Le Printemps

It's spring here in Geneva! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous since last weekend. Stepping out of my building in the morning I am always hit with a bit of a cool air that is full of fresh flowery smells. Usually by midday it is around 70 degrees F and has been mostly sunny all week too. It is a nice change from April in Chicago which is always very questionable! Everything here is green and beautiful.

Over the weekend I went snowboarding one last time in Contamines. We all packed into Annie's red mini cooper (soooo cute and I want one!) and had a wonderful day of snowboarding in "champagne slush." It was sunny and hot, perfect spring skiing weather and also of course drinking on the terrace weather! I was actually using a rental snowboard also that had been freshly waxed because I was zipping down the mountain at high speeds!! It was a little weird that there was so much brown and green everywhere, but most of the resorts are open this weekend as well. However considering it is supposed to be 24C tomorrow (about 80F), I think that we may skip going one more time.

On Sunday, after we got back, I went to my friend Dave's house for Easter dinner. Lisa (Dave's wife) is a fantastic cook so I was really excited and of course not disappointed in the slightest! They live in Dardagny which is about 20 minutes drive outside Geneva, but it is in the countryside and feels like worlds away. We started out with some nice white wine from the area (some of the best Swiss whites are made right down the street from them) and some light appetizers (curry peanuts which were awesome although I am pretty sure this would be Abby's worst nightmare). Then we took Java, their chocolate lab, and Kasha, a little black spaniel they were dogsitting, out on a long walk through the vineyards. It was a warm, fantastic day and perfect for walking outside. Every once in a while we would stop to rest for a minute and look out at the huge fields of flowers, grass and baby grapes. It was like a big green puzzle!

Once we returned, we had some fabulous scallop bisque, followed by steamed asparagus, super creamy potatoes and lamb with fresh herbs. MmmmmM!!! After dinner we took another shorter walk and met some of the animals that live out in Dardagny, including 2 donkeys and 2 llamas. Donkeys are very soft by the way and cute. And apparently llamas make excellent sheep dogs!

After walk 2, we headed back to the house for some dessert which was chocolate ice cream doused in peppermint liquer served in martini glasses. This was great because once you were done with the ice cream, you had a nice chocolatey mint martini leftover. Mmmm encore!! We ended the evening with more wine and watching the Cubs lose. What's going on with them anyway?

Tonight we are going to celebrate April 15 2 days early and everyone is already in a silly mood. Should promise to be a fun evening. Annnnnd I have my internet finally so I will be installing that over the weekend!!