Beach Bums at the Basilica :: Annecy

Hello everyone,

I meant to finish up all of the European posts last week, but I got side tracked by trying to create my own website(!!!!), and then my trio came into town for a performance at the end of the week, so that left basically no time for anything else!

We are taking a week off before getting back together for another intense week of rehearsals and a concert, so here I am, back to blogging  ;)

Annecy, the Venice of the Alps

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Venice!  of the Alps!

I've never been to Venice in Italy, so I don't know what real Venice is like, but I sure do love this one in the Alps! We visited a lot of beautiful places in Europe during our time there, but Annecy is up there as one of the most charming ones we've seen!

Tristan Chocolate and Le Deck

Hello everyone,

What is better than incredible Swiss chocolate?
Unlimited sampling of incredible Swiss chocolate of course!

If that interests you, keep on reading  ;)

Swiss Castle Adventures

Hello everyone,

After our day at Verdon Gorge, we left our cute little airbnb (with a pool I might add!!) in France and hopped over to Switzerland for a few performances with the Caroga Lake Music Festival's Swiss Tour!

Our home base for the week was a beautifully charming little town called Begnins.

Look how gorgeous this little town is!

Avignon Markets

Hello everyone!

On our last day in Avignon, we dropped by the markets of Avignon before heading out to Aix-en-Provence!

Les Halles is a covered market that is open from Tuesday-Sunday, but on this particular day, there was even an outdoor flea market happening at the same time right next to it! It was basically a farmers market lover's dream come true.  ;)

Exploring Cassis

Hello everyone,

About 3 hours drive from Avignon, you will find Cassis; a picture perfect seaport city that looks more like one of the coastal Italian cities than anything we had seen in France up until that point.

Picnic under Pont du Gard!

Hello everyone,

A hop, skip, and a jump away from Avignon, you will find this bridge that looks like it came straight out of a fantasy world.   

Or you know, from some ancient civilization, like the Ancient Roman one ;)

Welcome to Pont du Gard, the highest of all ancient Roman aqueducts!

This UNESCO World Heritage site is free if you walk there, but if you park in the parking lot, you have to pay.  However, the ticket will let you walk on the bridge and go explore the museum, so we thought it was worth it =)

24 hours of (mis)adventures in Paris!

Hello everyone!

After 2 very comfortable flights on Iceland Air with no problems for our violins (thank the lord!!), and a very brief stop over in Iceland (they have this thing where they let you stay in Iceland for up to 7 days on your way to Europe for no extra cost to your airfare called #mystopover! We are definitely going to have to take advantage of next time!) Zenas and I arrived in Paris incredibly sleep deprived but so ready to embark on our European adventure!!

We spent just about 24 hours in Paris coming into, and going out of, Europe on our trip, and we loved exploring Paris. However, we also did run into a few experiences that we would rather not repeat when we return... so I thought it would be fun to share all of them with you (the good and the bad) so that you can maybe avoid the bads when you visit this beautiful city!

Year 2014 Recap!

Hello everyone!

I haven't done a year-in-recap kind of a post, but this year has been such an incredible year filled with so many adventures that I thought it deserved a recap post.

It's hard to believe that I was at Rice studying earlier this year. I mean, I feel like I've been in Boston, studying at BU for years!  But apparently, that is not the case and I was, in fact, at Rice celebrating Mr. Lin's birthday with my lovely Rice studio just earlier this year!   aww, I do miss these lovely faces  =)

oh, and there's nothing like pictures of the Rodeo to remind you that you were very much so not in Boston when these were taken... haha

2014 was also the first year David and I competed in open level ballroom/latin competition!  Well, David had competed at that level before, but it was a totally new experience for me  =)  It was really fun, and I hope we get to do more of it in the future!

May of 2014 was a bitter sweet month as I prepared to graduate with my Master's degree from Rice - Shepherd School of Music.  I was uber excited to move to Boston and start a new chapter of my life there, but also, I knew I would miss all of the awesome friends I had made in Houston.

It was an incredible 2 years in Houston though, and I'm glad I got to know so many amazing peeps during my time there  ;)

But wait!  Before I could move to Boston and start my Doctorate degree, I took a few 'detours' during the summer.  First, to Korea,

Then, to Taiwan,

Then, to Virginia (Garth Newel Music Center) with the Meadowlark Trio,

Then, to Cali, meeting so many awesome people along the way.

oh, and sometime during all of that, I turned quarter of a century!  I am so blessed to have had incredible friends who threw me a surprise birthday party, as well as having this guy in my life who took me out to Uchi for a birthday dinner  =)    Quarter of a century has been good to me, and have I mentioned just how incredibly blessed I am?

After that wirlwind of a summer, I finally got myself to Boston.

a new home, new school, new friends  =)  all so exciting!

I'm so happy I found these girls to share the beautiful apartment that we call home.   

and for the roomy adventures that we take together  =)   Oh, one of my roomies, Shawn, also has a blog, so check her out here  =)

In November, David and I took a little trip to Cancun, Mexico, to celebrate D & D's wedding as well as our 2 year anniversary!  It was such a memorable trip, and I hope that we can go back there someday  =)

we stayed at Nizuc Resort and Spa during our stay there, and we absolutely loved it!  =)

David and I have been doing this long distance relationship thing this year, and though I don't have the best track record for doing long distance, it's been going well so far!  I think it works because we get to see each other every month or two, and We were so happy to spend Thanksgiving together this year  =)

A weekend full of wonderful food and company!  check out some of the posts here and here!

I am so incredibly lucky to have had so many amazing people in my life, like Bayla, my quirky and amazing teacher at BU.  She has made my transition to Boston so easy, and she has been a lifesaver in so many ways.  I'm so excited to spend the next 3 or so years with her learning and improving my craft  =)

2014, you have been good  =)

I'm so thankful for my family and my friends in all different parts of the world, and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store!

Hope you all had a wonderful 2014, and hope your 2015 is filled with endless happiness, love, blessings, and peace!  =)

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy New Year!

--Janny

Cancun Postcard =)

Hello everyone!

just wanted to stop by and share a little video we made in Cancun  =)
since we got the GoPro for our anniversary, we thought we should put it to good use, right?  It's not the best editing work since I had to use the GoPro's app for editing, and it's pretty rudimentary, but hope you enjoy anyway  =)





Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
--Janny

snorkling!

Hello everyone!

While we were in Cancun, we went on a catamaran with the lovely Ms. Pamela (actually, Mrs.  ;) haha).  the main reason we went on this was because it provided snorkeling tour of the underwater museum that is right off of the coast of Isla Mujeres!  I had never gone snorkeling before, so that was on the very top of my bucket list for Cancun  =)

and I have to say... snorkeling alone was totally worth the tour!!

I was a bit worried at first because the weather was a bit chilly, but once we got in the water and started seeing fish(!!) the coldness was all but forgotten.

these fish have no fear of people! 

and these 3 were pretty funny because they kept thinking this seaweed was food and were fighting for it haha

the underwater museum!!   I don't have a lot of pictures of the museum because it was too far away from where we were snorkeling... but next time, we'll have to go scuba diving to see more of it =)

having too much fun with Pamela  ;)

Then, the boat allowed people to do this parasailing(?) thing, and it was so much fun to see people trying it.  I was going to try it as well, but I was too cold to go back into the water..  haha  Pamela and David did it though!

 I have David's ride on film, so I'll put it on the blog once the video footages get edited  =)

for lunch, we were dropped off at a private beach/club house sort of a place and were let loose to explore.

We found a shark,,

a snuffy faced David,

a cute little shop full of coverups

and an incredibly peaceful and beautiful beach

If you've never gone snorkeling before, I think it's totally worth a trip on the boat  =)  Of course, you can snorkle off of a pier on your own as well, but we had a great time on the Catamaran seeing the underwater museum, meeting people, getting to do other activities like the parasailing, and seeing the sunset from the boat  =)

It was such a fun trip, and I can't wait to go back to Cancun again!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

--Janny