From the Dungeon to Winter Bliss.

Hello all - Manda here. Brad has been doing most of the hard work on the blog, so think its about time I pulled my weight, especially as he usually carries the heavy bags as well and never complains about that.

Geneva is an interesting little place - more watch shops, banks and jewellers than you thnk it could possibly sustain, and quite small but very busy. We thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the UNited Nations, saw the big water jet, did a walk around the old City, walked the Botanic gardens, and went out for a few quiet meals. Probably a few things we missed (the Red Cross museum) and the Flower clock, but squashed a lot into a few days.

Were orginally booked into spend 2  nights in Geneva in the very expensive dungeon room, but when I woke up crying in the middle of the night because I had a dream that the people running the place were mincers, and subsequently that Mookie was minced, and then my dad, we decided it was perhaps not the place for us to stay. I know you're probably thinking, Manda thats what cheap accomodation is like!, but seriously this place was freakily disgusting and not fit for humans. Hence we moved on a little early, and have arrived in Interlaken, in the Swiss Alps.

Swiss Alps are just beautiful!! We look out the window of our lovely, clean, warm (really, actually is lovely and incidentally half the price of the dungeon/mincing house in Geneva) little youth hostel room window onto the enormous snow covered peaks, most of which go way up into the clouds, and although its pretty fresh outside, the town is super cute. The train ride between Geneva and Interlaken was also stunning, passing by the big lakes as sun was setting and then sneaking up on the huge mountains. Trains quite pricy but well worth the beautiful views. Today we did a spot of shopping to buy me a superwarm jacket (should have listened to my mum!), and then did a couple of hours walk through the forests and snow between two of the little villages in the mountains. Walk was refreshing and words will do no justice to the views - we even stopped taking pictures because they didnt even come close to capturing its beauty! Forest looked like it might have fairies living in it, and we got very excited about being hidden in the swiss alps together. A real honeymoon moment, haha. Considering a day of skiing tomorrow but will see what the weather is like and also what else we might like to do.

Also had some AMAZING raspberry and blackberry swiss chocolate today, and fudge caramel chocolate, and oh yes, Brad was very excitd to see his first squirrel in Geneva. In other important news, Brad thinks my face is getting a bit fat, so may have to slow down on the chocolate and pastries.

Lots of love,

M&B

Oh-la-la! Oui, Paris!

Paris. City of romance and with good reason; twinkle lights, live music, gastronomic delight (even if our special dinner out at La Deapasion saw Manda order tartare scallops ie RAW, which I ended up thoroughly  enjoying and would never have thought to order otherwise! THATS love for you!), amazing art, lovers benches in jardins (gardens), bustling street markets where strawberries are 3 Euro a kilo and asparagus is green or white (no other differences especially when combined with champagne or vin!) cumulated with a night Sein River cruise simply  spectacular!
Sights, sounds and smells are in abundance; the good the bad and the down right ugly!
We were lucky enough to spend 2 days with Jo (one of Manda's bridesmaids) exploring montmartre was a highlight with it's quaint moulins (windmills) and narrow winding cobbled streets.
Now on the TGV to Geneva our boxed up "home" in Canberra feels a distant memory, one best forgotten for the time being in my opinion! Talk about a parallel universe!
Cancan-ing out from Paris to a healthier Geneva hopefully!
B&M

Posting from Geneva now in the most dilapidated room in we could find here-cold comfort at 140 CHF (about $150 AUD)! Will attempt to photogrAph!

Bonjour Paris!

Canberra to Sydney to Singapore to Paris! Great trip; Qantas A380 to Singapore was fantastic-my first flight! Air France not so great as it was small and felt dirty. Upon leaving Singapore they announced they would spray the insecticide all over us!? Delightful! I guess they wanted to kill all the mozzies and or headlice! Arrived in
Paris to great weather which is forecast to continue for our time here (5 days). Have seen much (lourve, catacombes, musee d'orsay, Eiffel tower, more musee more musee and more musee!). Manda, far better than I on the trains and language has fit right in, i'm a little slower and have only managed to order breakfast or pastries once. Getting there though!
Jo joins us tomorrow for the weekend from London which I'm really looking forward to; it'll be lovely to see her! iPod touch hard and slow to use so checking out from Paris!

B&M

Mobile number 0603050671 country code 0033 - should get us if needed: no assurance you'll get anything back from us!

MOET before leaving!

Moët: Moët et Chandon, the makers of the French champagne with the Royal Warrant to supply champagne to Queen Elizabeth II. 


MOET: My Other Eleventh-hour Tips (MOET) before leaving. Things done with time almost elapsed!


I'm sure that most people have a few nervous heart flutters and sweaty palms before leaving the country for 5 months; 'where is the passport' for example. Yesterday, Sunday 20th March, was a rather last minute rush for us! Whilst I was at Queanbeyan doing my pre-provisional motorbike licence exam (8.30am-4.30pm - only test plausible for me to do in the last 3 months) my brave warrior wife was gallantly battling at auction (for the second time in a week)! Thankfully I passed my bike exam which was imperative for me to ride whilst overseas; but more impressively Manda not only won the auction but managed not to be bullied by the auctioneer - not bad for a shorter stature female! It went once, twice and then a third and final time before being knocked down to Manda which we're just thrilled about! Manda being Manda had only 20 Swiss Francs in her wallet and no cheque book, 'no money' as she so often puts it - thankfully Jenna was with Manda and just so happened to stick $50 in her pocket before going to support Manda at the auction given her parents Tom and Chris are away; this then became our deposit. Not quite the 5% required but apparently acceptable in the circumstances. Thankyou Jenna for saving the day. So it is with great pleasure I announce that Manda and I and at this point in time Jenna, are the proud owners of 1 Carringtion Street Deakin ACT, affectionately (and appropriately) named "Carrington Cottage". (yes, it's pink!)

So I guess you're wondering where/why MOET/Moët is relevant? As the highest bidder Manda received a very nice bottle of Moët form the Ray White Real Estate Agent. Probably cost him more than Jenna's deposit! We decided that it was worth celebrating the purchase of our first house so we had dinner out with Jenna, Liz and Amy and quaffed that bottle of Moët! Thankyou Mr. Ray White! My Other Eleventh-hour Tips (MOET) before leaving: squeeze in as much as humanly possible in the 2 days before leaving; why not buy a house! Once you've gone the responsibility, hopefully, falls to someone else!


Now Monday morning, our day has taken a turn in a completely different direction: no longer are we merely packing our bags for departure tomorrow but finalising yesterdays happenings! I have a funny feeling THIS is going to be one busy busy day!

Let's make life difficult shall we?

Just because Brad and I like to make life difficult for ourselves, we have had a frantic few days unpacking everything we packed up (life in a box), returning a hire truck to Armidale, and then today bidding at an auction for a little house in Narrabundah. Unfortunately (and somewhat fortunately) we missed out on the house by a matter of a few thousand dollars - but we are naive enough to believe that the house we are meant to have is still out there waiting for us!?

Count-down is on - only a few sleeps to go now before we jet off to Paris! A quick reminder to all, if you want a postcard or email from overseas - make sure you send us your address/email in the next few days!

M

Life in a box

Blog... not entirely sure how this works but I'm going to try and 'blog' frequently when away. Given I'm not really one to write (and/or type) I've made the decision that I'm going to try and post a photo a day, or at least the equivalent of anyway (ie if we don't have net access i'll post a bunch from the missed days). Will endeavour to give a brief blurb to set the scene and the rest you can assume from the photo! 


Last day at work at the Pharmacy yesterday; had a great morning with the 'girls' (sorry Kerrod!) and was spoilt rotten, as was becoming habit, with morning tea and a vast assortment of well wishing cards and personalised gifts from the patients (more like family!) We've received some beaut gifts and lovely personalised messages but I think one of the most heart felt and certainly risky(!) was a lovely hand crocheted piece of baby clothing (in green which was particularly safe)! Work ladies, guys and patients will all be miss immensely by us both!

So now its to the arduous task of condensing life into a box. We are getting closer to packed but there are still more cupboards to be emptied and rooms to be cleaned. The real estate agent very kindly provide a leaflet on 'Vacating your rental premises' which correctly identified that the oven must be cleaned; i'm sure it had NEVER been cleaned; the layer of burnt fat or ash or whatever it was that flowed out from within was reminicient of the my time with Mr. Seager in NZ when Mt. Ruapehu broke its crater lake wall.... WOW. 'Easy Off Bam Oven Cleaner' deserves a mention - incredible stuff, 5 minutes and the oven had melted. Only minor skin burns to the forearms sustained.


We're going to miss you all! BonJovi included (friendly neighbourhood cat whose real name is Puss that Manda has taken a liking to)!

Back to the boxes I guess! Not so brief today!