The Alps, and Ich Bin ein Berliner

Wow, it's been a long time! We'll catch up with other goings on from first semester at the end, but first what everyone keeps asking for: The Alps and Berlin.

We arrived in Chamonix, France via shuttle from the Geneva, Switzerland airport. We were a little worried about the snow, because...well, there wasn't any. The resorts were reporting maybe one or two runs open with fake snow, so we thought we might have been in for more of a French village experience than a ski and snowboard experience.

Then it snowed 2 feet overnight.

So it was up to Flegere for day one! They only had one run open, so the pickings were slim, but we had a blast.

Wifi was a bit hard to come by in Chamonix, but there was a great bar next door with internet and happy hour.

Day Two: Grand Montes. We started on a lift that we maybe should have saved for a little later, considering it was called “The Herse”. The snow cover was a little misleading. Lots of rocks were hiding under the fresh. Otherwise, the powder made for quite the run; it was fantastic!

Even if the skiing was a little bare on the snow front, the Alps do not disappoint in terms of scenery. Everywhere you looked was breathtaking. This was our view from lunch on Sunday.

 

On day three we were able to walk to the lift from town to access the Brevent ski area. Most resorts are accessed by a bus system that unfortunately wasn't very well organized, but it got the job done.

We decided to take the tram all the way to the top right away since it was clear and there were no crowds early. Skiing down wasn't possible yet because of the thin snow and avalanche risk, but we didn't really care.

The views were spectacular.

The Alps just seem to go on forever.

I could look at these all day.

We agreed that even if the skiing was sub-par that day, the trip to the top was worth the lift ticket—speaking of which, they were surprisingly cheap. About 40 euros for the day at any of the resorts, and you could transfer between them.

Encouraging signs.

I'm so fortunate to get to travel with these guys.

The riding at Brevent was great too. We found some pretty good stuff, lots of untracked runs.

Looking for trouble in the trees.

This run was just opened when we got to the top of the lift, so the whole thing was untouched shortly before we rode down and I took this picture. It also send me spiraling down cartwheel-style and spraining my thumb pretty badly. Jon could give you a better idea of what happened, he saw the whole thing. Thankfully I was wearing a helmet and rode away. Stay safe out there.

A lot of these resorts are connected via cable car. We decided to give Flegere another shake since they had opened a few more runs, but it hadn't improved much.

That night we splurged on some solid French fondue and cooked our own meat on a hot stone. It was delicious.

Each day started with some delicious pastry from the bakery just steps from our place. They knew us well by the time we left. I'm convinced France does bread better than any other country.

Our last day of skiing was at Les Houches, and it was probably the worst maintained of the resorts. There was exposed rock in the middle of the runs, lots of ice, and lots of people that didn't know how to ski very well.

But Les Houches held some unique treasures that made it one of our favorite days. We commented many times on how Swiss, French, and Italian skiing really had to evolve with the popularity of the sport. Trams like this one were common before modern ski lifts and T-Bars were introduced. They still operate, but you have to pay an additional fee.

Probably our favorite run of the trip. It was a blue, well-maintained, fast, fun, and this was the view the whole way down. It wasn't challenging, but wow, was it beautiful. Overall, a very successful trip to the French Alps.

New Years Eve was a very busy day. We shuttled to Geneva, hopped our direct flight to Berlin, and immediately joined in the festivities. First stop was Stuart's friends' place for some very German food.

If you've never been in Berlin for New Years Eve, let me tell you what happens. Everyone in the city buys enough personal fireworks to blow up the Brandenburg Gate and they shoot them off all over the city starting at dusk. You have to be careful walking on the sidewalks because they go off every few feet with the igniter nowhere to be found. Then they all convene on a series of bridges and the largest crowd-sourced fireworks display in the world happens. The city has no part in it—no planned show with large displays, it's all put on by the Berliners. It's quite the awesome sight—and a little terrifying.

We used the next days to enjoy Berlin culture and its nightlife. We had a lot of bratwurst.

On Friday we took a free walking tour of the city. It was very well done, similar to the one I took in 2006. This is the Brandenburg Gate on Paris Square, a structure that has never been completely demolished despite the many wars in which Germany has taken part.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. My favorite place in Berlin. The structure is open for interpretation, and I could never begin to describe the feelings espoused while walking between the stones.

We returned in the evening to have more time to walk deeper into the monument. I would hope everyone has the chance to experience this first-hand in their lifetime.

A remaining portion of the Berlin Wall, designed to prevent citizens of communist Eastern Europe (and East Berlin) from escaping to the democratic West. It was a very stressful few decades in Berlin's history.

Checkpoint Charlie (Charlie for #3, as in the military alphabet). This was a point of exchange between the East and the West for those authorized for passage. A standoff of tanks occurred here for 16 hours almost starting World War III.

Definitely our best meal in Berlin. We went to a favorite place of Stu's (he's living in Berlin now working for Sound Cloud) that had killer German food. I had schnitzel with potatoes I very much enjoyed (surprise!), I think they were soaked in bacon fat.

Pickled Cucumbers just like my grandma made them. Delish. And spatzel in the background! Brought back memories of our trip to Germany with Opa.

We tried our hand at making some food our last night in town. Raw pork and onions atop bread that reminded me of Chilean maraqueta. We also cooked up some gnocci. For the record, grating parmesan cheese with a serrated knife is not the best method.

I left late that night. This was such a fun trip! I'm looking forward to sharing more experiences with these guys in the coming years (watch for Stu in April...)