October 2007

These were my thoughts just prior to Mums's visit. Not published until now, but I am trying to quickly and briefly catch up! Sometime in October ...

Well, I have been slack. All I can say is things have been very up and down, and very busy.

Financially difficult, until we got our health insurance sorted a little better. Busy for a number of reasons. For me mainly due to my Sommerreitkurse – we had the last two lessons in early October. Then the Patriouillenritt season began – so I have spent two weekends riding all Saturday, and then Sundays recovering! Got some good results in the dressage riding classes, so I was very pleased, and thrilled with Jessika’s effort. It’s a challenge to tune in to her enough to get her to deliver but she will give – you just have to ask correctly!

Jason has been beavering away at work, and also been quite sick – a classic cold, but quite possibly the worst he has ever had. I used to hold the record for colds and flus. It seems that he has unfortunately taken over that mantle!

We went to Bellinzona for our wedding anniversary in early October. The castles and scenery were spectacular, and the food wonderful. But the hospitality at the hotels wasn’t great, and the choice of places to stay really ordinary! We spent Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday morning exploring the castles, museums and restaurants in and around Bellinzona. Jason took some beautiful photos, which I will link to in due time.

Having spent some time there my recommendation to anyone visiting Bellinzona is to find accommodation in the surrounding area. Especially that area north of Bellinzona known as Alto Ticino. There are some hotels, and many more agri-Turismo, holiday houses and bed and breakfasts in these beautiful valleys. Lugano has more accommodation options, but the atmosphere is very touristy and resort like, which was not our cup of tea.

If you do stay in Alto Ticino then a car is the best way to get around. It is fine to stay in small villages e.g. the Centovalli and travel by train. However other more remote valleys only have intermittent bus services. So getting to and from the places you want to visit can be inconvenient, especially if you have a tight schedule.

I had a job interview at Novartis in October. It was quite long (2.5 hours), very hot and uncomfortable. No job offer unfortunately. The opportunity to get my foot in the door at Novartis was too good to pass up. Especially with my rudimentary German skills. At worst it was a line into recruitment central, a chance for us to get to know one another, and discuss my skills and abilities, and see what flows from that. Fingers crossed there will be some other opportunities come up.

Making plans for Mum’s visit. Maija and Djuks will be visiting too, for the second week of Mums visit. Cool!!

Ciao for now!