Tata and Budapest Hungary

As part of the throwback thursday to past places, I am talking about our day in Tata and Budapest. We decided to break up the drive to Slovakia and take a slight detour to the country of Hungary. Breaking up the trip is always better for Crosby anyway.


Tata

On our way to Budapest, I fell asleep with Crosby in the back. We were still both severely jet-lagged after only having been off of the plane to Europe for one full day. Suddenly, I woke up to the slight jerk of the car as we were getting off the highway. I thought, "Wow! What a short drive!" But as I looked at the signs, we were going into a town called Tata.

I asked Hayden why we were stopping here and he told me that this little small town was where our friend Szogi Istvan Daniel grew up and that he wanted to see it. We met him at Southern Utah University where both my husband and I ran track and field. Unfortunately he was still in the United States when we were here, but we sent him lots of videos and pictures! It was such a charming town and we really got the experience of being in the culture. We stopped and ate lunch and let Crosby move around at a park by the lake. It was a really nice place and is worth a visit!






Budapest

This was one city on our bucket list of places to see. After our lunch break at Tata, we headed to Budapest. Like any big city, it was full of one way streets, tourists, and crazy drivers. However, it was such a breathtaking city! It was clean, had a big river in the center, and all the sites you see in the pictures. I went on a run along the river and then ran up Gellert Hill to see the view of the city. It was amazing and a great way to see a better view of Budapest. We then went to a restaurant with Persian food and it was really good. Persian food has a lot of lamb, rice, and spices.











We watched the sun set over the bridge and
then set off to bed ready to finish the drive to Slovakia the next day!

Haut Jura Saint Claude and the Lac Blanc trail in Chamonix

Haut Jura Saint Claude, France

Last Friday we went to a small place called Haut Jura Saint Claude, France. It was about a 2 hour drive from Chamonix, so not too long of a drive. We went there for Hayden to run a race called UTTJ to get the 5 points he needed for UTMB. It was a 2 day stage race (110km and 6500+m elevation gain). The race was very well done, had a nice laid back atmosphere and the mountains were very beautiful!










While Hayden raced, Crosby and I waited for him to finish and went to check out the town. While exploring, we bumped into this beautiful church. Across from the church, there was a park that we spent a lot of time at. We played, walked around, played some more, got some lunch, and slept while we waited for dad to finish the UTTJ race. Such is the life of an ultra runners wife!












The town was an old diamond mining town and was famous for their handmade pipes. It was very hot during the day as well and the town had a backcountry hometown feel to it.

As is tradition in the Hawks family, we ran into our share of travel problems. We decided to book a hotel online before we left so that we didn't have to worry about it when we got there. After searching for about an hour to find the place and finally finding a person that somewhat understood English, we found our hotel. But, the windows were dark an. We tried calling them, no answer. Knocking, no answer. Waiting, nothing! So 200 euros gone and we were searching for another hotel, which luckily we found just in time for Crosby's bedtime. Quick tip: In a small town in other countries, it's a better idea to wait until you are there to book a hotel.

Lac Blanc 

The views!

Now to the Trails part of the travel. Chamonix is known for its amazing running and hiking trails. This week I'm going to highlight the trail up to Lac Blanc. I ran there from the Plan Praz lift, then to La Flagere, and finally to Lac Blanc and back for a long run totaling 14 miles with 6,000 ft of elevation gain.






The other way to get up there is to take the La Flagere lift and then hike about 2 pretty steep miles. Even the hike from the lift is not for the faint of heart. It was probably the most stunning place I've seen in Chamonix so far and my favorite. The lake is so clear and beautiful and the run to the top was well worth it.

The La Flagere Cross

7 things to do in Vienna if you only have One day

I flew into Vienna to meet Hayden late Saturday night and after basically being up for 26 hours straight while flying with a baby and not good sleep that night because of the 8 hour time change, we decided we needed to see Vienna because that might be the only chance we would have. So on Sunday morning after we went to an LDS church that we found (it was in English too) we set off to see the city. I was super tired and jet-lagged and so was the baby, but we needed to stay up so that we could go to bed that night. Both Crosby and I were not very happy campers by the end of the day because we were so exhausted, but it was worth it and I feel like we really got to experience Vienna pretty well in one day.

Here are 7 things to do in Vienna if you only have one day! 

1.  St Stevens Cathedral

The inside!

If you want to see a great bit of history in Vienna, this is a must see! The oldest parts of it were built in the 13th century and the architecture is amazing1 Mozart was married there and Joseph Haydn sang as a boy in the choir there. This cathedral is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's right in the heart of the downtown shopping and is pretty busy It costs it little bit to do anything except for going in to look at the front inside portion, but we heard that you can climb the steps to the top of a tower that overlooks, Vienna. We had a stroller with Crosby, so we opted not to. We took pictures and kept going.

Amazing Buildings! St. Joseph's Cathedral in the Center

The Outside! Amazing!

2. Shonbrunn Palace

The Palace!

This is another must see! The Shonbrunn Palace and the surrounding gardens are a Baroque style work of art. It was busy with tourists, yes, but still worth it and it's free to walk around on your own. Don't forget to walk around to the back because there are beautiful gardens and up the hill there the Gloriette which is almost more amazing and beautiful than the Shonnbrun Palace. I was tired and done and almost missed this. Luckily, Hayden had read up on it and he knew where he was going!

Beautiful Gardens!

The Glorietta!

Hundervasser House! So cool!

3. Hundervasserhaus
The Hundervasserhaus is also very cool and something we just happened upon as we were walking through the city. You can't go inside but across from it there is the Hundervasserhaus village where you can get food, buy souvenirs, etc...

4. Bakeries
There's nothing like waking up to the smell of fresh bread coming from the bakery down the street. There's also no easier way to make Hayden happy, than take hime to a bakery! The aroma draws you in to the bakery that has an assortment of breads, pastries, croissants, etc... We really enjoyed coming here for breakfast, and maybe lunch ;) It is very inexpensive and it is fresh. In the United States, you don't see very many fresh bakeries, but Europe knows how to do it!

6. Local cuisine
Like any big city, there is a huge variety of food as there are people that have immigrated from places around the world. In Vienna there was Chinese food, Greek, Italian, German food(pretzels, bread), and many other cuisine. We opted for some street food near our hotel, Hayden got Chinese noodles and I got a Falafel Wrap. It was delicious!

7. The Danube Canal
There is a nice jogging path right next to this canal that runs through the city. It goes for a while so you can get a decent run in. There are also plenty of benches and grassy area so that we were able to stop and let Crosby move around on the grass and enjoy relaxing by the canal.



There it is! One day in Vienna! We loved it! Beautiful city, great time!

Welcome To Chamonix! What it is like to live here.

What's not to love about Chamonix???

• It's a training hub for elite trail runners.
• It's home to the world's largest Ultramarathon races UTMB, CCC, TDS, and OCC.
• The valley is surrounded by the French Alps and is absolutely stunning!
• It has an outdoor vibe that you can't find anywhere else!

What has it been like to live here???

It's been amazing! Imagine having access to amazing trails less than a quarter mile from your house, waking up to the view of Mont Blanc every day, and being able to relax in the mountains. Both our first place in Les Praz and our other place near the Plan Praz lift have been nice, relaxing, and still close enough to town that you could walk.




Les Praz
Our first place was in Les Praz. We arrived on June 4th and stayed there for a month and we really
loved it. We stayed in an Airbnb at the Eden Hotel. It had enough space for Crosby to have his own room, which saved our sanity because he sleeps better in his own room. It also had a washer so that we could wash the week's worth of clothes we brought for the summer over and over. It also had a kitchen, which if you don't want to spend a fortune on eating out in Chamonix every night, then it's a good idea. The restaurants and groceries here are more expensive, probably double what we spend at home, but we like having our own food anyway.




Friends we met our first month here

First, the founder of HOKA ONE ONE Nico Mermoud. Hayden has gone running with him and ran a race with him last weekend in the Swiss Alps. He was one of the best Ultramarathon guys in his day and is still killing it out there even as he gets older. He is a great guy and friend and has really helped us out a lot!

The first week we were here we made friends with Sara and Saever from Northern Iceland. They are the coolest people and have the nicest family, they brought their daughters with them to Chamonix! I ran with Sarah up to Merlet and Hayden ran with Saever as well. We actually are planning to go visit them at the end of our travels in October, right before we come home.

 Some other great friends we have met are Natalie White and Robbie Britton from Great Britain. They actually have lived here up in a small village called Monroc for the last few years. They are great friends and we are looking forward to many more great times with them and their dog Rosa.

The last 2 weeks our friend Kieren stayed with us. He is from a Lei, India which is a small town near the Himalayas in Northern India. He is the fastest trail runner in India and a close friend. We have met so many great people from trail running and he is definitely one of them. We watched the world cup, made Indian food, helped crew him in the Mont Blanc 90k, and just had a great time. Sometime we will all make it back to India to visit him, Lei sounds like an amazing place!










What we loved about Les Praz

1. access to the La Flagere Trail (my favorite!), the Petit Balcon Sud trail, and the Mer de Glace trail. Also access to flat trails as well.

 






2. A kids park was close by and we would take Crosby there 3-4 times a week to play.

3. A nice grassy area about 100 meters from our house where we had a few picnics.

4. Only a short walk from town 20 min

5. Our great friends we got to spend time with!

When we decided we wanted to extend our stay there, the place was already booked up in July, so we moved on July 2nd to.....


Plan Praz!! 

Plan Praz is home to the famous Vertical Kilometer course that they do as part of the Mont Blanc Marathon. (The VK is a 2.5 miles with over 3,000ft of gain). We actually hiked up this and it is SUPER STEEP!! We are staying in a place about 400 meters from the Plan Praz lift. It has a great view, great access to trails again, and not too far from downtown Chamonix. We really like the place and have enjoyed our time here so far. The only thing is our place is on top of a MONSTER hill. We are going to be amazing at hills when we are done staying here!







What we love about Plan Praz
1. quick access to the Plan Praz/VK course, the Brevent trail, and the Plan Lachat trail which are all great trails.
2. It has amazing views.
3. climbing the big hill to our house every day! Just kidding!



Now, I want to be real for a moment and let you know that not everything is perfect out here. Most days it's absolutely amazing!! However, there are some days it is really hard living abroad with a baby. Some of the challenges with a baby are that he had to adjust to the time change and that took about a week, but now he's adjusted. Our new place only has one bedroom and he sleeps better on his own. We don't have a babysitter or family close by. Last of all, Crosby can't last forever in a carrier, even though he absolutely loves it, so those long adventure can't be with him yet. BUT all of these things are tiny things that really don't ruin our experience, they help us grow and learn to be patient. All of the good things definitely outweigh the few bad things. We sure are lucky we have a baby that likes the outdoors better than inside too! Plus, isn't this guy just too cute???

If you are looking for an outdoor paradise, this is it. If you are a trail runner, hiker, rock climber, or just love this mountains, Chamonix is a place that should be on your bucket list!! There is something magical about this place as the valley sits at 3000ft and then you can look up at Mt. Blanc at 16,000 ft. It is amazing!

The next two Mondays, I will highlight more about the trails that we love here and some of the fun things to do!

Cortina d' Ampezzo and Lake Garda

Cortina d' Ampezzo is the one place we've been in our travels that I would go back to in a heartbeat!!There is no kind of mountain landscape like it! Cortina is located in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy and a must see if you are in Europe!

So a few things we did this weekend:
- Went to see Tre Cime with Ian and Fran.
- I raced the Cortina Skyrace 20k
- Crosby did the Cortina Kids race
-Hayden ran the 120k (post-race interview here)
- We visited Lake Garda in Limon

Our Journey to Cortina d'Ampezzo:

Driving into the valley

We decided to drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo instead of flying because the drive was supposed to be only 6.5 hours. I thought, "oh with a baby, driving should be much easier than flying." Now I take that back. We got lost on the way there because the GPS took us off course to "avoid traffic." It ended up taking 10 hours, which became very hard with a baby that doesn't like to sit still. Next time we are flying!!  But hey, we made it and this view was worth it as we came into the Cortina valley at sunset!



Tre Cime de Lavaredo

The next day we went to Tre Cime with our friends Ian and Fran from Chile! You have to pay a 35 euro toll, but it is super worth it to go there! Ian and Fran are some of the coolest people we've ever met. Hayden met them at a race last year and they came to run Lavaredo this year. They are the best people. Crosby loved Fran. She is like that really fun aunt that everybody wants to be with. While Ian and Hayden ran, Fran and I hiked to Tre Cime. It was soooo stunning up there!

Our view from the top

Tre Cime meaning "Three Peaks"

My Race-The Cortina Skyrace 20k (12 miles, 3500ft of elevation gain)

Photo Credit: Jorge Saragossa

I  really wanted to do some races while we were traveling Europe, so I signed up for this one. I had heard that European racing wasn't like American racing because things were a lot more hilly, rocky, and rooty especially in a Skyrace. In a Skyrace, you are basically running up a very steep and rocky mountain!! I was particularly nervous for this race in Cortina, because the month prior when we were in Slovakia, I did a Skyrace called Poludnica. It was my first European race and it went absolutely awful! I was not used to that type of elevation gain (4900 ft in 7 miles), heat, and technicality, and I died hard core!! It was only 25k, but I ended up walking 10k of it after going out too hard on the first ascent. I decided I needed to train SPECIFIC for a Skyrace, which meant lots and lots of hill running  and technical trails. We would be in Chamonix for the next month, so I ran up as many mountains as I could. If you think you can run a Skyrace with training on roads and not a ton of miles, you might be in for a huge surprise! But when we fail, we must pick ourselves up and try again!! I knew I had to do that, so I still decided to still race the Cortina Skyrace.

Ok, now back to the Cortina Race. I was on a mission for redemption.  I wanted to prove to myself that I was in shape, could run a Skyrace, and do well on European trails. I may have been a little too hard on myself because I was only 10 months post baby, but I knew what kind of shape I was in. My goals for the race were to go out a little more conservative, never stop, and come away feeling like I had a decent race. I felt horrible for the first 6k, but then when we got to the steepest part, all of the sudden I felt fantastic!! I started passing people and was doing really well. I had no idea what place I was in, but towards the top I heard someone yell, 3rd female!! Holy cow! I couldn't believe I was up that far, I was thinking maybe 5th or 6th! After I heard that, it kept my motivation going and  I cruised up the rest of that climb and then was just flying on the downhill. I finished 3rd in 1hr 57 min and only 2 min off the winner.  Rachel Drake and Yiou Wang were first and second and they are amazing runners from the United Statess, so I felt good coming in near them!

Redemption earned-✔
Never stopped✔
Good experience/race✔

Cortina Kids Race
This was such a fun event put on by the race organization and we are so glad we were able to participate. Hayden carried Crosby for the 200 meter race because he obviously he can't walk yet. Below are some pictures from the fun festivities. I wish more races would do this, because it makes the weekend a family event and gives this race such a good, family-friendly vibe.

Dad and Crosby ready for the race

Look at that focus!! Pre-Race and hydrating, we taught him well

Lake Garda/Limon


We loved Cortina and wished we could've stayed longer to check out some of the area, but we still had the place we were renting in Chamonix, so we had to head back. We decided to split the trip up into 2 days to make it easier for us and the baby. After a few hours of driving we stopped in Limon which is on Lake Garda. This is a super beautiful place and a hot tourist spot for a lot of people, but not so touristy that we didn't like it. We stayed one night and then headed back to Chamonix.

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