Swiss style Birthday...

Since we are heading to Venice this weekend, I decided to take the big birthday easy. A couple of us went and had drinks at Principe, my favorite 5 star hotel in our neighborhood, and then had dinner at a place called Locanda del Boschetto da Antonio, a grotto. It felt like you were up high in the trees in a cabin and the change in food was great. Instead of the usual Italian fare, this restaurant specializes in seafood. They have a variety of fresh fish available grilled, and the entrees come with salad and potatoes. Of course any birthday is not complete without dessert...and I had a Grand Marnier Tartufo. It actually tasted exactly like the chocolate mousse my mom makes...what a treat! Thank you all for your sweet birthday wishes. It's definitely a little weird being away...faraway from home, and hearing from friends really helped! I'm sure the celebration will continue this weekend. We're also celebrating another teacher's birthday (Blair)...who also turned 28 in October. She organized the trip and there are about 14 people going. I've heard we have our own water taxi and we have dinner plans at a restuarant called I Figli delle Stelle (supposed rated the 2nd best in Venice) already set on Saturday night. I'm excited to get away. I mean it has been two weeks since I've taken a big trip. Thursday night I had to do Middle School study hall, and an extra long session because I switched to get my birthday covered. Part of the night included fitness for some of the students, where I got to work out with them in the gym. It worked out well, except for hearing the middle schoolers concerned about how many calories they were burning... :( The weather has been really nice this week, besides a little fog today, which made the walk to and from campus a couple times today bareable. Tomorrow we're leaving on the train right after school for Venice! Will be sure to post pictures soon! I included a couple from my birthday. My friend and teacher partner Sally, made the cute sign and one of my sweet students, Celina from the Swiss German part made me the little hippo.