Swiss Christmas - Part II

After brunch we drove to the Balmberg, where we caught a large cable train up the first part of the mountain. During the first leg of the assent, we passed through the low lying cloud to see the swiss alps for the first time. From there we took a cable car up to the very top of the mountain.

Cable Train Views, as we head up the mountain


Views above the clouds


More Great Views

At the peak we enjoyed the views of the swiss alps, prior to commencing our hike down the mountain.

At the halfway point down the mountain we enjoyed lunch and mroe great mountain views.

Views from atop (very bright hence eyes are almost closed!)


Paragliders on the Balmberg


Marco, Sarah and the kids - (left to right) Anna-Lea, David, Eva, Simon


The whole group

Once we arrived back at the initial drop off point for the cable train, we enjoyed a beers and coffee at the 'Bull Berg' Hut.

Views as we walk down the mountain


A well earned beer from atop, enjoying the views...

On Wednesday, we had a quiet day, which included walking around Jegenstorf, which is the village where Sarah and Marco live.

Finkenweg - access road to homes (including Sarah and Marco's)

The local Kindergarten


Views from the edge of Jegenstorf


More views from the edge of Jegenstorf

We went to do some food shopping, and came back via the local cheese and milk factory, where we bought some locally made cheese. This cheese had a really strong flavour! But very tasty.

Jegenstorf Catholic church


Local Cheese Factory/Shop


Cheese Store

A Swiss Christmas - Part I

Our family had an exchange student, Sarah Vogt, from Switzerland many years ago (17 years ago in fact) and since then we have kept in contact with Sarah and her family regularly. We organized for Christmas to stay with Sarah, Marco, and their family with plenty of sightseeing of the country planned.

Sunday 24th December - Christmas Eve

We had an early start to get to the Bristol Airport for our 7.10 am flight to Geneva, Switzerland. Upon arriving and picking up our luggage, Salome (Sarah’s sister) and Simon picked us up from the airport, and we were soon heading along the motorway towards Bern (on the wrong side of the road).

Views in Lohnstorf


Creek running through Lohnstorf (was frozen last year)



The Vogt household

We first headed to Lohnstorf, where Sarah’s parents are still living in a small village of only about 300 people. We met Suzette and Urs, Sarah’s parents, and enjoyed a light lunch. We then headed outside down the hill towards the ‘torf’ (flat areas of muddy lands – similar to flood plains).

It was quite cold but some great country views of the land we to be had, with limited visibility of the hills in the background. The Alps were not to be seen due to the thick fog and cloud.

Christmas Eve was held at Sarah and Marco’s house where we arrived before after most of the guests to a warm reception. We were also introduced to mulled wine, which is wine heated on the stove with spices added, and served in a coffee mug.

Before dinner Simon played his guitar and David played his recorder. The children were told a Christmas Story in Swiss (which we did not understand), then the children were able to open their first round of presents from Sarah’s side of the family.

Prior to dinner we also sang Christmas Carols in Swiss, and we enjoyed a great meal cooked by Marco including curries and beef, and loads of desserts. And lots more red wine…


Monday 25th December – Christmas Day

We enjoyed a traditional Sunday morning breakfast, including sliced meats, cheeses, eggs, and zupfe (special Sunday bread).

After breakfast the kids opened our presents we brought from Australia (stuffed toys and boomerangs).

Simon on the Guitar



David with his boomerang

We then drove to the nearby Bumberg Mountain, and ventured up the mountain to get some sunshine and see some of the great views Switzerland has to offer. We enjoyed a coffee at the restaurant on the top of the mountain, and soaked up the view.

Nada in the 'snow' on Christmas Day


Views from Bumberg Mountain


More Views


Views from the top


A Christmas Coffee with (left to right) Simon, Anna-Lea and Sarah

Its Getting Cold!

Last night was dark and chilly, but this morning was even more so...

Nada in Queens Square on the walk home

The fog is thick, and most people are in beanies and gloves for the walk to work.

Foggy day, this is as bright as it gets now!

The newspaper reckons it is only getting to 2 degrees today, and only 3 degrees tomorrow.

Not sure what is worse... 37 degree heat in Adelaide, or near freezing temperatures here. Thank goodness for central heating!

Merry Christmas to all! (Our next update should be after our Switzerland Trip)

Our Little Christmas Tree

Ashes Victory Huraah!

After a relaxing weekend, I woke to hear the news on the Radio... We won back the Ashes. About time too, very frustrating not being able to go to see the matches being so far away, and there are only highlights on TV over here at 11.30pm the next night. It is on Pay Tv, but we are asleep when it is on! Not to worry, we celebrated in style, and I wore my Aussie Cricket Shirt and Brought our little mascot to work on Monday just to rub it in a little.

C'mon Aussie, C'mon!!!

Celebrations!


Remove the Glass and keep them in Oz I say! (From previous Lords Trip)

Christmas Party Season

ICE Team Challenge (29.10.2006)

I forgot to provide a blog on a recent event I attended with work mates. We entered an 'Engineering Team Challenge' which was run through the local Institute of Civil Engineers.

Group pose

The challenge involved team exercises such as rafting down a creek, crossing the creek with just some rope and logs, and other similar exercises. Our team - 'Ken's Kids' ended up triumphant at the end of the day, and we duely celebrated that evening with Beers and Ciders! For our efforts, Faber Maunsell in their wisdom provided additional bonus's of vouchers, and a write up in the national newsletter, etc. We only have photos of after the event, as during it we were fired up to win and had no time to stop and take photos.

After the first event, myself and a few other lads are still wet from swimming in the freezing cold creek!

In addition to this we were treated to a Dinner from the Institute (which was a month later) at the Knights Templar Bar.

Winning the Trophy

11.12.2006 Dinner at 'The Knights Templar'

We started off with a few local ciders and beers at the Shakespeare Pub which is right next door to work. Then we headed to the Knights Templar for dinner. The night was entertaining, due mainly to our consumption of cider, and we were all feeling a bit worse for wear the next day....

Pear Cider.... tastes like liquid bubblegum


Ken's Kids in all their Glory.

12.12.2006 Faber Maunsell Work Christmas Dinner

The next night we had our work Christmas Party. It was held at the Byzantium, which is only about 2 minutes walk from our place - very handy. The Dinner was a fancy dress 'heroes and villans' theme, and most who attended were dressed up for the occasion. Nada dressed as Cleopatra, and I was Julius Ceasar for the night (both courtesy of hired outfits). Again we partook in sampling the local wines and spirits, however we made a discreet exit at around midnight, and left the rest of the partygoers to dance the night away. As it was on a Tuesday night, many people didn't make it into work on Wednesday, and others had the day off. It was a quiet day in the office, due to this fact.

Hail Ceasar!


Zoe (Superwoman), Nada (Cleopatra) and Adam (Kevin Peterson)


Shrek


Pirates Ahoy (Greg, Alastair, Phil)


Steve and Marge Simpson (Julie)


Dr Evil


Attacking the Socceroo Referee from the World Cup!


Crocodile Dundee and Co...



Ed on his pony, with more work mates. This is later on in the night, after many beers...


Crocodile lovin

13.12.2006 DJute at the Louisianna

On Wednesday night, we went to see Julie's (a friend from work) band, 'DJute' at the Louisianna (15 mins walk from home). DJute are a 4 piece band, and play a mixture of rock and pop, much of it original music. The venue was upstairs in an old converted house that is now a pub. It was very humid and muggy upstairs due to lack of airconditioning and no windows. But it was a great gig.

After 3 solid days of entertainment, it was very much a quiet night on Thursday for us.

Bath - Evening Treasure Hunt

The local Institute of Civil Engineers organised a Treasure Hunt night through the streets of Bath on Tuesday Night (05.12.06). Unfortunately Nada could not make it due to work, however I attended along some workmates and their partners.

Moonlit night

We started the night off with a local kebab (or yiros for those back in oz!), with chilli sauce instead of garlic sauce, and plenty of salad and onions to go with the meat.

On the way to the Kebab Sop, we walked through the centre of town and found a large number of Christmas Markets set up along the cobble stoned footpaths, selling locally produced goods, food, etc.

Christmas Markets Stalls

A group of locals were also singing Christmas Carols outside the old Abbey, which you may have seen photos of previously during the day from our last Bath Trip.

The Abbey at night is really well lit, and the Photos don't do it justice, but I have included some for you to decide yourself.

The Abbey at night


More of the Abbey



And more...

Straight after dinner we met the 'Hunt Leader' at the All for One pub, and received our instructions/directions for the treasure hunt. Essentially it was a list of questions you had to answer with the solutions being along particular streets throughout the city centre. Questions were usually based on building or street names, etc.

Of course there were plenty of pubs on the way, but we only dropped into a couple along the way to warm up (it was quite windy, so there was definitely a high wind chill factor!) and enjoy a pint or three.

One of the challenges was to get a photo of a nativity scene, we thought this one would do nicely.

Nativity Scene in Shop Window

The event was not well attended, however 6 teams did turned up for the night, and we finished 3rd at the end of evening. At the end we were given a bonus question list which comprised of naming all the James Bond movies in the correct order. We managed all the right movie titles, but did not get all the movies in the correct order.

The Gang - (From left) Dave, Helen, Phil, Mari, Nick and Brad

Phil and I indulged in a few games of Foosball at the Second Pub, where I lost 2-0, and was totally outplayed.