Le Tour de Suisse en Deux Jours

In mid-July, we took our Korean relatives on a whirlwind tour of Switzerland. Our generous and intrepid host, Gerald Amacker, drove us in day one from Geneva to Interlaken, then to Luzern and back to Geneva. On day two he took us past Lausanne to the Canton of Valais, to Sensine (near Sion) and then up to Le Grand Saint Bernard and across the border into Italy, through the Val D'Aoste for afternoon coffee before dinner in the French ski resort of Chamonix, near Mont Blanc. It was a whirlwind tour, very East Asian style. We saw a lot, and had a blast along the way. Merci, Gerald, c'est grace a toi que nous avons eu un tellement beau voyage!

From Seoul to Parc Guell

One of our favourite locations in Barcelona is Parc Guell, a beautiful park designed by Antoni Gaudi at the beginning of the twentieth century. We took our Korean visitors there and they loved it.

Visit from Korea

In late June, we had a three-week visit from Eun Ju's mom, her sister-in-law (Sung Hee) and Sung Hee's mother and daughter (Da Som).

We did a lot of things together, including trips to the Barri Gotic, Guell Park, and Sitges. Our house turned into a little Korea for three weeks, and we all had a blast together.

Viva Valencia, June, 2008

We went to Valencia, three hours by bus to the south of Barcelona, for a long weekend in late June, 2008. The trip consisted of three main parts: discovery of the beautiful historical old town, where we tried real Valencian Horchata, a visit to the aquarium and science center in the ultra modern part of town, and a day at the beach, where we stayed until midnight and joined in the Sant Joan (San Juan) festivals, which include jumping over fire seven times (which we did not do) and jumping in the sea at midnight, which we DID do. A great city, and a great trip.

Calcots in Sant Just, March, 2008

Calcots are a traditional catalan dish consisting of spring onions that have been burnt in a fire. After peeling the outer layer of burnt skin, you dip the juicy onion in a delicious sauce. "Calcotadas" are feasts on calcots. We tried calcots at "El Niu" restaurant one block from our home in Sant Just last March. The waiter was kind enough to explain how to eat the calcots. They were delicious.