tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293375142024-03-07T11:19:57.025-08:00The Perpetual Expatriate - Jumping into the deep end in new countriesNow a Permanent ExpatriateCatherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-22545699259030287922017-02-28T15:24:00.002-08:002017-03-01T08:11:16.551-08:00<b>The Adverts in the Underpass. Nyon railway station - February 2017. No 1.</b><br />
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I walk through the underpass of Nyon railway station almost every day - sometimes two or three times a day. There are at least four advertising boards in this space with adverts, promotions and political posters on them. They have varied a lot in the 16 years that I have lived in the town. I wish I had thought to photograph them before, they would have made an interesting historical record of advertising trends and what's happening in the area.<br />
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Anyway, I hope to remedy that and write a blog post every time there are new adverts in the underpass. I'll translate them into English as best as I can and explain what they are about.<br />
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This first one is a recruitment poster for the police in the canton (county/state) of Vaud here in Switzerland and it shows three examples of policemen and women: Olivier, Mélanie and Laurent. This poster campaign was part of a bigger recruitment campaign which included rather a moving video showing the human side to policing. To be honest, I thought this poster would have been defaced by now, but suprisingly, it's still intact.<br />
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The second poster is for the Smart car promoting leasing deals for as little as CHF 99 per month.</div>
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This third poster is from Nyon tourist board with a map of all the winter activities in the area, from snow shoeing to skiing to where to go for a fondue. </div>
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This poster below is an appeal for donations to the Swiss paraplegic foundation.<br />
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This is the railway timetable of of the trains that leave from Nyon. This is permanently in the underpass. You will find these bright yellow, easy to read posters in all Swiss railway stations.<br />
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And finally - this is a map of the rail network of Switzerland and a map of the key transport hubs in Nyon.</div>
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Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-59511479642816186052016-02-21T07:35:00.000-08:002016-02-21T07:35:42.257-08:00A Peach of a Day in the valley of ApricotsClear blue skies, crisp white snow and warm temperatures meant is was a peach of a day in this part of the Valais today. It was relatively peaceful too and the only sound you could hear in the village was the snow as it melted and dripped off the rooftops.<br />
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When it's not snowing here in this part of the <a href="http://www.valais.ch/en/home">Valais</a> it's also very sunny, so this climate, along with the sandy soil, make ideal growing conditions for apricots. Around 98% of Swiss apricots come from this region.<br />
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A couple of years ago when it was apricot season, I decided to buy kilos and kilos of fresh apricots with the intention of drying them out in the sun and then packing them up in little bags for future use (our family tend to eat a lot of dried fruit). I also hoped to save a bit of money as a 200g bag of dried apricots costs around CHF 5.95 in a Swiss supermarket (around $6 or £4.17). <br />
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Needless to say it was a disaster, half the fruit went mouldy when I tried to dry it out. There's more to the process than I realised. Laying apricots out on a table in the sun doesn't really cut it. You have to add all sorts of stuff to preserve the fruit which I didn't know about. I was then told you can buy special fruit drying machines and I saw one of these machines in our local Landi, this is sort of an agricultural/ plant/ equipment store (there are lots of wellies and farm overalls for sale on the shelves) but the machine looked quite bulky and it was pricey too. I then decided I had no place to really store such a thing in my kitchen so I gave up on the idea.<br />
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I think it was once Shirley Conran (author of the "Superwoman" books) that once said, "Life is too short to stuff a mushroom".<br />
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Life is probably also too short to faff around drying apricots as well. <br />
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Photo below - the "petanque on ice" rink in the village.<br />
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Looks a bit like curling to me.<br />
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<br />Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-55035697890189841352016-02-19T09:43:00.003-08:002016-02-19T14:03:44.909-08:00Fifty Shades of Gruyère. <br />
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This blog started off as the "Perpetual Expatriate" but now it really should be named the "Permanent Expatriate". I guess that's what you become when you end up living 14 years in a country (after living in many other countries for just 2 - 4 year periods). <br />
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Am I still an expat? Who knows? There are many opinions on this subject, more probably than the number of varieties of cheese that can be found in Switzerland. As this is the first time I can vote (locally) here in Switzerland, I guess I am no longer an expat. But it's a grey area, hence the title of this post.<br />
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Like many expats I started this blog many years ago as an outlet to post photos, comments and write general stuff about expat life. But then I started <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">another blog</a> about Nyon, (the town I live in), which took up a lot of time (and still does), and then I started writing a weekly column for the <a href="http://www.lacote.ch/">local newspaper</a> (I still do), and then I published <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/living-along-lac-leman-book-is-now-for-sale-the-perfect-gift-for-everyone/">a book</a>, and then I got hooked on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/catherine.nelsonpollard">Facebook</a> (I still am), and then I started <a href="https://twitter.com/LifeinNyon">Tweeting</a> and Instagramming and then I started another blog about <a href="http://swissmusicshow.com/">Swiss Music, </a>and then I started podcasting and this wee blog just got lost in the mix. <br />
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But I have decided to go back to blogging because;<br />
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a) it's still a great medium (despite those who are predicting its demise)<br />
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b) because I have friends who are not on Facebook but who would still like to know what I am doing<br />
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and<br />
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c) I like taking photos and writing about life and this is a good way to share it all.<br />
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on a more practical level<br />
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d) My own personal website <a href="http://www.catherinenelson-pollard.com/">Catherine Nelson-Pollard</a> is now hopelessly out of date.<br />
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Funnily enough, I helped two good friends start on the path of blogging many years ago. Marina Marangos writes <a href="http://mezzemoments.blogspot.ch/">wonderfully about her life </a>living as an expat in Brisbane and John Zimmer writes about the world of <a href="http://mannerofspeaking.org/author/mannerofspeaking/">public speaking</a>. Both of them and other friends have kept up their blogs, whereas I have let mine lapse. So I intend to remedy that. This old Blogger format seems a bit clunky after years of using Wordpress, but it will do for the moment.<br />
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Happy to be back.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-83660253942660660712012-03-19T08:24:00.018-07:002012-03-20T17:21:34.248-07:00Picking up from where I last left off<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiukuHQ9hhfOXgB5m2DOkfP02sZwKWH4NpFLH2bh7mriNF5t0TiPTAgAKgAPBs9DRWIx_CIcf23Nb1py9bT6r0TMvGmkgMgvflXyg_BWSQU3oqowHUnLCvQ0OTfFxWR62jJa4d/s1600/Scotland+summer+2011+002.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722115584010659826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiukuHQ9hhfOXgB5m2DOkfP02sZwKWH4NpFLH2bh7mriNF5t0TiPTAgAKgAPBs9DRWIx_CIcf23Nb1py9bT6r0TMvGmkgMgvflXyg_BWSQU3oqowHUnLCvQ0OTfFxWR62jJa4d/s400/Scotland+summer+2011+002.JPG" border="0" /></a> <br /><br />There has been a bit of a gap since my last posting. Quite a big "mind the gap" of 11 months actually, but that's not because nothing has been happening chez the perpet expat. Far from it, since I previously wrote about a trip to the smoke to see Kate and Wills tying the knot it's been a tad busy. <br /><br />Firstly there's <span style="font-size:100%;">been the holidays and trips. The holiday last summer </span><span style="font-size:100%;">to Yorkshire (Addingham, Ilkley, Skipton and Ossett), </span><span style="font-size:100%;">the North East coast of England (Berwick, Bamburgh, and Seahouses) and Scotland (Edinburgh). </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitwmy3GYW9oJ5G3Sh50hWWHGiPRsnhQnWRpjNUkrL1xRISwMTophI0TuBC5wRKUABZvqoab_mGXCUIWLGjgdGYg3nrhT88BOadWKosCB8hAAOUvdwxJkAu-WgVw55xDowpQBt/s1600/Scotland+summer+2011+041.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722117539218860226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitwmy3GYW9oJ5G3Sh50hWWHGiPRsnhQnWRpjNUkrL1xRISwMTophI0TuBC5wRKUABZvqoab_mGXCUIWLGjgdGYg3nrhT88BOadWKosCB8hAAOUvdwxJkAu-WgVw55xDowpQBt/s400/Scotland+summer+2011+041.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Windbreaker on beach on the North coast of England<strong>.</strong> </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Loads more mini breaks to the Valais (the canton next door to us in Vaud in Switzerland), then a trip in January this year to India to Delhi and on to the fabulous <a href="http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/">Jaipur Literature Festival </a>with my friend Marina (check her <a href="http://mezzemoments.blogspot.com/">"Mezze Moments"</a> blog out here).</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41AhFCYym3Ejl_WyURkX7uPKaqLQtBXNyk-_sAjeClL30vm0Rz5J5kcZc1b7lBNkcxRU_XgTLcsXcpZPXVh6JCYUEfGnNb5W2So0So1dOku8dYs-UrpL8hHwaUaQ1GxyIpmHr/s1600/India++January+2012+414.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722120488975104834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh41AhFCYym3Ejl_WyURkX7uPKaqLQtBXNyk-_sAjeClL30vm0Rz5J5kcZc1b7lBNkcxRU_XgTLcsXcpZPXVh6JCYUEfGnNb5W2So0So1dOku8dYs-UrpL8hHwaUaQ1GxyIpmHr/s400/India++January+2012+414.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></span>Oprah in Jaipur<br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:100%;">Then the Geneva Writers' Conference in Feb, then another trip to London to see the Hockney exhibition just last week. Got some good photos out of most of these trips and I'll get them posted on here soon. </span></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MpasuYe-BrABq0RDWFfuZBothbHrzIYdWEVuqbcjo223dm18k4IynLg7hx0pd5qlc4OJG4KlgYSTc9Wx7j4awE0wT9xYjyGr7kUkwSkZV5OUk-98pSUXIJlGx4Pj2PMtvveD/s1600/London+Spring+2012+031.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722126656218548290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-MpasuYe-BrABq0RDWFfuZBothbHrzIYdWEVuqbcjo223dm18k4IynLg7hx0pd5qlc4OJG4KlgYSTc9Wx7j4awE0wT9xYjyGr7kUkwSkZV5OUk-98pSUXIJlGx4Pj2PMtvveD/s400/London+Spring+2012+031.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:100%;">But its mainly been work stuff that's taken up most of my time, the weekly show on <a href="http://worldradio.ch/">World Radio Switzerland</a>, the weekly column in La Côte newspaper, editing of the Romandie section of <a href="http://www.helloswitzerland.ch/">"Hello Switzerland"</a> and the twice weekly updates on my other site <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">"Living in Nyon". </a>But the main reason for the temporary hiatus is that last autumn I published a book! It's called "Living along Lac Léman". </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJI5v6SAxKf4GYaWV06ViPWo4fFjBG9IdUlW_J6jy-BqBQ5PZcpYFvubOXY-guMrTmPWwz8DNFRIYwIbYadffXnq2YMu2GXkTZsInvzbdIISBM8-e0En7IuL4t0yJCrxlRWpa/s1600/Front+cover+LALL.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722128075236229026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 322px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJI5v6SAxKf4GYaWV06ViPWo4fFjBG9IdUlW_J6jy-BqBQ5PZcpYFvubOXY-guMrTmPWwz8DNFRIYwIbYadffXnq2YMu2GXkTZsInvzbdIISBM8-e0En7IuL4t0yJCrxlRWpa/s400/Front+cover+LALL.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:100%;">It's a light hearted collection of columns that have been published in English in <a href="http://www.lacote.ch/fr/">La Côte </a>newspaper for the last two years. The whole thing took a lot of blood sweat and tears to do, but it all worked out in the end thanks to a really helpful <a href="http://www.millerdesign.co.uk/">designer in Bristol</a> and loads of help from good friends and family. The columns are called the Living in Nyon columns from my site <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">Living in Nyon. </a>This is my main other site that takes up a lot of my time and why this one tends to get neglected somewhat these days. I hope to remedy it this year. You can always check out what's happening over on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Living-in-Nyon/144282035614565">Facebook (Living in Nyon</a>) and on Twitter too (Life in Nyon) too. </span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:100%;">Until next time folks and I promise it won't be 11 months again until the next epistle.</span> </div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-1197026585383150092011-07-12T13:47:00.001-07:002011-07-12T15:50:52.714-07:00Getting the shot but missing the moment<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxkfZsYqbRnmCMEvE-3D01GP5CWlFr42oP23x8AiNA6rVeLNnMjZR_vrpWJu7RNSS6-whxiE3YADNXrPl44ZbytUdRszjn3tLd0tHyWlJLIxUI0tqeRgzwa5bc7kcXCfBpzCi/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+P.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628600783546764882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxkfZsYqbRnmCMEvE-3D01GP5CWlFr42oP23x8AiNA6rVeLNnMjZR_vrpWJu7RNSS6-whxiE3YADNXrPl44ZbytUdRszjn3tLd0tHyWlJLIxUI0tqeRgzwa5bc7kcXCfBpzCi/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+P.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpIVr4BJN16r804N2eyk0CVPX-GxLQKG5BOj8CMLiCAXigmIPH4AmGkPQrboUdxRMLvG0bEFkGoCdau4krKGVah5eWbYoHbCo92VRzh9pf5Ol7zNzqwLilxzzcgPuI26WNjgH/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+050.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628578480788413794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpIVr4BJN16r804N2eyk0CVPX-GxLQKG5BOj8CMLiCAXigmIPH4AmGkPQrboUdxRMLvG0bEFkGoCdau4krKGVah5eWbYoHbCo92VRzh9pf5Ol7zNzqwLilxzzcgPuI26WNjgH/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+050.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Long after Kate and William tied the knot back in April, I'm finally getting round to posting the photos I took of the big day. It truly was a great one. We went to London to experience it all, the atmosphere, the bonhomie in the crowd, the pomp, the pageantry, a city truly at its best. Lots of great memories. There was just one small fly in the ointment - 5 minutes before Kate appeared in all her finery, my camera broke. In a really stupid move (my fault), I knocked it off the wall that I had stragically placed myself since 07:00 that morning. A position chosen to get great shots of it all. I obviously looked like I was on the verge of getting very upset, because daughter nuber one turned round to me ( in a key bit of role reversal ) and said;"Mum don't fuss, don't let it spoil the day, just enjoy it, the images will always be in your head". She was right, they still are. Later on she also "Mum if your camera hadn't broken it would have been a diferent day, you would have been too bothered about the shot and you would have missed the moment".<br /><br />Wise words indeed. However there are two images I really wish I could have captured.<br />The first is after the wedding itself, the procession had finished, Kate and William had kissed, and gone back into Buck house. The crowd had started to wend their way home and we walked back towards the tube but to avoid the crowds we snuck down a side street near Whitehall. There was a mobile catering van, catering to all the policemen, hundred of them, bobbies having a cup of tea, dunking biscuits, looking visibly relaxed, many with helmets off, jackets loosened, everything had gone without a hitch,they could relax. A perfect shot, a great image of the day and of Britain (albeit a tad clichéd) and a photo that I don't think anyone else would have got.<br /><br />The second missed photo opportunity was a group of very drunken "brides"- girls, all in "veils", all worse for wear, all squashed into a bright red phone box, and behind them, Big Ben towering over them. Oh well. Daughter was right, the images are still in my head which of course is the most important.<br /><br />The pics below are the few I did get in the early hours before the day really got going.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygQ2XRLc_68BKU2X5bgKmY702AJM6LToEimnNthjeNVPb2GzUVZjdbziK-YR9WVCSdMaRCiZaUg1iK3KYIPFObr6oCni48m5xiO3r37I9wNl7P7m3OmKGvMLIe6gfdvYpCzl2/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+043.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628577856201335954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygQ2XRLc_68BKU2X5bgKmY702AJM6LToEimnNthjeNVPb2GzUVZjdbziK-YR9WVCSdMaRCiZaUg1iK3KYIPFObr6oCni48m5xiO3r37I9wNl7P7m3OmKGvMLIe6gfdvYpCzl2/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+043.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mDmmIlV9UrPoN0uSJkPPxGzrjOcRzJlWQsrU_wI_6w6LZpaRBTPGrh9_Vd6ykn5m8q1A4pf2RKj-Ec0ERJPapAtBH5o63qPBRbcPzBAeQBdoX5sF75cNbDN3PA9BbYNwE1WW/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+B.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628577848630039922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 316px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mDmmIlV9UrPoN0uSJkPPxGzrjOcRzJlWQsrU_wI_6w6LZpaRBTPGrh9_Vd6ykn5m8q1A4pf2RKj-Ec0ERJPapAtBH5o63qPBRbcPzBAeQBdoX5sF75cNbDN3PA9BbYNwE1WW/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+B.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi025naLl2Y_JXBLTuw8dsGUhwUFjCWI42RYXH29pB7PtbKjBTtoeDvTHnh2mNQnJ0D8iBR22ehPgR0FVOkUBquqIT1MXZGWZC1G7xZjAbYUe2KCDS_yf3NKSGMHgGRrgAIjO0l/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+H.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628577838579142882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 364px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi025naLl2Y_JXBLTuw8dsGUhwUFjCWI42RYXH29pB7PtbKjBTtoeDvTHnh2mNQnJ0D8iBR22ehPgR0FVOkUBquqIT1MXZGWZC1G7xZjAbYUe2KCDS_yf3NKSGMHgGRrgAIjO0l/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+H.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5xV1CerW9dnM3yMyKx7x4ZuKNQZv8_aQ0mc-6AW393WlfEMbqWngCf_TpxB71DCD1Eu2azxiQ730g6xtKoX3rZ7PvZ7dY5ySaZqaNN6otQVOhJ-bBFJ0PMOxYCXzeHiNYWH-/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+K.jpg"></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT9fPRE1Qxap2ZnOOMIiXeijeTyw0YE7pLNFjpONMuO4mo_qj-VSok9cJMXCqyvgVx5bYgBej8GxYXpFxnTmIcdI95n2PYQuzox9S-rErGojAxQTDPE4pTGs53OIYC-Eyqmlf/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+Q.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628575383581737234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUT9fPRE1Qxap2ZnOOMIiXeijeTyw0YE7pLNFjpONMuO4mo_qj-VSok9cJMXCqyvgVx5bYgBej8GxYXpFxnTmIcdI95n2PYQuzox9S-rErGojAxQTDPE4pTGs53OIYC-Eyqmlf/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+Q.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WG3yO6w_-fZkRLJl5TD5wzcz38zpoJejIybO0CyXZ4O5lO61vbFugug-eiOPyBNFk5W6AU8mVjs5EcUjGLn4D6AA21bxYcrrFTXwodpE94rxCLConF-5qZCTrHRvLnJ-BoM5/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+O.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628574562851525602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WG3yO6w_-fZkRLJl5TD5wzcz38zpoJejIybO0CyXZ4O5lO61vbFugug-eiOPyBNFk5W6AU8mVjs5EcUjGLn4D6AA21bxYcrrFTXwodpE94rxCLConF-5qZCTrHRvLnJ-BoM5/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+O.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIwOGBGfC_EYF5_YHkuIlS7ZUXNatO1r3ciRcUlSrWqGqQMCBR1Pz20x4y6lIM9iEgpcYwrcry2hoOZ52CBxwKdDZtC9hrlwInCIn-y7z4Cr5VteYXF85YkbOD0SdzbhEKwYp/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+N.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628574555503314338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIwOGBGfC_EYF5_YHkuIlS7ZUXNatO1r3ciRcUlSrWqGqQMCBR1Pz20x4y6lIM9iEgpcYwrcry2hoOZ52CBxwKdDZtC9hrlwInCIn-y7z4Cr5VteYXF85YkbOD0SdzbhEKwYp/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+N.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76ZxJcfjV7oJ1QCegdAe8eS75lFHgn8LwurQNaj0rEOocQKz1bSRNBFUouxivONDmY9S6TlSNOh3nf41s-HBpmKUBPNsllAMFW5F-h5HNylFMfzpvcxT1R-EiVrCSA9C4gRRC/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+F.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628574546814580418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76ZxJcfjV7oJ1QCegdAe8eS75lFHgn8LwurQNaj0rEOocQKz1bSRNBFUouxivONDmY9S6TlSNOh3nf41s-HBpmKUBPNsllAMFW5F-h5HNylFMfzpvcxT1R-EiVrCSA9C4gRRC/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+F.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGEboQWE1eTXSTDPtp2sF3kjEZYE2KuRkYsx7z6icHXKMdwUJYhAsWFAl2PUllbm5Lk4S1rIbBHkPP2lOic2FaLe_mqrqj1F8_5abigoIt-_SLGz6PhamGtII49WUtBAgvygd/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+E.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628574539595214658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGEboQWE1eTXSTDPtp2sF3kjEZYE2KuRkYsx7z6icHXKMdwUJYhAsWFAl2PUllbm5Lk4S1rIbBHkPP2lOic2FaLe_mqrqj1F8_5abigoIt-_SLGz6PhamGtII49WUtBAgvygd/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+E.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVlq19J7nIr8kr6ts1L62mIasm2WfvMPalYP9O6RioiFAiZTrZ3BPPdKspSygoTj0Ke-L8YrJd7EqTi7dKn4tt5bfx9ayoxVroB9ARvUh-StwyhIx2G_HQ9-eWQNCRg-HfKxI/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+D.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628572021088574402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 291px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVlq19J7nIr8kr6ts1L62mIasm2WfvMPalYP9O6RioiFAiZTrZ3BPPdKspSygoTj0Ke-L8YrJd7EqTi7dKn4tt5bfx9ayoxVroB9ARvUh-StwyhIx2G_HQ9-eWQNCRg-HfKxI/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+D.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vVybGy8nKUEznkM5UK9jQ50IzL9b8G-0BQQUndmJC4iyFaPEmMnOhNf5UrQxOSfUPwKMoa488lnVrMIWfbA4T0A15k6yB5qWu9GArOP0e4qMgRjxmeVk3ZQyGvWyN3eFLboZ/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+C.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628572013510300338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vVybGy8nKUEznkM5UK9jQ50IzL9b8G-0BQQUndmJC4iyFaPEmMnOhNf5UrQxOSfUPwKMoa488lnVrMIWfbA4T0A15k6yB5qWu9GArOP0e4qMgRjxmeVk3ZQyGvWyN3eFLboZ/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+C.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZGSxQu8_Tc8y262c-7LpppgFMGzbTebtaUpHQSqaP5V-_Sgh-DrTmiTDYTiCtHYGEIeFaQ1NIFJE58VN6Qioafaw9LsMr83VmNwV51tPE2BoK_9sxdKgaaOH3EzFWWwm3K1v/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+A.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628572005199305218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 271px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZGSxQu8_Tc8y262c-7LpppgFMGzbTebtaUpHQSqaP5V-_Sgh-DrTmiTDYTiCtHYGEIeFaQ1NIFJE58VN6Qioafaw9LsMr83VmNwV51tPE2BoK_9sxdKgaaOH3EzFWWwm3K1v/s400/Royal+Wedding+2011+A.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLTwgpS3EjUZra3wlfSxol-CVN1vLgi0ePzIBqrpqij7ygqOBAryOwY4Bss6E7Bff2sQP1EgWrkuHbSu1d6es2pyDyQAYo-NokeF6iVVoE4W_cxAb58TUF0U0asAXTXsadUHwM/s1600/Royal+Wedding+2011+A.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-47180520738266415482011-03-30T14:47:00.000-07:002011-03-30T14:53:56.742-07:00Calvinistic, reserved, prissy Swiss?Yeah right... Spotted - this shop window in Interlaken.. Just in case you need a final high before er.. going even higher? <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDY9MPIL6vJ2_W_36z1MrjXoanFL92Rk18YpqEJKnJ4vj5gCaGw5mNkHzUzGtxO5oLrdxquOQyk8KDQq232mEO652bG2YS4ztmMOr_R80VkmkBDdRfV_lPX4OG3AjaLgjzfjY/s1600/Photos+phone+Jan+2011+063.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589993748960620194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDY9MPIL6vJ2_W_36z1MrjXoanFL92Rk18YpqEJKnJ4vj5gCaGw5mNkHzUzGtxO5oLrdxquOQyk8KDQq232mEO652bG2YS4ztmMOr_R80VkmkBDdRfV_lPX4OG3AjaLgjzfjY/s400/Photos+phone+Jan+2011+063.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-55591184313881081332011-01-28T13:10:00.000-08:002011-02-01T06:18:11.231-08:00Celtic Connections - what they don't tell youSometimes the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. I was supposed to catch at least a night and a whole day of music at <a href="http://www.celticconnections.com/">Celtic Connections</a>, but in the end it turned out to be just a few hours. A combination of changed flights and plans of colleagues, and me needing to return to Edinburgh the same night, meant that out of the 18 day -300 event extrvanganza, I got to experience barely 4 hours of the music festival, and these were all on my own.<br /><br /><br />It didn't matter.<br /><br /><br />The tagline to <a href="http://www.celticconnections.com/">Celtic Connections</a> is "Scotland's premier music festival, best new talent, big names etc", but what they don't tell you is how FRIENDLY the festival is. I guess it shouldn't have come as a great surprise, after all, most of my good and closest friends are from Scotland or the North of England, but after 10 years of living in lovely (but let's face it), a rather reserved Calvinistic Switzerland, you tend to forget.<br /><br />You forget that in Scotland people will start to talk to you when you are in a queue (this was in the queue for the <a href="http://www.celticconnections.com/whatson/event/103989-Celtic-Connections-Danny-Kyle%27s-Open-Stage">Danny Kyle's Open Stage</a>). A woman (she told me her name but I've forgotten - sorry) and her daughter chatted to me about all sorts of stuff, then their friends came (wine in hand) and joined the queue and chatted some more.<br /><br />It was the same again inside the hall before the acts came on, spontaneous conversation and blether. No matter that I was on my tod. There was such a good atmosphere of bonhomie and fun in the hall that night, it was infectious. The music of course an added bonus. My favourite group over the session? The newly formed band "The Ribbon Men" from Dublin. A good crack with the audience and into some great foot tapping stuff. You can catch a bit of their music and the <a href="http://www.canstream.co.uk/celticmusic/index.php?id=620">atmosphere here. </a><br /><br /><br />Then moving on through the Glasgow Concert hall, past stallholders selling fiddles, mandolins, and more friendly chat, it was on to the Old Fruit Market. Full disclosure on this, one of the reasons I made a detour here was to see how one of my favourite bands <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mamarosin">Mama Rosin </a>would go down in Scotland. It's not easy to sell the concept of a Cajun/Blues/ Zydeco combo played by guys from Switzerland. But they went down a storm as I knew they would. I've been singing their praises for a few years, since I very first saw them playing in the town that I live in see <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/2010/09/geneva-band-spotted-by-living-in-nyon-perform-on-later-with-jools-holland-on-bbc-2-this-friday/">here</a> and <a href="http://the-perpetual-expatriate.blogspot.com/2010/09/mama-rosin-good-luck-on-later-with.html">here.<br /></a><br /><br />What a fabulous venue the <a href="http://www.glasgowconcerthalls.com/oldfruitmarket">Old Fruitmarket</a> is, full of history and atmosphere - the evening made all the more enjoyable in the company of Janice and Stuart, a delightful couple that I bumped into on the night - both Celtic Connections fans and stalwarts. We talked skiing, music, travelling and all sorts of stuff.<br /><br /><br />Pic below - apologies for the very poor quality. I didn't take my SLR to Ecosse this time, (just too heavy along with the laptop) and I had to make do with using a cheap phone. I am hunting around for a decent small camera that will be good in low light for occasions like these.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568667587090163810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 215px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2M2SmoPRvV8H8L8kOOZih0xRxagtVO8NrQdy17x0XLmU_EzNOq6GQsLLUe1cza1-3TPgyfm6oG3gZAf1mJFn_i6ZH1AzAb9Sh5Kz8LTeD1ynYZeqSjhXINo6p1epZWtUSvKV_/s400/Mama+Rosin+Celtic.jpg" border="0" /> Mama Rosin at Celtic Connections.<br /><br />This wee taster, these four hours of Celtic Connections was enough to convince me that I will definitely go back next year and for much longer and hopfeully with friends. You know what? If they can't make it and I end up being on my own again, I know it won't matter.<br /><br />Should anyone get the impression that I'm dissing Switzerland in the above couple of paras, I'm not, there is something r<em>eally </em>comforting about flying home and looking out of the plane and seeing the Alps and Lac Léman glimmering below and you know that you are not far from "home".<br /><br />Talking of home, just a week before I went to Scotland, I went down to the Parenthèse, a small cavernous music venue in <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">Nyon </a>and caught the set of <a href="http://alvinzealot.com/">Alvin Zealot</a>, a band from Lucerne. With a charismatic lead singer, (all of the guys in the band are good looking) and some great tracks on their album "Tears of St Lawrence" I predict that this is another Swiss band that is going to go far.<br /><br />Some say they sound like the Killers, other say Arcade Fire, take a listen to a melange of their work on the pop up <a href="http://alvinzealot.com/modules/mod_simple_mp3_player/popup.php?smp3p_useplaylist=0&smp3p_playlistpath=&smp3p_path=images/stories/sound/&smp3p_files=01-Bricks%20Over%20Bricks.mp3images/stories/sound/02-Straight%20Ahead%20Johnnie.mp3images/stories/sound/03-Timeline%20and%20Glasses.mp3images/stories/sound/04-Dust%20And%20His%20Massive%20Chaos.mp3images/stories/sound/05-No%20Vibration.mp3images/stories/sound/06-It%20Is%20All%20Mine.mp3images/stories/sound/07-Sweet%20Frankie.mp3images/stories/sound/08-When%20Flood%20Crosses%20Light.mp3images/stories/sound/09-He%20Swerves.mp3images/stories/sound/10-De%20Jalouse.mp3images/stories/sound/11-Gravitations%20Fool.mp3images/stories/sound/12-Friend%20or%20Foe.mp3images/stories/sound/13-Around,%20Around%20And%20Inside.mp3&smp3p_titles=Bricks%20Over%20BricksStraight%20Ahead%20JohnnieTimeline%20and%20GlassesDust%20And%20His%20Massive%20ChaosNo%20VibrationIt%20Is%20All%20MineSweet%20FrankieWhen%20Flood%20Crosses%20LightHe%20SwervesDe%20JalouseGravi">MP3</a> link on their site. "Timeline and Glasses", "Bricks over Bricks", "The Dust and his Massive Chaos", "When Flood Crosses Light"- all good stuff. They have won a DR3 best <a href="http://alvinzealot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=64">talent award</a> too. Watch this space.<br /><br />Alvin Zealot below sorry - poor quality pic again.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Df0uPyOsJPAzoc5PkstndjNfONWrlS7cJmclhvwKV6ldHv4kQb7-Abcl_SBKZJ-1yg3OyR2ok1jkBaBf38e8y0Aznj9fSkeKmLv26zvPXuFc95ba6860OdWkmcwxK3EIrxf-/s1600/Alvin+Zealot+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568675778362398178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 333px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Df0uPyOsJPAzoc5PkstndjNfONWrlS7cJmclhvwKV6ldHv4kQb7-Abcl_SBKZJ-1yg3OyR2ok1jkBaBf38e8y0Aznj9fSkeKmLv26zvPXuFc95ba6860OdWkmcwxK3EIrxf-/s400/Alvin+Zealot+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Footnote: They don't tell you that Celtic Connections is extraordinarily friendly but they don't tell you either that the prices of the drinks in the Old Fruit Market are stratospheric - nearly *£5 for a glass of wine <em>and </em>served in a horrible plastic beaker. When I asked the bar tender why, (when there were proper wine glasses on the shelves behind him), he said it "sorry but it was their policy" What? Now <em>that </em>wouldn't happen here in Suisse. Wine is meant to be drink out of a glass - sans aucun doute.<br /><br />* Have I been away from Britain for too long, is this the normal price of a drink in a bar today?Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-12950996310354463252010-12-31T09:33:00.000-08:002010-12-31T09:43:33.952-08:00Zero inbox Zero inbox ! Happy New Year!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICk1R0KRdOP-Jf_8Og47MSBYo8nqkb3j76Dv2PgBKJkPRCDy3GzUrxMmLCZ_VpQ0d4xMbrIGg9oSN6MysGbJOJkLljfo77Y_I-7IepZCzl2rTBqoUZj8XeBOE_tBFoCzZgUfN/s1600/Happy+New+Year.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556902761588687474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICk1R0KRdOP-Jf_8Og47MSBYo8nqkb3j76Dv2PgBKJkPRCDy3GzUrxMmLCZ_VpQ0d4xMbrIGg9oSN6MysGbJOJkLljfo77Y_I-7IepZCzl2rTBqoUZj8XeBOE_tBFoCzZgUfN/s400/Happy+New+Year.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yippee! I have been determined to get my email inbox down to zero and I've done it a few hours before the new year kicks in. It's meant burning lots of midnight oil but I've done it! The first time in ages......nay years, I kid you not.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I wonder how long it will be before I get that first new email......</div><div> </div><div>Just got to start tackling over 18,000 photos now.....</div><div> </div><div>The photo above is one I've used over on <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">Living in Nyon</a> but the message is the same to all readers. Happy New Year!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-87437299852699910992010-12-28T13:04:00.000-08:002010-12-28T13:37:53.599-08:00The Glacier Dance - Or How to prevent FrostbiteI'm clearing emails, trying to get an empty intray (a literal and online one) before the end of the year). I had forgotten I had this wee vid snuck in amongst the other correspondence. It was sent by Margot, a friend of mine from North Berwick from when her son (Keith Robertson) went to Patagonia.<br />It's called Bailar de Glaciar - "The Glacier Dance"* It made me smile when I first saw it and it still does. It brings back happy memories from when we used to live in South America and I imagine it brings happy memories for those who made the vid. Check out the scenery and those Andes!<br /><br />*The film was based on an exercise they were taught on how to prevent frostbite.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Q_TO0d-0u4?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" height="295"></iframe>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-16809544473835254132010-12-26T04:58:00.000-08:002010-12-28T13:50:52.425-08:00I've been saying for ages that the written word on printed paper will never die out.....And then..<br /><br />we get to Christmas day in the Pollard household. Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Katie Stewart Times Cook book. Marguerite Pattern, Good Housekeeping -Christmas Issue and countless other cookery books amongst the shelves and what does husband turn to for a turkey stuffing recipe? The ipad.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQs6ZiKVQx4xUJ92A2T-2WUxlZXZICEFrRZgQbv7I6BsSM9QsVEehLOYTJ9v2gaYsw7Jq0mZv9eXVz-Kk-KC5fnsMARRZujyuh_yj_TVx2kiED-nrNdd6zvpocjtzzPs8VGWM0/s1600/Christmas+2010+2+Duncan+ipod.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5554974942687053922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQs6ZiKVQx4xUJ92A2T-2WUxlZXZICEFrRZgQbv7I6BsSM9QsVEehLOYTJ9v2gaYsw7Jq0mZv9eXVz-Kk-KC5fnsMARRZujyuh_yj_TVx2kiED-nrNdd6zvpocjtzzPs8VGWM0/s400/Christmas+2010+2+Duncan+ipod.jpg" border="0" /></a> I must admit though, the stuffing was absolutely superb (recipe from the BBC website).<br /><div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-71655595820412418922010-12-19T13:28:00.000-08:002010-12-19T13:39:03.561-08:00Not much sunbathing at the moment...The pic says it all........<br /><br />My favourite spot on the balcony today - Sunday 19th December 2010<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ESOs7z7rew9Tw8w_cvIcTJimPvxUoypw18slNTDnrz1-d_hQWc7yxejY8tUcZfyvQaA-BgURy7bcXZrIWWD12NnOibjie9Rd8wDycdJkjo3LdakAbT11r2EeXvaz710Y1r0s/s1600/Chair+in+snow.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552509142472665074" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ESOs7z7rew9Tw8w_cvIcTJimPvxUoypw18slNTDnrz1-d_hQWc7yxejY8tUcZfyvQaA-BgURy7bcXZrIWWD12NnOibjie9Rd8wDycdJkjo3LdakAbT11r2EeXvaz710Y1r0s/s400/Chair+in+snow.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYRn7ojFmkFelWAVJhQg0KNNFQjrt00Tc3CYVMHZC9gQG9u6ZuZeyByRB-0EGkLF-aIujV6MVJIcIIb9Yi0Q5hvyKP00bQBe2kGpCfVdeWUNCcurzmQ1PRhX7WVuEIMzVo-Zku/s1600/Chair+in+snow.jpg"></a><br /><br /><div></div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-18955006278867227802010-12-05T09:48:00.001-08:002010-12-05T11:36:13.340-08:00Love those Lights!The snow has come down thick and fast in Nyon, and winter is definitely here (<a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">see Living in Nyon</a>) and with it, the lights and loveliness of the Christmas season.<br /><br />Over the past few weeks I have been very lucky and have seen a variety of Christmas lights in different cities.<br /><br />Firstly there was <a href="http://www.esmadrid.com/fr/portal.do">Madrid </a>last week. We were there as a surprise to celebrate a <em>big </em>birthday of someone in the family (Madrid had just switched the lights on the day we arrived). I arranged a lot of surprises that day for the birthday boy, but this one was nothing to do with me and an extra bonus.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjqPmGy22Dix3ezMy9ZI-r7Rb2ajO64YmiqI7sb3UT3s3l_Y-zvND2PrwdRabOka5l4JyXw_8DvGrT9vT-AamiEOkmhrLp2e9JWhm97sa7PiQLlJbftejaogZsQumVVNzSC2N/s1600/Photos+from+Phone+091.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547268216697667506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWjqPmGy22Dix3ezMy9ZI-r7Rb2ajO64YmiqI7sb3UT3s3l_Y-zvND2PrwdRabOka5l4JyXw_8DvGrT9vT-AamiEOkmhrLp2e9JWhm97sa7PiQLlJbftejaogZsQumVVNzSC2N/s400/Photos+from+Phone+091.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><p align="center"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIchFlmKPsbWCzGG9QnkoSEQwvYqfp3CpPk66PV1w7jiTE_7jIfulHy5LzMYD-rKlna2K3Mox3-C4278wboWusZc8BaUOeJh50pwi9ElytmeO08XwR6k7aQLFfIkkQFc2wj2P/s1600/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+061.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIchFlmKPsbWCzGG9QnkoSEQwvYqfp3CpPk66PV1w7jiTE_7jIfulHy5LzMYD-rKlna2K3Mox3-C4278wboWusZc8BaUOeJh50pwi9ElytmeO08XwR6k7aQLFfIkkQFc2wj2P/s320/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+061.JPG" width="320" border="0" ox="true" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROBlCp1D-MYuX7e4lqCLuiAztTnPs0zGApO0HY-epYxMqabhi1DaP1KWPaFrM4g6fC0g97d_hi8ZXcLGHhpCzOgTa-qGn4buiv_zscSacipOfuEHSiGv_1wf1W0vGbf42IpOU/s1600/Madrid+lights.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547263576072629858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROBlCp1D-MYuX7e4lqCLuiAztTnPs0zGApO0HY-epYxMqabhi1DaP1KWPaFrM4g6fC0g97d_hi8ZXcLGHhpCzOgTa-qGn4buiv_zscSacipOfuEHSiGv_1wf1W0vGbf42IpOU/s400/Madrid+lights.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLMVW6MCGVFWokt8FB8BIJ_VhuHuO73csUf7jrNisqJymIrOMeBQjE1wQBr7SoKZipJHgrtKWJM2QndaFtEt8BIBKksH-3XcKV0JNB3cxeFKUhBQnkyWI8KDA4MvZriXWKirH/s1600/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+072.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547264215714177794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLMVW6MCGVFWokt8FB8BIJ_VhuHuO73csUf7jrNisqJymIrOMeBQjE1wQBr7SoKZipJHgrtKWJM2QndaFtEt8BIBKksH-3XcKV0JNB3cxeFKUhBQnkyWI8KDA4MvZriXWKirH/s400/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+072.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9AjeZ_IyJbcDO8ZdYlVsb3bI_FwezsnpTnYr8pxCZfNb-LJfJnXkUcsbjzLf-vr7uXaH-xmfnzp2C3nSyLBj08kYdeZuMnZlXNpu79zAr9YwaUOQ1JfGpnKP9kCp9vvfCIrc/s1600/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+062.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547265095146570370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9AjeZ_IyJbcDO8ZdYlVsb3bI_FwezsnpTnYr8pxCZfNb-LJfJnXkUcsbjzLf-vr7uXaH-xmfnzp2C3nSyLBj08kYdeZuMnZlXNpu79zAr9YwaUOQ1JfGpnKP9kCp9vvfCIrc/s400/Duncan%2527s+birthday%252C+Madrid+and+Nyon+in+snow+062.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Then on Friday I went to the opera (the first time ever!) to see "<a href="http://www.opera-lausanne.ch/">An Italian in Algiers</a>" at the Metropole in Lausanne (Switzerland). In between rushing to the venue and the railway station I saw these lights and got a photo of them (mobile phone quality I'm afraid).<br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibE7VbF9AIKtiFIg3MDtPIaGHeaLj7QHLrUfTFldvpL4Jo7eOQsyI6DemKMwwiOGk1sgD74YOv0_m9LpHQk-ieUvdFCWDyTEq26jzLbobwW1C5j1oiw3B1jbVa09fJ5g_Safx3/s1600/Photos+from+Phone+120.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547266336670659906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibE7VbF9AIKtiFIg3MDtPIaGHeaLj7QHLrUfTFldvpL4Jo7eOQsyI6DemKMwwiOGk1sgD74YOv0_m9LpHQk-ieUvdFCWDyTEq26jzLbobwW1C5j1oiw3B1jbVa09fJ5g_Safx3/s400/Photos+from+Phone+120.jpg" border="0" /></a> Then on Saturday we went to see a <a href="http://www.gaos.ch/gaos/index.php">panto</a> in Geneva (oh yes we did) and I took this as we emerged from the theatre. For some bizarre reason there are two cathedrals in this photo. I can assure you there is only one in reality, but I kinda like the way it turned out. </p><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TQTiGfDIeHxglIjgTyfeUbLcl_mQZylIoigXg3hJEsM70xfnSCyK2z5ZH8bMzf9rWP2_OHgVZTdjlYTDiK-W3pMs4x4CpIU9gPltsIQ-uuF-WVHbCyNgNRDFHcvi6EAdVTSM/s1600/Geneva+lights.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547267937087117890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TQTiGfDIeHxglIjgTyfeUbLcl_mQZylIoigXg3hJEsM70xfnSCyK2z5ZH8bMzf9rWP2_OHgVZTdjlYTDiK-W3pMs4x4CpIU9gPltsIQ-uuF-WVHbCyNgNRDFHcvi6EAdVTSM/s400/Geneva+lights.jpg" border="0" /></a> </p><br /><p>I also went to see <a href="http://paulmerton.com/improchums.html">Paul Merton and his Impro chums</a> in Geneva on Thursday night, I didn't take any photos of lights on that night but it was so, so, so funny, it certainly lit up my week.<br /><br /></p><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEPhPPUQiQnqvTBa60_4u3DD0sqlflUpxnokRdadIvMNbugSiYD-Rr-OIfDMVW_7ojrBgj9v9iL1hCRstMjY2J6sGL8mllMN5ZoYkQqN7VFpQUGd3H8fnIjQ8j1RglcSrD-jk/s1600/Photos+from+Phone+122.jpg"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="CLEAR: both; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-84267136862333875802010-09-27T02:52:00.000-07:002010-09-28T05:03:20.349-07:00Mama Rosin - good luck on "later" with Jools Holland.. but .....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwcHuqFMBH-8ePksbRLJ6rlfp62wkcUG0FTe_L-8rmnjx9zq8K12N6M3Lv4YsOOXnFw0-w9kmzb7qzfjQx0IKuhz-tHx5drn2B50ouwFPFiw6NJf6c8fh92OpxJ8_ZvBOwmZ5/s1600/Paleo+Weds+night+09+Mama+Rosin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwcHuqFMBH-8ePksbRLJ6rlfp62wkcUG0FTe_L-8rmnjx9zq8K12N6M3Lv4YsOOXnFw0-w9kmzb7qzfjQx0IKuhz-tHx5drn2B50ouwFPFiw6NJf6c8fh92OpxJ8_ZvBOwmZ5/s1600/Paleo+Weds+night+09+Mama+Rosin.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mama Rosin - <a href="http://yeah.paleo.ch/en">Paléo</a> July 2010</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I've been following the Swiss band <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mamarosin">Mama Rosin</a> for a few years now. I first went to one of their concerts (a small intimate one) in the 1306 club in Nyon back in 2008. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvFqGKJyucurVkORUUryKRX7CZux0Sg5okq2BXrTlP23LBfyS0gnbTImYTIey-hgUtDT3QU7lsiUJ1UflPiWIfjPcj8E-ed8BbCxz8qcLwzAcBKgYyWVu23KfQ8p2CVyFzalb/s1600/Mama_Rosin_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDvFqGKJyucurVkORUUryKRX7CZux0Sg5okq2BXrTlP23LBfyS0gnbTImYTIey-hgUtDT3QU7lsiUJ1UflPiWIfjPcj8E-ed8BbCxz8qcLwzAcBKgYyWVu23KfQ8p2CVyFzalb/s1600/Mama_Rosin_a.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A younger <a href="http://www.voodoorhythm.com/MAMA%20ROSIN.html">Mama Rosin</a> (with less hair) at the <a href="http://www.club1306.net/leclub.htm">1306 Club</a> - Nyon 2008 </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I saw them in the squashed, small and hot but great little venue <a href="http://www.chatnoir.ch/">Le Chat Noir</a> in Geneva earlier this year. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I saw the crowd go wild when they performed at bigger outside festivals such as <a href="http://yeah.paleo.ch/en">Paléo</a> and <a href="http://www.caribana-festival.ch/2010/programme/12-juin-2010/">Caribana</a>. I even spotted them (by default) busking on Christmas Eve on the Rue du Rhone in Geneva. I know how much enthusiasm and hard work they put into their live acts. When they perform, their energy is infectious and almost everyone in the crowd ends up dancing, you can always be sure of a grand night out.</div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I've also written about them see<a href="http://livinginnyon.com/2009/07/paleo-two-bands-to-watch-out-for-in-the-future/"> "two bands to watch out for").</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadmpp3nvYQdSmzHP-h_1sph76MReQ0kFDvriFDqu2T5rZMfHoHFT-43IZzBEzPk-k6PzZdCGQSCY0ZIKpKo4mDuDIk78V-bpMbW2TLFTdpDuZzgoAZJsu5Asxj93aZi79cMEb/s1600/Phone+pics+129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadmpp3nvYQdSmzHP-h_1sph76MReQ0kFDvriFDqu2T5rZMfHoHFT-43IZzBEzPk-k6PzZdCGQSCY0ZIKpKo4mDuDIk78V-bpMbW2TLFTdpDuZzgoAZJsu5Asxj93aZi79cMEb/s320/Phone+pics+129.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpLdLGchmiAt3FEBbrtHnXVDKn_BHJV4B1vBGg2RWDXCYM5mEhBJpBvD-bWQLsyOVBYypLchk5rdl23JMLs-WZOnxuc00JirB5SpIta6vCmt0xen6BDCFscDy3US4nK1nPkua/s1600/Phone+pics+139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpLdLGchmiAt3FEBbrtHnXVDKn_BHJV4B1vBGg2RWDXCYM5mEhBJpBvD-bWQLsyOVBYypLchk5rdl23JMLs-WZOnxuc00JirB5SpIta6vCmt0xen6BDCFscDy3US4nK1nPkua/s320/Phone+pics+139.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Usine a Gaz -25 September 2010</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Then last Friday they played at the <a href="http://usine%20a%20gaz%20in%20nyon/">Usine a Gaz in Nyon</a> and one of the band members announced after the concert that they are scheduled to record on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/">"Later"</a> with Jools" on the BBC this very week. My instinctive reaction was "yes! they deserve it, great news", (by the way I don't know these guys personally at all so there is no bias on my part). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">but on the other hand.... there is that slightly nagging feeling that because of this new development, maybe the small intimate venues will disappear, and fame and stardom will take them away from their Swiss roots.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I may be wrong of course, Mama Rosin are very good, but who knows, maybe there is a limited audience for their kind of music (even I wasn't sure about Cajun/ Blues/ Rock/ Zydeco combo until I went to one of their first gigs). But recently, I have seen more reviews of them in the <a href="http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1168:mama-rosin-st-moritz-music-review&Itemid=30">Anglophone press</a>, see this one by <a href="http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1168:mama-rosin-st-moritz-music-review&Itemid=30">Howard Male</a> on the <a href="http://www.theartsdesk.com/">Arts Desk</a> site. So the momentum seems to be picking up and they also seem to have acquired more fans after they performed at the <a href="http://www.cambridgefolkfestival.co.uk/">Cambridge folk festival</a> this year. So I have hunch they are going to go far.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Whatever happens after this week, I do hope that these boys from Geneva embrace any kind of fame that comes their way but they will still continue to play here in Switzerland and we can still get to the chance see them from time to time in the kind of venues that suit them best, raw, intimate and fun and bloody good. Just like their music.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>On verra...</strong> </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkH-TJsYMsKg671musFiKoL0KabsYyHV5B_59F0a6BPibBbfo_7j3F0SKdbEn_G6JJueCl6IktLTFYUhXo6MfzyObV5mhNOHKEy8CJFZ9av0oltZXsr-jQ7ZGnZOr__gYxvxB1/s1600/Paleo+Weds+night+09+Mama+Rosin+C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkH-TJsYMsKg671musFiKoL0KabsYyHV5B_59F0a6BPibBbfo_7j3F0SKdbEn_G6JJueCl6IktLTFYUhXo6MfzyObV5mhNOHKEy8CJFZ9av0oltZXsr-jQ7ZGnZOr__gYxvxB1/s320/Paleo+Weds+night+09+Mama+Rosin+C.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Here's a clip below of them singing "Le Pistolet". It doesn't show them in concert, and they now have a different drummer and this really is more of a fun thing, but I guess once a bit more money comes their way they will get more vids professionally produced.<br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l0EheLTqK8w?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l0EheLTqK8w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-29929767327218204502010-07-28T14:33:00.000-07:002010-07-28T15:21:23.834-07:00Where did the last five months go?You would be forgiven for thinking I've fallen off the edge of the planet for the past five months. Either that or there has been nothing much to report.<br />
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Well, I haven't fallen off the edge of anything and apart from a short trip to Berwick, I haven't been anywhere. As for nothing much to report nothing could be further from the truth. Nope, it's been one of the busiest few months in a long time. <br />
<br />
First of all in May the programme I presented on WRS called "Expat life" was changed from a short five min piece on Conor Lennon's show to a full half hour programme called <a href="http://worldradio.ch/wrs/programmes/connectors/index.shtml">"The Connectors"</a> with me hosting the whole shabang and a team of great contributors. Now that has been great fun with auditions, new website, content and a million other details to kick off this new show. It's been up and running now for a few months and we are taking a break for summer and all is looking good for the upcoming Autumn's shows. <br />
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Back in May, husband was rushed to hospital with a twisted intestine. All's well that ends well but all a bit of a worry at the time. Then number one daughter re appeared after a gap year touring Australia and South America. She blogged about it too and is a far better writer than I will ever be. Shame she hasn't concluded the blog now that she has got back. <br />
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Then there has been the usual deadlines to meet, column in local newspaper, editing the Romandie section of Hello CH, local council meetings, more meetings and then recently I have just been working with a local designer to help me switch my Living in Nyon blog from Blogger to Wordpress. Gosh I hadn't realised how much work this would be and how much information I had put on the site over the years.... I've still to catgorise the posts under the section "uncategorised" but we are getting there. <a href="http://livinginnyon.com/">Check it out</a><br />
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I'm also working on a Living in Nyon project which is probably going to take most of the summer and is probably a bit of a crazy thing to attempt right now but if I don't do it, I will regret it. <br />
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I know there has been lots of other stuff but its all been such a blur I bet I've missed something. Anyway normal service should be resumed on here now, well at least I hope so.. but don't hold your breath..Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-38831954144958762722010-03-13T10:51:00.000-08:002010-03-14T06:32:33.872-07:00Missing the sea, James Gruntz and a few goldfishI love <a href="http://www.livinginnyon.com/">living here in Nyon</a>, the lake is fabulous, the mountains are gorgeous, and the view of Mont Blanc on a clear day is nothing short of spectular and yet.....<br />
<br />
I miss the sea, the smell of it the sound of it, the waves breaking on sand or pebbles, the wind, the seagulls. Everything really.<br />
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A couple of weeks ago <a href="http://www.worldradio.ch/">World Radio Switzerland</a> broadcast the evening programme live from a pub in central Basel. Conor Lennon, the host, did a cracking job amongst the smoke (still allowed over there until April 1st) and the noise. I went along there on the Tuesday just to do a short piece on the theme of <a href="http://worldradio.ch/wrs/programmes/expat_life/index.shtml">Expat Life</a>. It was fun and there were several live bands that performed on air that night. They were all good but I really, really liked the singer James Gruntz, especially when he sang "Song to the Sea" . Somehow I think Mr Gruntz and his band are going to go far, and if this wee song below isn't a summer hit for Switzerland then I don't know what is<br />
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You can find out a bit more about him on his <a href="http://www.jamesgruntz.com/index.php">website </a> a lot of it is in German, sometimes the lyrics aren't in the most perfect English, but who cares? Like most Swiss, the English language is probably his second or third or even fourth language, so he certainly can be forgiven. "King Prawns on concrete 'aint something I need" .. wonderful<br />
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<object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6134152&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6134152&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br />
<br />
Amazing what you can do with a small budget, a few glass bowls, a ukele and a goldfish or two.<br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/6134152">Song To The Sea</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user2175437">James Gruntz</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-8480885855134444132010-03-03T14:53:00.000-08:002010-03-03T14:53:15.403-08:00Earthquakes and IronyI don't think I want another weekend like the past one. <br />
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For the past six months our daughter has been travelling on a gap year through Australia and South America. <br />
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Through the media of mobile phone, Facebook and Skype we have been keeping up with her exploits. We heard about the enormous kangaroo outside her tent as she camped out in the bush in OZ. We sympathised as we listened to the ups and downs of trying to find a temporary job when she was trying to earn some cash to continue on with her trip.<br />
<br />
D and I crossed fingers and toes that she would be OK as she went hangliding above Rio de Janeiro, paraglided above mountains and went whitewater rafting through rapids in Argentina.<br />
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Photo below: Daughter, tall and tanned and young and lovely and on Ipanema on the morning of her birthday just a few weeks ago<br />
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</div>We listened with baited breath as we heard about her and her boyfriend being mobbed by transvestites at Carnival in Salvador, and we heard (after the event) about her falling badly off a horse in the north of Brazil.<br />
We also heard about a thief taking her Raybans off her head while she was sunbathing and how the police got rough and the crowd got violent during a parade in Brazil.<br />
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So we thought, "at least when she gets to Chile, she will be safe". She is going to language school, staying in one place and there won't be as much to worry about. Until.<br />
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I get up on Saturday morning, made myself a cup of tea ,was looking forward to the weekend ahead and switched on the news. And heard about the 6th biggest earthquake ever recorded which had happened in the early hours of the night before in Chile.<br />
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The country our daughter had just arrived in, and on her own.<br />
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Needless to say, what followed was the most awful 24 hours that I never want to go through ever again.<br />
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Phones were down in Chile, power was off and there was no way of being able to contact her and to find out how she was. <br />
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Tears, worry, panic, frustration, you name it, every emotion under the sun and the reports coming through on CNN and the BBC were just frightening.<br />
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It was AWFUL. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And then the phone call finally came, "Mum it's me, You may have heard that there's been an earthquake here, I'm alright, I'm OK". </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Of course what we experienced does not compare to those who did lose loved ones in the earthquake, and for those who still do not know any news. My heart goes out to them.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">D is finding out all he can about the earthquake, listening on the internet radio to Chilean radio stations, reading reports on the net. We used to live in Chile and at one stage were due to live in Concepcion. Our daughter is back in Chile to discover her roots as she was born there.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As for me I can't listen to anything to do with it I'm still antsy about the effect of any aftershocks on the buildings over there, and (if you can believe this) when I was young and travelling the world, in 1979 I too was in a big earthquake, ( in Southern Italy - I lost several friends in it ) so this last weekend and the emotion of it all has brought it all back to me. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">They say history often repeats itself, in our family's case it certainly has. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Back in 1979 it took five days before I could let my mum know I was safe. I never really understood what she went through at the time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I do now </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-56718333950269804622010-02-21T13:31:00.000-08:002010-02-21T13:31:42.837-08:00This ski cross is SO excitingWas going to write loads about all sorts of stuff, but have just got hooked tonight on the Ski Cross at the Olympics and as I'm typing this Switzerland have just WON!!!!!!<br />
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Wow this sport has everything, timing, technique, speed, blue skies and guys with nice big thighs......Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-25613686445030092882010-02-09T13:14:00.000-08:002010-02-09T13:53:28.714-08:00Still open for business<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Blimey. Blink and a month goes by with out any news. But just like this boulangerie in Nyon, the perpet expat is still open for business, it's just that business has been very busy and I've been at the back of the shop beavering away. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTslMlLarFIkSkgZK6tww28P7qKzSPWZSpOIUbFVXgmc8FsuhA6p4C3D9GPzFhdPVUKnRm8jUfUjVXwleWUtnuKtTRGu4HOERxyLLVP8-CUSrmxAygjPMnEDLdtl_nwWnks5n3/s1600-h/Snowy+Nyon+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTslMlLarFIkSkgZK6tww28P7qKzSPWZSpOIUbFVXgmc8FsuhA6p4C3D9GPzFhdPVUKnRm8jUfUjVXwleWUtnuKtTRGu4HOERxyLLVP8-CUSrmxAygjPMnEDLdtl_nwWnks5n3/s320/Snowy+Nyon+008.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So as there's been a lot going on in the last four weeks, where to start? <br />
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Here are a few recollections in no particular chronological order.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In January I organised a big event for the readers of my "Living in Nyon" site called "Swiss Politics for Dummies". Spent weeks, nay months worrying whether it would go smoothly, but it did, over 100 people came and there was a long waiting list for those who couldn't get in all went swimmingly well. <br />
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I was mightily relieved the following day. Was interviewed on local TV and did very peculiar things with my eyes on camera.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tramped through a lot of snow</span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Build up to the <a href="http://www.genevawritersgroup.org/conference.html">Geneva Writers' Conference</a>, in February, being amongst a great team and this year part of a panel on web writing. (Slight irony on this one as the posts on here are becoming so infrequent). The conference itself, where I laughed myself silly at <a href="http://www.scrimger.ca/home.htm">Richard Scrimger's</a> writing workshop, where the room listend agog to the story told by a literary agent of how she first wrote to a young Harvard law student after spotting an article he had written in a newspaper (New York Times?) and how she wrote to him and suggested he should write a book. That law student's name was Mr Barack Obama and how she then sold his book "Dreams of my Father". She is still his agent. </div><br />
At the conference I chatted and met some wonderful people and heard some amazing readings and I received the most wonderful gift from a guest that stayed chez nous .<br />
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Tramped through some more snow<br />
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Finished assembling all the articles and photos for the Spring edition of <a href="http://www.helloswitzerland.ch/">"Hello Switzerland".</a> <br />
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Started writing my weekly column for <a href="http://www.lacote.ch/">La Côte </a>again. <br />
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Tramped through more snow and slush and sleet<br />
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Went to a fabulous company "end of year" dinner in the German speaking part of Switzerland, where the food was good, the company fun and the management truly semed to appreciate their staff and where the journey back on the coach was a hoot.<br />
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<div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Photos above and below - Nyon in January</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Got wet in loads of rain storms<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Took a bit of a deep breath as I heard teenage's daughter's stories of hangliding and white water rafting in Argentina, and paragliding above Rio de Janeiro.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Walked and tramped through more snow </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Once again had the best night ever at a Mama Rosin concert ( I LOVE seeing <a href="http://www.voodoorhythm.com/MAMA%20ROSIN.html">this band</a> live) but I wish they would get themselves a decent blooming website. Their vid on the site portrays nothing of the sheer energy they have when performing and the talent that hey have.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ADLbuM6N2vtbH6Fk0je07qyn5mlMUfjVnqF9oLHAi1Yyzkm_kYgXpzVk_vHmhv5_th6SU9YIjGB9xODhnLxVB9bIay1_CY1NS2JLIeyKhcAQEekuy4-n08EKLK9x7v6rh1ag/s1600-h/Snowy+Nyon+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ADLbuM6N2vtbH6Fk0je07qyn5mlMUfjVnqF9oLHAi1Yyzkm_kYgXpzVk_vHmhv5_th6SU9YIjGB9xODhnLxVB9bIay1_CY1NS2JLIeyKhcAQEekuy4-n08EKLK9x7v6rh1ag/s320/Snowy+Nyon+056.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
Had lots of fun at a Christmas tree burning event in a nearby town (see <a href="http://www.livinginnyon.com/2010/01/cooking-sausages-and-burning-trees-in.html">post from Living in Nyon)</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Went to a wonderful 50th birthday party, where an easel was produced and we all contributed to painting a portrait (admittedly rather a drunken one) of the birthday girl.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Had some good conversations with a friend in India (thank goodness for Skype)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Heard an fascinating but quite poignant interview on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pn40m">Desert Island Discs</a> with Mary Portas</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Read the most fabulous, fabulous book - "In another light by <a href="http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth02D9L380712627427">Andrew Greig</a>". What a wonderful writer he is.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tramped through more snow, but took quite a few photos around town when it stopped snowing.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwsmdt4I2LANUb8P4raKskUojYmRlGdF2D1E3-M8VHSCoZmuhsswdv09hqDuEOZINlZ6yBxFBAWp_h1fXgggsNMbabzXc7LRXd_SUDT9dm_V_Q_schshg9l-IRgsz5G51w6Ny/s1600-h/Snowy+Nyon+071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwsmdt4I2LANUb8P4raKskUojYmRlGdF2D1E3-M8VHSCoZmuhsswdv09hqDuEOZINlZ6yBxFBAWp_h1fXgggsNMbabzXc7LRXd_SUDT9dm_V_Q_schshg9l-IRgsz5G51w6Ny/s320/Snowy+Nyon+071.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There were a few downsides to the month, mainly insomnia and worry and tiredness and feeling really fed up of the cold and missing my daughter especially being away fron her on her birthday (the first time ever in 19 years), but thankfully the good stuff gets retained in the memory bank more than the bad.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-57149099433925132672010-01-17T11:32:00.000-08:002010-01-17T11:33:42.455-08:00Anyone know of a good cure for insomnia?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg-vocAZvXhAKb3Ssf3ps39J80TMyjoVoLRVRw69qmtly45qdUFcy-fHWeHr5a1To-u2sOTaQtG53OojjtX9KRDOPxVb-898uOsgWLeW7vNivJf6OTLc5SSMGTQo6vxuiAFoe/s1600-h/Bali+and+Australia+205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXg-vocAZvXhAKb3Ssf3ps39J80TMyjoVoLRVRw69qmtly45qdUFcy-fHWeHr5a1To-u2sOTaQtG53OojjtX9KRDOPxVb-898uOsgWLeW7vNivJf6OTLc5SSMGTQo6vxuiAFoe/s320/Bali+and+Australia+205.JPG" /></a>The kind of insomnia that has you awake at 02:00 in the morning thinking of all the things you have to do, deadlines you have to meet and wondering how you are going to get through them all. <br />
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Don't tell me about warm baths with aromatherapy drops, don't tell me about warm milk before bedtime, don't tell me about how lots of exercise can make you physically dog tired you fall asleep the moment you head hits the pillow. Dont tell me about a few glasses of red wine before bedtime either (as if I need any encouragement). Tried them all. Including letting the mind wander to wonderful things. I have plenty of those thoughts including remembering the fab place we stayed in Bali and the massage to the sound of the tropical birds and flowing river below and the lovely colours of the massage oils and the soothing hands of the masseuse (above) Nope sorry, doesn't work.<br />
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</div>I just know that when the dawn breaks and the first little red train goes past our apartment at around 06:00 a.m I will be awake to hear it and I will have been awake for HOURS and then consequently dead for the rest of the day.<br />
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Answers on a postcard please.Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-10705795576330284902009-12-25T04:39:00.000-08:002009-12-25T04:52:40.325-08:00A good year for the roses and the wine and the writing<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XmW3O52nQmsGtPgvAaLhfzedQRJaqawD5LUjuvAtl_06OXdhoVK7SJ83mVVRLmBkVhSRDV9oZn4PaLNuNN8e0QAsRPJob-z6KJqu_GaHvT_r60k307tuz_ftbxB9iXS2qYPI/s1600-h/Christmas+2009+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XmW3O52nQmsGtPgvAaLhfzedQRJaqawD5LUjuvAtl_06OXdhoVK7SJ83mVVRLmBkVhSRDV9oZn4PaLNuNN8e0QAsRPJob-z6KJqu_GaHvT_r60k307tuz_ftbxB9iXS2qYPI/s320/Christmas+2009+040.JPG" /></a>I don't know whether it has been a good year for the roses at all as I 'aint no gardener, but I know that it has been a good one for the winemakers. At least it has been here in this part of Switzerland, one of the best for ages apparently. No doubt a few bottles of the stuff will be drunk chez nous when the wine is eventually released.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Workwise, it's been a goody for me. It has meant I've been chasing my tail a bit when all the deadlines have come at once, but it's been fun, editing, writing and broadcasting this year. It has also meant this blog got a bit neglected, sorry. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My last writing commission was great and if more come from that particular source then I will be very pleased. Until the thing is published though I'm keeping mum about it as I know that articles can be pulled at the last minute, so we'll wait and see.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On the home front it's also been an excellent year, a great trip to Lisbon, big birthday in August with a fabulous surprise birthday party, a big anniversary to celebrate, lots of laughs at the Edinburgh festival, a superb holiday in Novemberin Bali and Australia . There have been a few downs, mainly the awful gut wrenching feeling of daughter leaving home "empty nest" syndrome but as everyone had told me, it did get better although this is going to be a very funny Christmas without her here. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was asking folk around Nyon how their 2009 had been, the taxi drivers have said it hasn't been good, but suprisingly the folk at the newspaper I write for, said that it hasn't been too bad, in fact they are faring better than most which is saying something considering how a lot of other media are suffering.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If this posts sounds rather smug, it's not meant to be, I am very conscious that this has been a tough year for many, the recession has bit and hit hard. But the thing that has made me really realise that us lot in this developed part of the world are so very lucky is when I read the latest post of my good friend Marina (who I miss a lot now she has moved to Delhi, thank goodness for Skype!) In her post she talks about the abandoned babies of Delhi. Read it <a href="http://mezzemoments.blogspot.com/">here (from the 13th December).</a> O gawd, how awful. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Of course I imagine this happens all over the world not just in India, but reading it though a friend's eyes makes it even more poignant. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Back in Switzerland, we are in the grips of winter with temperatures below freezing one day and lots of snow on the ground, to a prediction now of warmer weather on it's way with a foehn wind. So the snow down on the "plain" as they to call it will probably have melted by Christmas day. I'm glad we are not heading over to the UK at the moment as the flight delays, traffic chaos over there look just awful.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Its just nice to stay snug inside and have no further to wander than Nyon just three minutes away.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">2 days later since I started this post above and now its Christmas day and the snow has indeed melted. Christmas Eve was spent in Geneva with a little bit of last minute shopping, spot Santa playing the trumpet on the main shopping street.Then lunch with friends at the Café du Centre, great fish and food as usual. A great way to begin the celebrations. The staff were busy shucking oysters ready for customers to collect them for their Christmas celebrations.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Then up to the cathedral in the Old town for the service of nine lesons and carols. The rain was teeming down when we all came out which meant there wasn't the usual greeting of friends on the steps of the cathedral afterwards, we just all dashed home. On the platform at the train station on the way home, I spotted this poster below. Its really some promotion for the post office, but of course I thought it was there just for me. A perfect early Christmas present.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So I'm now picking up this post today on Christmas day here in Switzerland. Duncan and I went a quick walk down to the lake, there were quite a few folk out and about and the boulangeries were open and full of customers buying their fresh baguettes and Christmas deliciacies. We are home now, have opened presents and I'm listening to Bowie's Hunky Dory which my sister gave me as a present and it takes me right back to teenage years listening to this on my record player in my Yorkshire attic bedroom. Purple walls candlewick bedspread and wondering what life would bring and where I would end up. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So glad that after all this time and living in many countries I've ended up in Switzerland.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Joyeux Noel.<br />
</div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-72625029472974036892009-11-23T02:27:00.000-08:002009-11-23T02:27:29.668-08:00Bali - Hot and humid but oh so very cool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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According to the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/bali">Lonely Planet guide to Bali</a>, they call the month of November "the suicide season" because it is so hot and humid. And it was, very hot, very humid (and for me migraine inducing) but even the pounding head and 83% humidity still couldn't take away the pleasure or beauty of the island. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I lived in Indonesia back in the early '80s but that was in Jakarta and although I did travel to some outlying small islands, I never actually got over to Bali.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3a_SDNEIWzVV0YzkcRdi0PfziU7Yg2os2yOQ3yGGm5QSkPGhscpikP9mugzf2yzTwd4FLyHRQ6c0GGdERW1CsR6BomSBggp1sD3q4_25JUM_2zMtKPsggsbSn3IkFBMcKfc1O/s1600/yoga+teacher+close+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3a_SDNEIWzVV0YzkcRdi0PfziU7Yg2os2yOQ3yGGm5QSkPGhscpikP9mugzf2yzTwd4FLyHRQ6c0GGdERW1CsR6BomSBggp1sD3q4_25JUM_2zMtKPsggsbSn3IkFBMcKfc1O/s320/yoga+teacher+close+up.jpg" yr="true" /></a>It was everything I expected and more. There were also some things about the island that I hadn't expected. That was the sheer hipness /coolness of the place. Very chic restaurants and bars, there seemed to be at least two or three glossy expat magazines dedicated to what was happening, where was "in", where to go to drink, photos of glamorous folk at drinks parties, who had designed what, which villa was the latest talking point, who was in town. I hadn't exactly thought the island was still big one hippy enclave left over from the '60s althought there are still plenty around (photo below, yoga at 07:00 on the beach taught by a pony tailed teacher who definitely looked like a Bali veteran) but I was surprised at the level of modernity and chicness. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">That chicness also brought criticism, some from the old timers who were aghast at the rampant development of hotels and minimalist villas springing up over the place with no thought to the Indonesian way of living. Lonely Planet also weighed in on this too quoting an architect who has watched the spread of villas with alarm "there's a small box for the maid and the driver doesnt even get a glass of water, these villas are aimed at people who'd go to Ibiza but come here for the cheap help" ... I also thought the noise from some of the night clubs spoilt some areas, who needs the pounding of club music across the beach when the sound of the pounding of the waves is much better ( do I sound like an old fart or what?)<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Photos below. Offerings to the gods and surfboards for the surfers who were about to offer themselves up to the (strong) waves<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Statues near the pool, Kitsch or what? However it was still a relaxing place to be. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDcPiPun7HmvBwJ8_ThOkggt8bAiEaVJWeXcS5E4B9JxdJJEQuK3rHT9xiV55tRFTJC_wijfpiFc4MRjWXLYqISDYhM78k86t7PSctL7IQCnag83W60tkm685bGm1zA2J6OMm/s1600/Bal+iand+Australia+2+084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDcPiPun7HmvBwJ8_ThOkggt8bAiEaVJWeXcS5E4B9JxdJJEQuK3rHT9xiV55tRFTJC_wijfpiFc4MRjWXLYqISDYhM78k86t7PSctL7IQCnag83W60tkm685bGm1zA2J6OMm/s320/Bal+iand+Australia+2+084.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thank goodness that amongst all the modernism this is still an island full of tradition, an island where people prepare daily offerings at their family temple or lay them out on the beach oustide the hotel. Where the coconut trees are trimmed and scaled up by men to heights that take your breath away. Where people get up early to go to market, we did too ( I got some great shots but they hopefully are going into a travel article). It is still is an island full of festivities and dancing and tradition and wonderfully kind people. Where in each village there is an open sided "bale banjar" a community meeting place where local decisions are made.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> There has been so much written about Bali its difficult to say anything new but it <em>is</em> an island of superlatives.<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Stay for one night or one year...<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobyPslm5jKy77z2TAxYd6b5tf2CNrXgYuQDGxoF70CTsWAVokmQDESwiH9yxXHCX0Xg3VsMK45i98E1JyO0od3foXO7puCYXh76k_gwR7lcaFERXwr5zPo7uyoMXHrso79-zv/s1600/Bal+iand+Australia+2+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobyPslm5jKy77z2TAxYd6b5tf2CNrXgYuQDGxoF70CTsWAVokmQDESwiH9yxXHCX0Xg3VsMK45i98E1JyO0od3foXO7puCYXh76k_gwR7lcaFERXwr5zPo7uyoMXHrso79-zv/s320/Bal+iand+Australia+2+030.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Trimming the branches without a ladder<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnOKlE04S8P_h_36OTfAtSDSAd-WP58sWnq723JFnKl565t6PfgWHDnJ7PI6fZNdW28vwyi-igCU0XLSe2teMUv_E2cEuOxo-J3nt4hJ28nhgfZivzexbAwCATsq2wkNeNxG6/s1600/Coconut+trees+Ubud+close+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnOKlE04S8P_h_36OTfAtSDSAd-WP58sWnq723JFnKl565t6PfgWHDnJ7PI6fZNdW28vwyi-igCU0XLSe2teMUv_E2cEuOxo-J3nt4hJ28nhgfZivzexbAwCATsq2wkNeNxG6/s640/Coconut+trees+Ubud+close+up.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9WVHtMqA4t2ua9ZP97NX6pBprp9v_Ucg4Sd-25lbim5EIWv212Cc4Gi0wtG6C7pvu67agRXtvqdcnXkKe4Km0zlUeERUhdfKw11PPT3PHoJQLSlqVd-5BVw3lgnMbH2xzt71/s1600/Bali+and+Australia+100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9WVHtMqA4t2ua9ZP97NX6pBprp9v_Ucg4Sd-25lbim5EIWv212Cc4Gi0wtG6C7pvu67agRXtvqdcnXkKe4Km0zlUeERUhdfKw11PPT3PHoJQLSlqVd-5BVw3lgnMbH2xzt71/s320/Bali+and+Australia+100.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Trimming the trees in Seminyak this time with a ladder<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFeGQqqz9x-UL2FY3YQQJ_PTv-m6BXwSARJfN_kRjpWun4Egc4sM17vu2WXEEjGPFnqwzQRkJs3NcLY2oBfOQZPetTuKu3_lFKpxijGsauFZgRp9_67aHfM_xhQojakzlYy9t/s1600/Coconut+cropping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFeGQqqz9x-UL2FY3YQQJ_PTv-m6BXwSARJfN_kRjpWun4Egc4sM17vu2WXEEjGPFnqwzQRkJs3NcLY2oBfOQZPetTuKu3_lFKpxijGsauFZgRp9_67aHfM_xhQojakzlYy9t/s320/Coconut+cropping.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was only marginally disapointed in a couple of things, the sea at Seminyak was grey rather than blue, the sand was more dirty brown than white and the pavements in the town were just awful , gaps in the chasms that went deep, impossible to walk anywhere easily. But that's probably being too picky.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For 5 days we stayed in Seminyak at a good hotel on the beach, great breakfasts, beach side sunbeds, two pools, a great place to unwind. However, it's the second place we went to a bit further into the hills in Ubud which was simply wonderful probably the best place we have ever stayed in <em>ever. </em><br />
</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So good it warrants a post to itself .<br />
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</div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-52437316965272722912009-11-22T02:42:00.000-08:002009-11-22T02:42:45.643-08:00Three countries and three weeks away makes ..arriving home seem so strange. One minute you are waking up in hot humid weather in a bed draped with mosquito nets to the sound of tropical frogs and Indonesian drums. Or you hear kookaburras and exotic birds as you and draw back the blinds to a bright Australian sun, then, 24 hours later you wake up to the sound of crows cawing and open the curtains to a European dark winter thick in deep fog.<br />
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International travel is so wonderful and yet so unsettling. It's always good to get home after being away, but those first few days of adjustment are bizarre, the jet lag that has you waking up at unearthly hours of the day raring to go at 06:00 am and then fading fast by 6:00p.m. Still its usually all worth it, and this trip deifinitely was. Even the tiny little insect bites from the tropics that are all over my arms and have left have their mark. These are hopefully only temporary mementoes, whereas the memories of another fantastic holiday will remain permament. So where do I start? I uploaded over 600 photos yesterday and wrote quite a few notes during the three weeks away, there's so much to recall. <br />
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I'll start at the beginning. <strong>Singapore.</strong><br />
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The reason for stopping in here on route to Australia was a) because we flew with Singapore Airlines (still superlative on board service) and b) because I just can't handle the "long" part in long haul anymore. After fainting and bringing the whole plane to a screeching halt when taxing down the runway in Syria last year, I didn't want to risk not feeling great on a long flight, so the sensible thing was to break the journey. <br />
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So we arrived in Singapore to the sight of snowmen all up and down Orchard Road. Incongrous somewhat in high temperatures but they were putting out all the stops to create a fabulous Christmas display, thousands of lights and displays all in time for the big <a href="http://www.apec.org/">APEC </a>meeting the following week and no doubt to impress Mr <a href="http://www.barackobama.com/">Obama </a>and all the other high level delegates.<br />
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As ever, Singapore was clean and effiicient. It's also one big construction site. The money and the companies are all here along with what seems like a massive property building boom. Recession what recession? Retail stores galore with all the big household names from Borders Books to Marks and Spencers, to designers names, you could have been in any British or American shopping centre.<br />
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<strong>Spot the non Prada bag wearer</strong>.<br />
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</div><div></div>Snowmen and the tropics<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Except, even though there are many similarities it's the small things that make the differences between countries. For example, entering the Singapore metro there are thin, slim plastic bags all freely available to put your umbrella in so it doesn't drip onto the immaculate platforms. <br />
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Plus there is NO EATING or drinking allowed on the metro/tube itself, with a hefty fine if you do. It's an excellent idea in a way, but I can't see it catching on in the UK or the USA. Depriving a Brit or an American from a fast food fix for even 20 minutes wouldn't go down too well. Still it keeps the tube immaculate and wonderfully junk food smell free (although I think plain water for drinking should be allowed in such heat.)<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Talking of heat, it is so hot the office workers, walk around between buildings using umbrellas to keep the rays of the sun off them, it seemed bizarre at first but I ended doing this myself later on in Bali. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">What Singapore also has is the most fantastic <a href="http://www.nl.sg/NLWEB.portal?_cn_nodePath=NL/VisitUs/NLSBuilding&_nfpb=true&_cn_bookLevel=1&_cn_bookTitle1=Visit+Us&_pageLabel=NL_CMSPage1&_cn_pageTitle=NLS+Building">National public library</a> , 24 hour book drop, email reminders if a book is overdue, all in a most wonderful massive spanking new building.<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course we just had to go to <a href="http://www.raffles.com/EN_RA/Property/RHS/Location_Attractions/Hotel_Information.htm">Raffles</a> for a drink (but didn't have a Singapore sling), the great and the good were there some heading off towards a cocktail party, others heading off to the long bar for a beer. <br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We also went to the Arab quarter and saw the quirky bohemian shops in what is left of the old buildings in the city. One of these was called the blog shop....<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We saw the school children in their smart uniforms<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-CBK4n7dsNK90kik1QrXihczpfdM7qhnKHLy6LSI3lQO1J-0xAfCOYKl_d32JpM8zOo7Xh9icyIrS-msCjW03OwH-UjIsmX_GE7Jr8KG-xmPbrNBfWWS8zT-W4oYxczt_dLD/s1600/Bal+iand+Australia+2+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje-CBK4n7dsNK90kik1QrXihczpfdM7qhnKHLy6LSI3lQO1J-0xAfCOYKl_d32JpM8zOo7Xh9icyIrS-msCjW03OwH-UjIsmX_GE7Jr8KG-xmPbrNBfWWS8zT-W4oYxczt_dLD/s320/Bal+iand+Australia+2+017.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">We ate chicken with ginger a speciality that the poor <a href="http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_795_2005-01-18.html">Samsui</a> women building workers only managed to eat once a month. We traipsed round all the electronic shops trying to find a <a href="http://www.theflip.com/en-us/">Flip</a> (suprisingly with no luck)<br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks Soh Koon for showing us round, a great 24 hour pit stop before moving on to<br />
</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Bali.<br />
</div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-40724059162616476122009-11-07T07:08:00.000-08:002009-11-07T07:08:30.692-08:00Blogging, Julia Child, and BaliAn eclectic mix I admit but...and apolgies for typos, am working on an Indonesian keyboard<br />
Went to see the film "Julie and Julia" a couple of weeks ago. It will ring bells for expats and bloggers alike . "Where is home?" ask Julia as she and her husband move on to another posting in Oslo.<br />
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"What do I do now she asks?" on the first day her husband goes off to work leaving her to fend for herself in a new country.<br />
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Delight when Julie gets her first comment on her first post on her first blog (even though it is from her mother)<br />
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Am in Bali at the moment. What an island of contrasts. Lovely people, fabulous food, palm trees, it,s the got the lot. It also has lots of feral dogs on the beaches, rampant dangerous potholes in the streets, tight security and a humidity at this time of year that makes one go a little crazy and headachey. Not that I'm complaining..<br />
Everyone is talking about the heavyhandedness of Julia Roberts' security guards though. The big star is here on the island filming "Eat Pray, Love" and there has been a bit of a to do over it all and how a tourist who took a photo of the filming got their camera confiscated. Not much "praying or love" with the Hollywood set then.... Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-80097927225763290872009-09-19T09:45:00.000-07:002009-09-22T04:40:51.355-07:00Breaking all the rules..It seems to be perceived wisdom in blogging etiquette that you should never write "sorry I haven't posted anything for a while". Apparently it looks unprofessional. But as there have been no posts on here for over a month then it seems a tad remiss of me not to explain why.<br /><br />Nothing disastrous has happened, we are all well, and in fine form. In fact August was rather an excellent month with 25 years of marriage and a BIG birthday to celebrate. The latter was fabulous. I woke up in Addingham, the <a href="http://www.addingham.info/index.htm">village I grew up </a>in to a glorious morning. We stayed with some good friends of my parents and before breakfast, D and I got up early to go a short walk over the Roman road which looks out on <a href="http://www.walkingenglishman.com/leedsharrogate22.htm">Beamsley Beacon.</a> This is a small mountain (large hill?) that overlooks the village and was part of my childhood. We also got *<a href="http://www.beamsleyproject.org.uk/page2.asp">married</a> in Beamsley so lots of memories associated with it. The chapel no longer exists in the building but has been turned into a very worthwhile project. The scenery around here is stunning (it's also near where they filmed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_Girls#External_links">Calendar Girls</a>)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcFgzZbCQo_c1_3PPDuSKAJkOjkq4Oxbu9rAJLVtis6QaNi35Y5Y6fejXHmapMbP6qlu5pkTSGOpxY4n95HRUZMP0WXCBZch3P7gGBwVzKqLI4dfQgrJGaovn3GpRDHq85aKn/s1600-h/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+016.JPG"><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384248012050332498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 267px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZcFgzZbCQo_c1_3PPDuSKAJkOjkq4Oxbu9rAJLVtis6QaNi35Y5Y6fejXHmapMbP6qlu5pkTSGOpxY4n95HRUZMP0WXCBZch3P7gGBwVzKqLI4dfQgrJGaovn3GpRDHq85aKn/s400/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+016.JPG" border="0" /></a></p>My mother even wrote a Christmas carol about Beamsley Beacon and then took her class at school (she was a teacher) to Leeds to sing it on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/looknorthyorkslincs/">BBC Look North. </a><p>But I digress.<br /><br />The day brought cards, phone calls and messages from all over the world including an sms from friends holidaying in Iceland, an sms from friends who were half way up a cable car in France,<br />a friend who called me and then played "Happy Birthday" on her piano from her summer cottage on a Norwegian island. Other friends (mother, father and nine year old daughter) called to sing "Happy Birthday" from their holiday in the Ticino region of Switzerland. The evening rounded off with an night with friends at family my village pub. A very good day, a good night, a very good celebration.<br /><br />I don't really have any angst about turning the big 50. I reckon if I have friends and family, am in good health, haven't seen any wars, never been made redundant, never known hunger, am still married after a quarter of a century, have had the opportunity to travel and can afford a good bottle of wine every now and again, then there's lots to celebrate.<br /><br />OK I'd love to lose around 14lbs in weight, I wish my mum had lived to see our daughter been born and her and my Dad to see her grow up too, it would be nice to have a few less wrinkles, but what the hell. If this sounds like a load of pious, sanctimonious twaddle I don't really care.<br /><br />So August was fabulous and then....... it became a bit of a roller coaster. From the highs of celebration we dipped to a bit of a low after our daughter left to go travelling on her gap year.<br />I had always been so dismissive of those mothers that talked about empty nest syndrome. "Pah!" I thought if they are so wrapped up in their childrens' lives, then there is something wrong if they can't accept it when their children leave home.<br /><br />Boy, am I eating my words now. As parents we are busy people and have lot's going on, so we didn't exactly live our life through our daughter, but we were very much a part of her life and she very much a part of ours. We've been a family dynamic of three for 18 years, we have moved across continents and countries and been through a lot together. Suddenly it's gone back down to just the two of us. The day we said goodbye to her on her way to Australia we were bereft. I felt a bit like the face in the photo below.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5SbkdaM2UaAvLB2bKOU_uSTapFpur-wdDmTsHd6Dynf7B8aJgIqzgLPdjLQIJk1HhqeaQWZPsT9-n-xuZaA3_IajuJ63hqNoj_RU6LH4G1oPyJbmsxYdjAO7RwDtETF2U0HI/s1600-h/Basel+and+Nyon+045.jpg"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5SbkdaM2UaAvLB2bKOU_uSTapFpur-wdDmTsHd6Dynf7B8aJgIqzgLPdjLQIJk1HhqeaQWZPsT9-n-xuZaA3_IajuJ63hqNoj_RU6LH4G1oPyJbmsxYdjAO7RwDtETF2U0HI/s1600-h/Basel+and+Nyon+045.jpg"></p></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5SbkdaM2UaAvLB2bKOU_uSTapFpur-wdDmTsHd6Dynf7B8aJgIqzgLPdjLQIJk1HhqeaQWZPsT9-n-xuZaA3_IajuJ63hqNoj_RU6LH4G1oPyJbmsxYdjAO7RwDtETF2U0HI/s1600-h/Basel+and+Nyon+045.jpg"><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384223666402968194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj5SbkdaM2UaAvLB2bKOU_uSTapFpur-wdDmTsHd6Dynf7B8aJgIqzgLPdjLQIJk1HhqeaQWZPsT9-n-xuZaA3_IajuJ63hqNoj_RU6LH4G1oPyJbmsxYdjAO7RwDtETF2U0HI/s400/Basel+and+Nyon+045.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The first week was just <em>awful. </em>I'd been warned by other mothers that this would happen but I didn't believe them. How wrong I was.<br /><br />Anyway three weeks later I admit it's got easier. The odd sms sent from the Australian outback and the occasional phone call has helped and it's suprising how quickly you adjust to a new status quo, I've also gained a spare room which is great for dumping the laundry, but of course I would much rather she was there than the washing pile. But she's not and that's the way it should be.</p><p>I left home and went travelling at the age of 17 and 11 months and spent 3 days on a bus from London to Greece. My mother must have been bereft too and she didn't have text messages to console her or cheer her day up. But I do and am so grateful for that.</p><p>Since she left D and I have had a few away days so there's lots to report on from the most sublime Coldplay concert in Berne to a disastrous trip to see the Van Gogh exhibition in Basel. </p><p>But this post is getting far too long and apparently, that's another thing you musn't do in blogging etiquette -make posts too long. So that's two rules I've broken already, but "tant pis". </p><p>I reckon when you get to my age you can break all the rules you like........ </p><br /><p></p><br /><p><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5jcwS-A6KU_1vy6ImEXctTdgMT6vMH2rAvhSXO9z330KOYB493Aup8gz4uLRHMy__rDTvCVBVUcG-Ucu8zIn_1MwDoRcOorxzCQU-HEprbbAjawqpg9UlU262H6g0dEgKpW7/s1600-h/Basel+and+Nyon+043.jpg"></a><br /><br /></p>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29337514.post-57334117413534831312009-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:002009-08-19T14:09:22.299-07:00Part ThreeBetty's tea room -Ilkley<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fguOSphyphenhyphenkwkqeMLAWaQWNepPJG1UDUH_7OccyNsStcv1b4bzOzZJGQPpjzGPn7iZNx3DgOSe_dAKoGScd_Gt1tb4XZqWY9EawP4Ed5M7-Uxr0_CFU-8Y9jQx0gzejuzujZ6b/s1600-h/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+E.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371043855146662034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6fguOSphyphenhyphenkwkqeMLAWaQWNepPJG1UDUH_7OccyNsStcv1b4bzOzZJGQPpjzGPn7iZNx3DgOSe_dAKoGScd_Gt1tb4XZqWY9EawP4Ed5M7-Uxr0_CFU-8Y9jQx0gzejuzujZ6b/s400/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+E.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Silverdale<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjUdp2EGuVTej8HZvvEt9bepFdh5P4jHYuxBT4VT8y3Z48TXmYTNLeAuscaiXa4GTxGPIhBRppVQXCfVVAmmzII7i59onQIxlDdBk6x77aArgUQNxWi-gkMNP_Mh5ICRAaUHi/s1600-h/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+F.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371043844429275330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjUdp2EGuVTej8HZvvEt9bepFdh5P4jHYuxBT4VT8y3Z48TXmYTNLeAuscaiXa4GTxGPIhBRppVQXCfVVAmmzII7i59onQIxlDdBk6x77aArgUQNxWi-gkMNP_Mh5ICRAaUHi/s400/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+F.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />A lovely place to post a letter<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWV12DTaBcDnK9m6J8IZErI3gS8koBz2Ir12TEQ6xhdYHFDTzjlUcB6UWiWPsjG_ogHyZ-t-K3nFvHBD4Q2p7s-65K9cfnJEH2xl8A5GPkMrmXtJ12mfUG50OV-PAWNy6IjwA/s1600-h/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+H.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371043832605769650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWV12DTaBcDnK9m6J8IZErI3gS8koBz2Ir12TEQ6xhdYHFDTzjlUcB6UWiWPsjG_ogHyZ-t-K3nFvHBD4Q2p7s-65K9cfnJEH2xl8A5GPkMrmXtJ12mfUG50OV-PAWNy6IjwA/s400/50th+birthday+Scotland+and+Yorkshire+H.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Catherine Nelson-Pollardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13292389495117523090noreply@blogger.com1