The return...

Since October that I have not updated the blog....

Oh well... there were too many things to do around here... never a dull moment... brilliant

If there is one thing you can do in Lausanne is sports... all seasons... all sorts...

Snowboarding during the winter was great... just not enough time...

Trips:

- around the southern half of Spain in Xmas
- To the Swiss alps... kinda needed if you want to snowboard
- To Italy (Luino) passing through France (pics to follow)...

So many more to go... Gotta get back to work...

Ski season is upon us!!!!

All

From this morning we have snow on the hills surrounding Lausanne (both the french and the swiss side)

pictures to follow

Mensaje para la familia

Ya que siempre pongo cosas en ingles, vamos a deleitar a la audiencia española con unas palabras de amor y cariño.

Esto de vivir en medio de Europa tiene sus ventajas. Seguro que algun inconveniente tambien tiene, pero no se los he visto todavia.

Un aviso para todos. Si vais a venir, por favor avisad porque aqui los planes salen muy al vuelo (nunca mejor dicho).

Acabo de llegar (bueno, hace dos dias, pero m estoy empezando a recuperar hoy) de Barcelona. Greg/Gema: enhorabuena... no m creo q lo hayais hecho, pero ya teneis anillos. Lo unico es q no se iluminan como en Lord of the Rings... yo q vosotros me quejaba al joyero. Ahora solo teneis que tener cuidadito en Marruecos, a ver por que zonas me vais (jejejejejeje). Eso si, Gema. No se si te has dado cuenta que ya no te podemos llamar Srta. Canalda. Suena menos cafre cuando dicer Sra. Pero es que no se puede tener todo. Eso si. Solo hay que veros juntos para saber que lo de los anillos era un mero tramite. Por cierto. La moto de tu madre es una pasada (y cuando le pregunte a tu hermana que cuando me iba a enseñar la suya, dijo que de que moto le estaba hablando.... ejem!)

Pues usando la boda de estos dos como excusa, nos conseguimos reunir casi todos (excepto un par) de los q estabamos currando en Gateway (que tiempos aquellos). Cada loco con su tema que se diria, pero no los cambiaria por nada. A ver si mandais las fotos!!! Por cierto. Yo ya llevo 3 viajes a BCN en menos de un año... os toca a vosotros ;)

Un besazo publico para todos vosotros. No os podeis imaginar lo que me alegre de veros.

Este finde me ire de excursion por ahi con Celeste, asi q sacare mas fotos y contare las cosas que pasan

Summer aint finished yet

I am definitely not trying to convince anyone (this one goes for people in UK).

It is not always sunny and hot in Lausanne. It rained for day and a half from Friday to Saturday. And in this country, when it rains, it pours.

But Sunday was a different story. So different that we could actually go to the lake for a swim. And we did!

You just have to love this place!

On the other hand, I do not know that many people that like clubbing around here (and there is a club where very decent people come to play: http://www.dclub.ch/

(I am trying to tempt people to come and visit so I can go dancing).

Well, I better go back to my work/holiday life (I know: it is hard, but someone’s got to do it).

And this weekend I am off to Barcelona and in three weeks time, road trip to Oktoberfest (http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/) (that is worth a blog posting: what does someone that does not drink do in there? Watch this space)


Comment for my mum: pues va a ser q llevas razon, q tengo todo el dia el culo en columpio! Un besazo Madre.

Evian mineral water... my bottom

Lovely Sunday morning, and Krishan and myself headed to Evian les Baines (France) on our bikes. Now, here is a question. If there is the same distance from Evian to Lausanne as from Lausanne to Evian, how is it possible that when you look at the french side from Lausanne you do not see any building (although you can see the town) but when you look back from Evian you can see buildings on the swiss side... optical ilusion?!? I tried taking pictures but the beautiful quality (not) on the Iphone camera did not allow me to show you what I mean.

And we landed of the beaches and run for cover.... erm... excuse me. Wrong story.
Krishan decided that he wanted to have a crepe and see the water fountain where you are supposed to drink mineral water. So, naturally, first things first. We went for the Crepe. Right next to Evian-les-Baines Hilton hotel (in the hope that we would see Paris, lol)

Hun, you need to try this too. Perfect breakfast crepe for hungovers: egg, bacon, cream, cheese and ham. Delicious!!! and a chocolate one as dessert (damm, did not take any pics of them, totally worth it).

We had to ask the waitress for directions on how to get to the fountain and to be honest, what would you think if you ask for directions and the person asked says: "oh, I don't know" (and then goes ahead and tells you how to go with distances in mtrs and all).

We followed the instructions and, et voila, 4 minutes later (by bike and uphill, yous for you to imagine how big Evian is) we were at the fountain.

Best of all. There was a queue of people with empty bottles of Evian mineral water to get them filled and take them home.

And we did the tourist thing

And here is the thing: you'd expect the water to taste better/different/something

Well....no. Same taste as on the other side of the lake. I am starting to believe that Evian mineral water is just tap water in a plastic bottle.

So after finding that out, we made it back to Lausanne.

Round trip: 2 hrs with tourist visit and crepe on top. Not bad for a Sunday.

Getting a house...what a joke

As I have spoken to quite a few of you, this story might sound familiar.

To everyone that has lived in the UK, finding a house is as easy as rocking up to the lettings agencies, tell them what you want, put the money and move in. Easy.

Here you also have agencies... and that is where the similarities end.

So when Celeste was here she "volunteered" to find a place for me. Off she went to the Regis (as lettings agencies are known in this country). So after visiting a couple, she calls me to say that she got a list of properties and we need to start calling people. My reply: get the agencies to call for you. That is what they are there for, right? WRONG!!!

Basically, the only thing the Regis do is hol a list of available properties (which normally is pretty out of date since all properties are gone) and it is your job to go and call the contact names for wach property yourself. That could be the actual tenant, the concierge or someone that happens to be available for that property. And that is to arrange a viewing.

Once you decide you want the place, you apply for it. Since there is more demand that places available, the list of people applying for a property is inmense. Chances of getting a place: pretty slim.

So in our search, I found this apartment in a converted farm. Lovely place let me tell you. I went to the regis. Again the list of "interested" people is as big as a pack of 500 A4s.

Me, being a dodgy spaniard as I am, tried jumping the queue. I got to offer a paid trip to Spain for the 2 guys in the agency... and they refused. You have to admire their integrity (try that in London and you get anything you want. Nothing that cannot be solved with a good old brown envelope).

Anyway. I did not get the place. And getting one can take a long time (some of the guys at work were looking for 1.5 years).

I hope I get it faster than that.



Hun, you cannot imagine how much I thank you for all the effort you put into it.

More pics of my first day.