Sunday 29 June 2008

A great day out watching whales


but sadly the weekend didn't end up being all fun. Steven and family were out looking at a pod of whales off Sydney yesterday and had a great time, but then Jacqueline managed to catch a golf club between the eyes today- off to the hospital for a little stitching and hopefully things will turn out all right. Angus will need to learn to control things a little better than that if he wants to play golf at Northbridge!
We are enjoying a proper summer weekend- it has been in the high 20s both days and very nice. Last night we were invited up to Walter and Masis for a bbq- fish and salad and a glass of wine made for a most enjoyable dinner. This morning we were out with the Heusis again for an early morning bike ride- with Masi leading the way on her new electric bike. It is a fantastic idea- she is able to pedal and ask for a little power when it is needed and we were able to go for a couple of hours of easy riding.
Germany are playing against Spain in a couple of hours in the final of the Euro2008 Championships. It will be an interesting match and fingers crossed that it is exciting and good to watch as well. One way or another there will be some discounted football gear to be had around town tomorrow.....

Wednesday 25 June 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MALACHY



We missed speaking with you by 30 minutes, you had already left nana and poppy's house when we called. We hope you love your new jacket and that you have lots of opportunities to wear it. We will call again soon. Lots of love Aunty Catherine and Uncle David xxxxxx

It's semi-final week


and the Germans are doing what they do best- winning football matches! The old joke went along the lines of "What is the definition of football?........ A game for 11 people that Germany always wins" and after their victory over Turkey in the first of the semi-finals they will be feeling good about the final on Sunday evening.
Not too much more news- we have an office function tomorrow evening with a group of customers to watch the football match and then Friday evening I am going for sushi with Scotty and Pipo at our favourite sushi bar. We have been invited to a bbq by Walter and Masi on Saturday evening and then will amuse ourselves on Sunday (hopefully fitting in a bike ride) before finding a spot to watch the Euro2008 Final.

Sunday 22 June 2008

Back home on Sunday evening after a weekend away


and we are both pretty tired. We went up to Karlsruhe in Germany to spend the weekend with friends Monika and Eric and had a very enjoyable time. I took a few photos and really liked some of the stuff that was happening in town. It was our first real summer weekend for a while and walking around the city on Saturday in the heat took a toll on all of us but we managed to perk up later and head out to Roland's Steuermann Restaurant for a great dinner.
After dinner we headed back to the city to watch the fireworks which were part of the city's 293rd birthday celebrations- they were quite impressive but in the end, one ends up with a sore neck and hearing damage, so we went back home.
Had a message from Goodie to say that the parcel that we had sent for Kai's birthday had finally arrived. That was good news as it had been so long that I was beginning to think that it had gone to the great Post Office in the sky.
It was sad to see Holland lose and head home last night against the Russians because they have been so good for atmosphere during the tournament, however Russia played very well and are worthy semi-finalists. That match was the third instance of a group winner losing in the quarterfinal and with Spain meeting Italy this evening it will be interesting to see if the trend continues. Forza Italia!

Thursday 19 June 2008

The washing machine is on, the dryer too


and I will be running across the road shortly to have a look at the Portugal v Germany Quarterfinal match. I need to get my washing sorted out so that we can go away tomorrow evening after work- heading up to visit some friends in Germany (no points for guessing who they will be cheering for this evening).
Had an enjoyable dinner on Tuesday night with the Cook Club at Chef Giorgio's new place. Love the new house and the meal and wine were both terrific. Catherine and I were out again last night with Peter Bucher- trying to solve the problems of the world and cope with a massive oversupply of Jamon :-)
I went for a walk around our village this evening to take a few photos - they are not artistic at all, but at least they will show Angus a little more about where we live. He will be disappointed to see that we do not have a chocolate factory in town...... but I guess that's life.
It was very interesting to hear during the week that Chef Enzo and his darling child bride Cornelia have started a blog too- I'm sure that it will become a great resource when planning holidays or looking for travel inspiration.

Tuesday 17 June 2008

Happy Birthday Kai


we hope that you have a great day with Mum, Dad and Jenaya and look forward to speaking with you again soon. Happy Birthday!!

much love from David and Catherine xxxx

Sunday 15 June 2008

I wanted to speak with Georgette, Angus and Jacqueline


today, but when I called they were enjoying a roast dinner and sadly I had to leave home and head to town so we didn't have a chance to skype. Angus asked me later what our town looks like and I told him that I would take some photos so that he could see for himself- naturally it started to rain when I returned from the city..... He really wanted to know if we have a chocolate factory in the village- I couldn't lie to a 5yo and told him no :-)
So far we have been having a pretty mild and damp summer- not good news for the thousands visiting Switzerland for the football tournament and bad news for the ice cream sellers. More bad news for the ice cream sellers in that from today I am not going to eat any more until I get back to fighting weight...

Saturday 14 June 2008

I guess that the only good thing about being a Swiss


footballer this week is that they are already at home..... Expectations had been high and I think that most viewers were disappointed with the results from the first two matches (both of which could have been wins). As hosts it would have been nice to make the knock-out stage, however with too little firepower up front, the team didn't have enough class to get the job done. There have been some exciting performances so far- the Dutch, Portuguese and the Spanish have all looked good and will be expecting to go on with the job.
Catherine and I caught up with the Cassidys on Wednesday evening- it was nice to see David again and terrific to meet Hilary. Hopefully it won't be so long before we get to do it all again.
We have had all manner of VIPs coming through Zürich in the last week or so with the Euro Football on- one of the most welcome visitors was Nad. It was wonderful to catch up with him and Wal- we had a fun evening and I bought a terrific watch which was delivered on the evening. Hope that you guys enjoyed the football, had a good flight home and I hope that your knee is feeling better Wal!

Sunday 8 June 2008

The Swiss have a tough job in front of them


to make it through to the next stage in the Euro2008 after last night's first round loss against the Czechs. Adding to their difficulties is the probable loss of skipper Alex Frei with knee problems. I was out last night and watched the match on a big screen with friends and drank far too much- a heck of a lot of fun.
Yesterday mornings moving duties went pretty smoothly- although one of the parties was not as organised as was hoped which led to a bit of wasted time. It means that we have new neighbours and now the only empty apartment in our building is opposite us- does that tell you anything?
I am looking forward to catching up with David Cassidy on Wednesday evening- it has been quite a while since I have seen him and hopefully this can become a regular event as he is going to be living and working in Switzerland. The following week we will also be able to catch up with Peter Bucher who will (I'm sure) have plenty of news about the gold and silver markets and other news from Australia.
The picture is of a massive pork shoulder that Catherine cooked on the bbq this afternoon- we ate part of it on crusty rolls with coleslaw for dinner!
Nice for some- a holiday long weekend in Sydney. Enjoy!

Thursday 5 June 2008

After a 90 minute bike class in the gym last evening


today I have been strangely tired..... I'm sure that the exercise did me the world of good and will help me to get through the weekend, but it seemed pretty painful at the time. Hopefully there will be more of those exercise sessions to come- I know for a fact that I will be out and about more than normal in the next few weeks :-(
We have some visitors coming through town soon and it will be nice to catch up with them- friends from Australia, Canada and England who are always fun to see. I am hoping that one of the guys still wishes to sell me a watch- we haven't yet spoken about price, but I am sure that it will be fair and a good deal for both parties.
The captain of the Italian football team was badly injured in a training incident early in the week and has since been operated upon and will miss the European Championships. Buffon (the goalie) has taken over as skipper and I have my fingers crossed that things go well for the World Champions. Although it would be nice to see the Swiss do well in the tournament, in all reality, they will be lucky to make the Quarterfinals. We will certainly have a better idea about all of that after Saturday evening's matches.

Sunday 1 June 2008

We have survived another weekend


after a very interesting wine-tasting on Friday evening which was attended by a couple of well-known Australian winemakers, dinner in a nearby wine bar and getting caught in a big storm on the way home it was nice to finally get into bed. Saturday was a lot of running about and then a great birthday party in the evening and today has been a little more relaxed but we did manage to spend almost 4 hours sorting things out in the wine cellar.......
Sadly we did not even manage to get out once on the bikes this weekend- with poor weather on the way, I might be forced to get into the gym and do a spinning class or two to keep things ticking over. At least that would be better than doing nothing!
I did promise photos of our new football shirts but haven't yet gotten around to shooting them- the shirts will be in action over the next couple of weeks and hopefully my camera will be as well.