October 2009

We actually manage a week off work, not during winter. Duncan has accumulated considerable over time this year. So we decided to go to the UK for 6 days. We flew from Geneva to Bristol because we thought it would save us time, wrong, Michelle took so long to get though immigration that Duncan has already collected the luggage and had been waiting for a quarter of an hour. This meant we going the back of the queue at the car hire place. We called Duncan's Mum to explain the delay, and then called again to explain the time on the GPS was still Swiss time not UK time. So we were not as late arriving as we though we would be. The Sunday was a grey foggy day, so we spent the time reminiscing, looking a old photos from Duncan's childhood. It was a lovely day. We ended the Day with Kirstie and Logan coming over for dinner. It was the first time Michelle has seen Logan, Duncan saw him when he was about 9 month old. The weather improved to we did get to go to the coast, for some fantastic views. We also managed to catch up with Mandy between regular business trips all through Europe and the UK. Then we spent a lovely day catching up with Meg at Salton House, and a fantastic walk through the gardens and along the estuary before continuing on to Duncan's Dads for the last couple of days. We missed seeing Jake the newest family member, he arrived at 7.20 am on the morning we flew back. We had to check in a 7am so visiting was not possible.

May 2009

The 2nd and 3rd of May and it is finally the end of a really long but great ski season. After the excitement of last weekend St. Anton is now a ghost town. A lot of the lifts are closed, no more Gampen, Kappal and Rendl. Just Galzig is open. We skied in the rain on the Saturday before giving up and partying the rest of the day away in St Christoph, We met up with Üli (Schwab), he was in a better state than we were. We have quite a bit of trouble skiing back to St. Anton where we were to have dinner with Toni and Rosi, Duncan fell asleep after his shower and almost missed dinner. The Sunday was a real surprise, there was about 10cm of fresh snow on the Piste. We had the place to ourselves, we skied until after lunch then had to pack up the apartment for the end of season, then drive home feeling tired but satisfied.

March 2009

Week 11 and what a great week of skiing, probably for the best snow of the season. It snowed a lot at the beginning of the week, big fluffy flakes too. We also had enough sun to ski Maienwasen and Maienplatt in bottomless powder with great visibility if you could keep your head above the plumes of snow. We didn't ski with Alois, we just did our own thing. Which meant we could also go partying in Piccadilly with Kim and Sonja. We even got Bill up on the dance floor. Towards the end of the week the snow had settled, and was becoming very heavy in the afternoons. Week 12 saw us looking at an apartment to buy, the prices are scandalous. We definitely won't be paying what they are asking for. We are certainly making the most of the weekends. We haven't missed a single one since the opening (which Michelle missed because of exams). We skied with a Friend of Adrian's for a day, we wore him out. Week 14 was the start of the Firn

September 2009

September is fitness month with hikes, very long bicycle rides and the first skiing for the coming season. It started with the SHG hike, a very interesting day , it was a hike with various stops on route to explain the food pyramid and nutrition. After walking for a couple of hours we all blew it at Karin's because she had put on the most amazing dessert buffet. The 13th was the slow up though the Emmental, we hire flyers again, this certainly helps against those hills. We kept on bumping into people we know, so although we went on our own, it was definitely not lonely. Duncan wanted to test the battery capacity on the 40km route, so we didn't change batteries half way round this time, he also used the electric assistance the whole day, unfortunately just before the last hill up to Sumiswald his battery gave out. Michelle went on the flyers again 3 days later on the Heart Route from Willisau to Hasle Ruegsau, a total of 70km. She was pretty tired come the end of the day in spite of the electrical assistance. The weather was good on both days luckily. The weekend after saw us giving in to our wish to start skiing again, it has been 4 and a half months since we last skied. So we packed the car and headed of to Saas Fee for the weekend. We were not the only crazy people on the mountain, as usual, most of the ski area was reserved for racers. This is our main complaint about summer skiing in Saas Fee, not only do they have a majority of the Pistes closed for them, they are incapable of queuing in a reasonable manner for the lift back up again. They push in at the front, refused to go up with anyone else and a generally arrogant beyond words. We did meet a nice couple from Lausanne though, he was from Western Australia and she was from England, we skied a couple of runs with them. Saas Fee had been in the newspapers this week because of a huge ice avalanche. It was really visible from the village, it was amazing just how blue with broken edge of the glacier was.

August 2009

We decided to do something new for Swiss National day. We went to the Rheinfall, along with about 1 million other tourists. The falls themselves are very impressive, the volume of water is incredible, and the noise it makes gushing its way down is deafening. We did the boot tour out to the middle and climbed up the time cliff in the middle of the Falls. After that we needed a break from the crowds so walked up the Rhein, after about 15minutes of walking suddenly we were all alone it was incredible tranquil. Even the River although flowing fast was much calmer. The 8th of August was the SHG BBQ, we were up on the Kaltacker, luckily the Farmhouse has very wide eaves, as the weather again was not the best. On the 15th we did our favourite motorbike tour, along the north side of the Thunersee, then up through Sigriswil, Justiztal over Hapkern down to Meringen before returning over the Brünigpass and Panoramastrasse through Sörenberg then home again. As usual breathtaking scenery. There was a traffic jam on the Brünigpasse so we went for a short side trip up the Axalp as well. The following day was a much more relaxing day, we went from Murten to Biel by boat. This trip involves three different lakes which are connected by canals. It takes over 5 hours one way. We stopped at a Microbrewery in Biel, and bumped into Duncan's work colleague Ivan with Wife and son. On top of all this we also managed to completely spring clean the loft, we put loads of stuff out on the driveway for people to take, It was amazing what went and what stayed. There sure is a lot more room up in the loft now.

July 2009

Michelle has taken some holiday and went to Bad Zurzach for a couple of days of pampering, Thermal pools, Massages, Fitness training and Sauna. Three days of luxury. Duncan was really busy working at night, it was a very hard week for him, he could have used a couple of days of pampering as well. The weather hasn't been great on the weekends so we went to the Papillorama near Bern for the Day. A day of tropical warmth and humidity and thousands of Butterflies in all size shapes and colours. You almost forget you are in Switzerland. Middle of July and the weather is improving so we use the opportunity to go for a couple of day tours on the motorbikes. Michelle surprised Duncan on his birthday with a trip to a microbrewery in Langenthal. What a fantastic place,, it turns out the manager comes from England. He gave Duncan a special beer for his birthday, they actually distil beer to make a very nice schnapps. We talked for ages, then he gave Duncan a bottle of schnapps to round off the day.

June 2009

June was a bit of an anti climax, the skiing is over. The 27th of June was the Hospital motorbike day. We had special permission to ride over the Grosse Scheidegg. It was a fantastic ride, very challenging with lots of hairpin turns. We started in Burgdorf then went to Meilisalp the geographical middle point of Switzerland, then on to Meiringen where it started to drizzle up over the grosse Scheidegg in the direction of Grindelwald. We had a lunch stop at the top amongst some really incredible scenery, very dramatic with the clouds and fog. The weather wasn't great for the rest of the day, it drizzled most of the time. By the end when we stopped for a afternoon coffee, most people gave up and went off to do their own thing. It is Hans Pete's last year at the hospital, but we were able to talk him into organising the "Töfftag" again next year. We gave him a voucher for a balloon flight so he can choose a route from the air. We did manage a Trip to Kandersteg up to the Oschensee, cool but dry the following day. We are enjoying our balcony in the evenings, Duncan has become a very proficient BBQ master. We can observe the new housing development going up on the other side of the street, after long nothing seeming to happen there are a couple of houses now going up in what seems to be record time.

April 2009

Easter in St. Anton, and you guessed it skiing. We met up with Netty from Holland for a great couple of days of spring snow. Some of the track out of Maroi is getting challenging, but for almost the middle of April it is ok. Timing is really important, otherwise what should be easy becomes breakable crust, yuck. We started early and usually stopped a bit earlier than normal. Week 16 and St. Anton is deserted. Probably just as well as we are now skiing on Piste. The snow is hard in the mornings and really slushy in the afternoon. We did ski a run with Peter though, he struggled in the slush and stopped at lunch time. Week 17 and it is the crazy "Weisse Rausch" ski race. It never ceases to amaze us how quick the first one are down, and how exhausted they look. Not only is the ski race extremely long but at the end there is an obstacle course to manoeuvre. St Anton really comes back to life for this weekend.

February 2009

Week 8 saw Duncan back in St. Anton whilst Michelle had to work.  It has continued to snow regularly so the conditions are great for off Piste, Duncan reports there being about 1.5 m of new snow.  Duncan, Henrik (thanks for some great Photos), Jens and Ueli  skied with Alois, whilst Johny Sonia and Kim skied with Patrick for a change. The bad news of the week was Johny tearing his ACL on Tuesday. He was operated on the Wednesday and was getting up to playing practical jokes on Friday. Duncan spent several night visiting Johny so no Piccadilly dancing this week.  Michelle joined them on the weekend for some really great snow, and we even managed to ski a couple of runs with Jürgen and Uli. 

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