Dale R.I.P. - July 24, 1992 to June 4, 2010

Dale passed away quietly on Friday morning. He has been part of my life for close to 18 years. No need to say that I will miss him dearly.

I remember going to pick him and his sister, Chip, out. He was the eldest of a litter of four. The first time I saw him, his eyes were not open, yet, but I immediately fell in love with this kitten. Two weeks later when we went to see the kittens again, his eyes were open and I saw two shiny green beads staring at me. He came straight to me and meowed at me with his tiny voice. I picked him up and he fell asleep in my hands. His ears were still round shaped so that he looked like a little black bear. I was hooked. I knew he was going to be my cat.

Chip left us first in 2004 at the age of 12, shortly after our move to Reinach. Dale had always been the strong, healthy one, but a couple of years ago, I noticed that his coat was getting felted and he was often quite agressive. We brought him to the vets to get him combed (Dale would NOT let us comb him) and have him checked. As a matter of fact, Dr. Buser (our vet) had to sedate him in order to groom him. That's when we found out that Dale suffered a) from spondilytis and b) of hyperthyroidism which, at that age, is often linked with kidney problems. Both conditions could however be kept under control with the help of medication.

In the past few months, his hind leg muscles started to deteriorate faster and he seemed to have more pain, so we increased his pain killers. As of last week, he could no longer jump on the sofa or on the bed, and was eating less and less, thus not taking in much of his medication. Last Wednesday when I came home from work, Dale came to greet me, meowing as ususal, but then as he walked towards me, his hind legs failed twice on a distance of about 15 feet. I knew that was it, so I called Dr. Buser on Thursday and got an appointment for the Friday morning.

I decided to spend my last night sleepingon on the couch to be closer to him. In the morning, I fed him, but he wasn't really hungry. He went outside any layed in the sun, soaking up the warm rays. When the time came, my good friend Diana picked us up and drove us to Dr. Buser. I'm so glad that she was able to come with me and stand by my side while I said my goodbyes to Dale as he fell asleep. Thank you so much, Di! I really appreciate it.

In a way, I'm glad it happened this way. Now, I can concentrate on my return to Canada and don't have to worry about Dale's condition. It was already clear that it was not an option to take him with me to Canada or for O-X to take him to Holland. He would not have survived the stress.

Now he's in kitty heaven with his sister Chip, TBFs King, Hélène's Merlin and is most likely chasing whatever cats chase up there. He was more than just a cat to me; he was my soul mate. I really, really miss him.

How do you mend a broken heart?

I've been wanting to make this announcement a few weeks ago already, but I was still too confused, angry and hurt. It would have been a very ugly post.

I hope you're sitting.

*Taking a very deep breath* Orange-X and I are splitting up. Yes, you read that correctly.

Although we've never mentioned it on the blog, we have been going through a roller coaster these past few years. Me leaving my job in 2006, the burn out following that, not being totally happy in my new job, our return to Canada being postponed because of O-X's ex-wife being diagnosed with terminal cancer and his daughter still having to finish her studies, etc. However, I truly had the feeling that things had improved a lot in the past 6-9 months in 2009. But then, I was really sure that all was going to be okay when O-X went through all that trouble with the video and asked me to marry him.

I was obviously wrong. Six weeks after the proposal, he announced that he was leaving me. I was shocked. I can't understand it. Still not. It's very difficult for me to post this news and I am still shattered after four weeks of knowing that he has taken this decision, but I'm slowly picking myself up again.

I've booked myself a flight to Canada and will be spending two weeks during the Easter break with my family and friends. I'll also be looking at job opportunities there, and hopefully can go back before the end of the year and start a new life there.

In the meantime, we are still sharing the apartment until I return from Canada and know more. No use in me taking a new apartment here for a few months only. I'd have to buy a whole lot of stuff, not to mention electric appliances that would be useless in North America. It's not always easy, but O-X tries to go to Holland every second weekend, so that we are not too much in each other's way.

These past four weeks have been hell. I still don't know what hit me, but I'll get through it. I have to focus on my future and look after myself, now. Easier said than done, but I'll manage.... Right?

The most fabulous Christmas EVAH!

This was the most fabulous Christmas! Not only do we have Ma here with us during the Holidays Season, but last night, short before midnight, I was speechless and THAT does not happen often.

After a late dinner, we started unwrapping the Christmas presents. At some point, Orange-X gives me what looks like a CD. I unwrapped it and found a blank looking recordable DVD with OX's hadwriting "Play this video".

I was really wondering what mysterious message this DVD would reveal, but I was about to find out. I started the said DVD and within a few seconds, Orange X appeared on our 42" screen, greeted me and told me to follow his instructions. So there I am, sitting on our sofa with Ma on my left and OX on my right (and on our TV, of course). I was to pick a red cubic parcel with golden deco from underneath the tree, pause the DVD and open it. I did as I was told. Huh?? A box of tissues?? O-oh. I was obviously being prepared to catch some happy tears, but why?

I re-started the video and my next instruction was to get a parcel of the same size and then pause the DVD again. This time I had to pick it from the cupboard to the left of our TV set, bottom left door, please. The box was the same size and shape, only it was wrapped in blue and gold. I started unwrapping the gift and pressed play again. What... Another box of tissues?? No wait. I had to look IN the box of tissues. Ahhhh!

I opened one of the of sides of the tissue box and found a small box inside. By then, my heart was pounding out of my chest. My hands were shaking, but a managed to get the wrapping off and this is what was in the small box:

Then, in a soft voice, he said: "Will you marry me?" Well, let's just say that between the excitement, the tears of joy, my reply didn't sound much like a Yes, but it definitely was!

If THAT wasn't a perfect Chrismas?? BTW, it was a good thing that I had so many tissues at hand :)

Orange-X, Dale and I wish you Happy Holidays and send you our best wishes of good health, happiness and sucess for the new decade!

Catching up - In a Nutshell

I don't really remember the last time I put up a post, and can't really say why I haven't. I mean, it's not that nothing happened since July 2009.


Looking back, I must admit that the whole year was very hectic and when we did have a break/a weekend with no plans, we used the time for us. Sounds a bit selfish, but we needed it. I have however been following your blogs, eventhough the comments were sometimes sparse.


So let me pick up where we left off. We left for Canada two days after Pa's incineration, which means that the service was held on the Friday, we drove back to Basel on the Saturday and flew from Zürich on the Sunday.


We had a fantastic time there with family and friends. A few highlights in Canada there were:

• a lovely evening with Christine (my ex-sister in law), Bernard and my adorable niece, Camille,
• an unforgetable evening at Roxane and François',
• some golf for Orange-X,
• our family (mother's side) Summer Christmas Party held at Rachel's,
• a day in Ottawa and meeting up with blogger Jay from "Kill the Goat"
• Orange-X's short tour of the ER of our local hospital,
• dinner with Christiane, Robert, Sonya and Christian
• a day at lake Craig with a bunch of close friends

I'll have to do individual posts about all of the above - if I ever get to it, that is, but I'm hoping that O-X will help a bit.


Anyhow... Canada was not the only activity we had this year! We drove to Amsterdam a few times and took Ma back with us to Basel twice, we both quit smoking (yes, you read that right!), bought new bikes, we organized a grill party to thank O-X's work colleagues for good results is the first half year, Orange-X spent a weekend in hospital in following an allergy to antibiotics (this one really worth a post of its own as it all started in Canada!), had O'x's daugthter and her Mom over for a weekend in Basel, bought an elliptical trainer and spent last weekend with Pinki and Andrea in Bad Fischau/Wiener-Neustadt, Austria. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, too.


This week, I've been stuck at home with the flu and I'm finally starting to feel better. It's about time! BTW, I'm not adding any pictures to this entry, because it would simply be too much and probably confusing, too.

For my dad...

I'd like to thank you all for the expression of your sympathies in every way possible in the past week. You have reached CS and me through e-mail, a short note on Facebook, personal and also via the blog and it helped us to stand strong at my father's funeral. Your energy has contributed to write and speak the eulogy at the moment of the final goodbye.

This one is for my dad. Thank you dad, for all you have done! We'll meet again some day and catch up on lost times.

Eulogy for my dad:
My father Robert, to many known as „Bob“, was born on the 21st of March 1932 in Bandung, Indonesia. He grew up in Indonesia and during World War II he spent a long time in a Japanese POW camp. When he was 16 years old he made his first long journey, travelling from Indonesia to Holland, where he lived all of his life.

Sunday, 19th of July 2009 he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. During the preparations for the funeral the question was asked, who would speak in his memory. I stand here before you and I’d like to inform you that this speech can take some time. We have reserved the auditorium for the coming three hours, so I suggest you sit back and relax. No, just kidding, it has absolutely not been easy to find the right words. What can you say about a man who never wanted to be the centre of attention? What words do you use when your father has always stayed in the background? Pa definitely hated being the in the centre so I’ll keep it short.

Whenever we had a party, Pa was the one to sit in a quiet corner where he could see everything, hardly talked to the people and enjoyed all of it in his own way. We often asked him whether he enjoyed the party and he always answered: “Oh yes, I’m having a great time”. He was the one to sit around quietly without speaking much.

Pa was a man who always worried about his family. His family was his first, and it appeared to be, his only priority. His family meant everything to him and for his family he would do everything possible within his powers. That wasn’t always easy as he also was a proud man who’d rather not accept the help of other people. He struggled he way though life, always took care of his family and supported his children in everything they did. Even though he didn’t agree with everything.

In spite of his quiet character he was a very emotional person. In the earlier days we haven’t seen that often, but the older he grew, the more his emotional character took over. An occasion where the emotional character really showed was directly after he retired. His former colleagues had organised an surprise dinner. For my dad something totally unexpected and that was one of the moments you good clearly see how emotional he really was. The silent man with the big emotions...

Other times my dad and I talked about the future. Now you may wonder: what future? Actually we then discussed the moment he wouldn’t be with us anymore. He told me he that he had arranged for ma to be left behind without worries. A talk like that always ended with tears and once more he showed how important his family was to him, and his emotions showed again.

In the last years of his life pa suffered from a chronic pulmonary disease from which we knew he wouldn’t recover. His illness often limited him in his mobility, so ma often went out alone to just go for a walk or some shopping. At a certain moment we proposed to dad to rent a wheelchair or get one organised. Then again his pride showed as he thought it was absolutely not necessary to sit in a wheelchair. We used a bit of force and emotional black mail and we then were able to persuade him. After that moment it didn’t take long for him to find out it was actually very convenient to be driven around. We have lived through funny moments with pa and his wheelchairs. There were times we had to laugh so much that we laughed tears.

From now on we will laugh when we memorise, but we’ll do that without him.We have to let dad go for his last long journey. A journey in which he will not leave his footsteps anymore. Those footsteps are in our thoughts and in our hearts. On 19th of July he deceased and slipped away from us the way he lived his life: Quietly and without words…

Farewell Pa - March 21 1932 - July 19 2009

Our dearest Pa (aka "Bob"), Ox's Dad passed away last Sunday, July 19, 20:35hrs, CEST (Central European Summer Time).

Pa was a very quiet man who preferred to sit "behind the scene" and enjoy, more than to be the center of attraction. Many didn't understand it, but he truly had a good time. His family always had utmost priority. ALWAYS.


We got a call from Harry, OX's brother-in-law, at about 9.45am on Sunday telling us that he was on his way to Pa & Ma's, because Pa was not feeling well. Like two other of his late brothers, he had been suffering of emphysemea for a few years already, but all was under control and stable.


The doctor came over and shortly after, he called an ambulance and Pa was taken to the hospital and put directly in the ICU. By 11.30am, we knew it was critical, so we booked flights to A'dam and arranged for Dale to be taken care of. We made it in time to see him, and although he was heavily sedated and sleeping, we knew that he knew that we were by his side. He was released to "freedom" at 20.30 pm the same day. Best of all - if there is such a thing in this case - was that he let go while his family (Ma, Orange-X & Bren, Harry and I) were by his side. He passed away silently and without pain, just as he had lived his life. I thank the Gods for having had that chance - to really say goodbye and accompany someone you love to the other side.

It's been a rough week for both of us, and I hope you'll forgive me for posting this so late.

Finally, he can rest in peace. He will be dearly missed. We love you, Pa.

PS: I also want to thank Mr & Mrs. TBF for taking care* of Dale during these difficult times, but also for the cat sitting during our holidays in Canada.

*Knowing how much he'll be spoiled, I hope he'll want to come back to us!

Three months flying by...and one more week to go!

Why exactly three months flying by? Let me tell you. I am a criminal. I have broken the law and for two years I'll have a criminal record. I confess, I plead guilty as charged! If I break the law again I'll be in serious trouble! I might even end up in jail. So what did I do to become a criminal?? In Switzerland it's easy. You take your car, drive a provincial road, miss out on the sign indicating the maximum speed and drive a bit faster than the assumed maximum speed limit. That was not a good plan. I drove that particular provincial road, assumed the maximum speed was 100 km/h as it was two lanes in both directions and added "a safe over the limit number of km/h". Wrong! Absolutely wrong.

I got my picture taking with a bright red flash and knew I was too fast. At that time, I didn't know how much too fast. That is, until the official letter of the police was handed over by the receptionist at the office with the words: "I thought I'd give it to you personally." I took the letter out of the envelope and my heart skipped a few beats. The "alledgedly" 100 km/h provincial road was an 80 km/h road and the "safe over the limit number of km/h" was way out of range. Ooops!

Okay, the damage was done, so there was no other alternative than to wait for the call of the police with the kind invitation to the companie's Director to come by the police station to identify the driver. What the police didn't know at that time was the companies Director and the person to be identified were one and the same person. Namely ME!

I got the call, went to the police station for the identification of the driver (myself!), and every scenario I played in my head was scattered into small pieces once I got the photo in which I had to identify the driver. My God, the picture was so darn clear that I could have used it for my passport. Okay Mr. Policeman, guilty as charged. I had to answer a three page questionnaire to indicate income, fixed monthly cost and variable cost. The sum of all would be the basis for the calculation of the fine. Ouch!

The kind officer at the desk informed me that the punishment for the serious violation of traffic rules in this case would lead to a minimum of three months loss of my drivers license and an unknown fine. The fine would be calculated based on the monthly income. The only thing I thought at the moment of filling out the questionnaire was: " Is there anything else I can list as fixed cost to get my income down?" I couldn't think of anthing else anymore, signed the statement of "truth and honesty", and could only hope for the best.

A few months later,the court verdict came by registered mail. I took the verdict out (five pages, 5 darn pages) and started reading. What a relief!! No mention of losing my drivers license. "Just" a fine of the price of two suits, shirts and ties of my favorite brand and a probation of two years with the possibility of going to jail for at least five days, pay another amount of money at the price of four suits, shirts and ties of my favorite brand. I was relieved. Feeling like a winner, I called my boss with the "good" news.

The feeling didn't last long. Two days later, I received the letter from the police with measures taken to punish me a bit more for this traffic violation. I was summoned to send in my drivers license for a period of three whole months. OMG! Being without my license for three months could be a threat to the continuation of my job. Luckily, my boss took it quite well. We set up a three month schedule for customer visits, defined who in the company would drive me to visit customers, and how I would get to the office and back home every day. It all worked out well and let me tell you, I could used to being driven around all the time! Now I have one more week left. Beginning of May, I get my drivers license back,and yes, I'm starting to itch. It will be quite strange to get into the car on the drivers side again... So, I planned on having two days in the home office on the 4th and the 5th of May to make sure I don't miss the postman when my drivers license comes back via registered mail.

There has been a good side to the whole thing:
- I got to the office early every morning. Pick up at 07.15 hrs by Manuel (Thank you Manuel!)
- I got home around 17.30 hrs every day I worked from the office. Driver: again Manuel (once more many thanks Manuel!)
- As I got home early anyway,I walked (yes, I walked) to the small shopping center in our village to do the groceries. About one hour of "outdoor activity"
- I enjoyed this daily "break" before continuing my work from home
- I will continue working this way as it is very relaxing
- CS took over all the driving during weekends, our holidays in Austria and our last trip to Holland, which was quite relaxing for me!

One more week to go and I'll be fully independent again. Even though this kind of independance is relative and the three months passed by in a rush, I am looking forward to driving my new car myself again. Hey, I only had it for two months beforeI had to send in my license. Can you blame me?

Cat's rule

Turn up the volume and enjoy. That is all.

Love,
Dale

Heut' ist so ein schöner Tag - Flachau, Austria

We're back from a wonderful week of fresh mountain air, breathtaking landscapes, snowboarding and much, much fun. Except for one day of heavy snow and cloudy skies, the weather was brilliant and the snow conditions were very good.






We stayed at Crystls Aparthotel: Appartments with the services of a hotel. We loved it there and the team of three lovely young ladies made sure we had everything we needed. The breakfast buffet offered a wide variety of local products such as homemade marmelades, local cheeses and cold cuts, 5-6 different breads, eggs - from a nearby farm, I presume -, bacon (ooohhhh, the bacon was delicious!!), yoghurts, cereals, fresh fruit, etc. The location is fantastic: it's about 200 meters from the next ski-lift, most restaurants and bars are within 5 to max. 10 minutes walk and it overlooks the centre of the adorable village of Flachau.


After fuelling up with a few portions of pretty much everything of the above, we made our way to the practise slopes. After a very bad case of the flu in February, another two hours of lessons and a few bruises, I finally picked-up where I left off, and learned to cut short curves and come down the slope in an acceptable manner, which I'm really proud of. Here's a view from the Griessen Kareck peak.



Orange-X, however, has had more practise than I have and has gotten pretty good at snowboarding. After a few runs, I would go warm myself up with a hot chocolate (with rhum) at the Dampfkessel and O-X would take a run down the real slopes. He took a couple of pretty amazing falls, but always came back in one piece.


The Dampfkessel was our absolute favourite après-ski place. The service is friendly and fun, the meals are simple, but very good, the portions large and you can be sure to find the right thing to hit the spot. After 3.30 pm, the Dampfkessel starts really filling up, the drinks flow and the fun really starts. We found it entertaining just to watch the people around us.


Then it was off to the appartment for a nice hot shower and deciding which of the many restaurants we would have dinner at. Our favourite was definitely the Hoagascht, but the Schusterhäuserl and the Per Du were both close seconds. The Schusterhäuserl (Shoemaker's little house) has served an established local Flachau family of cobblers for generations as a residence and workshop. The workshop was on the ground floor and the living quarters on the first floor. This almost 400 year old house and workshop has now been transformed into an adorable steak house. The dining rooms are tastefully decorated, the light yellow table cloths mix well with the old dark wood and give it a really warm and cozy atmosphere and many of the old original cobbler's tools are displayed. The service is friendly and warm and the steaks are delicious.



I would also definitely suggest the Per Du. Very cosy, friendly service and excellent food. Am I repeating myself, or what? To be perfectly honest, if there is one European country (that I've visited regularly) where hospitality can be written in capital letters, it's Austria. Seldom have I felt as warm a welcome in any restaurant/bar/mountain hut as in Austria, no matter whether it's in Salzburg, Vienna or any small village. Sorry, Switzerland, but you can't match that. And where you do, it's often because of the service personel you hire from the neighbouring countries, or because you're a restaurant/hotel/bar that hardly anybody can afford. (Did I just say that??). I keep getting the feeling that Austrians are just happy to be and are willing to share their good mood and love of life. I hear that the Balkan and Eastern European countries are also like that. Must go there, too.



We didn't take as many pictures as we had planned to, but we did bring back something - besides a few delicious schnaps, that is. I usually don't like this kind of music unless I hear it in the appropriate environment, but to be honest, it truly sums up the feeling we had every - single - day of our stay in Flachau. The lyrics are in Austrian dialect, but basically shows (my view of) the Austrian day to day attitude towards life:





I like to lie in the grass

And look up to the sky

(you lazy pig - not sung)

Don't the clouds have funny shapes?

(Looks more like rain clouds to me - not sung)

And an aiplane flies by

and I wave at it

Hello airplane

And if you're also with me

Then I feel great

(I'm so happy for you - not sung)



And I fly, fly fly like an airplane and

I 'm as strong, strong strong as a tiger,

and as tall, tall, tall as a giraffe, so high.

O-o-oh

And I'l jump, jump, jump,

Again and again

And I swim, swim, swim,

Over to you

and I take, take, take you by the hand

'Cause I like you

And I say:

It's such a beautiful day

La-la-la-la-la

(repeat)



It truly was one of our best winter vacations and we're planning to go back again next year.

So for you all, here it is, our happy song: Heut' ist so ein schöner Tag [in Austrian: Heid is so a schener Tag] (Engl.: Today's such a beautiful day) by "Die Jungen Zillertaler"

Turn up the volume and enjoy as this song really made me think of the snoopy happy dance :-)

Wild times

We're still here! Yes, I'm still dead tired, but slowly recuperating. And you know why? Because although I actually had 2 weeks off work between Christmas and New Year, I managed not to get much sleep. However, we did have a LOT of fun. A fair compromise, I think. My cousin Rachel came for a 3 week visit from Canada. And by now, you all know that we love partying and Rachel is family, so she does too. So now, you know.

Here are a few things we did during that time in a nutshell.

• Dec. 19: Rachel arrives in Zurich, but her luggage doesn't make it through her tight connection in Frankfurt. Gha! But she does get an overnight bag from Swiss with T-Shirt, sleeping goggles, G'Ma undies, a toothbrush and a couple of other necessities. She sleeps at 6pm, up again from 10pm and we chat until 2 am. Good start.


• Dec. 20: Rachel's luggage arrives and later, she and I are rocking & dancing until 2 am to (too) loud music until our neighbours ring the doorbell. Ooops! But we do stay up and chat until 6am...with wine.
  Dec. 24: We decorate the Chistmas tree (never did it THAT late in my WHOLE life.... EVER!), Pack the presents (never did that this later either!), have a late dinner and unpack presents. Bedtime: Decent (for a day off). 2am, or so.


• Dec. 25/26: We decide to go out after dinner (midnight) for some dancing. Great time! Get home at 5am (?) and decide to stay awake for the next 2.5 hours until we bring Rachel to the train station to catch her TGV to Paris.


• Dec 26: Sleep until 2pm after returning from the train station, miss call from TBFs with invitation to dinner, call back TBFs and accept invite. TBF just recovering from a flu, but doing well. Delicious food, wine & great company, but around 1am, eyes (ours) are twirling in butter and leave for home. Invited TBFs for a New Years' Eve Eve's party.


• Dec. 27: Get a sore throat and hints of a flu (TBF? Rachel? Anonymous Swiss in the tram?)


• Dec 29: 9:15 pm. Flu is real bad. Fever. We're at the station waiting for Rachel's train. Delayed by 30 minutes. OK. Call TBFs. Cancel New Years' Eve Eve's party with TBFs because of my stupid flu. TGV arrives, no Rachel. Did she sleep though it? Wait 30-40 minutes. Drive back home in hopes that she just missed the stop. Rachel arrives around 10:30pm. She got off 1 station early. Yep. That's family all right! Have dinner and wine, hoping the latter will kill the damn bug!
  
• Dec. 30: Rachel goes to visit an aunt near St-Gallen. I'm desperately looking for a hotel in some kind of snowy area to learn snowboarding. No luck with the hotels. All booked out.


• Dec 31: Rachel is back home for dinner and we celebrate New Years' Eve together, and got to bed early (2am). I book snow boarding lessons for OX and me for Jan 2nd in Adelboden.


• Jan 2: Leave at 7am for Adelboden and encounter a massive taffic jam. Arrive 30 minutes late. While Rachel hits the slopes, Ox and I really enjoy our snow boarding lesson. Won't be the last time for sure. Addicted.


• Jan 4: Rachel goes to Barcelona.


• January 5: Back to work for us. Blech!


• Jan. 7: Rachel returns from Bacelona. Dinner & wine. Go to bed at 2:30am (again). Remember, we still have to work. Ugh!


• Jan. 8: Back at work feeling a bit woozie. Rachel goes to Lucerne for the day, also feeling woozie. Good. I'm not the only one. Go to bed at a decent time: before midnight. Really! I swear!


• Jan. 9: OX takes me to work by car before droppig Rachel off at Zurich airport.
  Jan. 10: We get to slep in? No way! We left bright and early (07:15!!...am!) for Amsterdam to celebrate Harry's 44th birthday.
  

Since then, we've been snow boarding again and I've rented myself some equipment for the season. That's how much we're enjoying it! A few bruises here and there and muscle ache from the pull-lifts, but what the hell! The turns are getting easier and we'll soon be ready to hit the real slopes after a warm up run on the "Mickey Mouse" run. Tomorrow's our next trip to Adelboden. Yup. We're getting up at 6:30 and are aiming at getting there around 9:00am.

Here are a few picts of our first attempts (with teacher) that Rachel took of us. OX is in the dark top with light pants, and I'm in the light top with the dark pants.

Can you believe it? I never in my dreams thought that I'd start snow boarding at the age of 43. But hey... Why not? You only live once, right? And we're really improving.

No, it just looks like we're going fast. We're not. Fooled ya!

We still want to go sledging with TBFs, though, but need to find a date before the snow melts ;)

Adelboden anyone?

Happy 2009!

Here we are again, after a long blogging break.

2008 was a very busy year and we're looking forward to 2009. We have many plans for the coming year such as learning to snowboard without breaking any bones (we're taking our first lesson tomorrow), holidays in Canada this summer, and many good times with friends all over Europe.

Orange-X and I wish you and your loved ones a Healthy and Happy New Year!

What we did last summer

We still didn’t write about it yet and looking back, it looks like long ago even though the memories are still fresh in our minds. Way back in March we booked our summer holidays in Egypt and we couldn’t wait to get there. Now we’ve been back for three months and still struggle with the what and how to write about it. Egypt has made a massive impression on the both of us and one thing we know for sure: we would like to go back in two to three years. The country with its amazing culture is overwhelming. If you’re open to it, you can still feel the ancient dynasties of great kings and queens in everyday Egyptian life.

We took the flight from Zürich to Luxor and after 4,5 hours of flight we arrived in the scorching heat of 45° C in Egypt. We planned to have our holidays split up in two parts: a cultural Nile cruise to start off with and a relaxing beach holiday in Sharm El Sheikh to finish our holidays.

At the airport, we were welcomed by our tour guide who led us to a bus that would take us to our ship at the port of Luxor. After embarking and checking in, we met with 11 other travellers from Switzerland and our guide. As we hadn’t booked any pre-arranged excursions, we had a separate talk with our guide Ahmed and ended up taking the full package and some extra excursions. Ahmed warned us up front: ”the life of a tourist is unpleasant and difficult and it’s hard work”.

Meet Ahmed...













Our guide. The best one we ever had, but also the first one!

We soon found out what he meant with that quote. Our first week of holidays would consist of getting up early every day to participate to the excursions and actually this didn’t match our holiday expectation! Looking back I can only say every single trip we made was worth the short nights, the long bus rides and withstanding the scorching heat after sunrise. As a bonus, we had the chance to enjoy the company of our group sipping cocktails on the sundeck after dinner every evening.

Our first trip was on a Friday and took us to the Valley of the Kings. In this valley so far 66 graves of the former Kings of Egypt have been recovered. A visit to the grave of Tutankhamun was not included and could be booked as an extra. As we knew that King Tut wouldn’t be "home" anyway, as he was actually touring Europe and exactly that day in Zürich, we decided to skip that part. This left us with a visit to the graves of Ramses II, Ramses VI and Ramses VII. Ahmed told us the story of how the grave of Tutankhamun was discovered. Actually all a big coincidence as many people have tried to find Tut's grave while he has been right there all the time: directly under the grave of Ramses VI. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures in the graves so we can’t show you the beauty of the wall paintings, the hieroglyphs and the old treasures that have been kept there for thousands of years. The only pictures we took of the area before entering the valley you’ll find below.






































After the visit to the tombs, we continued our trip to one of the many small places where craftsmen make sculptures of cats, scarabs and statues of the kings. It’s truly amazing to see what those young men produce with old tools and sandpaper. After their demonstration, we were shown around the store where we could buy our first souvenirs. After tough negotiations with the salesman, we found ourselves in the fortunate possession of two cats: a beautiful black cat made of alabaster and a more abstract cat carved out of wonderful onyx.
CS has found her new pet and please, don’t tell Dale. He might get envious even though the both of them leave each other in peace at home…

Time to hop on the bus again!! Darn, those two cats weigh about 20 kilos! How are we gonna bring those animals home?? We had some time to think about that during the ride to the temple of Hatshepsut, meaning the Foremost of Noble Ladies. Yup, that was our the next stop and that still on our first day…and enjoying the air conditioning in the bus before going out in the burning sun again…

The Hatshepsut temple is amazing. The pictures you find here say it all. The temple has been built off-site in a pretty desolated area. The Hatschepsut temple is the place that saldy was attacked by six heavily armed terrorist in 1997. During the attack 62 tourist were killed. It gave me the shivers when we entered the grounds of the temple and I thought back of the attack in 1997. Seeing the temple and being in that desolated corner, it was obvious that in case of an attack there would be no way out. Well, we survived and for that matter, I can only underline that there is a huge presence of military and police at all major tourist attractions. Also the city of Luxor is heavily guarded, which in the beginning of our journey called on some mixed feelings.

On our way back to the ship, we made a last stop at the colossi of Memnon. The impressive statues are 18 meters high and represent Amenhotep III. Of course, we had the chance to take a few shots of those impressive statues.

After we returned to the ship, we drove off to our next stop: Esna! When we arrived in Esna, our guide Ahmed, the best tour guide we have ever had in our lives (and the first!) invited us for a stroll through the town of Esna and an evening tea in a typical Egyptian café. We enjoyed sitting on the terrace in the warm evening glow and Ahmed offered me my first smoke from a water pipe. Thank you Ahmed!

We’ll be back with some more Egyptian stories and pictures. The pictures are breathtaking, the sunsets we saw were a dream and the land itself… absolutely fabulous! In the meantime we have cut down the number of pictures we took from 1500 to 1050 and edited every single one of them. That reminds me!! We still need to burn some DVDs and sent them to the our travel companions.

Like I said, there’ll more later. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures and have a good start of the week. Life is beautiful!

This morning, I woke up and found

... a message in my inbox from my Dad with a link to my facebook.

This is what he sent me.




Thank you, Dad. I love you, too!

DAM, DAM, DAM: VolenDAM & AmsterDAM

Ah, yes! Life has been very busy in the CS household these past weeks.

It still is. This weekend, we're off to a cousin's reunion in Amterdam... And the partners are invited, too. Lucky me :)

We had hardly came back from our Egypt holiday (OX is still working on the photos, but getting there), that we were picking Ma & Pa up from the Basel airport. They stayed with us for 3 weeks and we had us a great time (and plenty of Ma's home cooking! Yum!)

So, then. Back to our Amsterdam trip with Chris and Bob trip before we move on.

Saturday, July 12:

After having taken Chris and Bob through some Amsterdam-ish nightlife on their first day, we thought it would be a good idea to show them to a more idyllic side of Holland. Our first idea was to take them to a beach like Scheveningen or Zandvoort, but since we weren't sure what the weather would turn out to be, we decided that Volendam would be a good choice.

Volendam is a typical fisherman's village and a popular touristic attraction in The Netherlands. It's known for its fishing boats (tjalk, or Dutch barge) and the traditional clothing; the pointed bonnet probably being the most recognizable accessory.

Before entering the village, however, we saw this beautiful old windmill (this one's for Ginnie ) and we just had to stop to take a few pictures. How idyllic is that?

We parked the car and walked throught the village and along the harbor taking in the beautiful settings. The view on the lake was beautiful, and don't you just love the house fassades? No wonder it's such a touristic attraction!

Anyhow, while our poffertjes (another culinary must - fluffy tiny pancakes typically served with powdered sugar and butter. I had mine topped off with a shot of Amaretto liqueur. Mmmmmmm!) were being prepared, Chris and I went trough the shop looking basically at everything and nothing. It was jammed with hand-crafted goods and other typical not so hand-made souvenirs.

Chris found a really cute hat. But honestly, I'm not sure whether I prefer Bob wearing it - cuz she can wear just about any hat and looks great.

What do you think? I think it suits him pretty darn well, no?

Then we saw one of those old mechanical organs. They're beautifully hand painted and very well kept. Think back! - those of our generation and older, of course. I can remember filling cards with my brother to "feed" the computers to punch holes through them in order to be able to read what was on the card. Kind of the same thing, no? Punched holes through cards will hit the right note. Fascinating. I wonder how far back these prehistorical CDs go.

Anyway, after eating our way through Volendam, we decided to take a drive to Amsterdam and have an aperitif at café on Rembrandtsplein, where Harry also took a picture of "The Night Watch" figures portraying one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings.

After that we had a lovely tapas dinner at the Kelderhof, followed by the obligatory nightcap at "Harry's office", where we took this nice picture of Bob, Pierre (the owner) and Chris.

The next morning, time came where we had to say goodbye. But not without a shot of Amaretto in Chris' coffee!

After breakfast came an unexpected bottle of champagne to celebrate new friendship. And then, the time came to really say good-byes, but were still, looking forward to seeing Dale.

The highway was free of traffic, so we drove fast,

... and faster...

And we made it home safely. Home sweet home.

Next stop: Amsterdam - Day 1

Friday, July 11: We were up bright and early, and off to the suburbs of Amsterdam we drove with our two Canadian friends to Harry and Brenda's. We made the trip in roughly 6 hours. Not bad.

Once there, we unpacked a few things, had a quick welcome drink and took the train to Amsterdam Central Station. And what better way to introduce our guests to Amsterdam's sights than a one hour boat tour through the canals.

Discovering a city sure can make you hungry. If you go to Holland, there are a few musts in the food sector that you should try and one of them is FEBO. Yes, it's fast food, but this place is kinda special. The only things you get directly from the counter are fries and drinks. Hamburgers, frikandel, cheese dumplings and other hot deep fried goodies are always freshly filled up in automatiek machines (vending machines). They make for a solid base if you're planning to go out and have a few beers, so make sure you have plenty of Euro coins ;) Chris and Bob tried a few typical dutch and indonesian specialties, but I think that the kroket was their favourite. Isn't this shot great? OX was trying to feed Chris, but she still hadn't finished chewing down her last bite.

Bob was fascinated by the fact that the public urinals could be planted right in the middle of Leidseplein. Honestly, Amsterdam is the only place I've ever seen them.



Before going for dinner, we spent some time on the Museumplein and took a few pictures of Bob and Chris - as well as a few unkown others - in the big letters spelling "I Amsterdam".

We then took a shortcut through a nearby park where "the big kids" began to play. When I grow up, I wanna be ... Rambo?




............................But, beware................


................The Rambettes are out there. Life in the jungle is tough.
You win some, you loose some.










We finally made it to Café Loetje (pronounced Loot-yuh), the restaurant that Brenda and Harry had picked out for us. While waiting to be seated (no reservations), we had an aperitif at the bar and soon made a new friend. He was so funny.

The food was great and the service very friendly. I strongly recommend the beef. I had the biefstuk Bali and it was excellent! They have a website, but it's only in Dutch, so I thought a link to reviews would also be welcome.


After dinner, we made a quick stop at Harry's "office". Chris originally thought that we were going to a real office and was surprised to end up at Heuvel, a typical cozy Amsterdam café/bar.





Last but not least, we took them through the red light district; a must for every tourist! On the way, we passed this magnificent building called: In de Waag, built in 1488 in which used merchants met and was later to become to be a meeting place for the different guilds. Today, it serves as a restaurant.

All that in one day!

I've got one more post about our travels with Chris and Bob, then we'll get to our vacation in Egypt. I'll be putting up all of the picts from this series up on picasa in my next post.

We're ba-aaaaack!

Tomorrow is back to work day after a fabulous two weeks in Egypt. We're back home with our four-legged son, Dale, and spent the last two days vacuuming two weeks' worth of cat hair-shedding, doing a bit of wash and having a few drinks last night with TBFs and our neighbours, Andy and Diana.

I'll be putting up the last posts about Christiane and Robert's visit in the coming days and by then, we should have gone through the 1'500+ photos we took in Egypt. Yep, that's right. 1'500+ pictures!

So stay tuned and until then, have a great week!

From Summer to Winter in 24 hrs!

Sooooo-de-li (That’s Swiss-German for: Soooooo).

After a hearty breakfast of fresh bread, cold-cuts, cheese, jam, butter, yoghurt and fruit (insert a couple of eggs for Orange-X here) early the next day, we made our way to the cable car station that would take us up to the Klein Matterhorn Station at 3’820 meters above sea level(12’533 feet) where we bought our tickets.

Unfortunately, the weather was doing pretty much what it wanted (not what we wanted). At Zermatt’s 1’862 meters, the sun was shining and the temperature was about at 24-26°C (high 70’s°F). However, the skies up in the heights were covering up fast. They said: “-1°C (30.2°F) at the top." … Brrrr! Since Chris had not brought any closed shoes - and in this case, even a pair of sneakers would have not been safe - we had made sure that both had adequate footwear before we left Basel.

Half way up we were told that we had to wait because the winds were too strong. We had already had rain and wet snow, and it was getting worse. So, we went for a hot chocolate and waited. After 20 minutes, the skies cleared up again (how fast it can change) and we could continue our ascent. It was breathtaking to see all the crevasses, the steep, rocky and sometimes icy slopes. You really have to know what you’re doing if you climb up here by foot, even in summer.

However, once we reached our destination, the Klein Matterhorn station, we realised two things: a) the panorama platform was closed for repair and b) we had a freeking snowstorm up there! It was like a Canadian blizzard. Look!

And we wanted to show them the Matterhorn?? HA! FOR.GET.IT! The best the weather would allow us to take was this. We saw only the lower part of the great mountain!

Anyhow, we walked to a provisional kind of “restaurant”. While we were warming up and recuperating from the thin air enjoying a coffee, we noticed that Chris was not doing well… at all. During her first visit back in 2003, the heights had been no problem for her, but in the meantime, she had her thyroid gland taken out because it was hyperactive. And then, Chris’ heart started pounding like crazy (low oxygen, probably) and she panicked – which did not help. So, we had to get her down again and fast! However, the winds had stirred up a storm in the meantime and we had to wait. Luckily, after about only 15 minutes, we could start our descent and at mid-way, she felt better again and the weather had changed to friendlier skies. Look at those views! Isn’t it beautiful up there?

By the time we were back in the village again, Chris was fine and we were back to a sunny, warm 26°C (78°F), so we took a few pictures in Zermatt and had a late lunch. We then made our way to the hotel to pick up our things, took a taxi back down, paid our parking fee in Täsch: a whole CHF 7.00 for 24 hours! Not much by Swiss standards, and drove back to Basel.

Once at home, we threw in a few washes in and were ready for the next adventure: the following day, we were off to Amsterdam.

So, folks. That’s where I leave you until the next entry. We're going on holidays to Egypt this Thursday for 2 weeks (Yippee!!!!!)and I doubt that I'll find much time to catch up, so have an excellent time!