sajawata

Had a wonderful birthday week celebrating with great music and friends

Highlight of the week was seeing Leslie Feist at the Geneva Casino on Tuesday. Her voice is simply breathtaking. And her range is spectacular, I really enjoy both her slower songs and her more popular up-tempo stuff.

Wednesday us girls stumbled on a reggae concert that was fun for a while then we went to Platinum Glam Club where they were giving out free champagne for my birthday (Also because every wednesday is girls night, but whatever I’ll take it.) Well my scrubby self didn’t exactly fit the ‘glam’ scene too well but it was fun nonetheless dancing all night long.

Thursday Harritti and I caught a jazz band at Pickwicks pub then headed to Mulligans to see a canadian cover band who was cranking out the crowd pleasers and getting everyone dancing. Met an Argentine guy (José) who shares the same birthday and is also a graphic designer, so I think we are supposed to be best friends.

Saturday was the absolute coldest day in the history of the world. Well actually it wasn’t that cold but the wind was the kind that will knock you over if you don’t hang on tight. And there was no escaping it anywhere in town. So we spent almost all day in the coffee shops trying to work up the strength to face Mother Nature and all her force.

That night we went to Pickwick’s to catch the Rugby world championship between England and South Africa. Never seen a bar so packed. Those Brits certainly take their Rugby seriously so when they started losing we had to take off to avoid physical injury.
Went to a Bollywood party for a few minutes then headed to my alter ego José’s place for a birthday fiesta. The Argentines tried to teach me how to move my hips more than just side to side which was very entertaining. Also got to practice my español which is in horrible shape but I’m going to exchange lessons with 1 of the guys who is working on his english.

Sunday went to Lausanne to cheer on Sharron in her 1/2 marathon. She has inspired me to try the 5k fun run in December. It should be fun because everyone wears costumes and parties all day which is just enough to make me attempt running in public.

A lovely day in the French Alps with the girls. Picnic by Lac de Montriand, then a hike up into the mountains where the rejuvenating brisk air made me very happy. Interesting hiking with 5 girls from different countries  and very different views of what hiking is but it was great fun.

Spent Sunday walking around the museums in town. The contemporary art museum was under renovation so not much was open but they did have an interesting exhibition on modern calligraphy. The art and history museum had a very interesting exhibit based on an ancient amphora from Gaza found under the Geneva Cathedral and loads of archaeological artifacts unearthed in the Gaza area.

The Maison Tavel museum is in the oldest house in Geneva and has an amazingly intricate model of the city as it looked in 1850. Apparently some metalsmither spent most of his life building a small version of every single building in Geneva, which was so fortified with city walls and moats that it was said to be one of the safest cities in Europe.

My new most favorite thing ever is the Sunday market in Divonne, France. I biked over thinking I could get a baguette and some fruit. Unbelievable. Rows and rows and tents and tents of fresh produce, breads, meat, cheeses, wines, spices, sweets, you name it…. So I totally forgot about the baguette and splurged on oysters, wine and a chocolate pastry (as if I needed any extra aphrodisiac goodness to fall in love with this place) Those frenchies certainly know what they’re doing in the culinary department and I intend to take full advantage!

A wonderful weekend in Milan of gluttonous gastronomy, haute couture, and catching up with friends from home.

Nicole and I caught early Saturday train to Milan. Lovely ride through eastern Switzerland and northern lake region of Italy including Lake Maggiore. Headed to the Piazza del Duomo and the cathedral. The cathedral (1386) is the largest I’ve been in: capacity 40,000. The style is late gothic, with pillars, pinnacles, spires, flying buttresses and the works. The front part was under renovation, but we still saw most of it in it’s full glory. An interesting note is that a nail supposedly from Christ’s cross lives in the cathedral in a contraption built by Da Vinci. We climbed the stairs to the rooftop, where some 135 spires and 3200 statues watch over the city. Interesting to consider the implications in the changes of architectural styles of churches over the centuries.

Met up with Stacey & Matt in time for a nice dinner in the charming older part of the city (More on the food later…) So nice to see friends from home and especially Stacey since she speaks fluent Italian (although she was a bit reluctant to speak it.) We moved on to a bar next to the castle where we had the most incredible mojitos. They just don’t make them like that anywhere else. Stacey and Matt went back to the hotel to rest up after their long train ride, and Nicole and I stayed on for a lesson in mojito making (and consuming!) from the bartenders. We started dancing and before we knew it the bartenders invited us behind the bar to dance and make them drinks. Wow do those Italians know how to have a good time! We danced and laughed for hours and hours.

The next day we woke up a bit hungover, possibly still a little drunk? Went to a photography museum, then found the fashion district and did a little window shopping. It was fashion week in Milan and there were all kinds of beautiful people swarming. Granted I’ve always considered anything not from Old Navy to be couture, but the clothing was so extravagant, hard to believe people actually wear some of the outfits. The window displays were pretty fascinating though, if you look at them more as art exhibits than clothing. Hundreds of stores with bags, shoes and dresses made from every animal skin and fur imaginable. Prada alone has I think a dozen or so stores in Milan.

We had another lovely dinner with Stacey & Matt then crashed and slept hard to catch the early morning train.

Which brings me to the food. Dear Gussy, where to begin. Salmon & Brie Panini, wine, Lasagna that literally melts in your mouth, wine, Smoked Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, more wine, lemoncello, peach gelato, tiramisu, more wine, parma ham, carbonara pasta, risotto, still more wine, caprese salad, the list goes on and on. I ordered a huge salad one night trying to be a good girl, it came drenched in pure mayonnaise! It’s really a wonder they are all so fashionably thin. A very good thing that the nutritional guides over here don’t call them calories, they call them energies. As in “oh this chocolate bar has 1500 grams of energy, surely if I eat the whole thing I’ll be able to climb Mount Everest” as opposed to “This chocolate bar has 1500 calories and my thighs are going to blow up like the Good Year blimp.”

Milan was quite the excessive weekend between food, drink, fashion and spending money but I will never forget how much fun it was.