I'M BACK !!!!!!

Back to the cold weather (I love it!!).  Back to Peter !  Back to my lovely house !  Back to work.......  

Oh, well, three out of four ain't bad. 

What a great experience!

     

The Terminal

If you've seen the movie The Terminal starring Tom Hanks you'll know how I've been feeling today stuck in HK airport for 17 hours!

I keep wandering off down the numerous corridors getting lost and eventually finding my way back to the Travellers' Lounge.  The little Chinese guy at the reception desk thinks I've gone for good each time I go past, but to his dismay, I keep coming back.  I've had a massage, a French manicure, skyped Peter several times and written emails galore.  I have read the Wall Street Journal, the South China Morning Post, Time Magazine and even the Finacial Times but I'm no smarter than when I arrived this morning.  I have tasted every item of food on the menu, had coffee of every sort - espresso, cappucino, latte and even tried their rather bland noodle soup.  At least I've been able to do things like have a shower and a doze on a chair in the somewhat secure area.  Don't know what I would have done if I'd had to wait in the general area.  I would have gone bonkers!

I know how this woman feels.............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miLkhYLjnPY

Homeward Bound

Rome’s Termini Station looks deceptive upon first glance. The taxi had just dropped us at the entrance and we approached the Arrivals/Departures board to await the platform allocation for my train to Fiumicino Airport. Maureen’s was leaving 40 minutes after mine so her’s wasn’t even on the screen. Seven minutes before the scheduled departure time it was allocated platform 28. Panic set in. The platforms that we could see were in the single digits, so we both made our way to the right and followed signs which pointed to platforms 20 to 30. Arriving just in the nick of time as platform 28 was miles away from where we were, Maureen helped me get my luggage onto the train and we farewelled each other. Poor Maureen then needed to get back to where we started to check on her train to Milan (and then eventually to Schaffhausen). I hope she made it back OK and found her platform. Nothing’s ever easy.

Arrived at Fiumicino Airport 30 minutes later and checked in my baggage (21.9kg this time – an increase of about 3 kg). It wasn’t a problem though. The frisking department always picks on me and I had a water bottle with about an inch of water in it which they made me drink. My backpack was checked twice – maybe it was the salami roll I had made for my lunch (from the breakfast goodies) that had caught their noses. My backpack is starting to fall apart on one of the zippers, so I hope it lasts the distance.

The flight on Cathay Pacific was longggggggggggg - 12 hours.  I watched 5 movies including "The boy with the Striped Pyjamas" which had me in tears.  When I wanted a midnight snack of noodles they told me they had run out.  What th'......!  Aren't they supposed to cater for certain numbers??  I didn't dare ask if they had any ice-creams left as advertised in their Flight Details.

Arrived in HK 20 minutes early and explored the airport.  Found the Travellers' Lounge and paid 600 HKD to spend the next 15 hours there so that I had food, drinks, TV, newspapers, showers, WIFI and a massage.  Cathay Pacific should have another look at their schedules and close the gap up a bit.  I'm flying out at 11:30pm.

CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME!

Roman Holiday

I wish Gregory Peck could have taken me on the back of his Vespa to see the sights of Rome.  Instead we had to use the green hop-on-hop-off bus - not quite the same, I'm afraid.  The weather here in Rome is in the 30s and the humidity must be 90% because it is quite oppressive.  Don't know why they call this the peak tourist season - any tourist in their right mind would be better off avoiding Rome (in fact most of Italy) at this time of year.

Maureen and I bought a 2 day pass on the tour bus which was sold to us as being airconditioned.  But this is Rome, and they can tell you anything.  Maureen sat at the top of the bus in the full sun.  I stayed below where it was shaded but pretty stifling.  We got off at various points to do things like visiting the Piazza Venezia, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.  Maureen thought the Spanish Steps were a little overrated and looked pretty ordinary, but apparently their fame lies in the fact that they are a set of steps climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the church of Trinità dei Monti. The Scalinata is the longest and widest staircase in Europe.  We also took a boat ride up and down Rome's river Tiber (Tevere).  (Don't know why they change these names to something that sounds nothing like the original??)  Il Tevere is a pretty boring river with nothing much on it due to the fact they had to build huge walls around it to stop flooding.  In some parts however, they have set up some temporary cafes and restaurants and stages to host special events.

We went home to refuel, check our emails, skype and cool down.  Set out again at 7pm to eat at the same restaurant we ate at last night.  This time we ordered T-bone veal steak because Maureen was feeling iron deficient.  What was served looked nothing like the T-bones we know and love.  They were paper thin and smothered in a cream sauce.  Didn't even taste like meat.  Will stick to spaghetti alle vongole from now on.  The red house wine was pretty good though.

Boarded the green bus again for another complete tour of Rome, but this time by night.  It was terrific - much better than in the day as we could sit at the top and it was coolish.  We saw Rome by night with all the lights on and the Colosseum was all lit up.  Walking home at 11pm along the quiet streets (everyone was busy watching Spain and Holland fight it out in the soccer in cafes and restaurants) trying to remember how to get home made me realise we probably shouldn't be walking the streets of Rome at that hour.  We eventually got home safely, and crashed.

Venice - Murano Glass and a ride in a Gondola!

Glass blowing in Murano

Maureen admiring the glass displays

A Chandelier made in Murano

A Clown made of glass (the one on the left)

This glass sitar worth around E 4,000

Our gondola ride (Notice the pink accessories - Maureen's into pink)

I have been to Venice twice before, so I have seen most of it already.  There were a couple of things I hadn't yet done because I have always been too tight to spend the money.  One is to go on a Gondola ride, and the other is to go to the island of Murano.  Well, we ended up doing both!

I didn't mention in my previous blog that the Italian transport system went on strike last night at 9pm.  We just happened to miss it as we arrived by train in Venice at 8:40pm.  Apparently in Italy they just stop the train and tell you it's the end of the road when they have strikes.  So we were terribly lucky.  This morning we were about to buy an all day ticket for the Venice transport system (Vaporetti) when we were informed that they were not operating due to the strike.  Fortunately for us the hotel said we could ride in a private water taxi to the island of Murano and visit the glass factory all free of charge (presumably in the hope of us spending some tourist euros on their Murano glass products).  We took this opportunity as it was the only one we had and quite enjoyed the experience (I actually spent some tourist euros on a glass pendant).

Our gondola ride was quite pleasant as well.  It cost us E 80 (in total) for 40 minutes with a running commentary of all the attractions and the history of Venice.  Fortunately, there was no rendition of 'O Sole Mio'.

Now that I am in Italy I am feeling comfortable speaking the language.  I am finding it easy to speak Italian and in Venice I can hear people speaking the Veneto dialect which is very simlar to mine.

I LOVE VENICE !  I would love to see it when the flooding occurs at high tide in the winter.  Our gondolier told us that all the young people are leaving Venice because it is too expensive to live here.  Instead they are living in Mestre.

Zermatt in the summer

Our hotel 'The Couronne'

The Matterhorn

Maureen and I having lunch in Zermatt

View from the cable car

Relaxing on our quick tour of Visp

Waiting for our train to Milan

Maureen having lunch on the train to Milan

Met Maureen in Visp and we both travelled to Zermatt on a Matterhorn Express train which happened to be privately run (unbeknownst to us) and not part of the Eurail system.  So surprise, surprise, we had to pay an extra forty something Swiss francs for the privilege.

Our hotel "The Couronne" was quite nice but even though we asked for twin beds we got twin mattresses on the one bed.  It didn't worry me particularly because I had been sleeping around with lots of females over the last 6 weeks.  We wondered if the hotel management thought we were a couple......

The Matterhorn was right there in front of us and visible from most parts of the town.  Got up bright and early the next morning to take the cable car up to the top of the Matterhorn.  It was a 2+ hour event and we thought we could fit it in before breakfast.  Just our luck to find that one of the middle stations was out of commission due to technical issues, and so we could only go up a certain way.  If we had the time, the inclination and the hiking gear we could have walked the length of the incapacitated station up to the next one and then continued to the top.  However, as we had a train to catch we didn't want to take the risk.  The full trip would have been CHF90 but we could only take the CHF45 trip.  This was OK because we started panicking at one stage when the entire system stopped while we were midway between mountains and we thought we were going to be stuck up there.

Zermatt is a beautiful town in the summer and it would be spectacular in the winter covered in snow.  One of these days I'm coming to Europe in winter just to be in the midst of all the snow.  We ended up leaving Zermatt early so that we could spend a couple of hours sightseeing in Visp on the way to Milan (ultimately Venice).

It's Over!!!!

Our final Swiss dinner

More of us at Swiss dinner

I can't believe it's all over.  Five weeks have flown by and so much has happened.  The American kids returned on Sunday night and classes resumed on Monday.  We gave our presentations on Tuesday which are worth 20% of the marks, and I must say they were all so professional and well done showing that research had been done and the powerpoint presentaions were excellent.  I am constantly amazed at these guys.  I checked with Dr Ryan as to what I will be receiving from Oklahoma State University as far as accreditation goes, and I understand it might be some sort of certificate.  The others get 6 credits towards their degree.

On Tuesday night we had a final traditional Swiss Dinner which was put on by the Hotel school.  I made a speech and thanked different people (staff, travelmates, roommates and various others) for making my experience such a memorable one.  I'm a little sad to be ending the odyssey, but glad to be going on to do something different for the next 6 days before going home.  I'm actually looking forward to going home to the cold (I don't like the hot weather).

Wednesday morning bright and early I headed off after breakfast to the Bouveret train station and took the train to Visp where I was meeting my friend Maureen and then together heading to Zermatt.

Bike Riding to Chateau de Chillon

Tap Dancer performing in Le Bouveret

Flea Market in Le Bouveret

My bike crossing the River Rhone

My bike at the Chateau de Chillon

Today was the day I had set aside to go bike riding from Le Bouveret to Chateau de Chillon, a distance of about 10 km.  I wandered down to the marina noticing a throng of people and stalls lining the lake.  Apparently there was a huge flea market happening which distracted me for a while.  The young male tap dancer took my attention for a long while (as I am a real fan of tap!).  I finally made it to the bike loan place and was fitted with a mountain bike, lock and even though helmets are not compulsory here in Switzerland, I opted for one just in case.

After practising a bit and getting my bike legs again (haven't ridden in a while but you know what they say?  Once you know you never forget) I set off towards Villeneuve about 7 kms away heading east from Le Bouveret. 

It felt like being in a French movie because every person I came across said 'bonjour'.  So it was bonjours all round (at least 30 of them) duting the whole trip unless it was a German or an American or Englishman that I was passing.  I crossed the Rhone River and stopped to take a photo.  There are no photos of me and the bike together unfortunately, as I was travelling solo.

Lost my way once when I followed a couple in front of me and I ended up on private property and was duly reprimanded by a gentleman who I presume must have been the owner.  He's probably sick of trespassers which would contribute to his unsociable outburst.  Actually the signs are pretty good, so there was no excuse for getting lost.

I kept to the right side of the road and tried to stick to footpaths or bike tracks.  The terrain was mostly flat but there were a few hills leading into the towns.  I arrived at the little village of Villeneuve and had a rest and a drink.  I could see the chateau up ahead so it wasn't far.  When I finally did make it to the Chateau there were millions of Asian tourists waiting to go in.  I couldn't find anywhere to chain my bike up, either.  So I gave it a miss.  I took a couple of outside shots and started heading back. 

The trip home was faster as I was more confident.  I knew I was on the right track when I recognised the cows.  I had done 20 kms in the heat and I was pooped.

The rest of the group is returning today some time, so they will all have some interesting stories of their escapades in Italy.

Vevey and the Jazz Festival in Montreux

Jazz Festival along the lakefront in Montreux

Jazz Festival

Food Pyramid at Alimentarium Food Museum.  Note where the wine is!!!

Another boat trip today to the little town of Vevey situated on the north shore of Lake Geneva and sits between Montreux and Lausanne.  It is the site of the headquarters of the food giant, Nestle, founded there in 1867.  Apparently, milk chocolaate was invented in Vevey by a fellow named Daniel Peter in 1857.

I happened to be on the same boat as some of the Nevada kids and their lecturer who invited me to join them for a visit to the Alimentarium Food Museum because he had funding for 15 kids and only 6 turned up for the day's outing (due to reasons I won't disclose).  Quite interesting displays and especially a 3D movie on what happens inside our bodies when we ingest various types of food.  It was interesting to see a display of typical food by country and the American display had a large plate of hamburger and fries.

Took another boat to Montreux again to see what was happening as the Jazz festival has started.  Phil Collins played there a couple of nights ago I was told and all the concerts are booked out.  Lots of people, lots of stalls selling the usual market stall stuff, lots of eating places and stages for artists and bands to perform.  Some free stuff was happening which I watched.

Arrived at the boat to return to Bouveret and I felt pretty exhausted.  Have I mentioned before it's hard work being a tourist??

Swiss - French!

Le Bouveret is a lakeside resort known mainly for its huge marina and its tourist attractions. It is a charming village situated at the mouth of the Rhone where it feeds into Lake Geneva.  It offers a vast variety of water sports - catamarans, water skiing, windsurfing, pedal boats and big bananas, and of course magnificent cruises to other towns around the lake.

I would have difficulty living here because I can't understand the language.  They speak a dialect of Swiss-French that on the surface sounds like French, but the words are all different.  The little bit of French that I know is the pure French as is spoken in Paris and no matter how hard I try to understand what they are saying it all sounds like gobbledegook to me.  I pick up a few words here and there but when put all together and spoken quickly it is mostly incomprehensible.  I can understand how this dialect developed because it is the same in Italy where different dialects developed in the towns which, back in history, were totally isolated from other villages.

On my nightly walk (when I say nightly, I mean around 8 or 9 pm because it stays light here till about 10pm) around the town and the marina area I ran into Stan, the 'American who sounds Irish' who I met last night on the train.  He was enjoying a drink with 2 other gentlemen who didn't speak any English.  They invited me to join them, and, not having any other prior engagement, I sat with them for a while over a glass of rose (naturellement) and tried to conduct a conversation with the non-English speaking guys.  Very difficult.  Shortly afterwards a young girl in her twenties joined us as Stan had invited her for a raclette (a Swiss dish using raclette cheese).  This was a first date for Stan, he confided in me, and she was half his age and she spoke no English either, but she was a very lovely girl he had befriended over 6 months on the train.

Shortly afterwards I thanked them for the wine and took my leave to let them continue with their meal and made my way back home.  I'd given my legs the stretch they needed after sitting most of the day at the computer doing my assignment.  

Geneva

Today I took the train to Geneva.  Located on the south-western tip of Lake Geneva, it has a population of 410,000.  It has a new, very chic shopping district and an old town and I explored the shopping area on my own and bought Peter a Swatch watch.  I ventured into the old town myself but thought it would be best to take a guided tour so that I knew what I was looking at.  Not very large nor terribly exciting but I saw how austere the Calvinist church was compared to the Christian churches and was able to identify some of the old buildings embellished with a little history.  Didn't go into any museums where I had to pay money - my measuring stick is "Will I be a better person for having done this?"  If the answer is 'No" then I don't outlay the money.

My journey home was a little more complicated than the 'to' journey.  My stamina had worn out by about 3pm so I phoned Peter and asked him to look upsome earlier train times on the internet.  I then took an earlier train but (as is always the way) there had been an accident on the Geneva to airport line and announcements at the Geneva station were telling me that trains were leaving from different platforms.  I was confused.  Masses of people were rushing to other platforms and I wasn't sure if I was boarding the right train.  I ended up missing the train I was going to take and got on a train to Brig hoping that it stopped in St Maurice.  Just before Lausanne I asked the ticket-controller whether it did and he said 'No', so I got off at Lausanne and took another train which did.  There was only a 7 minute gap between this train and the one to Bouveret once I arrived at St Maurice, but it looked OK.  This train arrived in St Maurice late but the Bouveret train apparently had to wait for the big trains. So all was OK.

I made friends with this guy, Stan, who said it was the last train to Bouveret.  So, had I been any later I would have had to find accommodation in St Maurice for the night!!!  Stan is from California but I could have sworn he had an Irish accent ( he said it came from years of living in Switzerland).  Anyway, we became quite chummy in the space of 30 minutes (no need to worry, Peter) and we both got off in Bouveret.  There was a band playing near the marina so he asked if I wanted a drink, which I accepted as I needed to have some social interaction.  We sat at one of the restaurants and had some nice swiss rose and another friend of his, Carl, (who is an ex-hotelier who used to run a hotel in Zermatt) joined us and we had a good chat.  The band was playing and quite a crowd had gathered.  Apparently, Bouveret has different bands playing on Thursday nights.

A couple of glasses later I took my leave as I was tired and needed to get home. I arrived at the residential building and the Nevada kids were holding their 'Dress in anything but clothes night'.  Now that was a sight!  No photos I'm afraid.

Nevada kids - Wedding Night

Last night I attended a wedding.  I wasn't dressed for it so I hung around the perimeter so as not to spoil their photos.  The Nevada group hat is staying here held a mock wedding to give the girl who aspires to be a wedding planner a chance to hone her skills.  The bride wore a lovely yellow dress made out of the duvet cover with large glimpses of black bra showing through.  the preacher wore his graduation gown, and the guests were done up to the nines.  They even had 2 gateaux they had cooked in their class that day as the wedding cake.  Lots of wine was drunk straight from the bottles and it appears, from what they tell me, that the honeymoon was pretty good too.

Nevada kids - Toga Night

I ran into a group of Romans in the hallway !  It appears that a group of kids from Nevada Uni are staying here for a week or so and they are holding theme nights every night and tonight is Toga Night.  They tell me that tomorrow night is Wedding Night, so I'll have to pop down and take a look at their outfits for that tomorrow night.  It appears they used the doona covers and sheets for their togas.  They'll probably take down the scrim curtains for the Wedding Night.

Lausanne

Approaching Lausanne by boat

Lausanne from the lake

Palais de Rumine, Place de la Riponne

Took a boat trip to Lausanne today.  It is a beautiful city, 'Switzerland’s San Francisco' according to the tourist blurbs, a city of incredibly steep hills that has developed up the slopes above the lake on a succession of compact, south-facing terraces. It is set in the foothills of the Savoy Alps which peep through between gaps in buildings or at the ends of steeply dropping alleys. There are plenty of parks and tree-lined lakefront promenades.  The population of the greater Lausanne area is over 316,000.

I got off the boat 2 hours later and realised the town centre was a little inland and up some hilly terrain, but I thought I could walk it.  I stopped to ask a couple of young ladies how to get there and they said 'Voulez-vous marche au centre?' to which I replied 'Mais Oui".  They looked at me as if I were nuts and said 'C'est tres loin, madame.  Vous devez prendre le Metro.'  This was going to be more complicated than I thought what with having to negotiate metro tickets and get off at the right stop etc.  I soon found Le Metro in the direction they had pointed and I bought my ticket from a machine that could talk to me in English.  I got on the train and voila! six stops later I had arrived at Riponne which was the city centre.  I soon concluded that the train system is the simplest ever - just a straight line from the Ouchy boat terminal up the hill to Riponne. 

Anyway, I wandered around for several hours looking at the shops and doing the touristy thing and stopped to have lunch at Le Chantilly Restaurant where I had a yummy salad with warm chicken livers and was able to do my menu/restaurant analysis which is part of an assignment.

I used my mediocre French to ask several times how to get from one place to another, and a young guy must have thought I looked like a local because he asked me in French how to get to the police station.

Took the 5pm boat back to home sweet home.  I was tired.  Not sure that I did Lausanne justice as a tourist because I only visited the foyer of one Museum and I'm sure there are lots of other touristy things to do.  I couldn't venture too far off the beaten track or I would have gotten lost.

Tomorrow will be a rest day and I will tackle my project assignment.

Fondue

Our CHF 76 Fondue (that's AUD 82)

The other evening a group of us went to Le Cafe de Tour for dinner and Ashley and I ordered the meat fondue which was listed as being for 2 people after checking with the waiter that the listed price was for both of us (CHF 38) and not each.  Three times we checked and he said "Oui, oui seulement 38 francs" each time.  Ashley and I both enjoyed it tremendously, but when we got the bill it had it listed as 76 francs.  I went and spoke with the waiter and he agreed to take 38 francs off the bill and he appeared to understand that it had been a misinterpretation.  After paying the bill for the table and he had agreed that we shouldn't have to pay the 38 francs, he came up to me and said "You pay?"  I said 'Non, non' and he then seemed to accept it but he thought he would have another attempt at recovering the money.  We didn't pay it and all seemed OK.  It was lost in translation and I'm wondering if he had to pay it out of his own pocket, because he gave me an unfriendly look when I passed him tonight on the way home from the boat.

Swimming in Bouveret

No, not me!  I was the chaperone.  You wouldn't catch me parading around in bathers amongst this 20 year old bunch.  The weather was pretty good and hot and I cooled off with a beer instead.  The water was pretty cold, I was told, and they all sunbaked afterwards (which I don't do well).

The last day of classes is over for another week.  All 18 of the group head off bright and early tomorrow morning on the train from Bouveret to Florence, Siena (for a vineyard tour in Banfi), then they are off to various places like Rome, Venice and Cinque Terre.  I've done them all and will be doing Rome and Venice later on anyway, so I don't feel I will be missing out.  What I will be missing out on is the long train travel doing assignments, the eating of bland Italian food, the interminable shopping, and the staying at cheap hostels with 4 to a room and dirty showers.  I want to remember Venice and Rome as classically beautiful places with good food and good accommodation befitting someone of my age and experience!

I'm planning to visit 3 places along the lake including Geneva, work on my assignment in comfort, read, go on walks and maybe a bike ride along the lake, eat out at interesting restaurants to do some assignments, and have some time to myself.  I will probably get up early to see them all off at the train station, though.

Afternoon in Montreux

Chateau du Chillon near Montreux

My roommates during the stay in Maastricht (Julie, Stephanie and Liz)

On the Montreux Riviera

The lecturer kindly gave us the afternoon off to go across the lake to Montreux to book train travel to Italy for next week.  I took the opportunity to book the Italy travel that I'm doing after the course with Maureen.  Even with first class eurail passes some trains need to have reservations made, so I needed to book the Visp - Milan, Milan - Venice, Venice - Rome legs which cost CHF 90 for the two of us.  A little unfair, I think, that reservations need to be made even after spending a whole lot of money on first class eurail passes.  As a matter of interest us oldies (anyone over 25 I believe) has to purchase first class eurail passes rather than 2nd class.

A few of the kids went swimming in the lake when we got back - the temperature was around 28 degrees today and quite warm.  Yesterday several of them walked to France.  If you turn left out of the hotel school and walk about 45 minutes you get into France.  Some of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) is in France.

Next week when I'm here on my own I might borrow a bike from the hotel school and cycle around the lake to some of the town towards Montreux.  I'll see how far I get before I call it a day.  Might look for a cycling mate.

Certificate in Swiss Culinary Arts, Tableside Service and Wine Tasting

Ferdinando and I making Crepes Suzette

Dr Bill Ryan presenting our certificates from the Cesar Ritz School

Eating 'Raclette' which we had just made.  Check out the chef outfits!

Our Students at work with the chef

 

Jake and Chef  'Urs' (on the right) 

Spent the morning in the kitchen making Raclette (traditional Swiss cheese dish), Fondue Fribourgoise (cheese fondue), Rosti (similar to hash browns but Swiss), Veal strips Zurich style, and a torte.  Our chef  whose name is 'Urs' and is nicknamed 'Bear' because that is what his name translates to, showed us how to make these dishes as well as giving us a background in Swiss cuisine.  We got to eat everything we cooked and it was all delicious. 

The top photo is the evidence I promised you of my starring role as a chef making crepes suzette. 

Ferdinando conducted the wine tasting class this afternoon and appeared to be grateful for my more mature palate when it came to describing the wine we were tasting.  We were given a lecture on the art of wine-making followed by the tasting of 4 different Swiss wines.  I still think our South Australian wines win hands down. 

This class was followed by a formal dinner where we were waited on by resident students (who seemed rather nervous about the whole thing).  We were presented with certificates in Swiss Culinary Arts, a book on the story of Cesar Ritz, the founder of hotels and a famous person in the history of hospitality.  We also got a small Swiss Army Knife.

Quite a day! 

Crepes Suzette a la Eddi

This morning we had a Side Table Service demonstration by the Maitre d'hotel, Ferdinand Mambriani.  It was pretty cool, I must say (gosh I'm starting to talk like the kids).  Ferdinand is a guy my age who is a pretty distinguished French/Swiss chef who is actually Italian but speaks French, Italian, German and English.  Over 4 hours he demonstrated the art of preparing dishes and serving them at the table in true Swiss silver service style.  The dishes he prepared and demonstrated were as follows:

• Caesar Salad
• Sole meuniere
• Roast chicken
• Steak "Diana" 
• Shrimp cocktail
• Crepes Suzette
• Irish Coffee

The 'piece de resitance' was the crepes suzette when Ferdinand said he needed an assistant and he pointed at me (probably because I was the one asking lots of questions).  So I got up quite apprehensively because he was a little scarey when he was ordering his sous-chef around.  Anyway, he gave me a pan and pre-prepared crepes and I had to follow what he did and make the sauce and set it alight and add the crepes, fold them in quarters and let them soak up the brandy sauce.  It was quite a show!  I did a marvellous job, I thought, and then I had to serve the crepes to all the students with ice-cream.  I wasn't allowed to use tongs or anything, just a fork and a spoon.  Several photos were taken, but not on my camera, so you'll all have to wait till I get hold of a photo for the evidence.

International Cuisine & Food and Beverage Management

Day 1 of the second course and all is well!  Our lecturer is George and he seems great.  We started out by relating our experiences on the last Open Travel and this was followed by some group activities (they like to get us to bond).  Our syllabus looks pretty interesting dealing with international food and beverage trends, the history of food around the world, exploration of cuisines around the world (with focus on France and Italy), the evolution of professional cooking, menu development, styles of table service, relationship between food and wine and types of cuisine cooked in European homes.  Sounds pretty good.  Of course we have assignments and these consist of analysing menus and ambiance from 5 different restaurants noting the customs, food composition, presentation and service in each place.  We also have a group project/presentation where we have to select a restaurant food concept/company from Europe that we feel could establish a market in the US, and write a 22 page paper on it and present it to the class.  Now doesn't that sound just so simple???  Any suggestions to use for a restaurant concept would be very welcome.

After class I went for a long walk around this cute town, and bought some batteries for my dead mouse.  I came across a lotto shop so I went in and asked in French how to play it.  The instructions came in French and with a bit of sign language I sussed it out and played 1 game.  I'll let you know on Saturday if I've become a Swiss Millionnaire.

Some of the kids have gone out to buy charcoal, meat and salads for a BBQ, but I'm just making my salami and raclette cheese (boy does it stink!!) rolls before the bread goes stale, but I'll join them out on the patio for a beer or a wine (I have stocked up, you know!).

Whooppee, the batteries have revived my mouse so I no longer have to use the silly little touch pad on my computer.  I've never found anything more awkward to use.

As far as the next travel goes, everyone will be going into Italy, but I think I will stay here in Bouveret and do day trips on the boat to a few of the towns along Lake Geneva such as Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, Chillon, and if I get very adventurous, Geneva.  It seems a shame to not visit these places while I am here and I have free accommodation and meals.  Everybody is going to places I have already been to and will also be visiting after this course, so I'm going to see how long I can stand my own company.  I can fill in some of the days by reading, doing my cuisine journals by eating out in restaurants, and watching some of my favourite TV shows online at night.  I can also skype Peter whenever possible as we have unlimited internet.  I'll be OK.  This is such a beautiful environment that I'm going to relish every minute of it.

Institut Hotelier Cesar Ritz

Now begins the next stage of our adventures!

We have all finally arrived in dribs and drabs to the Cesar Ritz Hotel School in Bouveret, Switzerland.  It is a prominent 'pink' building of several storeys built high up on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Geneva.

My group was first to arrive before lunch this morning and we were checked in and shown to our rooms in another 3 storey building next door.  I am sharing a room with Ashley and the rooms are wonderful.  Only 2 beds where they would have fitted 6 in the last place.  We have a TV with DVD, fridge, free wifi in the room ,a desk each, 2 safes and lots of cupboard and wardrobe space.  We are in heaven.  The common areas have a laundry, a TV/Games room with pool table and other games, a BBQ area with outdoor sitting area, even a very well-equipped gym.  Luckily this is the second part of the tour and not the first - we would have hated to go from this to what we had in Maastricht.

As other groups arrived from their travels we made our way to the dining room and had lunch then settled into our new home for the next 2 weeks.  I went walking and exploring the local area which is all very pretty.

There isn't that much in Bouveret Village.  Only 2 bars and 4 restaurants, much to the dismay of some of the students.  We found the supermarket and stocked up on food to keep in our fridges so that we could eat at home.  We all bought a selection of wines from the supermarket.

Am looking forward to an interesting and informative couple of weeks learning about European cuisine and food preparation.