Mrs. Maria's Aladdin

... will probably go from ISB straight to Broadway.   Last night was the opening night of Aladdin at the Junior school.  The kids gave an amazing performance, which was always going to be the case with the very talented Mrs. Maria as their director.
It was fantastic and I am so proud of her.

One in Eight

The year before I came to Basel, the spring started in early March and by May it was full on summer, as it had been year after year since all seem to remember. While last spring (my first one) did not see the best April and beginning of May, it certainly picked up by now and spring had turned into summer. But not this year, this year there seem to be one or two beautiful days (like today) followed by a week of rain and cold. It is beginning to drive every one a little bit crazy. And you know it is really bad when I would love to go to London for a few days just for the weather...

Klein Basel...

Is just that much cooler than Grosse Basel. When I first got here I was told that Klein Basel was slightly dodgy, the wrong side of the tracks (or bridge in this case) and possibly it is, but that is probably what makes it that much better...

Last May Bank Holiday

Yesterday me, Suzanne, Chris, Pia and of course Lola used the last bank holiday of May to hike up our first mountain of the year. It was a lovely healthy way to spend the day, especially if some of us had over indulged this long weekend...

At the top, highest in Basel land.

Yippee!!

Yippee, Suzanne is finally here, of course it is a fleeting visit but nonetheless she is here! Giving us the chance to finally celebrate her birthday. We started with a little party at ours..
Great to have her back, we miss her when she is gone!!!

New Wardrobe

Last night Claire hosted a swap dinner, people brought things that they did not want anymore, clothes, books, movies etc.. Most people brought a bag with a few things, but not Maria, Maria had about eight bin bags full (I wish I had taken a picture!), and now thanks to her I am already for next winter! Two new winter jackets, ski outfit, leather coat, bag, I love Maria! And on top of all my new things I also got a fabulous chef Claire dinner and spent the evening with some great friends :)
And today promises to be another great day as finally Suzanna is home (albeit for a couple if days!)

Another Expensive Lesson Learnt

Well today I can check off the list another very Swiss, must be unique to Switzerland thing, taking my car for its annual (I assume annual) check up.  I have really never experienced anything like it, totally efficient (no surprises here) and completely thorough (guess no surprise again).  They took my car through at exactly 8:40am, I by passed the cars that were queueing ahead of me as that was my time, it went through rigorous tests with the wheels, under the car, in the car, the bonnet, testing of the brakes and then a race around at high speeds testing whatever.   I am quite positive most cars in most countries would fail this and explains why you see no 'old cars' here.  Oh and I failed, not because of any engine problems, brake problems, lights not working, steering issues, but due to the fact that my tires were dirty (never mind it was pouring rain all week) and my lights blinked at slightly different speeds...

And to be fair the car is actually pretty clean!  Anyways, now to pay the garage a massive bill to do these things (apparently 700 Euroish) and then back to test again..