MAY’s Travels
May saw the farewell of the Guichelaar’s from Germany leaving us as the last Aussies in the street but we think it is great cause Summer is on its way….not to mention the World Cup on our doorstep. We spent a lot of time with Eric, playing cards, talking and of course dining together whilst he single handedly packed up the house and had it shipped back to Melbourne! We really enjoyed having the opportunity to catch up after not seeing him for quite some months prior.
The weekend Jacqui flew back in from Australia the boys from London Darren and Mark also flew in the same time to ensure they were here to help celebrate Jacqui’s birthday and farewell them back to Oz. They all arrived on a lunch time flight, Darren with a few “lots” of champagne under his belt to ensure the merriment started immediately. Paul and I had cooked up a good Aussie BBQ so on arrival we were all well fed to ensure any alcohol consumed thereafter had something to “sit on”. The afternoon was drifted away with Darren, Mark, Paul and I trying to have a good game of 500. Keian on the other hand had other ideas and had Paul and I chasing our tails passifying him as he had had his immunizations that week (yes the next lot) and was not a happy camper.
The evening started off in normal tradition – all of us running very late to Kempinski’s. The babysitter – Izabella arrived and I stayed whilst she worked Keian to sleep in no time at all. We then had a fabulous dinner at a beautiful restaurant in honour of JGs birthday. I got Mother’s itchy feet at about 10.30pm and made a quick exit to come home to our little Prince! Izabella had done a fantastic job and he was still sleeping beautifully. He and I then had our final supper and headed to bed for the night! The rest made their way home, had a few too many cordials before falling into bed.
Paul and Darren and I the first to rise with breakfast being a staggered affair which then rolled into cocktails for brunch before the boys headed back to London!
The next two weeks flew by with Jacqui out every night for either a birthday do or a farewell do, Eric went to half of these and the rest of the time was doing house stuff and socializing with us. All too quickly it was time for them to get on a plane and head out of here on their way to Peru for a wedding! We waved them off at 5.30am and headed back to bed ourselves, wishing them all the best for their next adventure!
Paul went to Geneva for work this month and we got on the band wagon and headed over to meet him. Keian and I flew in on the Thursday night and Paul met us at the airport before we headed into our lovely hotel on Lake Geneva – Alps in the background!
The following day Paul went off to work and Keian and I dined at breakfast together – a smorgasbord with a 6mth old is an interesting logistical challenge!
We then headed out with our pram and went to discover the sights and shops of Geneva! The chocolate shop was a definite high point and there were some nice shops also but nothing to rave about! We then spent 2hrs laying in the park playing on the grass watching the tourists and world roll by – fantastic quality time (how often do mum’s get to just sit with their bubs and just play for two hours??? Definitely not with the second I hear) and a memory I won’t forget in a hurry! Keian discovered grass and had a lovely time pulling and eating and touching it!
We then walked up the main foreshores of the lake to meet Paul, he met us up the top and we wandered down through the parks of the lake and back to our hotel. We then changed and played with Keian before heading out for dinner. Keian is the expert at dinner but is becoming more engaging! By that I mean he sleeps for a lot of it but then wakes and decides to join us for drinks or coffees and a chat at the end – so cute! He has taken a real fancy to licking the outside of glasses with cold beverages and ice in them and launches himself at them as soon as he sees them! This we learnt the hard way with Paul having to catch him as he lunged at his drink – hilarious!
Saturday Paul could not sleep so at 5am he was up in the shower and off for a walk – he unlike me found some superb shops and found the Geneva equivalent of Rodeo Drive! I am sooo converting to a shopaholic! J For those of you that don’t know Geneva is SOOOOOO expensive it is outrageous. Our Chinese dinner the first night for two drinks and 3 dishes we shared it cost us 189 Swiss Francs which is about the same in Australian – can you imagine popping in for some quick Chinese and only having a main of 1.5 dishes each and paying nearly $200 OUTRAGEOUS! Who could afford to live here?????
Anyway, Paul returned and met us for breakfast – a lot easier with two of us with Keian and smorgasbord! Then it was out and about with the pram, walking and shopping cause it was raining a bit so we stayed around the shops J Paul had found a fabulous outfit in a window for me, pointed it out to me and before he could ask if I liked it I was in the fitting room trying it on and having it altered to fit me, arranged to pick it up at 5pm the same day – when I walked out of the shop Christian Dior none the less (AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!) Paul did not know what to say except Wow you liked it then! Hee hee – that will teach him to get up early and do a little window shopping. It did not stop there though! Under the hotel he had seen a shop called Ziggies displaying some fab men’s clothes – it happened to be the shop next to CDs (that should have warned us off) and so we went and had a look in the window. Paul saw a shirt he liked so we went to go in the door – it had a sign saying please ring bell….so we did! BIG MISTAKE! We were then greeted by a shop assistant and taken up a lift to the show room – we were the only ones there but hey it was a raining and a poshie shop! No shirts or ties etc had prices on them so we guessed they would be on the expensive side. That aside Paul found two shirts and a tie he liked which were very unusual so he told the man he would take them both! When he wrapped them and I collected Keian from crawling around the shop floor looking at himself in the mirror – I turned to see Paul receive the receipt and he went a shade of white as he handed over his credit card! He did not speak again until we left the shop and then I won’t repeat what he said – he was furious! One would think we would have just said no but we had put ourselves in a position which did not really allow for that! HA shocking – BUT by the time we had walked the blocks back to the hotel we had convinced and justified to ourselves it was money well spent on some shirts that were very nice and unusual which would last him for years and you only live once! Let me tell you Paul will be buried in those when he is 110 years old to ensure he gets his monies worth! Moral of the story – do not enter a store that says to ring the bell, has you escorted to the top floor showroom and has no prices on any article of clothing and is on the Geneva equivalent of Rodea drive!
We then made the decision that we had waaaaayyyyyy blown the budget already so we would frock up in our new purchases and take ourselves off to a French Michelan Star Restaurant on the Lake( having never heard of Michelan star a month or two ago, both Keian and I have now been to two!) We looked a million bucks and damn near spent that! We had the best dinner with food and service to die for not to mention a delicious wine! Keian did his usual and woke up for some entertainment, he looked a treat in his Pooh Bear jumpsuit amongst all the Ritz – The service was so inclusive that when Paul went to walk Keian in the pram to put him back to sleep the Maitre’d offered one of his staff to do this for him. Paul politely declined and instead did this himself but I bet for a second he thought wow go for it!
So by the time we went to bed that night we had empty wallets but full and satisfied minds and bellies!
Sunday saw us off and about walking around the lake, on a lake cruise for a few hours and then off on a train ride through the botanical gardens – all fabulous and we thoroughly enjoyed our day before hopping on a plane bound for home again! Needless to say we cancelled the trip to Venice the following weekend due to funds regrouping! HA! You only live once!
Keian reached a number of milestones this month. He started on solids and now happily consumes fresh pureed veges and fruit throughout the day and takes a bottle which is new for him also! He is now rolling back and forth with ease and wiggles his way or rolls his way to where ever his little heart decides to go! He is up on all fours in the crawl position most of the day but once up there has no idea what comes next – there is much grunting and groaning whilst he works it all out! He is also an expert at zooming around the ground floor in his walker. He LOVES this and has a great time exploring the kitchen particularly the fridge and the dishwasher when open and of course any cupboard he can get into! He has mastered the pick things up and throw them away at will and tries to entice Paul and I into the I throw you pick up game most days.
There is maybe an early sign of future professions by the way he finds the electrical cords of anything at 20 paces and is on to them with great delight. He loves to roll around the floor with the vacuum cleaner lead and tie himself into it! It is really hilarious to watch but we learnt very quickly for gates to be closed on the stairs and all cords to be out of reach when plugged in, not to mention watching him constantly to check he does not hang himself whilst playing with the cords. He also loves a good play with the garbage bin given half a chance! He chatters away to himself and loves to sing when you sing with him! He is still not sleeping through every night but remarkable improvement has been achieved sigh! As my good friend Doreen said to me today – Don’t blame Keian it is not like he is a normal stay at home and be able to get in a routine type of baby…between you bringing him to Australia at 3mths and then all around Europe now it is merely his traveling habits that have contributed to this child who likes to say hi to you 2 or 3 times a night……he is probably just checking you have not left him in another Country somewhere! Too true and we wouldn’t change especially in June/July with current palns, so guess this is the nature of the beast!
He is starting to get his day routines in check and loves 3 sleeps if he can manage it!
The mothers group is still great and we meet up at every chance we can – it is great to see all the little ones changing sooooo fast. Can’t wait to be able to do this with my bunch of girlfriends in Oz when we return next year!
Well that’s all for May but we know we have an incredibly busy June with visitors galore, the world cup Football which we are going to, trips to Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Heidelberg and lots more so stay tuned for the June update……..