Igloo-Dorf, Davos

You would think after my experience in Warsaw, and the general shock of moving to the Alps from sunny CA, that I would forego any additional trips to areas known as “cold”, and instead opt for warm beaches and deserts. But apparently, either the obvious doesn’t come naturally to me or I just lack all common sense, because on one of my last free weekends before busy season, I chose to spend the night in an igloo in the Alps. And I somehow managed to talk 8 friends into joining me.

We headed up to Davos Saturday morning and met up with our “guides” later that afternoon in a restaurant at the top of the Davos ski resort. After saying good-bye to the warmth, we hiked down the mountain to our igloo, a large doom structure made by blowing snow onto an inflated bubble and then deflating the bubble.

Once inside the igloo, hot mulled wine was handed out to help warm us up and then we set off on a tour of our “home” for the evening, which consisted of: the events room, the dinning room (where we were later served a fondue dinner), the private suites (one with a private Jacuzzi), the shared rooms which slept 6 each and where we were staying the night, the sauna (in what appeared to be a separate building/trailer for obvious reasons) and the much anticipated bathrooms, which consisted of one room, two port-o-potty type seats, with a divider between the two and a chain across the opening to signal to others that the stall was in use.

Structurally the building was beautiful, with intricate ice sculptures throughout the rooms, carvings of art on the walls, and nothing but candle light to illuminate the way. Physically, however, was another story. The effects of the hot wine and subsequent hot tea provided only temporary relief from the cold, the fondue helped to warm us up a little, but surprisingly the kirsch liquor added little value, and the effects of the post dinner snow-shoeing expedition under the stars, while breath-taking in both sense of the word, lasted only long enough for us to realize we needed a plan to hold off the cold.

So faced with the bitter cold and knowledge that we would be sleeping on ice covered only by a thin mattress, we did the only thing guaranteed to provide a full nights sleep; we drank. And when the alcohol finally ran out, we got into the sauna to defrost before bed. And while we eventually warmed up and stayed warm through the night (the -40 degree sleeping bags helped) the 5 hours of sleep we eventually got just weren’t enough (and probably wouldn’t have been enough had we slept in a 5 star hotel) due to the amount of alcohol consumed.

We were woken up from our too-short slumber at 7:30 with hot tea, followed by breakfast at 8am, and an early departure to either ski down the mountain or to make it home into time for a much needed nap. I chose the later.

2008 – A Year in Review

I celebrated the close of 2008 and the start of 2009 with dinner and a game night at my house for those friends still in Zurich. Unfortunately my cooking skills did not reflect the remarkable year we were honoring, and 2008 was just that, remarkable.

In the 12 short months, I visited 10 new countries, skied the Alps, sailed the Greek Isles, tasted wine in Italy, France and Switzerland, learned how to say thank you in 4 new languages, enjoyed 2, possibly 3 international relationships, depending on how you count, had over 15 friends and family members come visit (a big thank you to those who did) and went to 2 engagement parties, 1 bridal shower, 3 baby showers (all of which I was hung over for…I obviously need to stop going to baby showers), 1 bachlorette party and was in 2 weddings.

Upon this reflection I realized that I enjoyed a little over 3 months off of work to travel and explore. Apparently there was some truth to the partner’s comment of “Lisa, you are always on vacation.”

So with 2008 closing, I now look forward to the year ahead: 6 months left in Europe, another visit from the parents, 10 days cruising through the Baltic Sea and the promise of moving home and exploring CA and the good old U.S of A.

Let the adventure continue! Happy New Year everyone!