The holiday to date has been up and down, some highlights will follow. We arrived on the 21st and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the weather was not quite as cold as we expected. We enjoyed a very quiet christmas at home with Katharina (Anura's sister) and her husband Peter - it was good that Peter could be here in spite of the death of his stepfather in the week before. The funeral was held over until the 28th, so he was able to be here for a few days with us before he and Katharina left for the UK to attend the funeral.
Christmas Day was cold, but no real snow. We did see a few odd flakes fall, which was our claim to a white christmas! Christmas dinner was roast goose with an apple and prune stuffing, duck with crushed walnuts and pomegranite, smoked ham, vegetables and of course wonderful french bread. After Christmas, Peter, Anura, Jonathan and I went for a two hour walk through the forest and lots of small villages to work off the lunch and make room for a dinner of fresh bread, cheeses and goose pate. That's it for the culinary explanation.
Unfortunately Katharina and Peter's children proceeded to get sick one at a time over the christmas period, and Mary (Anura's mum who came with us) and Katharina also got sick with the flu, which developed into bronchitis. While Katharina and Peter were in the UK attending the funeral we were looking after the children and the two boys were very ill, so we made a doctor's appointment for them. Ever tried making an appointment in a different language in a foreign health care system on public holidays? It's a nightmare! Eventually we took them to a medical centre that I had spotted in one of the shopping malls we had visited there, and the doctor was very concerned and demanded that we go to the paediatric hospital. We then had to negotiate peak hour traffic in the dark through the middle of Geneva to find the right hospital. A few hours later we were able to come home with lots of medication and instructions!
On the 2nd we went to Chamonix to stay for a few days and try skiing. Peter took us, and booked us all in for skiing lessons. Jono decided to try snowboarding, and really enjoyed it. Anura and Catherine did really well at the skiing, but I decided after the first lesson that I absolutely hated it and it wasn't worth the effort! The ONLY good thing about the skiing was the french ski instructor! The scenery and the snow were fantastic and we took lots of photos.
On the last day of skiing there was a drama when Jono didn't turn up at the arranged meeting point. It was getting dark, he was on his own with no money or phone, and Anura, Catherine and Peter had a horrible hour trying to find him. There were no injuries reported, but the ski patrollers agreed that if he wasn't on the last lift down the mountain they would send out a search party. Thankfully, Jono was on the lift and the search party wasn't needed. He had been unable to get onto the chairlift on one of the tougher slopes, and was walking up the hill in knee deep snow carrying the snowboard. He was exhausted and thankfully a kind lady who spoke english alerted the patrol who sent out a snowmobile to collect him and get him to the top so he could get on the chairlift! Lesson learned - extra mobile phone required for times when children are separated from parents and change in two different currencies required so they can use public phones!
We have done lots of day trips to small villages and have just enjoyed travelling around on the wrong side of the road. Peter has a gps system, which makes it easier to find the roads we need to be on and was a life-saving device in the hunt-the-hospital excursion!
Yesterday we bought a coffee machine and are looking forward to taking it home and serving great coffee for our friends when they visit! We have been very spoiled here, and have developed a taste for good espresso. Hopefully this will save money in the long run (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!) because I won't feel the need to go out and buy expensive coffee in cafes!
On Monday morning we are leaving for Rome, and are looking forward to four days exploringroman ruins and the famous attractions. The only problem is a distinct lack of italian language skills, but I have the important phrase "mucho costa?" down pat, so we will know how much we are spending. Having the euro makes life a bit easier in France and Italy, but unfortunately Switzerland still has swiss francs, so you need to carry different curriencies.
The most expensive part of travellling here is the food. McDonalds is REALLY expensive, with a medium Big Mac meal averaging around $11.00...needless to say we are living on lots of bread, pasta and carbs! Thankfully the french bread is so nice you can eat it for every meal.
Anura and I have decided to have a small side trip to Paris on the 15th/16th Jan without Catherine and Jono. We are really looking forward to returning there 'sans les enfants!' Peter plans to take Catherine and Jono skiing again while we are away. Unfortunately we will only have one night there, as we have flights booked to go to the UK on the 17th January for 12 days.
We are starting to feel that we are running out of time to see all the things we want to see. After we get back from Rome we will do the tour of the Nestle factory and sample the products...
We are getting ready to go out for the day to Chavannes (local shopping mall) for lunch, then to visit the Swiss National Museum in Prangin. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the Divonne (which is in France) markets which are about 15 minutes from here and are apparently very good. Food is much cheaper in France too!
So, that's the news to date. Apparently Stephen is having a good time at home and has been staying with Rohan (Anura's brother). I will check in again with you on our return from Rome.
Christmas Day was cold, but no real snow. We did see a few odd flakes fall, which was our claim to a white christmas! Christmas dinner was roast goose with an apple and prune stuffing, duck with crushed walnuts and pomegranite, smoked ham, vegetables and of course wonderful french bread. After Christmas, Peter, Anura, Jonathan and I went for a two hour walk through the forest and lots of small villages to work off the lunch and make room for a dinner of fresh bread, cheeses and goose pate. That's it for the culinary explanation.
Unfortunately Katharina and Peter's children proceeded to get sick one at a time over the christmas period, and Mary (Anura's mum who came with us) and Katharina also got sick with the flu, which developed into bronchitis. While Katharina and Peter were in the UK attending the funeral we were looking after the children and the two boys were very ill, so we made a doctor's appointment for them. Ever tried making an appointment in a different language in a foreign health care system on public holidays? It's a nightmare! Eventually we took them to a medical centre that I had spotted in one of the shopping malls we had visited there, and the doctor was very concerned and demanded that we go to the paediatric hospital. We then had to negotiate peak hour traffic in the dark through the middle of Geneva to find the right hospital. A few hours later we were able to come home with lots of medication and instructions!
On the 2nd we went to Chamonix to stay for a few days and try skiing. Peter took us, and booked us all in for skiing lessons. Jono decided to try snowboarding, and really enjoyed it. Anura and Catherine did really well at the skiing, but I decided after the first lesson that I absolutely hated it and it wasn't worth the effort! The ONLY good thing about the skiing was the french ski instructor! The scenery and the snow were fantastic and we took lots of photos.
On the last day of skiing there was a drama when Jono didn't turn up at the arranged meeting point. It was getting dark, he was on his own with no money or phone, and Anura, Catherine and Peter had a horrible hour trying to find him. There were no injuries reported, but the ski patrollers agreed that if he wasn't on the last lift down the mountain they would send out a search party. Thankfully, Jono was on the lift and the search party wasn't needed. He had been unable to get onto the chairlift on one of the tougher slopes, and was walking up the hill in knee deep snow carrying the snowboard. He was exhausted and thankfully a kind lady who spoke english alerted the patrol who sent out a snowmobile to collect him and get him to the top so he could get on the chairlift! Lesson learned - extra mobile phone required for times when children are separated from parents and change in two different currencies required so they can use public phones!
We have done lots of day trips to small villages and have just enjoyed travelling around on the wrong side of the road. Peter has a gps system, which makes it easier to find the roads we need to be on and was a life-saving device in the hunt-the-hospital excursion!
Yesterday we bought a coffee machine and are looking forward to taking it home and serving great coffee for our friends when they visit! We have been very spoiled here, and have developed a taste for good espresso. Hopefully this will save money in the long run (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!) because I won't feel the need to go out and buy expensive coffee in cafes!
On Monday morning we are leaving for Rome, and are looking forward to four days exploringroman ruins and the famous attractions. The only problem is a distinct lack of italian language skills, but I have the important phrase "mucho costa?" down pat, so we will know how much we are spending. Having the euro makes life a bit easier in France and Italy, but unfortunately Switzerland still has swiss francs, so you need to carry different curriencies.
The most expensive part of travellling here is the food. McDonalds is REALLY expensive, with a medium Big Mac meal averaging around $11.00...needless to say we are living on lots of bread, pasta and carbs! Thankfully the french bread is so nice you can eat it for every meal.
Anura and I have decided to have a small side trip to Paris on the 15th/16th Jan without Catherine and Jono. We are really looking forward to returning there 'sans les enfants!' Peter plans to take Catherine and Jono skiing again while we are away. Unfortunately we will only have one night there, as we have flights booked to go to the UK on the 17th January for 12 days.
We are starting to feel that we are running out of time to see all the things we want to see. After we get back from Rome we will do the tour of the Nestle factory and sample the products...
We are getting ready to go out for the day to Chavannes (local shopping mall) for lunch, then to visit the Swiss National Museum in Prangin. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the Divonne (which is in France) markets which are about 15 minutes from here and are apparently very good. Food is much cheaper in France too!
So, that's the news to date. Apparently Stephen is having a good time at home and has been staying with Rohan (Anura's brother). I will check in again with you on our return from Rome.
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