26 June
Friday night work had one of its monthly social evenings. This one included a barbecue with real Australian sausages. Gorgeous.
Saturday afternoon I met up with my friend Lucy and saw "Merchant of Venice". WOW. Go see it. Oh, and someone send me Joseph Fiennes as a Christmas present. In the evening we went to a Sindy Beach Party. Its a bit difficult to have a beach party without a sea... but there is a pebbly area on the lake called the Wake Sport Centre. It was great fun, with music (sadly having to stop at midnight).
Today was another glorious day, and the water called both of us, so Lucy and I went to the lake's edge, and had a bit of a swim, off the rocks. It was so lovely. mmmmmm... in the evening Lucy was kind enough to invite me to dinner, for lovely rice paper rolls and then fish. A lovely finish to a stunning weekend.
25 June
A quiet week at work, but with some pleasant interludes. On Tuesday night I met with friends for a picnic on the shores of the lake, which was lovely. Wednesday I babysat for my friends Paul and Sheila. Not particularly noteworthy except that they have the new series of Doctor Who, so I got to watch that. Very very cool. A bit darker than the original series, and the new Doctor is quite different from previous ones. I recommend it.
On Friday my work friend Shandra hosted a lunch - her own farewell as she is leaving us soon to go to Qatar. I will be very sorry to see her go, as she is a very pleasant and friendly workmate and I will miss her.
One other thing... I finally was out with the camera at a time where I could capture this woman on film. This lady wears these clothes all the time. Its like she got stuck in the 80s and has never escaped. Always has the hair up on top of her head all tied up and poking through the hat. Always has the flouro netting hanging off the back of the hat. I don't know where she manages to find the clothes to keep it up, but hey, she adds colour to the city.
19 June
What a fabulous weekend. The weather was stunning, perfect for the Fete de la Musique. The Fete is a three day festival of music, spread throughout the city. Around 25 different locations and a sixty-two program mean that there is a world of choice. There were a few too many jazz sites for my personal taste, but there was still classical, baroque, rock and world music galore.
On Friday night I headed out to the Parc des Bastions, to check out the scene. There were four different stages within the park, as well as a photography exhibition. For me there is particular irony in the setup of one stage, around the gigantic statues of Calvin and his cohorts. They'd be turning in their graves! I stuck around till around 1am then walked home.
Saturday morning sadly I couldn't spend my time at the Fete as I had important things like grocery shopping to do. And despite my slightly delicate financial situation at the moment, I did buy a pair of sandals. I have been looking at sandals in the shops, and having terrible trouble finding any that were truly flat. This for me is especially important as my new orthotics are built up far more than my old ones so I am already wearing low heels all the time. I also have problems because the orthotics mean that I need wider shoes, so the ones with velcro to adjust them are the ticket. After finding a pair of sandals that were ok-ish, I asked the assistant to find me the right size. He brought them out, and then saw me pulling out my orthotics. He then leapt up and found me another pair. These ones are a brand called Kiknok and what is fabulous about it is that you can pull the inside out and slot your orthotics in! Perfect fit and whats more the price was very good; only 58 francs, which, especially considering they are full leather, with leather lining, is grand!
Anyway, on to things probably far more interesting to you. In the early evening I headed out to Parc des Bastions again and joined up with some friends. We just kinda lounged around and listened to bands till they stopped at about 1.30am. At that point, my friend Maria, her boyfriend Paul and I went in search of more music. We found a spot where some people were just making happy musical noises - rappy sort of stuff, but enjoyable in the atmostphere of the night. I had an odd, but not a-typical experience of a slightly drunk man coming up and asking me if I would like to go home with him. No need for asking names or anything like that! I suppose you have to admire his chutzpah eh! I escaped with my friends to a bar where we sat to have a beer. (In my case a Panache - thats a shandy to you) As we sat there, someone at another table sang a phrase of Figaro. I exchanged glances with Maria, and she said: "You Must. You know you must". So I returned fire with a bit of Orpheo. He followed up with O Sole Mio (a tad corny a choice I thought) so I returned with a phrase of Verdi. (to the applause of onlookers I might add). He sent back a volley of another phrase from some other famous Italian number, whose name I can't recall. I decided to finish him off for once and for all and threw out the top line from Ave Maria. That was it, he was out for the count. It is little bits of silliness like this that make life worthwhile isn't it!
I was home by 3.30, but in desparate need of a bath to soak my aching legs. Asleep by 5am, I was rudely awoken by an sms from a friend inviting me to join them for brunch and Batman. How could I say no? Afterwards I headed back to the centre of town for more of the musical festivities. I enjoyed a concert of baroque music, and enjoyed even more finding some cheap sheet music and finding the Geneva Amateur Music Association.
From there I went and found some lunch, and then joined in some circle singing. Wandering on further I enjoyed a spot of jazz, followed by Morroccan music and dancing. The Morroccan music was fabulous, and as the men danced, they moved their heads just a little and the tassells on their hats swung in a circle around their heads. I made a small movie of it but it is a very large file (and sideways; I haven't yet figured out how to turn films)
There were craft and food stalls everywhere. Sadly the sun began to set and the music wound down. I returned home, happy but tired.
15 June
So, perhaps you have been wondering what I have been up to since I returned from Florence. Well, I can tell you for a start, that I have been having to be very restrained financially. It is not so much the trip to Florence (which really was a budget affair) that has gotten me behind, but medical expenses. Nothing outrageously wrong, I have just been a bit overdue for all my maintenance blood tests etc. Here in Switzerland, the cost is a bit of a shocker. Although I have medical insurance, I do have to pay the bill first and get reimbursed some time later - and this month the bills came out to $2000. Ouch.
Still, the spring has sprung here and I have not been idle!
I have been trying to take advantage of some of the lovely weather to spend time out of doors, picnicking, going for wanders or just sitting on my little balcony.
Last weekend I travelled with my workmate Julia and her family up to Lausanne, to have a look through the cathedral and to go to another gallery opening for my friend Phillippe. The Cathedral itself is lovely, with stained glass windows, some interesting paintings on the ceilings and sweeping arches. We climbed up the tower - the view was spectacular!
During the week I went with my friend James to a concert in Victoria Hall. Donated to Geneva by a rich Englishman, it boasts the Engish crest and the feel of a Victorian Music Hall. The acoustics are very poor, but its quite a groovy looking venue. The concert was interesting; early 17th century music written by the Jesuits and some of the local laymen in South America - Bolivia and Paraguay. Apparently it was lost for hundreds of years and found only recently. It was a reasonably enjoyable concert, but the pieces were sung by an Italian choir and I think they would have benefitted from being sung by a choir from South America instead. The placement of instruments on stage was also not great, the result being that the oboe completely overwhelmed the harpsichord. Still, a pleasant way to pass an evening!
