Would you believe it...

Wow it will be May first tomorrow. I’ve said it before, but I think it’s worth saying again. Where does the time go? If anyone out there knows please tell me ‘cos I want some back!!

So, back to the real world today. The Man and I have gone back to work. Not so bad really. We both enjoy what we do and both of us had a good day today.

Apparently the weather here has been rubbish all week, while we were basking in warm days and sunshine. Nice sunny day today, not supposed to last though. Oh no I can already see rain on the window.

I went to a course recently, excuse me if I am repeating myself, but I learned that full sharps bins sell online from upwards of £300. What’s a sharps bin you might ask? It’s the waste bin that nurses and people like me use to safely dispose of used needles and other medical sharps such as scalpels. Some medications come in pre filled syringes and where do we discard them to when they are past their use by date? That’s right into a sharps bin. Other drugs that have expired have also been discarded into these bins. Are you as horrified as I was to hear that these things have a street value?

So that posed a problem for me, even though we don’t discard many drugs with a potential street value.What do you do with them? Well you dispose of them in special bins that have a substance in the base that will absorb and break down any drugs they come in contact with.

And yes, I am working on how to access these specific containers. Got to keep up with trends you know.

Reality again...

Well here we are at home after a great week in Switzerland. Absolutely no hitches in our flight back with Easyjet, Then hopped onto the train to East Croyden then onto a Southern and voila here we are at home. Easy peasy. England looks very untidy and dirty compared to Switzerland, despite the fact that it has had a descent amount of rain while we were away. 
All unpacked and sorted. Pizza shop just around the corner for tea. Now feet up and relax. Back to reality tomorrow.

Saturday in Luzern

Our last full day here and we have been so pleased with the weather. Again temperatures up in te late 20's, it even got to 30 degrees late this afternoon. 

Our excursion today was to Luzern, a three hour bus trip from Chateau D'eox. Well today we sat in the front seat of the bus and even though we covered ground we had been over before it was like looking at it afresh. We had one pit stop on the way then it was up over the only alpine pass that was open and pretty soon we were being dropped off in Luzern With just over four hours to look around the town we first walked away from the lake and towards the old part of the town. Buildings with dates on then like 1713 and 1756 are impressive when you consider NZ's history, I have mentioned before that James Cook who discovered NZ was hardly born then. 

We found a pleasant spot in the shade of some very old looking trees in a small garden next to an old church to have our lunch. Of course we had to look in the church after we had eaten. This part of the country is mostly catholic and the churches are richly decorated with icons and beautiful carvings. This one had a beautifully decorated ceiling of plaster cherubs and angels picked out in cream and blue.

It was very hot so we stuck to the shady streets and continued to wander away from the lake, There are a couple of very old covered bridges that span this part of the river-walk we were progressing down. We mingled with the crowds at the farmers market before taking the next bridge across the river and directing out feet back in the direction of the lake.

In the crowded town we found a chocolate shop and bought ourselves some yummy chockie icecream which consumed in the shade of yet another old building.

With an hour or so left we found ourselves in front of a very impressive church, catholic yet again, and not one to walk past we pushed the heavy and ornately carved door open and entered the dimly lit cool interior. The alter decorations looked as though they were decorated in gold leaf, which I am sure they were. Marble columns and decorated alters abound. And the font was locked away behind the most ornate wrought iron work screen I have ever seen. 

We had time for a wander about the church yard with its inscribed head stones before going back over the river to where the bus was waiting to bring us back to Chateau D'oex.

We came back along the motorway, mostly missing the small towns, but one thing we did spot was huge glass walled factory with Cartier emblazoned all across its front. I wonder what the make there.

Another day in Switzerland

Today's excursion took us to the northern lakes district. Another beautiful day with the temperature reaching 22. I was trying to figure out how far south we are compared to London, where the weather has not been that warm. Gave it up though, not easy to do for this bear of little brain.

Our first stop was at Morten a very pretty medieval walled village. We were amazed by the age of the buildings, 1700 and something. Cook was born around the same time, and here in this village and many others people just like us were living and working and constructing very substantial buildings. We had a couple of hours to walk about the old streets and found our way up onto a high walk that looked over the town. Must have been part of the battlements defence system, as usual we got chatting to other tourists, a German couple who like us were second time arounders.As we got to the end of the walk we could hear music and following the sound discovered that someone was practicing the organ in the beautiful old church

Back on the bus again we headed to Neuchatel, literally New Castle. Again situated on a lake. The man and I wandered around admiring the architecture. Again we found a beautiful old church, no music this time, its dark blue vaulted ceiling decorated with thousands of stars.Ornate tombs sat either side of the alter, and a circular stained glass window muted the sunlight.

 Back on the bus for our last stop,Yverden Les Bain, a medieval spa town again situated on a lake, well we were in the northern lake district. There is a castle and cathedral here, but we were a bit sore-footed by now so we spent our hour and a half sitting in the shade of a tree in the Japanes Garden enjoying an ice-cream and a cold drink.

YIKES! THERE WILL BE NO BLOG TOMORROW

THE CONNECTIN AT THE HOTEL WE ARE STAYING IN WILL BE OUT FOR REPAIRS

We did a bus excursion today out to a place called Interlarken, It is a town built between two lakes that were created by glacial activity. Or so the guide told us. Debris was laid down by the melting waters of a receding glacier. It took us about two hours to get there and I am so pleased that neither of us is driving. The alpine road passed through several small villages, all looking very pretty and hardly a blade of grass out of place. It was nice to see lots of green open spaces. It is hard to describe the beauty and grandeur of the mountain scenery, I am sure you will see what I mean by the pictures. 

At Interlarken half of our group elected to stay in town and shop while the rest of us went on just a bit further to go up the funicular railway to almost very the top. We found a shady seat to have our lunch and admire the spectacular views. It was a hot day, temperatures reaching 22 and we could actually feel the sun, just like at home. So we have topped up our stores of vitamin D. And I think both of us will be looking a bit sun kissed in the morning. An hour or so at the top and then we returned down and climbed aboard the bus . After collecting the shoppers the bus took us to Grindewald, a small town almost at et the of The Fabulous Eiger. 

This is a famous mountain and the north slope is supposed to be one of the most difficult to climb. It didn't inspire either The Man or me to give it a go.

While we watched there were several ice falls, skimming down the steep slopes like waterfalls.

Then it was time to hop back in the bus and make the return run via the other side of the lake back to Château D'oex.

A day out in Chateau D'Oex

What a beautiful morning. Sunshine sparkling off the snow capped peaks and it is so nice to see a clear blue sky rather than the often murky blue we see in London. So many great views that it was difficult to know where to point the camera first.

Our first day at Chateu D'oex ( said as 'Day') and we had already decided not to go on the excursion to cheese and chocolate factories rather we wanted to explore the town. Everywhere we looked the houses are beautifully decorated in the traditional style and nowhere did we see any neglected proprieties. Even a new build showed signs of being done in the traditional manner.

 All the window have shutters, and the large houses have balconies. Their fronts decorated with cut outs of trees and animal shapes reflecting the county life. The houses all have very large overhanging roofs and many of the walls under these were tastefully decorated with old wooden skis and sleds. I can imagine how pretty they must have looked in past times being pulled through the snow their bells jingling and well rugged up children shouting and laughing as they went.

Our walk took us quite high above the town and close to what we thought was a small dairy farm. Our noses confirmed this as we got closer, well all that manure was probably fresh feed yesterday, lol. I spotted Mr Farmer coming out of the barn and we stopped to talk to him. We were able to see inside the barn where his 32 contented cows spend a lot of the year. It was amusing to see their tails held up on pieces of twine to prevent them from being covered in the brown stuff. In our very fractured French we were able to find out that Mr Farmer's name was Phillipe and his main crop was not milk but cheese. Still made in the traditional style. We even bought a small slice from him. With the help of his daughter on the other end of the phone he invited us to go with him, a bit later in the afternoon, to see where the rounds of cheese go after he makes them.

The drive up to what we later learned was a cooperative was a bit hair raising, these guys drive on the other side of the road and how scary is that to see a large truck looming up apparently on the wrong side of the road. Phew.

At the cooperative he introduced us to a staff member who spoke very good English and she gave us an individual tour. Seems there are lots of local small dairy farmers who make traditional cheese and then bring it to the Cave du fromage where it is cured in brine and then carefully tended for up to several months or even years. Initially each round of cheese is turned and wiped over with salt water every day, later it is once week or so. Now this is done by robot but imagine having to do all this by hand to thousands of rounds of cheese that weigh 33 – 35 kilo each. Wouldn't need to go to the gym, Each summer the farmers take their small herds up to the higher pastures, each cow hung with its own bell. Up there the animals spend the day grazing, and are called in at night. Nothing skittish about these beasts unlike the huge herd at home. Unfortunately the income from the sale of cheeses is not always enough to support the family so Mr and Mrs farmer work in the village during the winter.

On the drive back into town we were impressed by the steep sided ravine, sheer faces rising skyward at least 1000metres with the road precariously etched into the side..Picture postcard perfect views around every corner.

Back in the town our next visit was to the museum. With the displays all labelled in French it was interesting to try to work out what things were for. Mostly we thought we had done a good job until coming across a blue and white tiled square shape about a metre and a half high in one of the rooms that had us scratching our heads.

There was an aha moment when the curator told is what it was for. On the other side of the wall most likely would have been the kitchen. Inside this shape a firebox heated the tiles which would then radiate heat during the night and keep the room cosy and warm.

safe and sound in Switzerland

Well that was a bit of a challenge, all the heading are in German.

Bit of a shock to have the alarm go off at a quarter to four this morning. Taxi arrived half an hour later, good thing we were all packed up and ready. Twenty minutes later we were dropped off at the station to get the train to Gatwick. A nice easy run. At the airport we looked at the board, but couldn't see any numbers that married up with our flight. Hmmm. Then we realised that we needed to be in the North Terminal, phew. Bit of a trek to get there but we had plenty of time. More then we needed as there was a delay of three-quarters of an hour due to 'technical issues.' Soon though we were on our way up into the clouds, and landed at Geneva just over an hour later. That was the hard part. The rest should be easy as we are part of an organised tour. I did try to get us here independently but just could not do it for the same price.

We soon found ourselves in the centre of Geneva and with a couple of hours to ourselves we went walkabout. Past shops with well known names and some we didn't recognise at all. It was a bonus to discover a lunchtime concert in one of the churches. Absolutely magic sounds.

It was quite cool here as expected, around ten degrees. Buying lunch gave me a chance to use my very rusty school French, good thing the colas speak English too.

The Man had been in Geneva about 20 years ago and was keen to retrace his steps around the lake front. No fountain playing today as it was a bit too windy.

Back on the bus at 1630 and more than a bit weary, we were driven out of the city and inland through farmland and acres a and acres of vineyards some perched precariously on tiny terraces. Higher we drove following the railway line until finally arriving at Château D'oux which will be our home for the next five nights.

We're leaving in a jetplane...

Not much writing going on here today, for the last hour or so I have been busy packing 'cos The Man and I will be getting up bright and early tomorrow morning  and him and me are off in a big tin budgie to Switzerland for a week. Not sure about the internet connection there but will do my best to add some pictures and a story or two. I will try to keep up my daily posting on the blog blog as I have been since the beginning of the year.
It has been a bit of an a uncomfortable day for me today. Why so? Well remember me writing on Sunday about Apsley House with its beautiful ceilings? we were there for a good couple of hours and I have a crick in my neck to prove it. Was quite copable until this afternoon when I tried to hold  the handset of my phone between my shoulder and ear.   Yeowch.
 

Lazy sunday

It has become something of a routine for us to have a slow start on a Sunday and for The Man to work his magic in the kitchen and make us a yummy bacon, egg, mushroom and tomatoes. Mmmmm. And today was no different.

Today is the day for the London Marathon and there was no way we wanted to be anywhere near the centre of the city. Apart from rod closures and train disruptions the thought of the crowd was enough to put us right off going anywhere near it.

With no destination in mind we did go out in the early afternoon and wound up on a tram and found ourselves at IKEA. Haven’t been here since before we moved to Crystal Palace more than a year ago. There are so many great furnishing and decorating ideas there. And there is a huge variety of storage solutions for all the rooms in the house.  It does bring home to us the difference in size between the large and comfortable room sizes of houses back home in NZ to the often minuscule rooms here in England. Would you believe that there are no rules about how small a room you can build? So without rules new builds can have tiny spaces.  We spent our fits year here in a tiny one room studio. Studio is in reality a euphemism for a bedsit.  Everything in one room. That might not sound very nice accommodation but compared to what we had been shown it was pretty good. Then when we were looking for something with a bit more space we were shown some pretty awful places including one that had no windows at all. In fact it was in a basement that ran under the road. When I commented about the lack of windows the girls showing it to us said, ‘Windows, you want windows, come and look at this one next door’. Which we did and it would have been funny if it hadn’t been so sad. Yes, she was right. It did have one, a tiny non opening window in a minute shower room/toilet.  So we kept looking and were shown some substandard flats, I told one agent that I would let my dog live in it let alone people. Having decided after much exploring that Crystal palace would be a good place to live, and it was relatively easy for both of us to get to work we visited an agent in the area. During the weeks we were looking we had seen pictures of one that had bare concrete floors and I have to admit didn’t look very nice at all. And I recognised it when an agent mentioned it to us. ‘Not interested in anything like that’ we told her.  She said that the landlord was in the throes of refurbishing it and that it defiantly was worth a look.  And thankfully she was right. 

Our lounge window faces east so we don't usually see much of the sunset, but last night the setting sun was reflected in the distance clouds

A nice day for a walk...

No rain today, in fact we woke up to rather a nice day, if a bit cool. So as it was a weekend The Man put lunch together for us while I finished off the morning chores and soon we were on our way down the hill to the station to catch the Southern to Victoria Station. We decided it was high time to take advantage of our membership to English Heritage and see what there was to be seen in London.

Apsley House, just up from Hyde Park Station, that’s what there is to be seen. OK so you probably haven’t heard of Apsley House, but I bet you have heard of the Duke of Wellington. Yes, him that discovered the Wellington boot. The house was built between 1771 -1778 for the Apsley family, hence the name. By 1807 it had come into the hands of the first Duke of Wellington and there it firmly stayed until 1947 when the cost of running the place became too much for the family coffers. It was then that the current Duke decided the best thing to do was gift it to the government, provided the family could keep a few private rooms which they still hold today. Death duties and increasing costs meant that National Trust and English Heritage were gifted many fine old buildings and their contents.

We spent a couple of hours wandering through the rooms, some with the most incredibly ornate ceilings, their walls just covered in magnificent paintings. Then it was defiantly time for lunch so we walked across the road to Hyde Park and found ourselves a nice seat in the sun.

 

 While we ate we were visited by a very cheeky squirrel and a bold Blue Tit that perched on the fence just behind us.

Hunger satisfied it was still a bit early to head home, so we did a bit of exploring away from Hyde Park and found ourselves in Berkley Square, unfortunately there was not a nightingale in sight. What we did see was a group of carved heads, and very nice they were too.

Made from some sort of conglomerate marble, probably volcanic in origin

  On a walk around the square we wondered what the little crowd was outside one of the shops so being nosy we investigated. It was the Bentley dealership.And sitting in pride of place was a beautiful white Bugatti, only £1000000 and would you believe it, it was already 2 years old.  Not a bad price for a  used car. 

A bit of a ramble...

I’ve said it before and by golly I’m going to say it again. Where does the time go? If anyone out there figures it out let me know because I wasn’t some back!

There’s an add on TV at the moment. Set about 60-70 years ago (I think) a funny old car drives through the streets, ridiculed by all who see it the poor car goes and hides out in solitude. Flick forward to today and the car is now a beautiful sleek modern model. It’s the theme song that attracts me. Danny Kaye singing the Ugly Duckling song from an old movie about Hans Christen Anderson

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMKxnYRhk6I

He was and is a favourite singer actor of mine.  From movies with Louis Armstrong to children’s stories like The Magic Toyshop he was a very versatile performer. They don’t make them like that anymore unfortunately. His funny songs and funny faces had us in fits of laughter. Then there were the  'five tissue' songs like those from The Five Pennies. RIP and thank you Danny Kaye.

When I was about 11-12 we moved from our very ordinary house into the accommodation over a shop. The State Lounge in Jackson Street Petone to be precise. How exciting is that for me and my sister to live right next door to a picture theatre. Before we moved the ‘flicks’ was a Saturday treat. Now we could go to the 11 o’clock, the two o’clock and the eight o’clock shows all on the same day.  It’s no wonder that I still love the movies. Not the end of the world armageddon type, those of you who know me know that I much prefer a Finding Nemo type of movie.

Book,book

This is another of those days when I’m not sure what to write about, so I guess the only thing to do is to start and see what happens. 

I wrote a couple of days ago that we had seen a display of lights put on at the Crystal palace areal. A formal display was supposed to happen at nine o’clock last night. And did it. We checked out the kitchen window at the right time and nothing. Just a lot of low cloud. We did think that perhaps it had been a bit delayed. But no. About half an hour later The Man wet to make us a drink and there hardly lighting up the clouds was the light display. A pity it was so heavily overcast as the display the other night was quite impressive. Apparently among the celebrities to celebrate the turning off of the digital signal was the one and only Sir David Attenborough.

I remember being absolutely delighted to receive some of his early books as Christmas birthday presents. One in particular was Zoo Quest for a Dragon. There were a lot of Zoo Quest books. There were written while he was making the TV series. This link should take you to the very first episode which was the aforesaid Dragon book http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/attenborough/

Animal books were my absolute favourite. Not just reality books but stories too. One that I really loved was The Incredible Journey   by Sheila Burnford. It is the story of three animals Tao a Siamese cat, Bodger, an Old English Bull terrier and Luath, a golden Lab who is the youngest in the trio. The animals trek 300 looking for their owners.

The animals' owners, the Hunters, leave to England for university lectures and leave their animals to John Longridge, a family friend and godfather of tung daughter, Elizabeth. One day, after John Longridge leaves for a two week trip of duck hunting, the animals, feeling the lack of their human companions, set out to try to find their owners, the Hunters. Mrs. Oakes, who is taking care of Longridge's home, doesn't find the animals and thinks that John must have taken them with him. The animals follow their instincts and move forward toward home.