What's not to love about Prague?

Our trip to Prague was a beautiful experience. Steve took this picture after waiting for the lighting become "perfect". It shows the Charles bridge in the front with the Prague Castle and St. Vitus church in the background. One of the benefits of living here is that we can get to places like Prague all across Europe quickly and cheaply. Come visit and we'll take you with us.

Above is a picture that I took of the cloisters right next to the hotel where we stayed. We could walk down to old town and the castle and the famous Charles bridge. The only problem was that it was straight up hill on the return. That didn't slow us down much. I think we both are in better shape physically than we were before moving to Europe.

The architecture of the city right down to the ornate doors on the buildings we found so beautiful. The church above right is found on the grounds of the famous Prague Castle.

This is an astonomical clock which was also on the old square. They were having a Christmas market on the square also with traditional foods and ornaments and crafts. They had a stage where there was music being performed by various groups throughout the day.

In this old church on the Stare Metske (old town square) we were able to attend a concert of classical music. They hold these concerts all over town at various times of the day and the musicians are all very accomplished. Our only problem with this particular concert was that the church was of course not heated and both Steve and I thought we would freeze before the hour-long concert concluded. The next day we looked for one that advertised that the chapel was heated to 20C. It was much more comfortable. We attended one more the day after that in a private palace. One of the defining characteritics of Prague is their love of music. Many composers traveled between Vienna and Prague, so there is a lot in common in these two cities.

Chocolate and More Chocolate

Here are some pictures that go with the legend that I included last week. All these pots are made of chocolate and the "vegetable" are of marzipan. While taking the pictures, of course Steve and I had to sample a little chocolate from the various shops to see which was the most delicious.

Some of the Chocolate shops are so decorated that you can't tell it's actually a candy store.



I'm having trouble learning how to work with this site in order to put pictures where I want them and the text where I want it. There are very few leaves left on any trees, and the reality of a long grey winter has set in. Happily I won't be here for several weeks of it. I have also included a picture of a typical bread counter. What you see in that picture will be the cause of many extra pounds on my body. I actually prefer fresh bread to chocolate.

We did have a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of one of the church members. It was on Saturday and they really had a spread. They also really had a crowd. Many of the people there had not been to a Thanksgiving dinner before. This is a great experience for us. Steve and I are recognizing more and more words in French conversation. I think that Steve is surprised that some of the French he learned in high school is still in his brain.

I wish you all well. Next week I might not post a blog as Steve and I will be in Prague for five days. I should have lots of fun pictures for my next one.

Love to all,

Mary

Counting down till Christmas

I called this week's blog counting down till Christmas. Appropriately, I found this great wooden advent calendar in a chocolate shop in town. Yes, every door is filled with a home-made chocolate. It now adorns our little living space. There is a Genevoise legend that I learned about this past week. They celebrate on the 1st of December a festival called Escalade. The story goes that in the early 1600's the city of Geneva was under a surprise attack, and a woman who saw the invaders coming poured her boiling soup over the city wall, thus scalding the encroachers. The noise this made alerted the Genevoise soldiers and they were able to fend off the attack and save the city. So in rememberance they make what looks like old soup kettles out of chocolate and fill them with marzipan shaped and colored vegetables. You can see them everywhere in stores and they come in all sizes from very small to gigantic. Because they don't really celebrate Halloween nor Thanksgiving Christmas decorations go up very early here.

There is no shortage of "festive items" in the stores, especially beautiful displays of Christmas goodies. The first week in December Steve and I will be in Prague for a business conference and I am looking forward to seeing what is there. Getting ready for Christmas is different and really quite fun.

You get the idea of how cold it is by how we are dressed to go to church. Steve hadn't put on his gloves yet. Baby it's cold outside and only going to get colder. The high for the week was about 42 F and it feels much colder with the biz or wind that is always present. I think a hat will be my next purchase.

Views From Swiss Countryside

I've entitled the first picture Swiss village church on a snowy afternoon. As you can tell we spent an interesting Saturday afternoon driving out in the countryside and up into the mountains. We were very close to Gstaad, but didn't go the rest of the way up because of the weather. We also had a successful trip to IKEA--loading up the car with nightstands, a dresser, a bookshelf, a chair and a desk. None of these items were in the furnished apartment and all of them were necessary. I had never been to an IKEA store before and was amazed at the way they cater to organized living in very small spaces. It was a lesson to me of how you really can live in one room. Even the high chairs and cribs here are very small in comparison with what is in the U.S. We keep hearing stories of people being unable to find any place to rent here. We were so lucky to find the person who was willing to rent to us. One young couple in the ward here had put in nine applications just in the last week and been turned down every time. He has a great job and can afford the places, but housing is so scarce. They also have two little kids--3 and almost 2 so it is hard not to have a place to call home. Steve and I have become adept at assembling IKEA furniture. The instructions (for those of you who haven't experienced it yet) are all in pictures. There's no need to read or understand any particular language. What a great idea. Our boxes all got here without a problem. We are on the fifth floor and have an elevator that only two very skinny people can fit into at a time. So the poor Fed Ex delivery guy is struggling with trying to fit a dolly and several boxes at a time into the elevator. I knew he was coming cause he called to get into the building. Then I can hear all this grunting and shuffling of boxes and banging of things and I'm wondering what is going on. When he finally gets upstairs I see that the poor guy is handicapped with only partial use of one of his arms. I felt guilty for not going down to help, but I had no idea that Fed Ex would be hiring the physically handicapped to make deliveries of large boxes. Who knew? I miss everyone so much, but we are blessed and everything here is going well.

I love you all,

Mary

This was a very typical swiss mountain village on the road up to Chateau de Oex. You see also genuine Swiss cows with genuine Swiss cowbells. I've never seen one that didn't have one of these bells on. Even the farms and barns are idyllic looking. These cows will come right up to you--they seem very curious about what you may be doing. The all brown cow is saying :"What am I doing out here with my hooves ice-cold in the snow, and can I please get in the barn now?"

It was interesting to still be able to see the fall colors in the foreground with the snow on the hills.

This is the village of Gruyere. It is very quaint and charming with a castle at the top of the hill. It also was bitterly cold with wind and blowing sleet. We look forward to seeing it in better weather.

I haven't hopped a plane home yet.

The trees are starting to get color. This place is called Perl du Lac. Not too hard to know what that means.

Looking across the Lake, you can see Mont Blanc in the distance. Chamonix is at the base of Mont Blanc. We will drive up there some weekend.

This shows the huge water spout that is rather a symbol of Geneva. When the wind blows too hard they turn it off. We get many really windy days.

There is not a lot new going on for me right now. Every afternoon I take a long walk, usually along the Lake. It's great excercise and most days I learn something about Geneva that I didn't know before. This past week I got to go about 40 minutes out of town to Ikea. This place is a necessity for those setting up house here (even if your place is furnished). Furnished is in our case the bare minimum to exist. Some items just need to be replaced, especially if your bedroom has curtains that look like they were taken out of a "house of ill repute." I'm not sure how it happens, but I am reading labels and instructions much easier now, even though I've only had one French class. Steve and I are taking the class together, and it is fairly intensive. At first I didn't think our instructor knew any English. Actually she does, but did not speak one word of English during the entire hour and a half of class. I hope we're not too old to learn. Our boxes from home will be delivered tomorrow, and my only challenge will be trying to fit their contents into this tiny place. Who knew that one of the reasons the people here shop every day is because the perishable foods , including meats, breads, etc. have no preservatives in them. You have to read the labels very carefully to check for expiration dates. Shelf life is very short on everything.

Love to everyone, M

Week Two In Geneva

I've decided that I need to start a "Who Knew" book of interesting things that I have discovered while getting situated here in Geneva. The one I will share this week is: "Who knew that if one earns more than a certain amount of money in a year they can't open a regular bank account, but are escorted upstairs where they are serviced by their "personal banker?" That was a unique experience. We still have no internet at our home--only a non-secured open wireless that we are able to pick up here. There are so many laws, rules, and a general feeling of rigidity in this country. I'm doing better at shopping. It only takes me twice as long as I used to spend instead of four times as long. I have to read the German, French, and Italian labels to figure out if I am buying what I really want to buy. I am getting a little more adventuresome however. I actually picked up some carpaccio (dried/seasoned beef) to try. The Swiss aren't very innovative in their cuisine, but there are plenty of other restaurants of every ethnicity to try. My first experience with trying to bake something in my oven that registers heat in Celsius rather than Farenheit was not successful. Obviously I need more practice. However, with groceries in general not being that cheap; I think we'll just have to keep trying new restaurants. We are one step closer to beginning our French classes. We should have a teacher assigned and find out which evening we will be studying this week. Someone told me that they heard haircuts were outrageously expensive--$100 E. They live in France rather than Geneva, but I did see an ad in a window for a shampoo and cut for $80 CHF. That's only $68 U.S. rather than $130. The laundry bill for Steve's shirts was about double what we spend in Pinehurst. We are lucky to have a cost of living allowance.



Keep the Blogs and E-Mails coming as I really, really miss my family and friends.



Love, M

We've been gone a week

Although the past week has been interesting, it has also been difficult. We started out in Darmstadt Germany for two days of work for Steve, and trying to keep busy seeing the sights for me. On Thursday night, we flew to Geneva, and early Friday morning took our suitcases to our new apartment. It seems a little overwhelming to me to attempt to set up house when nothing is familiar in the stores and I don't speak French. I will be learning enough to get along here, I am sure. The weather is the big news so far. We have had very strong winds--very cold, strong winds since we arrived. Fortunately, on the fifth floor where our apartment is located, stays pretty warm. My warm coats are not here with me yet. I thought I would have them sent with other things we need a little later, that I would have time before the real cold set in. That has been the first mis-judgement. Scarves and gloves have been purchased, and I have made my first trip to the cleaners with Steve's shirts. I knew that whoever was working at the laundry would not speak any English and I was right. However, both the proprietor and I were able to make ourselves understood. I am surprisingly able to understand a lot of what is being said to me in French, even though I do not speak any. Trying to cook some packaged risotto with no understandable directions proved interesting. I had no measurning cup and didn't know how much liquid 9 dl was. It still was edible and gave me hope, though I don't envision myself doing much in the kitchen here which is the size of my shoe. Hopefully, my next report will contain some photos. As yet, we are without our own internet access. That is another challenge that will soon be overcome. I miss everyone and think of you all constantly--

Love, M

Our last weekend in Pinehurst

This is such a great picture of "cousin fun" memories.
Chad & Danielle's boys Ryan and Andrew with Grandpa and Grandma.

This is the first sleep-over for Andrew and Masen. Andrew fully uses the bed--even Masen's spot. Masen stayed in one spot and didn't seem to notice Andrew on top of him.

Bedtime stories with Uncle Chad. The "big boy" cousins with Maddie.

On our last weekend with the family, we went to Henry's for Gelato. From Left, Alex, Masen, Andrew, Madelyn, Evin w/Henry, Ryan w/Lari. We had lots of laughs, lots of activity, lots of snacking, and loads of love. Being with the family is what I will miss during the time Steve and I are in Geneva. It has been difficult to pack and mentally get ready to live away from home for nine months--at the least. I'm sure things will be fine once we get on the plane, but I'm also sure that I will be counting the days until we come home on December 19.