It's so hard jetsetting around Europe!!

i have been ultra busy for the last two weeks! therefore my memory may not serve me right and i wont blog about everything but here goes...
on thursday 16th november it was the pussycat dolls concert that i had been looking foward to for ages... i was even going to go there by myself if no one wanted to go but luckily jenny was going with her friends sally and kirsty. so i got the bmw drove the 30 minutes to jennys house, we then drove to tiefenbrunnen to get the train only for me to realise i forgot my ticket... actually not even forgot - it didnt even cross my mind to bring my ticket. i messaged mum to tell her that i was born a retard and i just havent been diagnosed and she kindly informed me that i just have baby brain because i spend all my time looking after kids.... NO EXCUSE. so luckily i drove home got my ticket and just jumped on a train at mannedorf to take me straight to the concert because there was no way i was driving again - i would have probably drove into a wall or something.
this was the night also that catherines parents drove all the way from belgium to stay for 10 days. its a 8 hour drive so not too bad and they dont get to see the kids often so its a real treat for them to visit!. i really liked them and they are really good cooks! so of course it has been an eating frenzy for the last week!
on the weekend then lacey, amanda, svetlana, lauren and i caught a train at sunrise on saturday morning to milan! the four hour trip was fine and once in milan we got to our 55chf a night hotel. probably wouldnt pay 55 cents back home for the hotel considering my bed moved and 5 of us were crammed into a tiny room but i was only for sleeping so we set off and explored the streets together. milan actually isnt really that pretty and its main attraction 'leonardo di vinci's last supper' was booked out so we couldnt see that! lacey said its fading off the wall so i might go back down there to see it before it diappears for ever but i'll see! the other attraction is the duomo a magnificant church in the centre of milan. millions of tourists and crazy people trying to get you to buy food for pigeons (yes lacey paid 8 dollars against her will) but it is just amazing being there. we went to the fashion district where all the pretty shops that are way out of my price range are and we explored all the other touristy things.
that saturday night we went out for dinner and amanda got picked up so while she went for a drink after our 5 hour meal over spewmanti (spelling?) we hung out the front of the bar while she met this italian man!!! WRONG! amanda left the bar and we didnt realise so when we went in there at 1am to head home she wasnt in there!! panic stations we thought this guy had kidnapped her so we were panicking and calling her and freaking out and i was scared i was going to see her body dumped in a nearby park! sounds dramatic now but at the time we were all scared especialy considering her phone was off and all the people in the bar said they had never seen her!! thankfully she was ok and got a strict talking to from mama lacey and me when she strolled back! her EGYPTIAN man drove us all back to the hotel and we called it a night.
thankfully the breakfast in this dive of a hotel was really good so we ate up and then began another day of exploring. we went to the most famous opera house in the world, a caslte, the metro (where amanda got pickpocketed - NOTE TO SELF hold on to your bag for dear life in italy these people are quick and professional) and also did some haggling for some fake prada stuff!
all in all a good trip - made me acually appreciate the cleanliness and kindness of swiss people. zurich may not be as well known or fancy but it is safe like home and for now it is my home so i am really glad i am here.
in zurich hb they have also erected a christmas tree and it is covered in swarovski crystals - amazing!! no photo can describe it because it is so sparkly!

so this week then i only had to work three days (which were pretty cruisy because 'bon mummo and bon papa' were still here so the kids were well behaved!!)
then off to prague on thursday.
but before that i had a pretty hard week considering mum was going in for her operation wednesday morning. i couldnt sleep for ages thinking about it and it was so hard talking to her on tuesday because i kept worrying about her and how i wasnt there to look after her. i knew that i had to be strong for mum because she must have been so nervous going into that operation but i was so scared something bad was going to happen and i would never see her again. talking on skype i was scared it was the last time i would hear her voice. wednesday morning though dad called to tell me mum was out of the operation and she was fine. the relief!!!
so now that mummy was ok i can go to prague and enjoy myself which is exactly what i did!!
woke up at 4.30am thursday morning to get to zurich flughafen (airport) for my 7.30 flight! so organised i made it on time and got on the right plane and didnt forget a thing!! i was so happy my baby brain didnt affect my trip!
so got to prague got my shuttle to hostel (which i didnt even check my room becuase i thought i would cry) just dropped my stuff off and went exploring waitng for jai jai to arrive. after looking around a bit and having a coffee i decided to do a short tour on the bus! best idea ever it went for a bit over an hour but i drove all over prague and gave you a detailed history of the city which was really good. i then went to meet jai jai and take her back to the hostel!
ok so originally we were staying in a dorm but it was mixed sexes and so random so we forked out the extra $60 and got a 4 bedroom room.. we had the first night to ourselves but then night 2 and 3 this other girl who shall be named 'china' was in the room with us! no biggie she was quiet and jai jai and i were never in the room except for sleeping time!
so we saw the old town, went on a horse and carriage ride, climbed the old town hall to get a fantastic view, saw the 'apostles come out of the clock which for some weird reason is a huge attraction, we wandered through the cobbled stones streets and looked at all the beautiful things, walked over the charles bridge which was amzing and so picturesque, went to the new town sqaure (wenseslas square) which was cool, caught a tram to prague castle which was great and we saw the changing of the guards which was really interestting. took a heap of photos, filled my camera and had a great time. not much shopping done because i didnt find that great discount places but i bought a skirt and some boots and some runners so i was happy!! GOING TO BED..... to be continued at a later date. just spoke to mum and dad on the phone so now i can sleep, guten nacht. xoxox

What a Week!

well considering the weather wasnt as cold this week you would have thought i would have been happier and the week would have gone smoothly .... WRONG! after an uneventful monday besides the fact it was noels birthday and we had cake and gave presents and stuff it was pretty quiet. i wne to the dentist and got a quote of 4000 francs for all the work on my mouth too! maybe that was when the week started to go downhill.
on tuesday i got to leave work early as amanda and i went to the ben harpur concert. it was a really great night even though we had to trek out to basel. the singer was great and i really enjoyed the music. only problem was everyone there was smoking marujiana so on the way home from zurich i fell asleep on the train therefore missing my stop. after panicking after getting off at stafa i realised there was no trains to my house for another 2 hours. i had to catch a cab which cost me 20 francs. aghhhh. so tired on wednesday and it was noels party! we went to the pool and then to the park and ate lots... amanda came and helped too and then we went to german together. after class did the usual coffee at the shop nearby.
thursday was ok but then in the evening catherin yelled at me even though she was angry at the kids. it was the first time she has yelled at me so i got upset. i think she felt bad though. so on friday it was freeeezing and we were at meilen all afternoon looking at the house, from there i went to class and then sara, lacey, lucille, amanda, julian (the french man) and i went to a famous german restaurant!!! YUKKK $40 for a feral sausage and some rosti which is swiss and is sliced potato hash browny thing!!! blehhh yuk.
so after a gross meal i then am on the train home and realise i dont have my keys... whoops so after balling my eyes out for ages and then i finally ring beat i got in the house. i was so scared i would get in trouble that i was considering sleeping outside..... ummm i would probably be in hospital now because during the night zurich turns to ice town! luckily i wasnt in trouble and the next day catherine even offered me her free tickets to the wine show.... i had already been though last week... mmmm still have to buy some of the wine i liked. it was so good!
so saturday i just went swimming and then got rained on back home and then met jenny in the city at 3pm. she had a date on saturday (which turned out to be a nightmare) so i helped her go shopping all afternoon! it was fun and i found some cool places for clothes!
i left her house at 9 on saturday night once she went out because i had an early start sunday.
lucille and i went to lugano for the day which was 3 hours away!! i slept all the way there. lugano was beautiful and i had such a nice day. lucille and i were feeling spontaneous too so we decided to pop on a train and go to como for the afternoon. we were only there for 2 hours but we had fun and got gelato.. mine was magala and it was the yummest thing ever!!!
so we got home at 11pm sunday night ready to start work at 7am but i had such a fun day with lucille and she is leaving in like 2 weeks so i have to spend lots of time with her!!!
today was just spent planning my trip to milan next weekend with the girls... 45 francs there and then im practically free home because i will come home after 7pm!!
now we have to find accomodation and let me tell you everywhere we look italian hostels have bad reviews... oh well at least its only for a night!
ps mum, we met an american couple in lugano and they had just spent time in italy on a tour and they loved it!! check out globus.com they said it was really good.
well better get some rest got a big couple of weeks planned ahead!!
xox

Busy Busy!!!

the weeks are flying now and although i have only been here 7 weeks today, i feel like i have been here a lot longer... in a good way!
last weekend amanda stayed over both friday and saturday nights. we didnt do much, went to rapperswil and had lunch, stayed in watched some movies, just a quiet one! then on sunday i went out for lunch with jenny and we saw 'the devil wears prada' at the movies which cost $18 but was worth it.
the week was a good one. on monday we went to uster to a pumpkin farm as halloween was tuesday. it was really fun carving the pumpkins as we dont really follow that tradition back home. the rest of the week was just the usual but i am starting to get more responsibilty with the kids as catherine becomes more confident in me. one day this week i was allowed the kids by myself for the afternoon and i took them over to jenny's house to play. they had heaps of fun and we made chocolate crispies! i also now sometimes pick noel up from school which is good and i have to drive the massive car!!!
all in all the week was good. catherine said i can have christmas off so we started to plan for our trip to italy. and german class has been getting easier as i start to understand the concept of the language.
friday night after class lacey, lucille, sara, manda and i went to the zurich wine expo which was on the lake on all these ferries. it was really nice, even though it was so cold out! when i was walking home there was ice on the cars!!
saturday i spent the day shopping for warm stuff like gloves, scarf, jackets and also noels birthday present. all the girls then went out on saturday night to zurich. we went to a bar called lady hamiltons which is an english pub. we had the best night. we were just dancing all night and we met a random guy from miami who was buying us drinks allll night. got home at 2.30ish and slept like a log!
today was then spent in rapperswil for noels birthday with the family. we went to dieci for italian. then this afternoon i met the girls at zurich and we had a wander and then went to andree wind (lucilles boss mum) for coffee and au pair chat. the night was pretty bad as andree is a physcho but then we went to thai at erlanbach so we finished the weekend nicely.
the weather here is getting so cold and it hasnt even started snowing yet. i hope i get used to it soon because it is unbearable at the moment.
well its noels birthday tomorrow so i have to wrap his present and then i need to find what time i am going to the dentist tomorrow.... have to probably get more collagen stuffed into my gum.....