Holy Swiss Cheese, Budman!

When you mix 2 Aussies, 3 Texans, 1 Brit, 2 Native Swiss with some great food and some fun activities, what do you get? A great weekend, that's what!

This past weekend, the London contingent of immigrants (and Paulster--an honorary immigrant) made a pilgrimage to Switzerland--first stop--Zurich.

Stef and Martini have built and now live in the most stylish new home in an idyllic setting overlooking the Rhine--and we got the full experience. They cooked us a meal that Gordon Ramsay would have been proud of. We laughed at each other and ourselves--starting at the airport when I had to drive a manual transmission mini-van and continuing with a couple of hours of Singstar.

Here is a snap of our gracious hosts, Martini and Stef.


And a shot of the table thanks to Paulster.


Since there are only so many times you can hear an Abba song murdered or watch the Stef flout his SingStar prowess (which means that instead of struggling to keep up with the lyrics/song, he dances around to face the audience while not missing a note)...we moved on to the mountains after a wonderful breakfast on Saturday afternoon.

First, a few shots of Friday evening.
Let's start with Buffy and Martini.


Budman and Hachie Gal flash us nice smiles.


Martini makes a most fab chocolate dessert.


Paulster and Stef do their SingStar magic.


Stef and The Falcon battle it out on the mics.


We arrived in Engelberg, Switzerland in the early afternoon. Engelberg literally translates "Angel Mountain"--and it was breathtaking.


While Hachie Gal shopped for sledding (sledging, if you're British) shoes with the help of Budman, the rest of us explored. Here's the Falcon, Martini, Buffy, Paulster and Stef (suitably posed with his eyes toward the heavens) in front of the Monastery.


In keeping with the city's name, the monastery had a marble angel on the grounds.


Honestly, we got a little bogged down here...taking in the cultural experience of cheese-making and cheese-eating. We wandered through the grounds--straight to the gift/snack shop for a little rest and refueling from our strenuous day so far. But it allowed Hachie Gal and Budman to catch up with us!

Here's a shot of the Holy Swiss Cheese.


We did manage to do some more wandering around the city and encountered a few sights unique to Angel Mountain. Every street had several angels on it--of all descriptions and presumably linked to the nearby businesses. Here are a few of my favourites.




Curiously, this is a picture of an angel on a fondue fork...but super-relevant to the next part of the tale...


It doesn't get more touristy than taking the cable car/gondola up the mountain, sledding down the mountain in the dark, then attempting to dry your jeans by standing near an open blaze before sitting down to eat fondue...And that really does tell the rest of the Saturday night story!

Here are some of the boys after the first sled run. The Falcon, Paulster and Martini.


And here, The Falcon lands after the second sled run.


And here we are with our FONDUE--obviously excited!!!


Some of us more excited by the Fondue than others...


In a rampant display of table games, both The Falcon and Budman demonstrated their uncanny ability to bob for fondue toward the end of the evening. If I can figure out how to get the video posted (and secure a release from Budman), I may put it up for your viewing pleasure.

Another great night in the series...
I have more to tell about our Sunday adventure in the city of Zurich, but that will have to wait for another day.

Winter Wonderland

After dropping Paulster's mom off at the train station for her return to Sheffield, we took the girls to Hyde Park in the centre of London. There, a holiday market and ice rink were set up. It was as close to an authentic German Christmas Market as you can get, without actually going to Germany.

Even all the rides were labelled in German and people manning the stalls were speaking German. Lots of mulled wine and sausages. Excellent.
Here's a pic of Paulster and the girls at the Winter Wonderland.


The girls and I rode the giant slide.


And we all rode the carousel!


Here's hoping that the Winter Wonderland is an annual fixture in London!

No...THIS is Christmas!

We are fortunate to have two Christmases. One, is slow, low-key, and calm and occurs on Christmas Day, the other is...not. Drama and Blondie come to our house on the 26th (Boxing Day) and Santa comes back that night.

So we take it easy on Christmas Day--having a nice dinner and relaxing--holding off on unwrapping presents until the 27th. This was the first year that we spent with Paulster's mom. She was down from Sheffield. Here's Paulster and his mom and Kenny hanging out.



We watched Oklahoma! and South Pacific and enjoyed a peaceful day.

And here's Sulley, giving the quiet spot under the tree a test drive.


And me and the "boys" taking a break from all the cooking.


When Santa came back on the 27th, he left all 4 of us bikes. Silly Santa had to rearrange the dining room in order to leave them all for us. That must have been tricky, so as not to wake us all up!
Here's the scene:


Of course, we couldn't wait too long before getting the bikes out for a test ride.
Here's Paulster and Blondie at the Lido.


And the aftermath...I think it's been a long time since those two had that much exercise in one afternoon.


We were all a bit saddle sore, but what fun. I felt like a kid again myself riding!

...So This is Christmas?!

On Saturday night...yeah, that's the 20th, we finally got the Christmas decorations down from the loft [attic].
Paulster went up and shouted down the labels on the boxes and I shouted back whether or not that box should come down. I'm sure the neighbours appreciated that happening after 10pm. Oh well.

Anyway, a few hours later, the tree was up, lighted and decorated.


If you look closely, you'll see that Kenny has taken up residence under the tree for now. Sweet boy!


As I started putting the ornaments on the tree, I was reminded of the people and places that are special to me that I don't see or chat to nearly enough. Most of my ornaments come from places I've travelled--like my yellow cab from New York City when I travelled there for a weekend with my friend, Sal. Or the ornaments that were given to me during an annual ornament exchange with 3 girlfriends in Texas.
Here are a few pictures of some other special ornaments.

My chili pepper ornament, purchased in Red River, New Mexico--no telling how many years ago...


My glass heart ornament. Given to me by the Holstes--parents of my university roommates. They now live in Qatar.


My handmade Christmas tree ornament. Made by Jake and given to me as a gift the year that I left the US. It goes on my tree every year!

Of course, no English Christmas tree is complete without a Tea Pot ornament.


Moving on from the tree, are another of my favourite Christmas items. One new addition that was shipped by Aunt Karo just this year...and the large glass Santa that she gave me many years ago.
They have prominent places in the new house now. Next year, they'll look better up against painted walls.




Of course, the Grinch, the HoHoHo and Mr. Hanky have also been unpacked and placed in their new homes for Christmas.

We're nearly ready for Santa to arrive!

It's a British Tradition- Christmas Style

Christmas in Britian wouldn't be Christmas without the entertainment phenomenon of the Pantomime. This is the slapstick, cartoon of a theatre experience where the leading lady is ALWAYS played by a "Bloke in a Dress" and there's lots of interaction with the audience. For the US-based readers, I can only tell you that the Rocky Horror Picture Show is as close as we get in the US. It's the Rocky Horror Picture Show on steroids.

Our Christmas tradition always entails a trip to Sheffield to take presents to Paulster's sister and family and visit his mother. This year, Auntie M (let's call her) arranged for all of us to go to the Pantomime. It was Aladdin. The story that was adapted by Disney about an evil man who uses Aladdin to find a lamp and access the powers of the Genie to make him an evil sorcerer.
Kind of a heavy story...
Not so much when in the setting of a pantomime.

Here's a picture of the press photos for it...to give you an idea.

And the writeup of who's in it (it won't mean anything to the US readers):
The iconic Phil Daniels (Eastenders, Quadrophenia and Blur's 'Parklife') plays the role of evil Abanazzar; Kevin Sacre (Jake Dean in Hollyoaks) plays Aladdin; Sheffield's very own comedy legend Bobby Knutt (back by popular demand) plays The Chinese Policeman and Damian Williams (the funniest dame in the country) plays the role of Widow Twankey.

I simply cannot describe the hilarity of the pantomime adequately. It must be experienced. There was one point in the show where I was laughing so hard that I was literally crying. The most hilarious thing for me was the part of the show where the main characters were "looking" for mummies. Sitting on a bench, singing the Monty Python song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"--the mummies would come out of one side of the stage, wander behind the singers and back off again. The job of the crowd is to point and scream, "It's behind you!" Which Paulster's 4 year-old niece did with EXTREME style. Watching her was the funniest part of the entire show.

Another really funny part was the song of the 12 Days of Christmas--which had new lyrics. Including on the first day of Christmas, a bra that was made to hold three. The actors spent the entire time of that song trying to throw each other off.
Like I said, it really must be experienced...I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to see it.
I think it will become a part of my UK Christmas tradition...

Catching Up

This post is literally a catch-up--in late September, two friends/colleagues from the US got to come to London on official business. This was major stop number 1 on their world tour. You may recognise the faces...but the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

We took full advantage of the lovely weather and the visit to see the London sites, laugh and otherwise catch up. JMo and Ricky Bobby were troopers--straight from an overnight flight, I picked them up for a full day of sightseeing.

From looking at the photos, you'd think that all we did is tour the Tower of London...which isn't the case...but if you ONLY had time to do one thing, I'd always recommend seeing the crown jewels. They're just amazing.
Activities of the day included the obligatory trip on the Tube, a ride on the London Eye, a river cruise and a black cab ride. Of course, we also drank a pint in a pub...Mandatory for embracing the culture.

Here's a picture of me and JMo after touring the Tower of London.


Here's a pic of JMo and a Beefeater before we went in to see the Crown Jewels.


And here's a picture of me and Ricky Bobby before going into the Tower.


And here's a shot of Ricky Bobby displaying a coded message! :)


It was a great day out! Can't wait for you to come back and spend some more time.

10 Years of Drama

The 5th of December was a very special day. Drama turned 10 years old!
We spent the weekend in Bristol, near where the girls live. This was in anticipation of attending a birthday party. But that plan was altered a little bit when Drama said she wanted a Slumber Party for her birthday. So, not really a party format that we could attend.
Instead, we got to see her twice that weekend--once on her actual birthday Friday night and again on Sunday.

Paulster and I met the girls, their mom and one of Drama's friends for dinner at Pizza Express.

She got a pink camera for her birthday, so we'll be editing it at every chance...to make sure the least flattering images don't survive! ;)

Here's a picture of the birthday girl and her proud papa at Pizza Express.


Saturday was our own day. So we visited the new shopping centre in Bristol, which is a cool indoor/outdoor thing. The shops, like Next, Harvey Nichols, and Debenhams are smaller versions of the London stores.
Here are some holiday decorations outside the shopping centre...very Christmassy.


Saturday night, we caught up with a friend who lives in town. He's the one we can depend on every time we're there to have dinner and find out how his life's progressed since the last time we saw him. He always gives us plenty of things to discuss over dinner/drinks!

On Sunday, we met the girls and their mom for Sunday lunch. Even though it was cold, the girls enjoyed the swings and slides at the restaurant's playground. The looks on their faces in this shot is pure joy...and it makes me smile.


Happy Birthday, Drama Girl!