A Trip to Zurich

Claire's friend, Barbara, moved to Zurich 3 months ago and we finally got round to taking the train over there. Unlike the Sundays before Christmas the shops were back to their normal closed selves when we visited. Zurich is situated by a lovely lake and with mountains in the background it's a beautiful city.

A real White Christmas (well Boxing Day)

We saw our first snow in Kaiseraugst today - even if it was a day late for Christmas and it wasn't that much - around half an inch. Not to worry it was real snow and it was during the Christmas holidays so that counts for us! There wasn't quite as much in the centre of Basel but the photo shows the dusting we got yesterday.

A Photo from the Christmas Day Walk

Just wanted to show the main Schloss on Christmas Day...

A White (ish) Christmas

Of course, in Switzerland, we thought our chances of a white Christmas were higher but, unfortunately, there was no snow. However, the frost was so thick (especially up on the nearby hills) that we got the effect of one. We walked (using the fully functional public transport trains & trams to help) from Pratteln to Muttenz via the Wartenberg Schloss - 3 renovated (sort of) castles overlooking the town. We also came across a well preserved WWII pillbox facing across the Rhine at Germany - though never used...

Christmas Eve in Basel

Just wanted to share this picture of Marktplatz on Christmas Eve. Here it's very quiet on the 24th Decemeber as

families all stay at home and enjoy the evening with each other. Meanwhile Claire and I join other expats and have a good old English Christmas Eve drinking and partying (but without the usual brawling excess!)

German Test

I'm in the last week of the 8 week German class and today we took our end of term test. This comprised of a series of tests involving Grammar, Reading, Writing and Speaking German. Thankfully some of the past 7 weeks had embedded itself and I did okay. I will probably take a pause from lessons before starting again in the New Year sometime.

A Manic and Tiring Weekend Back Home

One of the most difficult things about living abroad is the little tiem you have when you come home for a short visit. Even living in Europe (only a short 1+ hours away) entails short 2-3 day trips maybe only once a twice a year (trips to the Emirates excepted, of course). Claire and I went back last weekend for 3 days and stayed in three different beds, visited 6 different groups of friends and family. By the time we were back home at 11pm on Tuesday night we were shattered. In fact, it was Claire's first visit back since July and made us realise how quick time flies by. So thanks to Wendy/Alistair & The Hoppings for excellent B&Bs - we're back in February for Gillian's 50th!

Ich bin Krank

I rather like the German word for ill - seeing as it resembles the English word Kranky....

So long as I get no comments related to "The Krankies" then I'm fine with it. Have, therefore, missed the last two days at German School due to being laid up in bed but have, at least, caught up on many of the BBC Prime reruns of Black Adder and Red Dwarf. They have been (nightly at 10.00pm) showing all of the series night by night of these two series. Thanks to the Bluewin TV record facility I've managed to get all of them and (even though you've seen them 100s of times) enjoyed them immensely.

Hurrah! - We're official residents now...

Having broken all Roche records for the time taken - we finally have our official Ausweis permits. These documents are our legal residency permits and have only taken 10 months to be processed - normal time is apparently 2-3 weeks! Oh, and they spelt Claire's surname wrong on hers so she has to get a replacement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mulled Wine & Mince Pies in Switzerland

Claire and I hosted a very English Christmas today with a traditional serving of Mulled Wine & Mince Pies - all home made of course. Not that Mulled Wine is unheard of here - numerous Gluewein huts can be found in the Weihnactsmarkt in Basel. It's just the Swiss version is a lot sweeter than the Mulled Wine we usually make. Another interesting fact is that Christmas trees don't normally get put up until December 23rd and we, as Kaiseraugst residents, are entitled to a very cheap tree from the local woods. Although we bought one for our party today (can't have a mulled wine party without a bedecked tree) I do want to watch the locals scrum for the trees on the 21st December.

A new podcast - Radio 4 Comedy

Just a quickie but I listened to the Radio 4 News Quiz via podcast today and it was hilarious. Unfortunately, it was the last of the series so unless I'm able to find back copies I shall have to wait for further enjoyment...

First skiing of the season

I've mentioned the snow so it was great this weekend to spend a couple of days in the mountains of Switzerland skiing. Not only did we get to ski but we also met up with friends from University that we hadn't seen for 7-8 years. Darrall and Sonia hadn't changed that much aside from the rather important addition of little Natasha! We met up in Andermatt, a small but very picteresque resort that was even smaller due to lack of snow on one side of the valley and a few lifts not working. However, it was great just to be out in the snow again and we also experienced the wonderful Matterhorn Gotthard Railway. With more snow expecte this week - a good base layer of snow for the season could be possible.