Parpan–a magical place that looks exactly like what everyone imagines when you say “I live in Switzerland!” Very Von Trapp.
Parpan [...]
is what my boyfriend is.
(he also rarely reads this blog, so I am at liberty to out him while twirling my dastardly mustache…)
I relish a good range, and the Alps are the finest–grand, playful, spooky–but I am not moved to throw myself down in the wild pansies and make grass angels, and that’s precisely what [...]
Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. Guess who said that? Hmm…I wonder.
My day began with the birds and the ocean, in the dark, around six or so I spose (no clock, heaven!).
We had a [...]
Three of my favorite parts of this journey were found when righteously lost, and I’m feeling that is something worth noting. It is also ironic as the adventure included a visit to Alfonso’s cousin Antonio, who designs software for Fiat, most particularly GPS, or Global Positioning Systems.
We began by driving to Torino–Turin–by way of mistake [...]
Easter water is thought to have healing properties–farmers once herded their cattle to brooks on Easter morning to protect them from illnesses. Another tradition calls for young women (ahem) to bathe in the early morning on Easter to secure everlasting youth and beauty. Who am I to doubt it?
All bathed and youthful, we had [...]
perhaps all a person could say about Milano can be seen from the roof of Il Duomo…
We flew over the Italian Alps in the wee small Kia in the wee small hours of Friday night. All highways are dark here, even this Swiss autobahn with its speed limit of 130 km/81 mph. The liquid black [...]
Perhaps I was too glib when the ostrich bit me. In retrospect it seems a harbinger of much that was to follow.
This weekend we explored the Loue Valley, following along the winding Doubs river that runs from Switzerland to France. The Loue river was discovered to be a tributary of the Doubs when in 1901 [...]
Sometimes life gives you exactly what you ordered. This can be good or bad, but probably shouldn’t surprise if you’ve been taking notes or at least not reading Oblivion Enthusiast magazine in class.
The soothing German voice of the navigation system of Christian’s Porsche layered over the angst-ridden oh-so-American yowling of The White Stripes as we roared through our personal mountain range, the Jura. The morning’s snow looked lovely balancing on the pine branches as we whizzed past.
We were heading to Lausanne, but the truth is we would [...]