Once again we are packing to leave & I'm fighting my way through the German keyboard - they have a Z where we have a Y, among other changes.
Graduation Day was a whirl wind. Antje had a seminar and Chris was working. Ginny & Kevin were in class. Gwen was excited and we still had to do grocery shopping, prepare some of the food for the 14 guests, fix lunch for Ginny & a friend and get ourselfs dressed. Gwen can only be described as In A Dither. She had me check out a dress, couple pairs of shoes, makeup and jacket. I thought she looked nice, no matter what she wore. Loose the gum, though! Philip kept his nose buried in a book & out of the fray.
Ginny & Kevin arrive from school and there's a flurry of showers and more dressing before we all head to the tram. Naturally, we arrive at the church and it starts raining so everyone's trying to get through the church doors. Antje, Chris, & Antje's Uncle Sigfreud arrive. Shortly after, her parents come and then friends of Gwens.
There was lots of music - I particularly enjoyed the celebration of jazz music. A young woman sang Birdland which got the crowd to rocking & then went into Fever.
This keyboard is making me wild! I'll finish up at home & add some pictures.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Recap & Update
We returned to Zurich yesterday evening - more about that day later.
Back to Slovenia - and the horse farm - it's a resort with a golf course and as guests of the resort, you can ride the horses! I'm all ready lobbying friends Laurrie & Jim to reconsider the Loire Valley (next year's trip) and come to Slovenia.
I'm still puzzled by the Who is Sisi mystery? Something about the story sounded so familiar. Fortunately, using my Blackberry, I search on Google. Sisi and Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary are one and the same. And of course, Sisi married - she had 3 children. She was a bit of a dilettante - hated court protocal, her children were taken from her, her husband refused to see her, she traveled extensively & tried to maintain her 20" waist - today, we'd call her anorexic. Mikki response? That's not the way Romy Schneider played her in the movie!!! Geesh! (When I repeated the story to Chris, his response was identical to Mikki's!!!)
Morgan & Georgia are finishing a week of end of summer activities - Georgia is one of the leaders. They do everything from sports to crafts and both girls come home exhausted. Tho Georgia perks right up as she showers to go out with Kevin, her boyfriend. She's about a foot taller than he is but that seems to both neither of them.
Kilian is a nervous wreck waiting for his math exam results. He passed math last year but because his teachers felt he didn't work to his potential; he was required to take a 2nd math exam August 30 - which meant he had to study while he was in the states. Then when he returned and his teacher learned he spent the summer in the states, his teacher said "why didn't you tell us you would be in America for the summer? We never would have required that you take the exam." Mikki was white with fury.
And of course Kilian passed.
Except for the beautiful day in Slovenia, the weather was hot and muggy. By 1:00, we're all inside and staying quiet. Mikki continues to do well but she's so tired. The doctor's tell her it will be about a year before she feels better. Of course it doesn't help that the chemo plunged her into menopause, for which her body wasn't ready and she's having most of the side-effects.
Mikki & I are shopping for a graduation gift for Gwen. We finally settle on small rose earrings with a little tiny flying pig (with painted purple toes) dangling from the roses. (a flying pig is good luck) We wanted something to wish her well during this transition and also something a little quirky. Gwen though they were adorable. Chris' not so much' but he's not wearing them.
Thursday came too soon and we caught our train back to Zurich. With only 15 mins to switch trains in Milano & Italian trains never run on time - we're resigned to a long wait for the next train. Amazingly enough, we arrive in Milan on time and our Zurich train awaits us. We happily settle in - glad not to be hauling suitcase around (that's going to be an issue for me if I travel by myself - this trip proves I can't handle a large suitcase…will need to figure out how to pack lightly with my small bag) All goes well until we reach Lugano and the Swiss announce "sorry for the inconvenience, but this train is ending. Everyone must disenbark." Say what!!! We're only half way there. After an hour wait we catch a train bound for Basel, then switch at Art Goedau for a Zurich train. Even with all that, we arrive only about 2 hours late. Thank goodness we are familiar with Switzerland and know the names of the end stations. The lines at the ticket office were 30-40 people deep and moving slowly.
So here we are. Gwen's graduation is today. Besides Antje's family, Gwen's invited friends. She and I did the food shopping earlier. Tomorrow she's invited friends to meet me so I can discuss their American trip.
Well more shopping to do - later.
Back to Slovenia - and the horse farm - it's a resort with a golf course and as guests of the resort, you can ride the horses! I'm all ready lobbying friends Laurrie & Jim to reconsider the Loire Valley (next year's trip) and come to Slovenia.
I'm still puzzled by the Who is Sisi mystery? Something about the story sounded so familiar. Fortunately, using my Blackberry, I search on Google. Sisi and Empress Elizabeth of Austria-Hungary are one and the same. And of course, Sisi married - she had 3 children. She was a bit of a dilettante - hated court protocal, her children were taken from her, her husband refused to see her, she traveled extensively & tried to maintain her 20" waist - today, we'd call her anorexic. Mikki response? That's not the way Romy Schneider played her in the movie!!! Geesh! (When I repeated the story to Chris, his response was identical to Mikki's!!!)
Morgan & Georgia are finishing a week of end of summer activities - Georgia is one of the leaders. They do everything from sports to crafts and both girls come home exhausted. Tho Georgia perks right up as she showers to go out with Kevin, her boyfriend. She's about a foot taller than he is but that seems to both neither of them.
Kilian is a nervous wreck waiting for his math exam results. He passed math last year but because his teachers felt he didn't work to his potential; he was required to take a 2nd math exam August 30 - which meant he had to study while he was in the states. Then when he returned and his teacher learned he spent the summer in the states, his teacher said "why didn't you tell us you would be in America for the summer? We never would have required that you take the exam." Mikki was white with fury.
And of course Kilian passed.
Except for the beautiful day in Slovenia, the weather was hot and muggy. By 1:00, we're all inside and staying quiet. Mikki continues to do well but she's so tired. The doctor's tell her it will be about a year before she feels better. Of course it doesn't help that the chemo plunged her into menopause, for which her body wasn't ready and she's having most of the side-effects.
Mikki & I are shopping for a graduation gift for Gwen. We finally settle on small rose earrings with a little tiny flying pig (with painted purple toes) dangling from the roses. (a flying pig is good luck) We wanted something to wish her well during this transition and also something a little quirky. Gwen though they were adorable. Chris' not so much' but he's not wearing them.
Thursday came too soon and we caught our train back to Zurich. With only 15 mins to switch trains in Milano & Italian trains never run on time - we're resigned to a long wait for the next train. Amazingly enough, we arrive in Milan on time and our Zurich train awaits us. We happily settle in - glad not to be hauling suitcase around (that's going to be an issue for me if I travel by myself - this trip proves I can't handle a large suitcase…will need to figure out how to pack lightly with my small bag) All goes well until we reach Lugano and the Swiss announce "sorry for the inconvenience, but this train is ending. Everyone must disenbark." Say what!!! We're only half way there. After an hour wait we catch a train bound for Basel, then switch at Art Goedau for a Zurich train. Even with all that, we arrive only about 2 hours late. Thank goodness we are familiar with Switzerland and know the names of the end stations. The lines at the ticket office were 30-40 people deep and moving slowly.
So here we are. Gwen's graduation is today. Besides Antje's family, Gwen's invited friends. She and I did the food shopping earlier. Tomorrow she's invited friends to meet me so I can discuss their American trip.
Well more shopping to do - later.
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