Basel Ladies Rowing Team

My first Basel Ladies rowing practice went swimmingly well, first our coach Mrs. Ellie Weir fell ill and sent hubbie instead (but he is now a Swiss Masters champ so it was ok), and then upon arrival the heavens opened. And not only did they open, but they came with massive fork lightning and it's good friend thunder. So needless to say practice did not go quite as planned, but watch this space...

She's Back

Thank goodness we are back in school as that means Asa is back from all her holidays and can go hiking with us again.  We started back yesterday with a much anticipated hike up Belcham in The Black Forest.  I was really looking forward to it as have heard so much nice things about it recently.  In fact, I tried to go on several different occasions when Asa was away but something always came up.  Anyways, we arrived yesterday, in unusual freezing temperatures and rain only for me to realise I actually had been there before with Patrick and Ellie (in blog last September, much sunnier day). 

Even though you could see further last time I was there, it was a really nice view with the clouds

 

The Return of The Sun, Basel

Back by popular demand, last night The Sun Inn Basel hosted another pub quiz (well maybe it was more of the case that I wanted to do it!). Learning from past experience the landlord (me) decided only to offer one choice for dinner and banned red wine. This combined with five great teams, 8 very thought out rounds (consuming me the last week), loads of food, a few drinks and a kick ass quiz master made a really great night. I am only sad that my neighbours did not enjoy the evening as much as we did and hoping not to receive an eviction notice today...

and a lot if laughs. I had a great time doing it, but based on the mess this morning and the steely looks from the entire street it maybe a while before we host another ;)!

They're Back..

Well today was the end of the relaxed atmosphere in the school.  Today was the return of the children day, where the learning begins, where minds grow, talents are found and tragically where my social outings decrease exponentially.  But I cannot complain (well I won't) as I had a lovely seven weeks off, am ready to work again and to be fair my first day consisted of taking the grade 11 and 12's on a beautiful five hour hike in Biel.  It was as hot as the last three weeks and although I would never dream of complaining about mid thirty temps, I do wonder how the kids and staff are going to cope for the rest of the week in a fairly air tight building and no air conditioning...
(I however, am going to love it, as I fear it will come to an end rather soon)

The calm before the storm, the Maths department buffet lunch

A lovely day, and it fell on hike day as well!

Team Ram Rod

Yesterday team ram rod participated in the Pickwick's fun day. We started off a bit rocky with the basketball shoot but after a regrouping (and a beer) we came back on fire with darts and putting. The results have not come in yet but I am just going to assume that we won.

MDNA 2012

I think it is fairly safe to safe that I had one of the best nights of my life last night.  And although I did not really think possible it is safe to say I love Madonna even more today than I did yesterday.  What a fabulous show, brilliant dancers, fantastic sets and costumes, great music, just amazing.  I have seen Madonna in concert before, but this is the first time I actually 'saw' her (usually had to watch concert from the big screens) and Oh My God she is fantastic (only cried three times, well maybe four).  Anyone who says she is too old to be on stage needs a reality check, she has a body most 25 year old's can only dream of, she is still the amazing dancer she has always been, she is inspiring, controversial and all round just amazing.  

Before the concert, I was so excited it was pretty hard to sit still

Yep, that is the stage right behind me!

These are the people behind me :)

Ginelle was brave enough to go to the Golden Circle with me

One thing that amazed me is how tiny she is

Think the first time I may have had a tear (like she is right in front of me!)

I did not quite get the picture I wanted, but she came down to us for us to sing (possibly cried again)

Look at those muscles!

Glowing after concert, but sad it was over!  Even if you think you do not like her, I really recommend this concert, I think i mention it earlier but it was AMAZING!   She also talked to us for ages and I love her.  And gotta end with one of her biggest messages of the evening:
FREE PUSSY RIOT

Back to Normal

It is funny how quickly you can get back into a routine and how long ago the holidays seem in just three short days.   But it is good to be back in a routine and last night we started back with one of my favourite school year activities, wine club.   It was as usual a lovely evening, hosted by Awesome Asa who shared with us her favourite Alsatian Wines.

Here we go Again

I cannot quite believe it, but today is the first day back to school (although kiddies not here for another week). The summer has just flown by and I have got in such a good routine now I am not sure I have time to work! However, I must admit I am actually quite excited to start year two. I know so much more than I did a year ago and really just look forward to what this year will bring.

My Italian Family

So I have decided to adopt the Maino/Malacrida family as my Italian family.  I have had the most wonderful time and they are truly the most wonderful people.   I was actually in tears leaving them today, after having such an amazing time.  The food, the views, the place, and above all the wonderful people, totally inspirational.  I know I often say how 'wonderful' things are, and generally most things are but really my days with them were above and beyond.

Here comes the gang

Family breakfast, made by me :)

I would usually think it was fairly presumptuous to think this family would accept my forced adoption, however I have something on my side they cannot resist, Lola.  Lola was definitely Queen of the weekend, she had so much attention I am not sure how she will adapt to our flat again.  In fact, Alesandro and Christina took literally 1500 photos of her and the strange thing is that she loved it...

We had such a lovely time, and I am not sure if I am a sea or mountain person and would never have thought it possible.  Thank you to Danilo, Elena and their wonderful children Carlo, Christina and Alesandro.

Hike or Walk??

Since starting my every other day 'hiking', I have had many discussions about what makes a hike a hike and not a walk or is there even a difference. Well I made up my own 'hike' rules, they had to be more than three hours, have a bit of a climb and different terrain (not pavement). I am certainly not an authority and my definition is probably totally wrong. But I am sure of one thing, today for sure I went on a hike and not a walk.

The view of the mountains on the way to our hike...

... was spectacular.

The view on our hike...

...was even more spectacular.

 200 year old hotel at the top.

Zinal

I often think about changing the title of my blog as to be fair most of our adventures are in Basel or outside of Switzerland. I am not sure why it has been like this, as I just could not believe how beautiful my drive here was, so my new plan is to rectify this. And I am certainly starting in style, spending the last days of the summer holidays with Elena (friend from school) and her extended fabulous Italian family in a village called Zinal in the alps. It is a beautiful spot and I feel so lucky to be here, not only because of the beauty and great family atmosphere but also because I survived the drive up the mountain. It was absolutely terrifying, really like a James Bond film and everyone drove like maniacs (to be fair I was doing 40km the whole time while I made a million deals with the lord above). But I finally made it and next time I am taking a helicopter or a bus (bit more realistic ;)).

Auntie Em

Well we are now at the tail end of our summer holiday, which means the other teachers are flooding back and we are all busily catching up.  Yesterday I spent the afternoon lazing around a friend's in laws pool and the evening at Auntie Em's for dinner.  As usual Auntie Em (my nick name for Emily) provided an amazing meal.  She went out of her way to make me my very own veggie version and it was lovely.  It was a really nice night and it was great to get caught up with some more people.  Aunty Em once again out did herself, she really is just a special person and I am so lucky to have her :)

Lola was the only one willing to have a picture by the pool on the blog 

Paul, Aunty Em, and Lore

Dave, what a ladies man :)

Whipped Cream???

A German and a couple of Romanians go to the supermarket, while there their English friend sends them a messsage requesting some whipped cream.  The German responds 'of course :)'.  The German then selects what she thinks is whipping cream..

The Romanian says do not be ridiculous, what she means by whipping cream is...

So they pick up both just in case.  Luckily, they spot something that they think could be whipped cream so they buy this as well...

The English person has learnt a very important lesson here, be very speicific to her English as an additional language friends or she will end up having to put mayonnaise on her strawberries and whipped cream in her tuna salad.

Full House

Four hours of long work in the kitchen, having actually purchased all required ingredients and following the recipe perfectly, produced the best Sunday lunch I have ever cooked (to be fair this was not a hard accomplishment).



Everyone eager to tuck into all those veggies and mushroom roast (and non veggies thinking of the burger they will grab on the way home!)



Emily finished off our traditional Sunday roast perfectly with her bread and butter pudding (by the way, the hair pieces are a bit of an inside joke).



Fernanda and Brian let me hold Xander again, Xander does not seem so happy about this decision.



Emily clearly has the touch :)

We had a lovely day and I had just finished cleaning up when my next set of visitors arrived.



Ollie, Ed and James from the UK doing some climbing here. Ed is a great friend from Bruton. It was lovely to catch up and have them for the night, although I have learnt an important lesson, never ever ever drink, even a sip of Majesty's whiskey, ever ever.

Thannenkirch, The Alsace

Every time I visit a new village in the Alsace I think it could not be as lovely as the last but I continuously was proven wrong.  Yesterday, Raluca and myself went on a hike that started in yet another breathtaking village in the Alsace, Thannenkirch.  I just cannot believe how quaint and picturesque they are, it almost seems like they are just decoration and that people must not really live there (but of course they do).   We had a great hike, getting a little lost at one point and really off  the track at another point (I really thought I may fall and break something), but we managed to make it back in one piece.