Unexpected journeys

February 5, 2017 Tigerotor77Walligator, aurora borealis, Ben Ham Images, Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, Charleston Library Society, Chicago, Everglades, Everglades National Park, Florida Keys, Hemingway Home, Homestead, Key West, Northern Lights, Robert is Here, Second Sunday, Southernmost Pier, Steve Cheeseborough, Sunrise, Tradesman Brewery2 Comments

Each year, Bosch offers a home trip to meet with mentors, touch base with former coworkers, and, importantly, see family. Mine happens to coincide with Christmas, so to catch coworkers before the holidays, my first stop was back to Charleston. Due to inclement weather in Chicago forecasted for the day I was supposed to fly in, I ended up changing my flights (courtesy of a United Airliners customer service agent) and in Charleston one day earlier than intended. This allowed me to check out Second Sunday, and after I got over my surprise at the number of changes in the restaurant scene I wandered down King Street. The weather was perfect — sunny and in the 70s. After two winters in Germany, I had begun to forget what attracts so many to Charleston in the winter.

Continue reading “Unexpected journeys” →

One Valley in Particular

August 17, 2016August 17, 2016 Tigerotor77W4000er, Air Zermatt, Blauherd, Bretihorn, Capanna Regina Margherita, Dent Blanche, Furkapass, Glacier, Gorner Glacier, Gornergletscher, Gornergrat, Gornergrat Bahn, Grenz Glacier, Grenzgletscher, Grimsel Pass, Hörnli Ridge, Hörnligrat, Klein Matterhorn, Margherita Hut, Matterhorn, Ober Gabelhorn, Ried, Riffelsee, Sunrise, Tufteren, Weisshorn, Zermatt4 Comments

When I first started hiking, I knew only of names: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Si, Sauk Mountain, Mt. Pilchuck. I loved Mt. Rainier for its ruggedness and how it reminded me of my insignificance, but never once did I consider how these mountains were all connected or why the roads leading to their bounty were where they were. Then, in 2011, I visited Zermatt for the first time, where the Matterhorn lives.

Continue reading “One Valley in Particular” →

Flashbacks

May 31, 2016 Tigerotor77W747-8I, Boeing, D-ABYQ, Jacksonville Beach, Jekyll Island, Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Lufthansa, Sunrise7 Comments

Initially I thought that being this close to the mountains would mean that I’d never make it up to Munich, but since December I’ve been there nine times, mostly to its airport. The weekend after bauma was one of these times, though for this trip I was heading back across the ocean to attend a friend’s wedding. The venue was Jekyll Island, which until receiving the RSVP for the wedding I hadn’t heard of before. But with clear blue skies, perfect lawns, and a gentle breeze, what’s not to love?

Continue reading “Flashbacks” →

Simplement trop de Monde

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015 Tigerotor77WFurkastraße, Furkastrasse, Gornergrat Bahn, Matterhorn, Matterhorn reflection, Riffelsee, Rotenboden, Sunrise, Zermatt5 Comments

“… il y a simplement trop de monde,” a French hiker exclaimed as we walked by, referencing the increasing number of visitors into the city and its alpine hiking trails. And it’s true — Zermatt, or its well known mountain, anyhow, is a huge tourist draw. Its visitors office estimates roughly three million gawkers pass through each year, on average spending over 200 CHF per day. But even the prospect of needing to consistently assert that I wasn’t going to be a train-riding visitor but rather a gung-ho hiker wasn’t enough to keep me from coming back a second time this month, cheating on Rainier be damned.

Continue reading “Simplement trop de Monde” →

Return to The Valley

October 21, 2015 Tigerotor77WMatterhorn, Mettelhorn, Platthorn, Sunrise, Zermatt2 Comments

After five weeks of not being in the mountains, I finally got a chance to drive into some valley and hike up some mountain again. This time, it was that valley. Deep in Switzerland to that iconic mountain, where all the tourists go.

Continue reading “Return to The Valley” →

Cents of Adrenaline

August 25, 2015 Tigerotor77W747-8I, 748, Allgäu, Bavaria, Bavarian Alps, Bayern, Grünten, Gruenten, Obertsdorf, Rubihorn, Schwaben, Sunrise, Sunset1 Comment

Since middle school, I always figured if I lived internationally it’d be in France — I spoke the language, I had studied abroad in the country, and I even visited the Caterpillar factory that was the reason behind my learning the language in the first place. It was also in Grenoble, I think, that my love of mountains was subconsciously awakened. It is thus admittedly strange that three of the past five Independence Days I’ve spent not in France but rather in Germany, and that the language I’m beginning to resort to is now German rather than French. This, the neighbor to what I thought would be my foreign language destination, is now my home for the next months. Round two began quietly, not in Stuttgart as before, but in the Allgäu, heart of the German Alps.

Continue reading “Cents of Adrenaline” →

Celebrating Culture

June 3, 2015 Tigerotor77WCherry Blossoms, Jefferson Memorial, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Lincoln Memorial, Sunrise, Tidal Basin, Washington DC, Washington Monument4 Comments

It’s difficult for me to substantiate what impressed me most about D.C.; the extent of its attention to history and technology is rather breathtaking given the political order the city is principally charged with keeping. More by coincidence than planning, a third element — culture — came across as yet another defining pillar.

Continue reading “Celebrating Culture” →

Glimpse of Summer

April 7, 2015 Tigerotor77WBotany Bay, Mt. Pleasant, Pitt St Bridge, Sunrise, SunsetLeave a comment

Winter was rather cold in Charleston this year, though sometimes swings in weather bode well for colorful skies at dawn and dusk. I missed a good sunset two weeks ago so headed to Pitt St later that week to make up for it. Clouds extinguished the setting sun quickly, but the trees had started to bud: summer is coming!

Continue reading “Glimpse of Summer” →