Mom & I at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, aka the highest railway station in Europe. Obviously, it was cold… 1 degree Celsius at the top! The train ride up was incredibly beautiful and the view was amazing. Luckily we got to the top early before it started to snow.
I really love my blue TIC sweatshirt :) I like that it’s been to all kinds of places… I’ve taken it on all the vacations we’ve gone on since summer 2007. Oregon, Israel, Alaska, Lake Tahoe, New York, DC, France, & Switzerland… It’s become both a security blanket and a sort of good luck charm for me.
Of course, it’s also awesome whenever people are surprised/confused by the “I’m from the internet” and the YA RLY! on the back. hehehe.
Tons more photos to come, I PROMISE!
After a week in Paris, we rented a car and drove south through France, from Dijon to Lyon to Avignon, spending a couple days in each city. Yesterday we drove to Geneva, then took a train to Lucerne. The next week will be all Switzerland! :)
We were staying in a B&B in Villenueve lez Avignon. So many pets there: MANY birds, 3 cats, and a dog. This is the kitten that wouldn’t stop following me after I started petting it. I miss my kitty. :(
Clearly my plan to document my Europe trip is not exactly working. cough.
Paris has been a whirlwind of food, French, palaces, monuments, museums, Metros.
For my fellow crêpe-lovers, a snapshot of our dessert last night: banana crêpe, bruleé-d with rum, topped with vanilla ice cream. :)
Day 2: Bonjour from Paris
Mostly uneventful first flight from SFO to Toronto. Watched Date Night… I guess it was funny, but mostly because I was half-asleep, and trying really hard to stay up until it was 10pm Paris time. Then I completely zoinked out the rest of the flight. Groggy during the turnover in Toronto and when we got on the flight for Paris… I think waking up in the middle threw me off, because I was on & off sleeping for the 2nd flight. :\ Lots of turbulence, too. And they fed us CRAP FOOD at odd hours D: I mean really, airplane food is always horrible, but is it really possible to make a cookie inedible? And they group “vegetarian” with “vegan” so for “breakfast” we got a vegan bagel, which was nasty. hahaha. We fooled them into giving us regular banana muffins by hiding our trash from the bagels… haha. :)
Delirious (Day 1)
delirious: in a state of wild excitement or ecstasy
Almost perfectly describes all the feelings I’ve been having today.
(I say almost because the word “delirious” will forever be associated with a period of time from 3:30-4:30pm in which JJS are in such a state. See: PChat logs for around that time every day of the summer.)
Crazy awesome Arcade Fire concert at MSG broadcasted live on YouTube. On one hand, it was incredible to be able to see them live from my own computer, me flipping out at every song via PChat along with Alex and Frank. On the other hand, it made me want to seem live again more than ever before. Even the best quality video really can’t replace being part of that crowd. Of course, us West Coasters also have to show that weak NYC crowd how it’s done. ;)
Another state of delirious stems from preparing for my family’s trip to France and Switzerland. I’ve been planning and packing all week long, and it’s gotten the craziest today… the day we’re leaving. Even though it’s a vacation, I’m feeling pretty nervous since it’s the longest time we’re staying in a foreign country where a) we don’t know anybody and b) we don’t know the language. Moreover, I’ve done so much less planning for this trip than I did for last summer’s trip to DC and NYC, where my mom and I had things planned down to the hour for most of the days. I guess in some ways it made our trip less enjoyable since it wasn’t very flexible and was missing that spontaneity factor, but it always makes me anxious when I don’t have a schedule of what’s going on. So, I’ve been trying to map out a rough idea of what we’ll do each day while leaving it open for changes.
Also decided to pull an all-nighter last night in order to adjust myself to France/Switzerland time (+9 hours from here). ‘Twas interesting…eating “breakfast” at midnight (COFFEE!) and “lunch” at around 5am. Watched the entire AF concert again when they re-broadcasted it. Spent time with my cat for the last time for a while. :( Random conversations with Frank about UNO, music, France, and airport codes until 5am… craziness. Played WordRacer with Max and Jamie. Thanks Jamie for helping me learn some French words last-minute. :) And caught up a bit with Tansen who’s now in Norway! woo!
Surprisingly, I’m not that tired… guess I got over that supertired state at 3 or 4am. We’re leaving for the airport in about half an hour, and our flight leaves at 11am-ish. Stopping over in Toronto for an hour before we fly to Paris. :)
Will I post every day while on this trip? Maaaybe. It would be nice to (and I know we have internet at all our hotels), but realistically, we’ll see. I’m already surprised I’ve written this much before I’ve even set foot outside my house. I’ll try to keep you guys updated. Au revoir! :)
Haha, sorry I keep uploading these… but… this took forever. And I think it’s pretty cool. Disregard the colors… :P
A part of the inside of the Design Guide. Work in progress. Finally decided on the fonts, though!
My lifelong dream of listening to “Seventeen Years” on my 17th birthday has been FULFILLED.
And I posted on my Tumblr. WHAT NOW. :O
