September

26-27 September

On the last weekend in September, and my last weekend with Robert visiting, I got a bit confused. Thinking he was leaving on Sunday morning, I committed myself to cater a dinner party on Sunday evening. He was actually leaving on Monday. Oops! But committed I was, so spent Saturday night and Sunday cooking up fine Indian curries. Being a paid gig I didn't think it would be right to use bought curry pastes so was doing it all from scratch. This was fine for most of the dishes, but I have to tell you, a true vindaloo uses a frighteningly large number of spices and has a whole pile of processes and takes a whole heap of time. Still, the finished product was superb... truly spicy without being actually all that hot. I also made my first ever Kulfi: Indian spiced icecream. It too takes a long time to make but looked ever so pretty out of the mold sprinkled with gold leaf.

19 - 20 September - Basel

This was the last weekend that the Van Gogh exhibition was on display in Basel, so Robert and I went up to check it out. We had a bit of a wander around town, enjoying the spectacular town hall:

In the morning we headed to the exhibition, where we discovered the very very very long queue. But still, I had good company, and we ended up entertaining our section of the queue a bit with a bit of impromptu singing. A busker would have made a fortune I reckon... something to note for anyone out there strapped for cash and near a popular exhibition! Someone selling snacks would have made a tidy profit too...

Of course no photos permitted, but I did get a copy of the catalogue (free, the joy of having a "crows in the wheatfield" illustrated credit card). The exhibition was well worth visiting, showing the interesting transitions of Van Gogh's art.

After that, we headed into town and were able to slip into the art and history museum before it closed. Sadly it is having a revamp so much of the exhibitions are tucked away, but there were still all sorts of pretty things to be seen.

And that was our last outing before Robert returned to Sweden. We did manage to cram quite a lot in around the edges considering I was working 50-60 hour weeks. He was a sweetie and cooked dinner some times and made lots of biscuits which delighted my workmates!

Sadly, like all minibreaks, they come to an end. After a visit to the markets, we headed back to the rain, and Geneva.

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What could top Rocco Boromeo? Why Isola Bella!

Isola Bella is an island which is basically one big castle. Photos weren't permitted inside, but you can take a peek at the gardens.

Our next stop was the impressive Rocco Boromeo:

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How bad am I? It has been an age since I last updated, and you probably all would think I was dead in a ditch somewhere if I hadn't flown all the way to Australia in October to say hello in the flesh! Anyway, that trip is another story. Let us take a look at September instead.

September is a lovely time of year in Switzerland. Though the weather is starting to cool down, there are still warm beautiful days and fun things on in the evenings. Sadly work commitments start up again in full swing taking up lots of time and energy. But it is also a good time to visit other parts of Europe.

Robert came to visit, and although I was working long hours, there was a long weekend where we were able to escape to Italy. I hadn't been up to the lake district before, so this seemed like a perfect excuse. We found a reasonable hotel and spent the days exploring.

Firstly we took a walk around Arona:

Pretty isn't it? Dinner that night was in a restaurant up winding paths in a tiny town. If I can track the name I will give it to you, as it really was a delicious dinner and the location would be gorgeous in the day time.

11 September

In the morning we drove up to see the statue of St Carlos. It was a surprise to us, as we discovered we had driven past us at least three times the night before and failed to see it. This statue which is over 35 metres in height (including plinth) was started in 1614! How amazing is that? It was the tallest statue in the world for an awfully long time, and it was fascinating to be able to climb up and see inside it, and see the bolts that hold it together. It was also interesting to visit the church at the bottom which had an exhibition on Carlos' life, including the sedan chair he travelled in!

I chickened out though on the last part of the climb, which was just a bit too narrow and scary for me! The view I did get was still pretty impressive.

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Then it was off on a boat to a tiny island called San Giulio.

There isn't vast amounts to see, as the nuns still live in seclusion there, but the church is spectacular and taking the "path of silence" around the island is a calm and relaxing wander and afterwards the water was warm enough to allow us to flip our shoes off and dangle our feet in the water.

Time at the end to wander the streets of Orta San Giulio