A lesson in elevator etiquette

Now that we have lived here for almost 2 years, I find that there are certain situations or customs in our Swiss life which first seemed unusual to me; but, they are now second nature.  It is almost as if my brain has "forgotten" how I used to handle these situations in the US and instead I have fully adapted to the Swiss standards.  Here is an example of one of these aspects that are now second nature to me:

A lesson in elevator etiquette

In the Northeast US, when I would enter an elevator with strangers, I (maybe) would enter the elevator with a smile or a head nod, ride up in silence, and exit in silence. When strangers would say hello or goodbye to me in elevators I would immediately think they were either deranged or had ulterior motives... (sad but true!)

Meanwhile, the Swiss French have a complete set of elevator etiquette rules. The concept is fairly basic, you have to say hello and goodbye as you are entering and exiting any elevator ride with someone else (stranger or not).  For example as you're waiting for the elevator to arrive, you say "hello" ("Bonjour" in French) to anyone who is also waiting in the area with you for the elevator to arrive. You then ride the elevator up with this person and when you exit the elevator, you must say "have a good day" ("Bonjournee" in French). If you don't say these words at both entrance and exit, you will basically be written off as a rude American. The complex part about this is that the sequence of words changes depending on the time of day....

Morning: Bonjour/Bonjournee

Lunch time: Bonjour/Bon Ap (which means "enjoy your meal")

Afternoon: Bonjour/Bon Apres Midi (which means "have a good afternoon")

Evening: Bonsoir (which means "good evening")/Bonsoiree (which means "have a good evening")

Now every time I enter an elevator here, I automatically have these phrases burned into my brain and I don't even think about what to do/say anymore.

This is just one, small example; but, when I stop and actually think about this transition that my brain has made, it is both a happy sensation because it makes me feel more "local" here (and let's be honest, its better to be nice to strangers!); but, it also sometimes makes me sad because I feel I am losing a piece of my US-self, even if the situation or custom is really trivial... so there you have it, silly situations like elevator etiquette make me miss the US! 

Adventures in Barcelona, Spain

Last year, we spent the Easter holiday in Cinque Terre, Italy and this year we decided to check out Spain, since neither of us had ever been in the country for more than a day and/or an airport layover.

We chose the city of Barcelona in Spain because multiple people have told us that it is their favorite city in Europe (a lofty title!).  And indeed, Barcelona did not disappoint. The city has a multitude of characteristics to fit any and all tourist interests - a fantastic combination of history, architecture (old and new), art, beaches, beautiful surrounding areas, unique Catalonian culture, and fantastic food (helloooo tapas!).  The city provides a bustling vibe of a major metropolitan city combined with a relaxed beach town atmosphere - a difficult feat to accomplish!

Apologies for the poor picture quality - I somehow managed to forget to pack our camera for this trip, so all of my photos from the trip are from my iPhone...

Taking a tour in the old town of Barcelona on our first day

Cathedral of Barcelona in the old town

I recommend "Runner Beans" tours in Barcelona, they run by donation only and they provided a great introduction to the city on our first day

The weather was beautiful on Friday, so we headed to the city beach. Ryan had a friend from the US in town that tourist-ed around with us on this day

Sangria and paella overlooking the mediterranean on a beautiful day, the best! 

Beautiful architecture throughout the city 

Checking out the "magic fountain" at night - it was built in the 1920s for the world fair and every weekend it hosts a special water show with synchronized colors and music 

On Saturday we took a day-trip tour to nearby Monserrat, a beautiful monastery in the mountains near Barcelona - it was a very spiritual place to visit during the Easter holiday

A little chilly on top of the mountains....

We took a hike on a trail below the monastery - this is the view of the monastery from the trail

One of the highlights of Monserrat is hearing the boys choir sing - they live at the monastery all year long perfecting their choir skills - they gave a special performance on this day because it was Easter weekend

Paella for lunch after our morning adventure in Monserrat - it almosttttt looked too pretty to eat ;)

In the village below Monserrat

In the afternoon our tour took us to an all organic winery, Finca Parera, for a tour and wine tasting

Wine tasting!

At the cathedral of Sagrada Familia - we were blown away by the architecture and modernism of the church. It was clearly unlike any other church (or even building!) we have seen in Europe thus far

A significant majority of the church is still being actively built - the construction is anticipated to be finished sometime before 2033

Don't let the grumpy face fool you - we rented bikes for our stay in Barcelona and we loved taking leisurely rides around the city and discovering hidden gems like this fountain

Barcelona's own "Arc de Triomf"

Below is a compilation of a few video clips from our stay in Barcelona - check out the magic fountain and the flamenco dancing!

Dinner: El Tablao de Carmen (flamenco dancing + dinner, highly recommend)
Lunch: Pez Vela (famous Paella, on the beach), the street of Carrer de Blai (a string of $1 local tapas restaurants)
Hotel: Confortel Auditori (basic, business-type hotel, no character, but cheap and a good location)
Tour: Spanish Trails - Montserrat & Wine Country day trip (highly recommended, excellent tour guide and an efficient way to see the highlights outside of Barcelona)

Spring has sprung... quickly!

Last year during spring time it rained cats and dogs for not days, not weeks, but months before the weather finally turned to pleasant in June (right in time for my vacation in June). It was so dismal that the local news stations actually hypothesized that summer "may never come" due to some sort of weather apocolypse where moisture from melting snow gets "stuck" in clouds over the Alps and can't escapes until the following winter. So naturally last year I started to develop a severe case of cabin fever and drove Ryan crazy for a few weeks with my complaints of "severe" boredom.

This spring has been entirely different - thankfully we have had absolutely gorgeous weather so far. In fact, all of the trees, grass, and flowers here are already in full bloom and summer has fully arrived. I feel lucky to be able to have an extended summer this year to explore more of our beautiful surroundings!  Below are some of my iPhone photos from the past few weeks/months of spring in Switzerland.

Tulips in the early spring in Lausanne, Switzerland - looking over Lake Geneva onto the Swiss Alps

Spring skiing in the French Alps (Les Menuires) with Katelyn and Keegan - this was the view from the chair lifts (i.e., no snow!) - but remarkably most of the trails still had compact snow on them to ski on

Spring skiing in Les Menuires

Carolina blue sky day on a drive out to the French Alps

Up next on the blog post circuit this week - I will be blogging about our recent trip to Barcelona, Spain!

Wedding photo favorites

Let me tell you, it is immensely difficult to choose favorites out of 600+ wedding photos; but, below is an attempt to show some of our top picks. Ahhhh.... how I wish I could just teleport myself back to this day/week!!!