Weekend in Amsterdam

It had been over a month since I got some quality time with my long-distance beau of mine, so imagine my excitement when the Amsterdam weekend finally came! In addition to seeing him for the first time in the '09, I was also thrilled about seeing the historic sights and finally, FINALLY fulfilling my life-long dream of going to the Anne Frank House. The weekend was fantastic and I have decided that the 'dam is definitely up there on the list of "My Favorite European Cities!" :)


                                               They park so close to the edge! Eeek!!

On Friday, Eason and I met at the Amsterdam airport and hopped a train into the city. The first thing I noticed was American accents -- everywhere I looked! I think there are more Americans there than are in London! Definitely more than where I currently live. I guess it's a popular tourist destination, and I think I know why...it's amazing! We headed straight to a great little tapas restaurant that Eason had researched, and despite the misleading (summer only) margarita disappointment, I cannot complain. It was some good eating! Then we celebrated "New Year's" together, seeing as how we didn't spend the real New Year's Eve together this year. Eas even brought champagne -- it was great!


    In front of the Anne Frank House

Saturday morning, early, the real fun began! We hit the Anne Frank House first, as I was chomping at the bit! Having taught the Holocaust and read the diary with my students for years, it really was a dream for me to actually get to visit the house. It was amazing how real it all seemed once I was walking through the bookcase door, up those steep steps, through their rooms and into their lives. What a special girl -- I'm so glad I got to finally experience seeing the secret annex.



        Me and Eason on the boat

Then we walked around the canals a bit more, me getting lost, but him apparently having a plan. It's nice to have a tour guide when visiting all of these places! :) The weather was overcast but at least it didn't rain. We found a cute little restaurant/bar near the museums and "I Amsterdam" sign. My mom kept asking me if it was true that she needed change to go to the restrooms in Switzerland (that is what she had heard), and after laughing at her silliness, wouldn't you know...I had to pay to pee in the 'dam! :) This first place was worth it though. You walk in, put your money in a slot, the doors open automatically and in you go. Voila! Once in the bathroom I thought, well...this is odd. These stalls have glass doors. Are you telling me I just paid money to go to the bathroom in front of all of Amsterdam?! But, the $.50 was worth it, because when you lock the stall door, the see-through glass suddenly becomes opaque! It was magically awesome! I'd pay $1.00 for that (but don't tell Europe)! :)


I Amsterdam sign

After taking our "I Amsterdam shots," (attempting to get some shots w/out ppl, but that was impossible)...off we went to the Van Gogh Museum. Talk about a great museum full of good art. It wasn't too big, but definitely showed a great representation of Van Gogh's life. My favorite was a piece called "Almond Branches in Bloom" which he did for his nephew who was named after him. Very lovely. After that we enjoyed a leisurely walk around the center of town, looking in the famous diamond shops. All I got to say about that is the diamonds in Texas are bigger! :) I have decided the real diamond museums should be located in Highland Park! After that we popped into a nice Thai restaurant and had some yummy lunch. That night we decided to brave the streets and walk down to the Red Light district. Wow. That's all I will say about that. Definitely an experience, but all of the sudden I had this feeling to never let my future hypothetical children come to Amsterdam at night. :)


      Bike Lot full of bikes!

On Sunday we decided to spend some time just eating bagels, drinking coffee and talking politics. My kind of American Sunday! I was itching to read American magazines, so Eason brought one of the latest Newsweeks about the inauguration. My friend Lauren suggested Bagels and Beans as a great place to go, and she did not disappoint! Thanks, Lauren!


  Yum...Bagels and Beans!

After that we decided to take advantage of a nice sunny day in the 'dam and hop on a canal boat tour. It was really neat to hear all about the history of the city while exploring the city via the canals. After that we hopped into the first pub we saw to have our last Heineken of the trip only to realize we were basically at Amsterdam's version of Hooters, haha. I knew Eason didn't mind staying, and I wouldn't have minded...if those girls could dance! I was really close to showing them how keep a beat and count to eight, but instead I paid my .50 to use the bathroom, had a drink and left at the first sight of a bachelor party entrance. :)


Boat in the Harbor

Dinner was at an Argentinean place (are you seeing a theme here? lots of eating!) which was really yummy! Amsterdam has a lot of different international food choices, which is a change from all of the Italian I get here! I saw a Tex-Mex spot, but I couldn't bring myself to try it. OH how I miss queso! Luckily we had late flights out, so we got to spend the whole day Sunday together without feeling stressed for time. I was sad to leave, but seeing as how I have 4 more weekends (in a row) of traveling, I decided I couldn't feel sorry for myself anymore!


View from Hotel

Overall, I loved the 'dam and would definitely recommend it! Can't wait to go back! Ciao for now. :)

Happy Birthday, Christy!

Sweet Christy:

Dedicated mother, devoted and loving wife.
Always makes time to appreciate life.
She's there when you need her, no matter the hour.
She puts others first, believes in God's power.

She's happy, she's goofy, she's patient and kind,
She's strong, she's humble, a best friend a girl could find!
Dear Christy you are an inspiration to us all,
I look up to you (even if you're not very tall)! ;)

I love you, sweet friend! Happy Birthday!

Christmas Post

Buon Anno (Happy New Year)!

Being home for the holidays was fast and furious, but it was SO great to be back for a while. All I did was eat Mexican food, watch movies, read books, and hang out with family/friends. I could make a living living like that!



After spending a few days in London with Eason, we boarded a flight bound for Houston the Friday before Christmas in order to spend the weekend at Noni's house. Eas survived the family Christmas (he might even have had fun) - but who can blame him...there was good food on the table and football on TV. He was in heaven! We had a wonderful time in Beaumont with the fam. From there we headed to good ol' Lufkin for a few days. It was very relaxing! He even got to go to the Deuce, which he was so excited about (ha!). I drove him to the airport on Tuesday, but not before getting ONE more Mexican food meal in. Lupe Tortillas es muy bueno! Eason had a terrible time getting to Cali because of weather, but once he got there he had a great time with his family as well.


Despite having to put our family dog, Kennedy, to sleep, it was a delightful next 2 weeks. I got together with old friends and caught up on life so far in Texas and New Mexico. I spent some quality time with Hilary and Stephen, Hunter, Leeanne and their pups, and of course Mom, Marty, Dad and Lisa. We had 5 Christmases (a small number for us!), and it was really good to get to see Jenni and Darin (first time since their wedding) and Jacque and Kevin. Mom and Marty are coming in March, and Dad, Lisa, Hil and Stephen are coming in April. I can't wait!



New Years Eve was so fun! I got to spend it with my brother, sister, and their spouses. I can't remember the last time we all spent NYE together -- it was a blast!









In Dallas, I got to see so many friends! It was so good to catch up with you all!! I love and miss you so much!







The flight back was not so fun, as I had to change airports in London AND my connecting flight was nearly cancelled. We've had some major snow here lately, so a lot of us had a hard time getting back to Lugano. I was delayed, but luckily I made it (after 24 full hours of traveling)! I had to go to work the next day, so needless to say, I was TIRED! It's been about 4 days now, and I'm finally feeling back to normal. That jet-lag really got me this time!

The weather is so lovely here, so that makes it easy to get off my lazy bum and go for some exercise! Yesterday Martha and I walked downtown to enjoy the weather and pick up a few groceries (an easy walk down, but a tough walk back up!). Tonight I'm hosting people over to my place to have some cheese dip and watch some NFL play-off games. I love my Sling Box!

Stay tuned these next few weeks, as I have 5 weekends of traveling coming up! Here's a teaser: I'm going to Ann Frank's House, a city formerly known as Alis Ubbo (the delightful shore), the home of handsome princes (twice!) and finally, the City of Lights! That last one is with Kristin and I think it'll be her home away from S.A.! :)

Happy New Year!

Christmas Markets in Basel

Enjoy these pictures from my latest travels in Switzerland. This time we went north to the German part (near the border of France) to check out the famous Christmas markets in Basel!

Snow, Snow, Snow...Everywhere is Snow!

"Put your coats on, put your coats on...and let's go play in the snow." -- the Pre-K song that plays over and over as the kids get ready to go out for a play in the snow. So cute! It is constantly in my head.

Not much to say other than we are a week away from the start of the trek home! I simply cannot wait to see everyone and be home for a bit.

Today it snowed. I mean REALLY snowed. Like I have never seen it! There is probably a foot out there now -- cars were sliding everywhere, snowmen all around. Sounds like the perfect snow day, huh? Alas, apparently the Swiss are used to it because we had school today. Only 1/2 the kids showed up, but we were there none-the-less. We'll see how tomorrow goes (it's supposed to keep this up)!

Video of today's snow. Brrr!


Next are pictures of snow, beautiful snow, from today. Enjoy!






Snow on Palm Trees - I just can't get over how funny that is!!

Thanksgiving in London and Snow in Lugano!

Sunday night I got home to a bit of snow on the ground, and you would have thought I won the lottery, I was so excited! It's not every day a girl from Texas sees snow actually ON the ground! Little did I know it would REALLY snow all day on Monday! It was beautiful. I'm not sure if I was more excited or the kids! Just take a look!


Outside TASIS Elementary School (it snowed about 3 more inches after this)!!


Palm Trees with Snow - How often do you see that!?


TASIS in the Snow


St. Abbondio Church

However, I have decided I much more enjoy the snow from the warmth of my own house. Not 10 steps out of my door on my walk up the hill, I got splashed by a car driving by. Turns out, snow is actually wet, cold and dirty. Who knew! But once I thawed out and dried off, the smile on my face came right back!

This weekend was the 2nd annual Thanksgiving at the Davises in London. Eas had to work late, so I began the one hour trek alone (a tube, a bus ride, and a cold walk) to their flat. He finally got there just in time for the grub! It was SO good to see the Davis and Coleman families, and the food was fantastic! It was a LONG night waiting for the UT/aTm game to come on, but at 1:00 a.m., the Davises, Colemans, Selma, one Hag and another Davis tuned in. I told myself that if we had scored 3 TD's by halftime we could go home and go to bed. And alas...I got my wish granted! Hook 'em Horns!


Me and Morgs with Mr. Turkey


A Happy Horn!


The Spread!


What's that Mr. Turkey? The Horns are gonna win? That's no secret! :)

The rest of the weekend in London was SO very relaxing. Lots of naps, brunches with friends, Christmas shopping and book store people watching. My kind of weekend! Saturday night Eas and I went to the house of a friend of his for a wine, cheese and chocolate party, and I think my Swiss chocolate was a hit! Later that night we headed to the American sports bar to watch some football with his buddy Geoff. Good times! My sweet boyfriend even gave me a 1 year anniversary gift: beautiful blue topaz earrings! They were a huge surprise to me and I just love them! Thanks, Eas! :)

I am already busy packing and planning for my trip home for Christmas -- I can't wait to see everyone! I am also booking trips for the Spring. So far it looks like Amsterdam in January, Lisbon to see Travis in February, a big group of us are going to London in February as well, and Eas and I are thinking Eqypt and Rome in April! That doesn't count all of my family and my Mermaid coming as well. It should be a fast, furious and fun Spring!

I am now listening to Christmas music as some kiddos are decorating outside my office (don't worry, it's after school!), and there is snow outside! Christmas is definitely here!!

Visitors Come to Lugano!

My visitors with me at the Irish Pub

As you can see from my lack of posts, it’s been a busy week. Wait…don’t I always say that? This time, it’s different. It was busy because I was planning for, prepping for, and hosting not one, but TWO groups of friends here in Lugano! We’ll start from the beginning.

Now, I wouldn’t say that I was good at driving a standard car before moving over here (just ask my dad who tried to teach me 10 times and Eas whom I nearly killed multiple times while practicing this summer)! But living here and needing to shop has forced me to do the unthinkable – learn how to drive a stick! It started off with trips up and down the hill between the two campuses. Then one day I made it to the gas station and back, then to the train station and back, then to IKEA and back (only stalling once or twice, I assure you – haha). Finally the time came where I decided it was time to push myself a little further. Like…to Milan, Italy. So last Friday night I offered to take Blair to the airport in Milan (so I could learn the way and experience going 0-120 in 10 secs - that’s kilometers, don’t worry). But of course I didn’t want to make the trip back alone, so I talked Allyson and Lizzie into a little road trip! Fun times! We only got lost once, in Varese, where I decided going around and around in the round-about while they looked for signs was a good a plan as any! Too bad we were laughing to hard to be able to tell which way we should go! Finally, we guessed right, and found our way home. We celebrated the successful trip with a night at the IP (where else!?).

Saturday came around and it was time to pick up the Austin Middle School girls! Jessica, Theresa and Robina were all sweet enough to spend their week of Thanksgiving break with me here in Europe! I left at 11:00 to drive (by myself this time!) and was just in time to welcome the passengers coming from Paris (their connection). Only, I welcomed everyone else BUT them! After and hour past landing time and still no sign, I began to worry. Finally they were able to get a hold of me after many hours and many unsuccessful attempts. Their original flight was delayed which caused them to miss their 2nd flight. What a mess! No worries, I found a book AND a magazine in English (that never happens here!) and 6.5 hours went by pretty fast. ☺ We had yummy pizza at Argentino’s in downtown Lugano, and celebrated their arrival that night at the IP (where else!?).


Me and Bina at IP

On Sunday I tried to let the girls sleep in, but Jess was having none of it! She got us up and got us moving, and we decided to head to Lake Como to look for George Clooney! First we stopped at the train to get their tickets to Venice (and some Swiss Fraaaanks, as Bina likes to say!). Once in Como we spent the afternoon eating more yummy Italian food by the lake and partook in a little Italian shopping. We ate gelato, of course, and even got to walk in on a real live mass in the Como Duomo that night! Como is very hopping at night and shops close late (unlike sleepy Lugano). Since it’s only 20 minutes away and I can now drive, I think I’ll be spending more time with Clooney than I thought! ☺ I wanted to take the girls to see his house in Bellagio (a 45 minute boat ride) but it was so late that the boat would only take us TO Bellagio, and not back. So we opted for the 1 hour Lake Como boat tour at dusk - it was lovely, and we did get to see Versace’s house! After that ,we headed back home to Lugano, and celebrated the end of a fun day in that night at the IP (are you seeing a trend here?)!

Me and Jess in Como


Girls in front of the Como Duomo


Jess and Bina try the Italian gelato!


Boat ride on Lake Como

That night we stayed up until nearly 3 a.m. just talking, catching up, eating cheese dip (they brought me Velveeta and Rotel and I was a HAPPY girl!) and, of course, some Swiss chocolate. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was SNOWING at 3 a.m., which made it very hard to go to sleep! Staying up that late was possibly a bad idea, as the girls had a 7:10 a.m. train to catch to Venice on Monday. At 7:09 we still weren’t at the station, so I said, “okay girls, hop out, go down those stairs, follow the signs to the trains, and…RUN!” Somehow they made their train, but barely. Off they went to Venice and off I went to work (very tired!).

Around 2:00 p.m. I received my 2nd round of visitors…my favorite travelin’ sisters, Candace and Christen. They are spending the week in Italy (Rome, Florence, etc) so they decided to come spend a night with me in Lugano! It was so great to see them. Candace even had interviews lined up with people at TASIS to possibly teach here next year (wouldn’t that be fun!). That night I decided to drive to Como again for dinner (they had never been). We just walked around the lake, went to the Duomo and ate a very nice and yummy meal. It was pretty quiet that night in Como (only 3 other table of people in our little quaint restaurant), but the four Italian men who were celebrating a birthday were nice enough to share their cake with the 3 girls from Texas! It was very sweet of them. Turns out one of them lived in Houston for a while (the world really is small).
Tuesday I headed off to work (with Candace in tow to have more interviews) and that was one crazy day! I have decided it would be more fun to have friends in town visiting when you didn’t have to work! More pics from their trip when Candace sends them to me. :)

Candace and her sis left around 2:00 that day, and Group 1 of the friends make it back from Venice around 8:30 that night (after many delays!). I spent the time in between the groups cleaning up and packing for the next day’s adventure. After I got them at the station, it was up to the Bellavista for some yummy pizza and Ticino Merlot. We celebrated them being back into town with a night at the IP! By this time we had become close friends with everyone at the Irish Pub (especially David, our bartender) and I have now been asked to bring back cowboy hats for everyone there, in remembrance of the Texas girls who made the IP their 2nd home!


Last night at the IP

Wednesday morning I took the girls to the station to catch their 8:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport (yeah we didn’t sleep EVER!), and off they went to Paris! No worries, I had plans to meet back up with my girls in Paris (for the night) after work. That day could not have gone faster – I couldn’t wait to spend a night in Paris with my girls! I arrived to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. and we hopped the tube to go have a look at the Eiffel Tower at night. Bellisima! After that, we headed to another part of town to check out a bar that Eason recommended, Bar Latino. We found it, but were too hungry to even think about going in…so we went on a little food excursion. After being turned down by 10 restaurants, we FINALLY found a place with cheeseburgers and French fries. Yes, please! Too bad Bar Latino closed (in my face!) right as we got back down there to do some Salsa dancing. ☹ Oh well, it was a fun night none-the-less, and since the girls had another early morning (to catch the flight back home) it was probably better this way! Too bad we didn’t find an Irish Pub in Paris!


Eiffel Tower at night




Figuring out the Paris Underground

So my 14 hours in Paris was great! Not just because Paris is great, but also because it was with great company. I laugh so much with those girls! It was so great to get to see them on my side of the world for a while. We just kept saying, “We’re in Italy!” or “We’re in Switzerland!” or “We’re in Paris!” It was oh-so-much-fun! Thank you, girls, for coming to visit!! You have NO idea what it means to me. I can’t wait to read the book of comments when I’m home at Christmas!

I am now on the Eurostar from Paris to London (great catching up on sleeping time!) and we have just come out of the tunnel that goes through the English Channel. Tonight is the 2nd Annual Davis Thanksgiving in London dinner and I couldn’t be more excited (to see my friend and to eat some real American food!). It’s also special because her parents are there (which means if the turkey showed up with feet this time, I won’t have to be the one to help pluck!). It’s so nice that I have been fortunate enough to spend my last 2 Thanksgivings with people who are like family since I can’t be with my own. Tonight is special, also, because it’s the same dinner that Eason and I met at last year! Who can believe it…a whole year!? ☺ I’m excited about spending time with him this weekend (Christmas shopping and just watching movies and football). We also have a wine, cheese and chocolate party to go to with his friends, and I’m the Swiss Chocolate provider!

To my family: I miss you all so terribly and am counting down the days when I get to see you! I wish I was home this Thanksgiving with you all. Please freeze some yummy dressing for me, Mom! Happy Thanksgiving to all. Oh yeah, and HOOK ‘EM HORNS!