2018 here we come! Let’s make it a great one, shall we? We spent New Year’s Eve in Paris, a RIOT. After touching down at 6 pm on New Year’s Eve, we stopped by Little Red Door for a cocktail. We weren’t let down, welcomed by none other than a little red door. The menu itself was based on applied architecture, each drink representing a different movement! After filling our bellies at dinner we headed to Arc de Triomphe to countdown until midnight. We anticipated a light show projected onto the Arc and plenty of people… which there were. What we didn’t expect was a firework show (hadn’t been one the past 2 years) to light the sky but were happily surprised when there was! With no plans to sleep that night (we didn’t even book accommodations), we knew we needed to find a lively atmosphere to keep us going in order to make our 7 am flight. As we clubbed the night away, we somehow lost track of time as 5 am rolled around! After grabbing our complimentary croissant, we hustled to the airport. Safe to say we caught some z’s on the flight. What a way to kick start the new year!

When we think of what we miss about the States, going to sporting events is definitely high on our list. Tailgating, hearing the roar of the crowd around us, and breaking out in celebratory moves when our teams win are all a part of the experience. We got a taste of this while we were in Milan for a soccer game between two intercity rival teams, AC Milan and Inter Milan. It was pouring rain the entire game, but either way tailgating didn’t seem to be a thing. There were, however, street trucks outside the stadium boasting beers and “American hotdogs” that many people were hanging around. With a capacity of 80,000, San Siro Stadium is massive!

We were lucky enough to go with Antonio, a coworker of Andrew’s who is from Milan. He gave us some intel on the history, stats, and what was being chanted around us as it was all in Italian. We didn’t have to understand the language to know when our side wasn’t happy with outcomes throughout the game. The stands were entertaining! Every few minutes, one side would start to rally just as the opposing side would. Apparently, these chants can get pretty malicious which is was why it was key to get some translation!

It’s still crazy for us to think back about the fact that we moved to Switzerland with little preconceived notions. When we think of where we want our forever home to be the first thoughts are places we’ve visited in the past, where we’ve enjoyed time spent there. And when we consider somewhere new, we’d more than likely take a trip to visit said place before making a decision. Moving here was an exception. I think it makes us feel more open to change, not that we weren’t before, but because we’ve handled the big changes well and we’re comfortable taking on even more. We already have several trips on the books for this year and are looking forward to 2018!