More Guests the Merrier!
After Peter's visit... actually correction - before Peter left us, long time family friend Stephanie Imbeau arrived in Lausanne to stay with us for a week! Luckily we have a tiny loft space so there wasn't much bed shuffling or couch sleeping required to fit us all. Steph and I (Jenny) have known each other one of our whole lives (we won't say who's older), as our beloved family cottages are only a few doors apart from each other. So, naturally, most of our relationship has revolved around the water - either near (in the cottage), on (the dock) or just in it (swimming or on the boat)!
For the past several years Steph has been living in Berlin, Germany, pursuing various artistic endeavors that we tried (but failed) to fully appreciate and understand. But I know better than I did before her arrival that she is pretty famous and skilled and you should probably buy her work while it's still affordable. Most recently her escapades (icecapades?) took her to the Arctic Circle, which she managed to survive (although she has a Canadian passport, she grew up in South Carolina, and consequently is not too accustomed to the tough Canadian winters that most of our half dozen readers know quite well!). If you know European geography at all, you might be thinking that Berlin is really not all that close to Switzerland, and you would be right. So what brought Steph here? Us?! Well kind of... it's complicated (I don't really get it myself) but the short reason is that she rented out her place in Berlin for the month and needed somewhere to stay.
Steph wasn't too familiar with where Lausanne was in relation to the Alps, so after arriving well after dusk on a Sunday evening, woke up on Monday morning excited to have a view of the Alps just across the lake! I have not been to Berlin yet, but I don't think there's any mountains nearby. She spent the week working, exploring Lausanne and breathing in mountain air. Steph had a car with her and we took full advantage, stocking up on heavy grocery staples, and going on a hike on the weekend. Here's a few pics of our time together.
A week later good friend Andy and fellow blogger himself arrived for a quick 5 day trip before taking off to Scotland and later Iceland to visit his brother who works there. It was great to catch up with Andy, since we had been accustomed to hanging out quite a bit in previous years (he lived super close to us in Hamilton). Although we've been blessed with new and great friends in Switzerland, there is nothing like time with old friends that you've walked the highs and lows of life with.
With Andy we had the pleasure of being taken on a hike by our friends, Lukas and Naomi! It is always nice to hand over the reigns of route planning to veterans. While hiking, Lukas regaled Matt and Andy with stories of life in the Swiss Army, while Andy impressed with his knowledge of hunting animals back in Canada. At some point the three boys began to try to mimic animal sounds for a while, to varying degrees of success. On the Sunday before Andy left, we were witnesses (and community participants), in a baptism in the lake!
Andy's visit was short and sweet. We squeezed in some great memories and conversations, but we couldn't quite make-up for the previous 8 months. In the past our hangouts were simple and low key - watching sports or movies, walks around Hamilton, and most often a meal together. I have quite the habit of cooking too much for two for dinner, and of this Andy was a part-time beneficiary. Time with Andy evokes many feelings, ideas and questions (we cover a lot of ground), but one of the outcomes of quality time with such a quality person is missing Julia, both as our/my friend, but mainly for Andy himself. We miss her often, but there is no denying that the more we think of Andy, the more with think of Julia. Being in Europe, we often re-read their posts from backpacking across Europe for ideas of where we should go next and what to do there.
For the past several years Steph has been living in Berlin, Germany, pursuing various artistic endeavors that we tried (but failed) to fully appreciate and understand. But I know better than I did before her arrival that she is pretty famous and skilled and you should probably buy her work while it's still affordable. Most recently her escapades (icecapades?) took her to the Arctic Circle, which she managed to survive (although she has a Canadian passport, she grew up in South Carolina, and consequently is not too accustomed to the tough Canadian winters that most of our half dozen readers know quite well!). If you know European geography at all, you might be thinking that Berlin is really not all that close to Switzerland, and you would be right. So what brought Steph here? Us?! Well kind of... it's complicated (I don't really get it myself) but the short reason is that she rented out her place in Berlin for the month and needed somewhere to stay.
Steph wasn't too familiar with where Lausanne was in relation to the Alps, so after arriving well after dusk on a Sunday evening, woke up on Monday morning excited to have a view of the Alps just across the lake! I have not been to Berlin yet, but I don't think there's any mountains nearby. She spent the week working, exploring Lausanne and breathing in mountain air. Steph had a car with her and we took full advantage, stocking up on heavy grocery staples, and going on a hike on the weekend. Here's a few pics of our time together.
Did we mention Steph really love water and photography? She is always ready for either.
Steph swimming in a mountain lake.
I really appreciated it when Steph and Matt gave me their apple cores and other garbage..
A little boy sold juice to help pay for his English lessons!
Enjoying the sunset on the lake on Steph's last night with us.
A week later good friend Andy and fellow blogger himself arrived for a quick 5 day trip before taking off to Scotland and later Iceland to visit his brother who works there. It was great to catch up with Andy, since we had been accustomed to hanging out quite a bit in previous years (he lived super close to us in Hamilton). Although we've been blessed with new and great friends in Switzerland, there is nothing like time with old friends that you've walked the highs and lows of life with.
With Andy we had the pleasure of being taken on a hike by our friends, Lukas and Naomi! It is always nice to hand over the reigns of route planning to veterans. While hiking, Lukas regaled Matt and Andy with stories of life in the Swiss Army, while Andy impressed with his knowledge of hunting animals back in Canada. At some point the three boys began to try to mimic animal sounds for a while, to varying degrees of success. On the Sunday before Andy left, we were witnesses (and community participants), in a baptism in the lake!
Andy's visit was short and sweet. We squeezed in some great memories and conversations, but we couldn't quite make-up for the previous 8 months. In the past our hangouts were simple and low key - watching sports or movies, walks around Hamilton, and most often a meal together. I have quite the habit of cooking too much for two for dinner, and of this Andy was a part-time beneficiary. Time with Andy evokes many feelings, ideas and questions (we cover a lot of ground), but one of the outcomes of quality time with such a quality person is missing Julia, both as our/my friend, but mainly for Andy himself. We miss her often, but there is no denying that the more we think of Andy, the more with think of Julia. Being in Europe, we often re-read their posts from backpacking across Europe for ideas of where we should go next and what to do there.
Sometime Matt takes pictures of people taking pictures. Not sure why.
Descending (sometimes worse on the body than the ascent).
The clouds cleared and we were awarded with some nice views going down.
Baptism in Lac Leman!
Obligatory group, summit photo, at the top of Cornettes de Bise.
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