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Guest blog by Matthew Lang Last Saturday, my svelte and suave friend Bart took me on ‘an easy little bike ride’ … that turned out to be 52 kms across Switzerland, Germany and France. I’m still recovering 4 days later. I am NOT a bike rider, however 300 francs in spandex and one borrowed bikeContinue reading “Biking Across Borders”

Extreme Sports of Mürren by Xander and Jacob Xander: There are not many things to do in Mürren but the things that you can do are some of the most fun of your life. Jacob, mom, and dad are a little more scared of the extreme stuff but I love it. One of the bestContinue reading “Adventures in the Berner Oberland: Part Two”

In the last leg of our first journey, we return to Switzerland: the mountain town of Mürren in the Berner Oberland region. We leave Como and drive through the beautiful, high-elevation Susten pass to Interlaken between aqua-coloured Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. Mürren is inaccessible by car, so we park at the lift station nearContinue reading “Adventures in the Berner Oberland: Part One”

We had a smooth 3.5-hour drive from Venice to Como, finishing the audio book “All Thirteen.” We felt lucky; Bart and Whitney had a harrowing 10-plus hour drive involving mud slides and road closures the day before. This portion of our trip involves 7 boys, a lake and many boats. Water skiing, tubing, boating overContinue reading “Lake Como with Whitney and the Seven Boys”

by Jacob and Xander Lang 1. Glass making on the Island of Murano. Jacob: I studied Dale Chihuly in art class in 3rd grade. He is a well known glass artist. 42 years ago, he went to the same glass-making factory that we visited and studied with the master there. 2. Burano Island Xander: AfterContinue reading “Venice: Top Five”

We relocated to Basel for Matt’s work, but our ulterior motive is to reunite with our old (many years of friendship, not aged) friends Bart and Whitney. Bart and Matt are on a magical trajectory, continually coming together: growing up in Toronto, college at Queens, young lawyers in NYC and now living in Basel. MaybeContinue reading “Reunions and a Roadtrip”

I like Basel so far – there is lots to do and see. I am still trying to do the stuff that I would normally do at home, like play basketball. So far we have gone to a Banksy exhibit and it was lots of fun. We take German every morning with Frau Monica andContinue reading “Banksy and Basketball in Basel”

Gracefully avoiding any marital battles over the quantity of luggage, we left for our 7:55 pm Swiss Air flight to Zurich. On the flight, I watched Judas and the Black Messiah, read Where the Crawdads Sing and admired my first born’s ability to sleep in any situation. We landed safely in Zurich, which seems lushContinue reading “The Lang-Newkirks Go to Basel”

We will miss you California. And we will worry about you. We wish our spectactularly beautiful home state a year with limited fire and early rains. We will miss the smell of eucalyptus, hummingbirds and San Francisco’s noisy parrots, bright pink and purple bougainvillea, and the ferociously cold Pacific Ocean. May the California Dream continue!Continue reading “First, Our Goodbyes”