1 year and a few days....

Last year I arrived in CH and the Paleo festival was going on and I remember I was driving past the enterance in Nyon and there was a huge line as I came back from Ikea. I saw the tents and signs and said that looks like a cool music festival...I should go next year...so I did! After a reasonably painful week of travel and work, I met up with Paul, Pedro, and T (Paul's lastest love). We hooked up at his house for some food and drink and then hearded off to Nyon. We caught the train after a few delays but got there around 9:30 ready to rock! The crew:


After some more food and drink we walked around to all the tents and listen to a variety of music. The main stage:

The night was fun and we danced and were merry even with the Panini lady on the way out:

We got home at around 5 after a little battle for a taxi at the Gare.
Saturday turned out to be a mental health day. Just chilled, shopped, and cleaned the flat. I met up with P+H for some food in Carouge...a very relaxed Saturday and I needed it!
Sunday I got up early and gave Paul a call to see if he wanted to play some hoops. He was a little tired so I let him sleep and headed up to the Saleve for a little photo fun. Mt. Blanc was not in view but I played around with the new camera and remote:



Checking the megapixels...looks good:

After a little reading on the Saleve I headed back to Carouge where I met up with Paul played some hoops and went for a swim in the public Carouge pool which was great. As always more to come this week..off to ski in August! -GG

The 100th post......and 1 year in Geneva! ...the quick version

So you know how they say life can pass you by.....it has lately...here is the last 7 days in 100 words or less.....
Thursday headed to Villars for a company function...and had a sick room with a view:

Meetings all day but got an award..WOOOHOOOOO...the "man" likes me atleast ;-) The next day did a nice team event in the mtns:


Returned to Geneva only to leave for Frankfurt at 5AM on Saturday and meet KK. We rocked out in Frankfurt....during the Gay Pride parade!

Our room's view was nice:

Sunday we went to Heidelberg and saw some cool stuff:



Chillin in DE:

Monday I was in Kronberg and then off to Marktheidenfeld for meetings in the factory:

My room and Bavaria:

Returned home to Geneva.....sitting in Geneva on a clear 20c night chillin.
So people keep asking me if I like Geneva and being in Europe......and I tell them this is the best part of my life since I was 18...I am happy, I love life, I have a great GF and friends, and I look forward to another year (many) in Geneva/Europe and another 100 posts of my life. -GG

PDS, Red Bull, and Early Mornings.....

Friday ended with a hot day here in Geneva. I ended work and headed down to the water for a little reading a cooling off. I headed down towards Eaux Vive and just found a nice spot..not bad.

I chilled for about an hour or so and then headed home for a little homecooking Dinapoli style. It was sauce night so I burned the onions and I was ready to rock!

After a nice meal I chilled because I knew Saturday was going to be a fun one...but one that would kick my butt.

I got up early in the AM on Saturday and started my way up to the mountians for a little DH biking. Now this is no regular MTN biking, this is DH and when I mean DH I mean DOWNHILL!!! I met up with Jay at around 8ish and we were off to PDS. We hooked up with a bike for me (Jay has a SICK bike) and I borrowed some pads from Jay and we were ready! We headed up the Champery (CH) side and the plan was to head to Les Get on the France side. We took the cablecar up and we were ready to go. The first run was fun, but scary too! Rocks, steep, and something that felt weird..me being on a bike. It has been about 10 years since I was into the mtn scene and I was a little cautious. After a few laps though I was stoked and especially with view like this!


We went up. down, across, all over and then made it to Les Get for a little lunch. It was hot but I was getting the hang of the bike and ready to rock. We hit this trail which was HARD!


On the way back to CH I got a flat, but I was lucky and a fellow mtn biker hooked us up with a tube:

On the way back we got some of the the best views:

We arrived back to Champery pretty beat and headed back to Jay's for burger and a little catching up. Overall a very cool day. Am I addicted...do I have the itch? I think so. Jay and I will be going to Les 2 later this month, so will we see if I have the bug ;-)

Sunday was also eventful meaning the Red Bull Air Race event. This is a really cool race series where they race planes 20 feet off the gorund...CRAZY! I got up around 6AM and Heidi and Pedro picked me up. We were headed to Interlaken about 2:30 away from Geneva. We were leaving early because we were advise too...but it ended up that we were too early and it was HOT!!!! 95F+ on when we arrived and with no shade...TRES CHAUD! The race was very cool and from the video below you can see why! Pedro reading the rules:

SMOKE ON!


Chillin in Interlaken:

The venue:

After a hot but fun day it was time to go home, but CH never stops delivering...from the rest stop:

A very cool weekend with friends, biking, traveling, and new experiences. More to come as always. Off to DE this week!

Preview...Red Bull Air Race!!!!

..chill...go out with friends...chill..Lake Parade...chill....sm:)e

So the the weekend started off with another short day on Friday because I have been taking some time just to relax and help my work-life balance. Essentially I work 40 in 4 days anyways..so I have no idea why I need to take a 1/2 Friday on the books ;-) I started Friday by just going food shopping and then coming home to chill. Around 2 I headed out into Geneva to look around and actually buy an Ipod Nano. KK bought me a cool Nike Ipod hook up to track my training for the Escalade which I will run in December. I walked a little around Geneva, bought a 2G and a shirt. I stopped for a beer and then back to home. Pedro and I were going to hook up so I wasn't sure what the night would bring and it went like this...Pedro runs late, we go to Ethno to meet Pierre and girlfriend, head to another bar...close it, and then for some reason head to the squat district which was actually cool. It is an area of town with make-shift bars. We actually went to a private party there and met some cool people. It was a late night but really fun catching up with Pedro.

The next day I woke up and just did the Carouge things. Marche for some "pain" and "viande" and just chilled. P and H called me around 4 and I headed off to meet them. We started at Lady Godiva for a beer with H as P got his hair cut. We then headed to P's place for a little swim. P has a great place and a sick view!!!!
After a swim at his pool we got ready and had a drink with Mitch, one of our friends. It was finally time to go to the
Lake Parade so we grabbed the 9 bus and headed. The Lake Parade is like a small version of the Berlin Love Parade. We headed down to find a mob. This place was packed...body to body...but we grabbed some McDs and headed to meet up with some friends. We chilled in the English Garden and had some cocktails and food before heading into the madness.

Mitch was flirting with a friend of ours so he thought is was a good idea to arm-wrestle...I have no idea how this broke out!

After the arm wrestling extravaganza it was time to head off. The Lake PArade ends in Eaux Vive and they set up stages, food tent, and essentially a huge party. The boys enjoying!

The crowd:

After some cocktails, food, and a little dancing I headed home around 2. It was a good time, but with the natural beauty of Geneva I am not sure this is the place for this...next year I am 50/50. One bad thing about the night was that I got my Ipod and sunglasses stolen. Another pickpocket strikes at a Geneve "fete". I guess I need to just be a little more careful...I have my wallet on a chain now ;-)

Sunday was a down day that started with huge thunderstorms. May saw some 20 something days of rain.June another 17. July is starting out strong with 98.0mm accumulated. So it was a day to relax. I cleaned the flat, went for a quick walk for some bread, and watch Federer win Wimbledon ...the bells rang for about 5 minutes when he won..very cool... As always another cool weekend filled with something new...GG

Update from last weekend...

Here is the event I was at... enjoy!

Your right Mom...It is 10 in a row!!!!

I got out of work on Friday around 1pm to go check out some bikes in Geneva. At that time there was no real plans but I knew that skiing may be in my future. After a week of mostly rain Friday turned out to be a nice one with sun and clouds...and of course Geneva delivered with a sick view!

Chillin in the sun:

No luck on the bike but I enjoyed the day chilling and walking around Geneva. I bought some "goodies" at Globus and returned home for a feast. A little pre-cook pic:

I had a nice dinner and formulated a Saturday and Sunday plan.

Saturday morning was another good one with sun gleaming through my back door at around 7. I got up and decided that a little jumping and skiing was in the cards. I packed my backpack and I was off to France. The week before I made a wrong turn to Les Deux and ended up asking some bungee jumping guys directions. I thought that it was a cool idea to actually stop this week, so I was off to jump off a bridge. In transit through La Mure....I think I could live here:

I arrived and it was on!
The bridge:


Signage: (funny)


This place was funny. Essentially I handed some money and signed a form in French. No license, no nothing..Europe rocks!!! I was sent to wait in a line on the bridge and get suited up. The guys were mad professional and made me feel secure...but after waiting and watching about 5 people jump and scream I was getting a little nervous. As you can see from the video (once I can figure out on how to patch .VOB files together I will post the full video) below I did it...here is what it looked like from another angle (not me):

Like they say you are nervous on the bridge, nervous on the ledge, but after that everything is C$A$S$H...it was a blast! After watching my video in the little shack they call an office it was off to Les Deux where I was going to stay for the night. On the way I took some cool pics and just reflected on how cool it is to be in Europe!

Mom you would like this road ;-)

Chillin in FR:



I arrived in Les Deux and found a place to stay..not a bad view for 40 Euros!

There was a little beach party going on so I joined the party and got some burgers and cocktails. People were chill and I had a nice relaxing evening.

The lifts opened at 7:30, so I was up at the crack ready to rock and the day was aligned....sunny and warm:

The snow was a little hard in the early AM but softened up for great riding even off-piste...sick!


After a few hours I headed to the park and there was a comp which was cool to watch, but these "kids" hitting this 40 footer were killing it!

I moved to the smaller park and got my groove on. After I chilled at the top and took in the views:

I skied until about 12:30 (glacier closes at 1) and then got a Kebab in town. The drive home was actually pretty nice except the 32c (90+F) heat in the valley. Crazy right? 32F at 11000ft and 90F at 1000ft. All that being said I had another sick weekend....and as mom pointed out this is 10 in a row!!!!!!!!!! 2 more to go and I think I am on track for at least 19 months in a row! As I always say....but it is very, very true..without my family and friends I wouldn't be here to experience the life that I lead....much love...GG