Mary vs. Kylie

Tonight we watched Mary Poppins.  It was the first time for the girls, and it was such a treat to introduce them to it.  Only a few minutes into it, I realised my mistake.  Why hadn´t I suggested a movie about a horrible nanny?  Why would I put ideas into their head about a nanny who could snap her fingers and the clothes and toys pick themselves up off the floor?!  What was I thinking?
Thankfully, as I was putting A to bed afterwards, my mind was put at rest.  "She would be a pretty awesome au pair," I said, as I tucked her in.  "Yeah," she said. "But you and her are the same."
It´s kind of like climbing to the top of the corporate ladder.

Im continually having to come up with new stories for the girls.  Today I mentioned the only (I think) detention I ever got in school....the result of a food fight at school.  This delighted the girls so much I went on to mention one of my brother´s detentions at school.  Sorry Tom.  But it involved Tom standing on a toilet at school to yell out the window and the seat breaking.  I may have embellished the story slightly.  In my version, Tom also fell into the toilet, it wasn´t pretty and the girls pretty much made up their own version from there.

I have somehow found myself reading a type of parenting book.  I dont know how this happened and it only hit me half way through it that I was identifiying with it and creating action plans in my head.  Ok, so its not just a parenting book.  It´s a happiness book and it´s really good.  But there´s a few chapters on parenting and I´m really enjoying it.  Many many months ago I decided that I wanted to open the door to the girls with a giant cheery hello every time they came home.  They ring the door bell several times a day....lunch, after school, after different activities, and there are three of them, so sometimes it feels like I´m running to the door all day long.  But I think answering with a cheery tone spreads a cheery vibe into the ensuing time we spend together.  Lately, I´ve been answering the door with different accents and Allisons, you´d be proud of my Southern drawl.  All that to say that it is quite bizarre to be able implement suggestions from the parenting chapters of my book...

 And that´s all I have to say for tonight.  That, and here is my rebellious, live-outside-the-box picture for the week.  Here I am standing in the place reserved for Sleds, Sleighs and Sledges.  It´s all about swimming against the tide.

Job Motivation: Increase of Ego

If nothing else, being an au pair is good for your ego.  You are followed around by kids who you cook and clean for (therefore, who wouldn´t love you!?) and who you teach to make braids and plaits and buns in their hair.  You can impress them with the cool apps on your phone and you can teach an 8 year old how to Borrow and Subtract for the first time ever (no mean feat!).  You can by some raw talent make muffins that taste the same (that is, awesome) every time and your (rusty and somewhat simple) piano playing skills exceed that of anyone they´ve ever known personally.

I love these girls.  Today, quite seriously, they told me:
You should play in concerts.  I would pay to come and hear you play.
You should make a CD.  You can sing better than the people on the radio. 
(and whilst we were listening to/watching Youtube) Why don´t you sing and make videos like this?  You could be famous.

But, by far, my favourite comment of the day, was: Your salad sauce is good. 
Finally. After almost 2 years of trying to make salad sauce, today it was good.  Mission complete.   


And in other news, it snowed in the city this week.  Which is CRAZY because its still only October.  On Monday, I happened to be out for a walk at sunset, in the snow, for a full moon rise, with a 360° view and it was lovely enough to make a video :)

Actually, I change my mind.  My favourite comment of the day was just as I was saying goodnight. N (13 years): I really like you very much. 

It makes your heart happy.  I really like you too.  Your English could use a little work, but I really really like you.

Swiss Curiosities

I love finding new Swiss Curiosities.  Although let´s be honest. Sometimes I don´t think curiosities are the right word...they´re the cultural habits that wouldn´t stand a chance in Australia. 

I discovered my first SC on my first day here.  It was the whole recycling business.  And tying up the piles of papers with string. And then the realisation that it was more likely the Swiss government is collecting string.

There have been others along the way.  Including the constant voting, the cleanliness, and the need to always be on time.  Always. Always.

I was introduced to another today: the Radfahrer Prüfung.  MLF2 (11 years) and all the kids in the 6th class have to take a practical test around the village to see if they know how to ride a bike on the road.  Until they past this test, they are only allowed to ride on the footpath.  She was quite nervous but passed with flying colours.  It made me laugh a little to be driving yesterday evening and this morning and see lots of parents taking their kids out for their last minute practice.  I mean, who wants to be stuck riding your bike on the footpath for your whole life!?   

Congratulations MLF2.  Welcome to the real world road.

Not quite a curiosity, but I do love the Swiss farms in the Zürich surrounds.

Too many good things!

You can fit quite a lot of things into a week or two.  Hard to believe I´ve only been back in Switzerland for a couple of weeks!
 


Two weeks ago, I was here.

 On Thursday, we went to the Weltklasse Zürich.  I feel somewhat ignorant that I didn´t really know what this was before I went.  They offered me a ticket, I heard Usain Bolt would be there, and so I thought why not?

It was all rather cool...kind of like the Olympics in 4 hours.  Perfect for me, as I didn´t get to see a single event of the Olympics this year, as we were sailing to whole time.

 

 There was even a closing ceremony with fireworks.  The Swiss love their fireworks.  And everyone was given a blue torch which made it a little bit like magic :)

This weekend, I went to Lille, France, to the largest flea market in Europe.  I consider myself somewhat of a flea market fanatic, but even I was overwhelmed by the amount of people and stuff.  But its nice to spend the Euro and pretend its the Swiss Franc.





 
 

On Sunday some excellent friends planned an surprise adventure for my birthday.  The rain had other plans, but we still saw some amazing places in the middle of Switzerland. 






  

  And then we raced down the mountain on Trottinets! How fun is that!!

Somewhere in there I turned 21.  Or something like that.  I had the funnest birthday cake ever, with decorations made by 6 girls (and it tasted pretty good too!) - which we ate for breakfast!








I opened my birthday package from home with the girls, and they thought the contents were pretty funny.
7 showercaps
6 packets of biscuits
5 candles
4 birthday cards
3 balloons
2 packets of Australian tattoos
1 packet of corriander

I don´t want to talk about how many packets of biscuits are still in my possession, but such a splendid package to open. Thanks family!

I just love that...

Tonight, MLF1 (13 years) came down to dinner and all her thoughts just came pouring out. Sometimes she speaks (English) so fast that I can barely keep up. Seriously. 

She´s doing a project at school about Global Warming and her part of the project has been to find out the effects on the refugees caused by all the changes happening.  It created such an interesting dinner conversation; which they all talked as fast as each other (it was just me and the 3 girls tonight) ... everything from the hurricanes in Haiti to just listening to what the media tell us, to bottled water and where our rubbish goes.  It amazed me that we had such a (long) conversation - probably 30 minutes - in English! - and I just love that the end the conversation naturally turned to what we could do that would make a difference. 

Then we watched a couple of Youtube videos...The Story of Bottled Water...and a TED talk about people creating beautiful spaces in their communities. At the beginning of each video, I started to regret putting it on for them...they´re both about big concepts, in English, and directed towards adults.  But at the end, they wanted to talk about the videos and I could see that they had all grasped the ideas and had their own ideas that led out of them.  I just love that they care about such things and that I get to talk about stuff like this with them.

...and then we got to hang out and play music and sing together.  MLF2 has a piano here now (yay!) and MLF1 can play the guitar, and I show MLF3 a few base notes on the piano...I just love that there is more of a depth to my relationship with them now.  Plus they think that my (cheating) piano skills are concerto-worthy: always good for the ego.

...and in other news, I am the best problem solver ever.   In the words of MLF3.  True story.
MLF3: Oh!  Sigh!  Oh!  My toothbrush (which sits in a cup) is always wet on the bottom of the handle when I go to use it! Always! I hate it!
Me: There´s a special secret magical way to stop this from happening. 

...and so I told her to give the toothbrush a little whack after rinsing it out.  And the next morning, during teeth brushing time....

Me: So is your tooth brush handle wet this morning?
MLF3: (as the look of absolute amazement crosses her face). No!! You have the best ideas ever! In the whole world!

I know, right?!

Saving the World

Y´all can thank me later.
Today I saved the world.
I saved the world from another sock-and-sandal-wearer. 
MLF3 (7 years) put her sandals on, ready to leave for school.  I managed to keep my recoiled horror under control and took a deep breath.
"Oh.  You´re going to wear your socks with your sandals today?" I squeaked casually.  My voice was abnormally high, but I don´t think she noticed.  Poor kid, I so often speak with ridiculous accents and quote movie lines at her that it all comes normally now.
She nodded with a shrug.  Why not?  I mean, the blue stripey bed socks with the 3/4 jeans and the sandals...it´s cool, right?
Thankfully, she looked for confirmation at MLF2 (11 years), who shook her head with a look of sadness.  Or was that disgust.
Even more thankfully, she peeled off those socks and braved the day (close to 30 degrees!) wearing sandals without socks.
Saving the world.  It´s just what I do.

+2 years

Wow.  The last time I wrote on this blog was almost 2 years ago!  That´s crazy.  I´d just left Switzerland, had moved back home and decided to go to uni.  Since then, I´ve randomly blogged on my other blog, but I´ve been a little, ah, sporadic. 
I thought it might be appropriate to ressurect this blog because I´ve moved back to Switzerland.  I´m not sure how long I´ll be here for, but I´ve returned to the au pair world yet again and feel a little like I´ve gone back in time. I still can´t afford anything in this crazily expensive city, and I still continually find myself running for trains. I´m also back living with my 3 favourite Swiss girls and making their beds every morning (among other things).
Some things have changed though.  Some of my favourite people who lived here last time don´t live here anymore and I have to meet new favourite people.  I´m studying a little bit through uni back at home, and my 3 favourite Swiss girls are a little older and sometimes make their own beds in the morning!
It´s hard to start again somewhere.  I feel like I´ve done it a LOT lately.  But I´m ever so glad to have the chance to live here again and to create new stories.  And who doesn´t love a good story?
Thanks for joining!

The final, very last blog post at the end.

The final, very last blog post at the end.

Thanks for reading my Swiss blog. I had it printed the other day into a book and I certainly managed to talk about myself a lot. 150 A4 pages. Small print. Thanks for wading through all that.
I'm a bit sad that my Swiss life is over. I've started a new blog about ... well, me - (You, by the way, are more than welcome to start a blog about YOU) - and if you want to take a look, I've set it up here http://kylieathome.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading my Swiss stories and being a part of a (very excellent) Swiss Story.

See you on the other side. I mean, the other blog. http://kylieathome.blogspot.com/

Toto, We're Not In Europe Anymore. Part 2:

On Returning home.

Out of the bajillion of flights I've taken on this trip, the last one was the worst. It's a 4 hour drive from Sydney to our family home and so I decided to fly, rather than beg my parents to be waiting for me at 6AM in Sydney. I should have been on this domestic flight at 8AM and then glided in sometime around 9AM and been home in time for a coffee. Should.

But.

With thanks to

ChinaAir for their tardiness, Sydney Airport for their exceptionally long customs and baggage line at 7AM in the morning(!), the Sniffer Dog for thinking my nail polish was delicious (thus requiring a search of my luggage for non-existant food), and a broken Qantas plane,

for making this not possible.

Instead my family went to the airport and waited for an unaccounted-for missing daughter (sorry! but I did try and call!) Heartfelt apologies to the any disembarking female passengers in the 20-24 age bracket who may have been swamped by a loving but foreign family.

Thankfully, they did come back and fetch me later that afternoon when I finally got in. Go here for my Mother's Side of the Story.

During the wait, where they shifted us between planes, buses and waiting gates I drifted off to sleep so many times. Each time waking with a shock and having to think about those essentials - who am I? where am I? why am i drooling? what am i doing here? why does everyone here have that strange accent?

Someone's gotta provide the entertainment.

But now, I'm home. Spending time with my fam. Shocked a lot by the local-yokel-ness of Australians. Finding myself out in the bush helping chop firewood (ok let's be honest, Dad uses his chainsaw and I collected the logs - why chop when you can chainsaw!?). Eating Mumma's food again. Taking family pictures. Freezing. Hunting down my old Uggboots. Catching up with friends. Baking Swiss bread --

What can I say? Old habits die hard.

Toto, We're Not In Europe Anymore, Part 1

I took myself off to the Airport and waved myself off. After a bad experience the week before-
(On the way to London - this included finding lines 100+ metres long - NOT normal for Zurich Airport! I had to beg, borrow and bribe my way through to the front of each line - I have NO jewelery left now, and then running for my life all the way to the gate which happened to be (of course) on the other side of the airport)

...I allowed plenty of time. I was maxed out on luggage allowance and would not-could not, be running anywhere.

After a brief sprint through the Frankfurt Airport, I was drooled on by a Chinese man most of the way to Beijing. I should have seen this as a foretaste of what was to come.

Beijing: Probably one of the craziest experiences of my life. In my whole week in China I probably saw only 20 other "white" people. Which meant that I was a walking sideshow freak attraction to all the Chinese.

Stared at?
Spat on?
Sat on?
Sneered at?
Shocked by?
Sized up?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

It was like going back to the beginning again. I couldn't read anything or understand anyone.

But after a good sleep, I felt like I might be able to cope and had an amazing trip. I got a wonderful glance of the Great Wall and finally was able to beg my way into buying a train ticket (an experience all of it's own) to visit my friend Aimee up in northern China.



I took a Night Train (they would only sell me 1st class-and I had to pay for the privilege) and arrived in Harbin. Here, I finally got to eat some real, good, Chinese food, explore miles and miles of underground shops/markets, take a million taxis, and even practice some Chinese on said taxi drivers.
It was very fun to see Aimee again (I actually caught up with her last when I was passing through Singapore on my way to Switz) and to tag along on some of her classes (she's teaching English).

The night train back was, ah, different, as I managed to buy a cheaper 2nd class ticket. Let's just say that the people who designed the bed size were very skinny.

But, actually, I really liked China. It couldn't have been any different from Europe. It's probably been a good transition spot for coming home. At least, home couldn't be any stranger than China.

A Swiss Story By Kylie: THE END

It's a strange thing to move from your country of residence.

Ciao Ciao Switzerland. Thanks for having me.

China, I'm coming. Please be nice. I don't speak your language.

Australia, see you in a week.

A Swiss Story By Kylie: The End.

(There might be an epilogue somewhere down the track)

Pick A Hand

I got off the plane tonight and had the option of 3 Exit Doors.
It's like picking a hand - except imagine that there are 3 hands.
In the 3 hands are France, Germany & Switzerland.

And tonight, for the last time, I chose Switzerland.

The irony of it all, was that when I entered and then subsequently exited Gatwick Airport this morning, due to a glitch in their system, I could have stayed in the EU indefinitely. Somehow, because I was a non-EU citizen, had no baggage to claim, entered through the South Terminal, but needed to depart through the North AND had a lengthy transit - I somehow managed to end up in a black hole where I could have disappeared and stayed here for longer.

If you have listened to me complain about being unable to stay longer over here in Europe at any time, you will understand why this is so ironic.

But now, after a very long day with delayed flights, beginning in Dublin this morning and ending up in Zurich tonight (actually, it's tomorrow morning already), I'm back in Switz for 2 days. I'm sad. I'm happy.

On the agenda? Unpack. Pack. Say Ciao. Eat as much bread and yoghurt as I can. Close my Swiss bank account. Track down 2 parcels I've just realized are missing in transit. Figure out why my credit card declined me today (expensive European holidays, I don't know). Learn magic so that I can somehow magically fit my belongings into my single 20kg suitcase (I'm kidding myself).

But now - time for bed. Which I'm pretty happy about. Especially since the last few weeks of hostels sometimes included plastic sheets. Yuck.

(I'm thinking about writing a book called The Princess and the Plastic Sheet.)

40 more hours in Switzerland. I love you Switzerland.

Have Your Castle - And Eat It Too

Would you believe that we've had the most beautiful run of weather here in Ireland? Everyone warned me of horrible nasty weather and I came prepared mentally - and with plenty of winter clothes.

So far, we've had nothing but sunshine.

I love it.

Have hired a car for the last 4 days and we're back in Dublin tonight after seeing too much beauty.

Cliffs and rolling hills and millions of Pubs and castles, castles and more castles.

Today I waded my way into the Blarney Castle.*** It was SOOO expensive to get it, so I decided not to kiss that Blarney stone (ewww! a gazillion germs!) - but when I realized I could take a little swim in the river and end up at the castle for FREE, well, who am I to say no to a swim eh? (Still wiping those germs off, though)

Then I got a ride in a police car. But that was because, um, we ran out of fuel, and the very nice police man gave us a lift.

I want to live in sunny Ireland. The Police men are so friendly :)


** My Mother would like to be noted that she did not bring me up to wade my way into castles....

LONDON BABY!

LONDON TOWN

Have spent the last few days wondering (most likely looking like lost tourists) with Nat, catching numerous buses and tubes, hunting down markets and good food, trying not to get rained on, and generally feeling like I'm in the middle of a monopoly board. I kid you not. But I'm still looking for GO so that I can pass it and collect $200. Not successful so far.
Also haven't seen the Queen yet.
But did see 2 wonderful Broadway shows :) :)
There's Karaoke going on downstairs in our hostel, but we have to get up early tomorrow morning to catch the bus to Oxford, so I'm off to bed.

Crazy town, there's meat pies here!!!!! and I've also eated Indian, Portuguese (more custard tarts!) and Thai...and most likely more I can't remember....

Night.

Part 4: Madrid

Mad about Madrid...

We went in search of free tapas as soon as we reached Madrid... along with everyone else with the city. "El Tigre" was what was suggested - and boy, was it a popular place!

We managed to fit in visits to both the Museo Nacional del Prado and Museo de Reina Sofia (FOR FREE!!!) and saw lots of good stuff by Picasso, Dalí, Velázquez, Rembrant and Miro.

Went on yet another free walking tour of the city (NOT actually for free).

We dabbled in chocolate churro heaven and tasted true Spanish paella.

We were squashed like sardines a few too many times in the metro but met so many friendly people. We also found out that Pei Wen is super awesome at networking and may (or may not) have used "Can you get me a job?" as the second sentence in a conversation with a complete stranger... after starting with "So, what do you do?"

Part 3: Lisboa

Recap of Portugal, in and around Lisboa

We saw so many magnificent and beautiful places in Portugal - although it was ironic that we spent very little time exploring the capital, Lisboa.

We give our hostel was a 4 (out of ten) for cleanliness (the bad odors and mouse we saw scurrying across the kitchen floor directly contributed to its low score) and a 2 for security. The hostel staff seemed to open the door for just about everyone... our fabricated passwords for entry became more ludicrous as the days went by.

The award for most beautiful place (that we visited) goes to
Obidos (PW's pick) and Cabo de Roca (Kylie's pick).

Most interesting: the real time 360 degree periscope/camera thing at Castelo de São Jorge (PW-we also got 50% off the admission price thanks to my ISIC like type discount card) and the tram 28 ride in Lisbon (Kylie).

One of the funniest moments was using PINEAPPLE as the secret password to get into our hostel.

PW's favourite activity was bike riding along the coast in Cascais. Kylie also liked the bike riding, but she enjoyed eating several dozen Portuguese custard tarts a tiny bit more. Kylie wanted to have a tie for this (she needed one to compensate for the other...oops!)

Part Two: Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal
Things we have learned so far, after spending just 20 hours in beautiful Porto:
- The Black and White Hostel is pretty nice (in case you ever decide to visit Porto)
- The power bars will most likely blow the ipod charger you purchased in a cheap dodgy place in Greece (now PW needs to be careful with the constant WIFI searches around the city)   
-it's quite possible, even highly likely that the Metro doors will close with Kylie on one side and PW on the other. Kylie will then lift a helpless forlorn hand and wave to PW. (We now have a plan of action should the Metro doors decide to separate us again)
- Custard Tarts can be found here and they are every bit as good as your imagination. No. Better.   
- Do not tell your traveling buddy "mmm what's that wonderful smell?" while she is walking next to a garbage can... because a giant sniff is inevitable         
- Going on a wine tasting tour? Adds 30 years to your life when your twenty-something.

The Fun And Fabulous (Frivolity Included) (f)Adventures of PW and Kylie! Part 1: Barcelona

....so perhaps I'll update you another time on the passport misadventures (it arrived (miraculously?) on the morning of my flight...

But for now, let me introduce The Fun And Fabulous (Frivolity Included) (f)Adventures of PW and Kylie!

Part 1: Barcelona

We are sitting in the bus en route to Girona from Barcelona and have decided to utilize the time productively by updating our blogs with what has happened so far on the trip. For those of you new to our lives, Kylie (chaupair.blogspot.com) and PW (paywhen@blogspot.com) will be typing away furiously every free moment we have to bring you the details of this Spain/Portugal trip.

PW: Barcelona was every bit as beautiful as everyone claimed it to be... we saw beautiful beaches, the Gaudi buildings, met friendly people and had great weather.

Kylie: I will remember Barcelona as a time of clutching my bag and looking suspiciously at everyone. This follows many warnings of the people we met...because "everyone they knew" had been robbed in Barcelona.
I can't tell you how many happy feelings I had bike riding in the sunshine along the beach path. Somewhat marred by unwanted viewings of people who should have been wearing swimming suits.

PW: I had a new found appreciation for my Mandarin "skillz"... everywhere we went there were Chinese people - most of them clothing or food shop owners/workers. The first night I was able to order some lemon chicken and rice for us in Mandarin (although I failed to secure a reduction on the cost of our meal). Then there were the other times I was useful for communication purposes: finding out how much the sushi/wok place cost, translating prices and descriptions of goods for Kylie and delivering the bad news that the dress she wanted (which was marked 6.50) was actually 12 euros for her, since we did not look Spanish enough to get the lower price.

Kylie: Its true. She actually said the double price was for tourists. Sheesh.
It's been a while since I've been in a country that I have absolutely no language skills.
(Well I can say please and thank you. I do have lovely manners. See, Mum? I told you I'd grow up ok.)
But other than that? It's been fun playing a giant game of charades.
Favourite part of Barcelona? Definitely being too cheap to pay to go up to the roof of a Gaudi house. And instead somehow finding our way up to the rooftop of the neighbouring hotel. A much better view AND it involved a game of hide and seek with hotel workers and cleaners.
I love games.

PW: WHAT?!?! Kylie totally stole MY favourite moment... It's true, we were too cheap to pay entry to the attractions so had to come up with creative ways to see everything. However, I'm required to recount the event Kylie has mentioned in a more accurate manner (her memory is not what it used to be). Firstly, we were at Palau Güell, which is under re-construction, so NO ONE could see the whismical rooftop chimneys on the roof. Being able-bodied, curious and cheap, Kylie and I snuck stealthily (is that even a word?) into a nearby casino/hotel and headed straight for the rooftop. There, we scoured the premises and realized we could see directly onto the top of Gaudi's first masterpiece mansion from a certain vantage point on the roof of this hotel. The problem was that 3-4 workers were on the roof as well - we had to 007 our way over scattered pieces of building materials on the ground, get onto the terrace and take the photo without getting caught. We felt quite accomplished after successfully capturing the photo. My other favourite things: saving a cat stuck in the tree in the beautiful Jewish gardens; sneaking into the gas station to use the w/c, then trying to justify the toilet use by buying a 0.30 euro pack of cookies; seeing the street performers on La Rambla.

Kylie: Her 30 cent cookie purchase was made all the better when she tried to pay with a 50 Euro note. Needless to say, we were not their favourite sneaky toilet users of the night.
And seriously--cats do not, can not, and will not get stuck up in trees. And if they do-it's their own fault. It's just part of their evil plan to rule the world. If we had the baggage room PW would be carrying bags of cat food with her. She wants to make sure she is remembered among them if they succeed in world domination.

All in all, we enjoyed Barcelona! Especially the 1 euro McDonalds menu!!! See you next in Portugal!

I don't like Iceland Anymore

Dear Passport. I know you are lost. Lost and scared and alone. And you don't know where you are. I don't know where you are either. Somewhere between Australia and Switzerland.

Dear Volcano. I know you ate my passport. Or you scared away all the planes with the mail in them. Give me back my passport. I need it.
(Please, please, please come in the mail tomorrow.)

Dear Spain and Portugal. I really want to see you. Why do you always need to see my passport? I don't have mine. The Volcano ate it. Eyjafjallajökull. [Ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl] (just in case you were wondering)

With much love (for the passport & next week's countries), threats and bribes (for the volcano),
Kylie



Next up: Another visit to Mamma Mia and Many many many mysterious blue boxes floating around Zurich City.

Pink Hair, A Red Convertible & An Icelandic Volcano

This week I took to heart Climb Every Mountain and climbed a giant giant mountain.
Bigger than any I've climbed before.
It took a sturdy pair of snow shoes, some pulling from a good friend (Thanks Aline!) and 7 1/2 hours.
Yeah - I'm pretty happy.




Spring is really coming. We even had Sechseläuten yesterday.
After spending the last week up in the mountains, I am amazed at the colour everywhere. It even smells like Spring.
I went for a walk yesterday and ended up having a little nap in the garden at a Church nearby with a beautiful view.
There's something a little different about waking up from a sleep and realizing you're sleeping amongst 100-year old graves. At least I woke up - more than I can say from those sleeping next to me.

2 more sleeps until Mamma Mia! What? You think I've seen it enough times?! Pfssht!

Next week it's off to Spain. I'm pretty excited about this because 1.) the beach, and 2.) after Spain we are going to Portugal and here I can eat Portuguese Custard Tarts. This will be the fulfillment of a lifelong (well at least 3-year-long) dream.

That is, if this Icelandic volcano decides to sit still for a while. Please, Eyjafjallajökull, don't ruin my plans. It's ironic that it has caused so much havoc, and we really can't see a thing from down here below.
I think I have 12 flights planned for the next few weeks so I'm quite at the mercy of a Volcano whose name I can't even pronounce!

In other unfortunate news, I have pink hair. Actually somehow a mix between red, pink, and purple. I was trying for dark brown with a slight auburn tinge. How did I end up with pink?!

And, in other cool news, I got to be driven around the Swiss Alps in a red convertible on the weekend (Thanks Sandro & Pam!) How.Very.Cool.