Geneva, Prague and other places

It's taken me a while to get these photos up on the blog - mostly because we got home 10 days before Christmas, a bit jetlagged and keen to prepare for the family coming to Canberra from all corners of the country. We then had a week down at Mollymook over New Year then a week at Noosa with my parents so now I am trying to catch up.

Our time in Europe was wonderful. Cold but fine and no wind so we managed the temps without any problem. The presenation of Phil's UNESCO medal was part of a big international education conference and this is the Australian delegation.





















There were nine medalists from countries as varied as Ethiopia, Finland, Mexico, Argentina and Bangladesh. Phil was the only one from an english speaking country. It was so good to meet up with educators from so many places who had all done really interesting things.



















Phil's daughter Jenny and her husband John are both teachers and came to Switzerland for the ceremony and stayed on for a holiday.


While we were in Geneva we spent a few
hours at the Red Cross Museum -
very sobering and confronting but you
have to admire the workers who go into
these dreadful situations and risk their
lives and wellbeing to help.



















I found a few great eco shops in Geneva - this florist had these tubs made out of tyres from Columbian buses turned inside out.































After a week in Geneva which included a lot of embassy receptions and meals out with family and friends we went to Prague with 5 of the other medallists for a 5 day study tour. The Czech government are co-sponsor of the medal which is named after one of their C17 educators.

Phil never misses an opportunity to chat up a pretty girl and he doesn't let his lack of proficiency in Czech language stop him.




















We spent an exceedingly cold day at the UNESCO heritage town of Kutna Hora - these Russian tourists had the right clothes for the conditions.
























The meals in the Czech Republic were wonderful - extremely varied and our
only criticism was that there was more food than we could manage most days.

We had some very sophisticated meals as well as a typical pub lunch of hearty soup and dumplings here.





















Prior to this trip we had only been to Prague in Summer when it was packed with tourists and the temps hovered around 38 deg so it was a change to see it in mid winter.
The Christmas markets in the Old Town Square were just beautiful . The sun set around 4pm but the christmas lights were fabulous. I think people in the northern hemisphere take a lot more trouble with decorations at Christmas - i guess they aren't thinking about holidays at the beach the way we are at that time.

A classic shot of Prague Castle from Charles Bridge



We had been planning to have a meal with our friends Thorwald and Jill from our Canberra church for ages so what better place to get around to it than Zurick. They were there for about 6 weeks at a church and we just stayed 2 nights. We had a lovely day with them - it is always great to be shown around a city by locals ( they lived there for about 20 years when Thorwald was teaching at Ruschlikon Seminary) - they know all the good places that tourists would easily miss. they also knew the best restaurant for lunch.

T

They took us to a beautiful shop full of Swiss made goods. I loved this hand made nativity set - i decided it was too fragile to bring home before Phil had time to work out whether our bank balance could stretch that far. There were so many beautiful things - lots of wooden toys and beutiful clothes but the prices were astronomical.

Zurich is a very elegant city and lots of the shop displays were just gorgeous.

This is a very clever coat. It has a zip down the front and the back -you can just make out the zipped in panel at the front - the panel can be turned upside down when you are pregnant or zipped into the back if you want to put the baby behind.

We even managed a few days back at Seaford before flying home. We never miss a chance to walk along the Seven Sisters and they looked their best on this cold but sunny afternoon










We even got to help put up the Christmas tree with a warm fire at out backs. Andy, how do you survive in shorts when the rest of us are thermally challenged?

I can't believe we are back in Seaford

it's just like being home. We arrived on Wednesday morning after an uneventful flight - just the way I like it!! Our luggage was waiting on the carousel when we came through immigration - a great relief after our arrival back in May when it took 3 days for the cases to catch up with us.

Christy is as lovely as ever - Andy has been home since we arrived with VVVV nasty flu so we are keeping our distance and hope we don't catch it. He's on the mend now and should be right for work on Monday.

Weather has been blissful since we arrived - bright blue skies and no wind - short days though - the sun has set by 4 pm so makes a long evening. We are in for a change today - snow is coming down from the north and the weather man said last night that by Sunday, taking into account the windchill factor the max will feel like -4deg - that's nippy. By then we will be in Geneva where it will be 2 deg to -5 with a 30% chance of snow - well at least it will justify all the themals I've packed.

Nothing of great note to report - we are relaxing, sleeping well, talking heaps, eating great food and doing a couple of moderate walks each day = a good way to recover from the flight. Off to Geneva tomorrow.

Well done, Alex

Phil's grandson Alex has just started a guitar course in Los Angeles and we heard today that he has won a scholarship - http://www.mi.edu/NewsDetail/599.aspx Not only does he get help with his tuition fees but a fabulous new guitar. We are so pleased for him and hope he has a great time living in LA and studying with some of the best guitarists in the world.

UNESCO's Jan Comenius Medal

Congratulations to Phil on recognition for a lifetime devoted to education - http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/global-recognition-for-educator/1283543.aspx

We are still having a great time

Just a short blog to let you know we are in Seaford. Andy is back form Africa having had a wonderful time and has some fabulous photos to prove it. We had a week away - Wales, Salisbury and Winchester and have had lots of visitors this week, Alan and Bronwyn - Phil's neice, Margaret and David Beniston an old London work colleague of mine, Phil and Naomi Beak from my old church in London. It has been great catching up with them all and having some delicious meals out but hasn't left much time for blogging. Will remedy that soon.

Today we have Phil's grandson Kerrin coming down from London for the day - the weather is fine and some sun - not the wet day as predicted - hope it stays that way. Watch this space.

We leave on Wednesday and will be home Friday.

Nicky comes to Seaford

Yesterday we spent the day with Phil's grandaughter, Nicky who is spending 3 months in Europe at the end of her Architecture degree and before starting full-time work in Sydney. It was such a lovely day - beautiful weather, a lovely companion for the day and lots to show her. We started off with a drink at Bill's in Brighton - that IS quite a choc milkshake.



We were tempted to have a slice of one of their amazing cakes but it was a little early in the day - we hadn't yet worked up an appetite. My sister thinks Bill's has the best cakes on the planet and she may be right. I haven't tasted them yet but watch this space for the results of my research.
We showed her Royal Pavillion where royalty used to take their summer holidays http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/













We strolled through The Lanes and looked at the Pier - most attractive from a distance - VERY tacky at close quarters.
Then back to Seaford for Nicky to catch up with Christy and then a stroll along Seaford beach to see the Kittywakes who nest in the chalk cliff face every summer. The RSPB has set up high magnification telescopes trained on different nests so you can look at the birds - just great.
After a pub lunch at the Golden Galleon it was a walk along the Vanguard Way to see the Seven Sisters

And a quick trip to Alfriston to see the village and church where a pianist was practicing for his upcoming concert.

Such a lovely day. Thanks for making the time in your very crowded itinerary, Nicky, to spend the day with us.

http://nickyineurope2008.blogspot.com/

Seaford is basking in sunshine

The view from our bedroom window - the ferry going to France.
Lots of great walks especially along the cliff tops of the Seven Sisters

Christy and Andy town - Seaford. They live on the seafront about the middle of this bay. We've all just been in for a swim - bracing but enjoyable.

What better at the end of a long walk - a nice cup of tea.

Even better than last week

We are now at Christy's in Seaford where we will stay for the next month until we fly home - apart from 4 days in Cardiff for the Eisteddford in mid August.

Our second week in Cornwall was fabulous. We are fans of the TV series Doc Martin - not sure if it's the scenery at Port Isaac or the quirky character that attract us but we chose a cottage at Port Quin, about 1 km as the crow flies from Port Isaac for our stay.

We had an apartmnet in the house in the centre of this picture.

Port Isaac - note Louisa's school - we had a coffee there one day.



Phil called in to see if he could get an appointment with Doc Martin but no-one was in - it seems to be let as a holiday cottage.


Doc Martin's house is the smaller stone one

Our house had a great location righ on the cliffs beside the coast path - it runs along the sea edge of the fence We had one of the apartments in the house but you can also rent 'The Castle' a little folly even closer to the cliffs http://www.nationaltrustcottages.co.uk/nt.asp?p=63&c=13

View from our living room

Our nearest village was Port Quin - some years ago 32 fishermen from the village drowned when their boats were caught in a gale leaving most of the women of the village widows. It became a ghost town until the National Trust acquired it and restored a number of the houses for long term and holiday rental.

Port Quin
I could write loads about a week but time is running out so just a few photos and highlights.

Padstow - very classy little town - Maggie Thatcher used to holiday here when she was PM - one of the few things she failed to ruin!!

Lunch at Rick Stein's St Petroc Restaurant at Padstow - just delicious food. We also had fish and chips from his harbour shop, cheese from his deli, bread from his patisserie etc - maybe they will change the name to Padstein before too long.

Long walks along the cliff paths and a day at Clovelly.


And probably best of all, lunch at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant at Watergate Bay in Cornwall. We had seen the TV program in Australia last year about setting up Fifteen in Melbourne. We were impressed to watch him take fifteen VERYdisadvantaged young people and train them up to become chefs/waiters for the restaurant. JO was a multi millionaire in his 20s and could have put his feet up or gone shopping for the rest of his life like many footballers here but he's chosen to take on some really tough challenges to help others. I wonder what motivates him? Anyway it was a great experience at all levels - beautiful location, really good food, good ambience and first rate service. You know all the staff come from really tough backgrounds - often criminals, homeless, drug users etc but they were all very polished, professional but friendly - very impressive. I plan to write to Richard Branson to see why he doesn't do something similar in some of the companies he owns - not everyone wants to work in food service.

This is Fifteen on the top level.