DINNER PARTY

Last night Roger and I ventured out on our intrepid trains (doing work on the line for 9 days while it is school holidays) to go to Kevin and Mark's place in Basel for a dinner party. We arrived rather stressed and hassled from just getting there. It took us 2 hours when the trip would normally take just 1 hour. We were greeted with champagne at the door, happy smiles and a big welcome. What a treat. (Yummy nibbles as well).

It was disappointing that Val was not well so he missed out on all the fun. Anna made up for it!

Kevin and Mark's apartment is such a treat to be in. Beautifully decorated with lots of their treasures and a real comfy, homey feel. We had lots of lively chatting and good company together.

Must share the menu with you, which was printed beside our place settings:

Nuesslisalat with chopped egg, bacon bits and dressing

Mediterranean stuffed salmon fillets with lime hollandaise

Thai-Style Red Beef Curry on Jasmine Rice

Raspberry & Strawberry sorbet

Ginger, Almond & Fig Meringue - cream optional

Coffee & Friandises

All these photo's were taken at Mark's 40th Birthday back in August.

Centrepoint Open Night, Basel 24 October 2008

Roger and I are members of the English Speaking Club called Centrepoint which is in Basel. There are approx. 560 families so over 1000 members. Last night was the Open Night where people from the community are invited to come along and find out what Centrepoint is all about. About 130 - 150 people came along. We were expecting between 70 - 90. So, we ran out of lots of things, but the atmosphere was terrific. Here are some photo's to prove what a great night we had.

Gaynor and Denise (don't let the 'orange juice' fool you!). It wasn't mine ! ! !

Elaine (from England) who organized the evening

Roger and Stewart - part of the bar team (yeh, right!!)

Brigitta (official photographer)

and a willing helper Jessica

MY cooking ! ! !

More goodies to eat

WALKERS LUNCHEON 15 OCTOBER IN ZELL

Every Monday morning Basel walkers get together to walk together for between 2 - 4 hours in the beautiful surrounds of Basel land. The group is very multicultural with people from Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, England, America, Korea, China, etc. The common language is English. This group has been going for about 4 years I think. Roger and I have been involved since we first arrived in Basel - March 2006.

Roger and Kevin were walking together a couple of months ago and started chatting about having a luncheon together. So, isn't this great, the guys organized this luncheon. Kevin took these pictures and gave me permission to feature them on my blog.

We decided to go to Gasthaus Loewe in Zell, Germany which is at the end of our train line in Wiesental. Nice and handy for us, but 12 came from Basel for the luncheon.



Just off the Zug and walking to Gasthaus Loewe.

Typical walkers !!!!!

We were treated to our own special room

Isn't this the cutest little chapel on the hill. I wouldn't like to have to walk to it each Sunday though!

Autumn leaves. What a treat!












A view of the village of Zell










Roger, Ligia and Jane at the entrance to the Gasthaus










Back to our place for coffee and cake.

A great outing enjoyed by all.

When's the next one?!!!!

Sick and Silly

I've just come up with an idea! I am trying to find cheap apartment accommodation in Barcelona from 18 - 23 December. We are going there with Tim and Amy. Not having much success with the search. SO...... as I have a cluster map that always displays advertisements around it, I thought I would write about finding an apartment to stay in in Barcelona and with any luck the cluster map will help me.

Yep.... I'm sick and silly

On holidays with the Weibel's

Fritz, Ilona and Jakob Sunday afternoon stroll in Ronco

Ilona, Anna and Gaynor in Ronco

Gaynor and Jakob just before we left for our walk

GREEN WITH ENVY ? ? ?

Roger and I have been very spoilt in the last 10 days. We were invited to holiday with our friends the Weibel's in their holiday home on Lake Maggiore in Ronco near Ascona which is in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. Here are a couple of photo's Roger took whilst we were there.

This is a photo of Ronco, the little village about 10 minutes walk from where we were staying.

Isn't this a glorious photo? Taken at sunset from the terrace of the home we were staying in.

Roger and I took an hour walk (phew - up hill and down dale) to Ascona. This is a place for the rich to holiday!

We felt we could watch the lake for hours. Roger took this photo from inside the house.

We had a panoramic view from the house, as you can see.

Just too beautiful for words.

BERN, CAPITAL OF SWITZERLAND

Of all Swiss cities, BERN (Berne in French) is perhaps the most immediately charming. Crammed onto a steep-sided peninsula in a crook of the fast-flowing River Aare, its quiet, cobbled lanes, lined with sandstone arcaded buildings straddling the pavement, have changed barely at all in over five hundred years but for the adornment of modern shop signs and the odd car or tram rattling past. The hills all around, and the steep banks of the river, are still liberally wooded. Views, both of the Old Town’s clustered roofs and of the majestic Alps on the horizon, are breathtaking. Coming from Zürich or Geneva, it’s hard to remember that Bern – once voted Europe’s most floral city – is the nation’s capital, home of the Swiss parliament and wielder of final federal authority.

For all its political status, Bern is a tiny city of barely 130,000 people and retains a small town’s easy approach to life. The attraction of the place is its ambience; traffic is kept out of the Old Town and you could spend days just wandering the streets and alleys, café-hopping and – if it’s warm – joining the locals for a plunge into the river. The perfectly preserved medieval street plan, with its arcades, street fountains and doughty towers persuaded UNESCO to deem Bern a World Heritage Site, placing it in the company of such legendary sites as Florence, Petra and the Taj Mahal. In a competition for the world’s most beautiful and relaxing capital city, it’s hard to think what could knock Bern into second place.

A castle probably stood at Nydegg, on the eastern tip of Bern’s peninsula, from the eleventh century, before Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen, chose the strategically ideal spot to found a new city in 1191. He had the oak forests covering the peninsula felled, using the timber for the first houses, and then – legend has it – went hunting nearby and named the new city after his first kill, a bear (Bär in German). Bern’s coat of arms, sporting a bear, first appeared in 1224, and to this day bears remain indelibly associated with the city.

(To answer Ann and Pat's question about Bern and the bear)

It's that time again !

You can't buy pumpkin for most of the year here, and when you can buy it, it's not always the best to eat. It seems the German people aren't that keen on pumpkin, apart from displaying it outside their homes leading up to Halloween!

We need to buy up, put it in our garage and hopefully eat it in a few months time (like at Christmas). Also, these ornamental pumpkin are very expensive. I can't quite work it out actually.

Today I had a lovely day with my Aussie friend Anna. She came here to lunch (I made Zucchini soup) and then we went to a couple of factory outlets near hear. Anna loves shopping! Then we went into Loerrach, had a coffee together and a look around the shops there. It was a shame I had forgotten to take my mobile phone. I could have rung Roger and told him I was going out to dinner with Anna!

On the train I met my lovely friend Carla, who lives just one street from my place. I always enjoy catching up with Carla. She's such a positive person (through adversity) and I love to have a chat to her. She comes to my German Girl's Nights for English chatting. She has very good English and French. Puts me to shame as I continue to struggle with my German learning.

Tomorrow I will visit with my friend Christine in Basel. Then I am on volunteer duty at Centrepoint from 2 - 5pm.

Friday Roger and I travel by train to Solothurn and stay overnight with our dear friends, the Weibel family (family of Jakob!). Then we travel to Ascona which is on a lake and in the Italian part of Switzerland. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer there! I will be away until 13 October. How heavenly. Roger will be back here on 6 October. So, I'll have a lot to share with you when I get back, but don't hold your breath, I am thoroughly booked up for about a week.

We are both feeling much better after we were hit very quickly by colds. My lovely daughter Glenda left behind some Vitamin C which I have been consuming at a rapid rate!