Another Good-Bye

This is a bittersweet entry to write. Our dear friends, the Ultes, are making a big move soon. They’re moving to Kuala Lumpur because of a job change for Didi. I had to check on the map when Suzie told me where they were moving. It’s in Malaysia for those of you who are challenged in the geography department like I am.

This is a very exciting opportunity for Didi, Suzie, Pia and Alena but it’s going to be very sad to see them go. They’ve become such good friends over the past 2 ½ years. Matt is going to miss his grilling and drinking buddy, and I’m going to miss hanging out with Suzie, especially our frequent trashy tv get-togethers when I just walk throught the garage in my pajamas and slippers to her place. We’ll miss the girls, Pia and Alena, too. We see them so often and have enjoyed watching them grow up over the past couple of years.

These next few months are going to be filled with lots of ‘lasts’ for the Ultes as they say good-bye to all the friends they’ve made in Switzerland. The ‘last-times’ have already started for the guys as Didi leaves in two weeks. The boys have already fit in one last weisswurst frühstück (a white sausage breakfast with pretzels and beer), a visit to their local pub, the White Horse, a chili/movie night and a weekend away to Amsterdam.

The Ultes have a wonderful adventure ahead of them but it’s going to be awfully lonely around here without them. Malaysia has now been added to our list of must-see places before we return to the US.

Correction

My friend, Ayelet, shared with me today that my blog had an inaccuracy. According to her there are indeed robins in Switzerland. She said they’re not common, but you see them every once in a while. Kind of like squirrels in Switzerland, I guess. I’m on the look-out for robins now.

Very Special Visitors

Our next visitors are scheduled to arrive a week from now – my nieces, Rowan and Evelyn! They (along with my sister, brother-in-law and his mom) will be spending a long weekend with us. It’s going to be a bit crowded in the apartment but we’ll make do. I’m so excited to show them around Switzerland. I’ve got a kid-friendly itinerary planned. Now I’m just hoping for beautiful weather so they can enjoy the scenery

Swiss Family McCarthy

We’re starting a new adventure in Switzerland. Baby McCarthy is due in July! We’re very excited but also a little nervous as we start this journey into parenthood, especially so far away from family and friends. I’m sure we’ll have some interesting stories to share as we continue through the pregnancy and prepare for his or her arrival.

Spring is Here

Back in Minnesota I knew it was spring when I saw my first robin of the season. There are no robins around here in Switzerland so I had to find a new sign. So spring has sprung in Morges when the mimes come out of hibernation. Today I saw my first one of the season outside the grocery store. I don’t know why but our town of 14,000 has quite a few different mimes stationed throughout town. It will take me a while to get used to them waving, winking and blowing me kisses again, but I’ll get used to it if it means spring weather is just around the corner.

Amsterdam

At the end of January (how can it already be the middle of March?!) I met my friend, Darcy, in Amsterdam for a long weekend. She was there for work, so I went to keep her company over the weekend. We had a great time exploring A’dam. I had some inside tips from several of our neighbors who have lived there, so we had an idea of how best to spend our time.

Darcy and I started our tour of Amsterdam by boat. We took an hour-long boat cruise through the canals. It was a great way to see the city and learn about the architecture and history of the old buildings. I found the hooks at the top of each building to be interesting. These are used to move furniture in and out of the buildings since the stairs in most of them are very narrow and steep. I can’t imagine my parents hoisting furniture up to the third or fourth floor using this hook and a pulley during my many moves in college. I think Dad would have said, ‘Forget it, you don’t need to move again.’

We spent the rest of our time exploring by foot. We meandered all over the city through the different neighborhoods. Out of curiousity, we even walked through the infamous Red Light District. For fear of one of us ending up in a canal, we decided to skip exploring the city by bicycle. The sheer number of bikes is crazy – about 700,000 in total. Amsterdam is considered one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world. Bicycles come at you from all directions and at all different speeds. They don’t slow down for nothing or nobody! We considered our weekend a success because we managed not to get run over or cussed out by a biker. I read somewhere that theft of a bicycle is not regarded as a real crime in Amsterdam. It’s more like not giving back a book to the library. Each year tens of thousands of bikes are stolen with an estimated 25,000 ending up at the bottom of the canals.

We took in a few museums as well. We visited the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House. The latter was well worth the line we stood in to enter. I recently re-read The Diary of Anne Frank, so it was very eerie and sad to picture Anne and the others hiding for more than two years in this building only to be found by the Nazis so close to the end of the war.

As always I enjoyed sampling the food. Amsterdam is known for the wide variety of cuisines. My friend, Ayelet, recommended an Italian restaurant in a quaint neighborhood, which was within walking distance from our hotel. We also had a great meal at a Thai restaurant. Dutch cuisine tends to be on the heavy side with meat and potatoes, which didn’t sound appealing to us, but we did try the Dutch pancakes. Why they don’t call them crepes, I don’t know, because that’s what they are. Pancakes, crepes, whatever you wanna call them, they were good. I went for a savory one. I think I need to go back someday to try a sweet one with fruit, chocolate and whipped cream.

Several weekends later it was Matt’s turn to explore Amsterdam with some of his friends. I think his weekend with his buddies was a bit different than mine with Darcy as it consisted of more time in the pubs.

The Ballet

My friend, Suzie, received tickets for the ballet, Giselle, through her work, so she invited me and another friend, Ayelet, to attend with her. It was performed by the Russian ballet company and there were some pretty important people watching in the audience, I think. The introductions were done in French which made my understanding of what was going on a bit limited, so I filled in the gaps using my imagination when it came to who was who as they enterd the theater. I think I understood correctly that one of them was the First Lady of Russia.

This was my first ballet and I loved it. The ballerinas were beautiful, especially when they danced in unison, but it took me about 20 minutes or so to stop thinking, ‘ouchy, ouchy’ when they went up on their toes. And the balleriners! That’s what we called the male dancers (pretty classy, aren’t we?) were amazing, especially their legs and bums in those little tights.

It was a very enjoyable evening. I kept looking around trying to figure out how so many wives got their husbands to attend. I don’t think I could ever talk Matt into going to a ballet, so it’s good I have wonderful girlfirends to enjoy it with me.