Auberge espagnole

Happy Sunday!

Tonhalle Duesseldorf

 4 topics that get today's attention.

The internship: My first week is now over and I must say that I am happy with my decision. The team is wonderful and supportive in every situation which I appreciate a lot. The last days were more about getting in touch with the company and all its abbreviations, so work was limited and it was rather calm for me. Upcoming weeks will be more stressful as I will get own projects, smaller tasks and meetings to attend.

The interns: On Wednesday a few interns and I met in the old town to have an after work beer. It was pretty nice with all of them which is why we decided to organise a party on Friday night as well. After having met at one guy's place, we went to a club in the city. Music was fine but the average age was about 10 years older than I am. I have never felt so young at one place, but being with the right people made this first nightlife experience to a fun event and we hopefully can continue these events in future.

The flat mates: As promised last week, I made a huge attempt to get to know my flat mates: Well, there is a Spanish guy who works from 1 - 10 PM, a rhythm that differs a lot from mine, therefore we rarely meet. Secondly there is an American who is invisible, too. We exchanged our names and that's all. Finally there is a Swedish kid who moved to Cologne yesterday. Admittedly I am a little sad because even we only have known each other for one week, we got pretty close and it might be a beginning of a friendship. As Cologne is around the corner, we want to visit each other. Now I can only hope that his successor is a sympathetic as he was. Eventually there might be a 4th flat mate but I don't know where he or she hides. Kind of crazy here.

The city: The more I get know Duesseldorf, the more I like it. The old town is cosy, people are open and the Rhine refreshes hot and humid days. To get rid of the stress, I go running in the Volksgarten that is just around the corner and a great recreation area. The Koenigsallee is a pompous street where I prefer shopping (next to Louis Vuitton and Chanel you find shops for little money, such as Zara or H&M).

Recreation area = museum

Relaxing!

All in all, a pretty good week.
And we have the 50th post since I have started c'est le dimanche matin. Celebration time?

Somewhere over the rainbow

Dear followers, 

Guess where I am sitting?
In my new apartment in Duesseldorf. Surprise! Surprise! How I came here? Let me tell you the whole story today...

This week started off with our flight back to Europe. Unfortunately I didn’t sleep a single second while we were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore I was extremely tired back in Geneva at my parents’ and went to bed at 7 PM Monday night. Probably my way was the best to avoid any jet lag and I had no problem finding my rhythm again. 

The couple of days I spent in Geneva were primarily dominated by having a lot of fun with friends: swimming, hanging out at the lake, BBQ, lunch, shopping, talking. One of them leaves for Shanghai next week and I wish him all the best because he doesn’t know what culture shock will face him. 

After only a short stay at my parents’, I went to Duesseldorf on Friday night, slept over at some friends and eventually moved in yesterday. Let me tell you that it was a long and tiring day.
Yes, I had a good friend as help. Yes, I had only “some” boxes and no furniture to carry as I rented a furnished room. But yes, it also had 35°C. And yes, everything had to be carried into the 5^th floor, without elevator of course.
So please imagine us do to all that! After this exercise we left everything as it was and head to the city to get some distraction. I must say, that I like Duesseldorf from the first moment. Finally I can live in a real city.
However my real work began last night as I had to put everything out of the boxes. Unfortunately I didn’t meet any of my flat mates which made work a little bit more difficult because I had no idea where I could find a vacuum cleaner for example. And I need one desperately because my predecessor seemed to be dirty. Nevertheless I started – equipped with a broom at least – and put everything the way I liked most, although space is limited and furniture quite cheap. 

View

Perfumes

Jewellery

Today I want to benefit from this incredibly good weather before I start my internship tomorrow morning. This is the cause why I find myself in Duesseldorf and I am really looking forward to it.

About my first week, my flat mates (oh by the way: there are 4 of them and I think most of them are men because I found a lot of man stuff in the shower. And no, I don’t have a clue who they could be), my experiences, my fight against the warm weather, and so on and on – all this next Sunday.

So long, all the best.

End of the story. Or the trip.

Another and the last hello from my trip!

Never would I dare to jump!

I can't believe that it's my last hours in the US. I have spent three weeks of wonderful events and impressions alothough there were few tensions in the family (especially towards the end).

Nevada Falls

Let me tell you something about my last week: We started off at Yosemite National Park where we did a lot of hiking and I once did some horseback riding. It was actually the first time in my life on a horse and I had a blast, though my but hurt a little... evetually we also visited the huge Sequoia trees!

Some Golden Gate Bridge

After four days in the forest we hit the road towards San Francisco and after a long time in nature I was rather grateful to see a city again. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed as I have never seen so many homeless people in a city. Despite the homeless, San Francisco has a lot of charme: Edwardian colourful houses, hills, the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate bridge (that I only "saw" in fog), Ferry Building, ... and we were even lucky with the weather due to three days of unbeatable sunshine (not at the bridge obviously). But however, I didn't fall totally in love with the city as others do. Maybe it was also because of our apartment which was actually nice but in the slightly deteriorated district of mission. 
One day we went to Silicon Valley,  in search of google, facebook and Apple. Linked to these impressive companies we visited Standford Univsersity, one of the most beautiful universities on world. Why not doing my master degree here? I shoulld ask Mom and Dad for some financial support :)

Famous Alamo Square

Cable Car

Can you see curvy Lombard Street?

Stanford

To make an overall evaluation of my three weeks I need a little more distance. Hopefully I can judge next week. Speaking of next week, I am absolutely looking forward to it. Though, it might be a little stressful - that I will explain to you then. Enjoy your week, I have now to leave for SFO.
Bye bye West Coast.

National Parks and Sin City

It’s me again. Sitting in a little shabby but comfortable hood in the forest of Yosemite National Park, I am sending you the best wishes. Here, I am enjoying the calm of the nature as another exciting week has just passed…

… it started with our arrival at Moab last Sunday. Moab can be found in Utah and is a small town surrounded by red stones. Apparently it is the Eldorado for bikers and just at the entry of Arches National Park. While my dad was biking, I primarily enjoyed our townhouse that I rented on vrbo.com. I must say, that we were really lucky as it was not only spacious but also clean, had an access to a pool and was fully equipped. 

Little me in an arch

We did some hiking and rafting in the Colorado River: Ok, we did less rafting than swimming in the river but however we had a wonderful day on the water with really funny guides. One was the typical American guy: tall, with muscles, well tanned and probably the girls’ dream in high school.

Rafting in the Colorado River

Utah's landmark: Delicate Arch

 Afterwards we continued our trip through Utah and stopped at another (the 1000^th?) canyon which was Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately there was a heaving lightning storm that prohibited us to hike – we only took photos and went then to Cedar City. On the route we faced a blocked road that had an unforeseen deviation, so that we spent nearly the whole day in the car. Cedar City – where we stopped in a simple hotel – is a small town in Utah and only a 2 hour drive away from Las Vegas.

Bryce Canyon

I hate Vegas. It is hot. It is crowded. It is only funny when at least 21. It is huge kitsch hotels. Oh, and have I already mentioned it? It is hot. Sin City is a place worth to go once and to make someone’s own mind about. The best time here was shopping at the outlet city in air-conditioned stores (I show you the haul when time goes by). Of course, the mega hotels (like Treasure Island, Venetian, Ceasar’s Palace, Mirage,…) are stunning – but after having seen the 3^rd complex the excitement fades away.

People are drinking, partying and playing at one of the thousand casinos. When I am allowed to do so, I try to come back and give the city a second chance.

The Strip at night

Last but not least we yesterday had a long drive to Yosemite National Park that lead us through famous Dead Valley. Although the thermostat rose without stop, we passed it safely with a lot of water in the trunk. Now we are here for another 3 days, enjoying the green trees after two weeks of mostly sand and red stones. It is quite urgent to recreate as last week was really tiring.

Enjoy your Sunday and the rest of the week, I benefit the most as possible from my last week on vacation. 

Episode No 1

In the desert of Arizona

Good morning,

It’s only been one week that I am in the States but I had the chance to experience tons of beautiful things during the last couple of days.

Let’s start chronologically: Well, the flight was long. It took about 20 hours as we had plenty of spare time in Montreal and were more than lucky to leave the Canadian ground due to a storm. In the end we arrived safely and picked up our spacious car.

Arrived in Los Angeles, we were welcomed by friends who showed us LA: Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Venice Beach, Malibu Beach, Getty Museum, Santa Monica and Walk of Fame. Personally, I liked Beverly Hills the most – it has a town character with its famous Rodeo Drive. Unfortunately I didn’t cross any real celebrity, I only saw Heidi Montag from „The Hills“ and „Laguna Beach“ while driving on Sunset Boulevard. Apparently Justin Bieber, the Kardashians and Cameron Diaz live in our hosts‘ neighbourhood but we didn’t meet any of them at Starbucks.

Hollywood Sign

Venice Beach

After a short visit at the Fender Music of Arts (primarily for my brother), we went on the road and crossed the Californian desert to finally reach Lake Havasu City. It is located next tot he Colorado River and it’s temperature is always above 30 degrees Celsius, even at night. Therefore the lake is not a refreshment at all and we were lucky to have stayed there only one night.

On the road

The last two days we spent at the Grand Canyon National Park. IT. IS. PHENOMENAL. Of course, the entire site is very touristic, but the view on the colourful miracle reminds you of what nature is able to create. Yesterday we got up at 5 AM to catch the different colour shades before going on a hike to descend the canyon.  

5.30 AM - sunrise at the Grand Canyon

During the first week, I took about 200 photos, but I only show you a small selection here (It has already taken me 2 hours to upload them). So far our hotels met all our expectations, hopefully it will continue. Moreover I am tired of burgers and fries, I cannot wait to eat a fresh salad tonight in the house we rented. The more we left the coast, the fatter people became: there is only little healthy alternative.

Today, we are on our way to Moab, next to the Arches National Park crossing the Monument Valley. I see you next week with new impressions and photos. 

24 hours till departure

Sunset at the lake

The Kooks

Hiking through a canyon in the environment

Little later than usually I welcome you to my post. On one hand I needed to catch up some sleep, on the other my preparation for tomorrow's flight took all my attention.
Short resume of last week: three dinners in town with friends, one open air cinema watching the mute film "The Artist", two hikes in the environment, one festival seeing The Kooks and The Kills and finally my last week of internship. Everyone's positive feedback completed four nice weeks of work experience in which not only I learnt a lot but also taught experts how to be more effective.

As promised last week, I want to show you some tips and tricks how to pack suitcases. There have been few times that I lived out of my suitcase during some of my travels and the next three weeks will be the same - therefore you can call me an experienced person.

1. My first step is always a packing list. This seems to be exaggerated but I so get the best overview about what I want to take and what I need to wash before. This time I also scribbled a shopping list because I plan to buy some pieces in outlets. 
2. To see what the list gives when having the pieces for real, I put everything on my bed. 
3. Afterwards I start putting everything into the suitcase, following a few rules:
1. Put socks into shoes
2. To protect tissues like silk, put them either in tissue paper or at least into some extra bag. 
3. Rolling pieces prevents them from creasing
4. Blouses and jackets should be put on the top
5. While packing I think of what I will wear on the flight: I wear pieces that are either space-taking or which tend to crease easily.

Last week I also said that I want to cook. Indeed, I stood in the kitchen but baking an Apple Crumble Pie. Check out the following recipe, even my boss complimented me for it.

Apple Crumble Pie

300 g flour

100 g sugar

200 g butter

3 eggs

1,5 kg apples

2 tsp baking powder

4 tsp vanilla sugar

For crumbling: 100 g sugar, 250 g flour and 125 g butter

For the pastry mix flour,sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla sugar in a bowl until you have a flat mass. Peel the apples and cut them into small cubes. Fill then the pastry into a buttered baking tray and top it with the apples cubes. Preheat the oven on 200°C while preparing the crumble. Therefore mix flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and knead it. Sprinkle it afterwards on the apples and bake the cake for approx. 35 minutes.

Now I will have to arrange a few things before leaving. As I don't know exactly how internet access will be the next weeks, I can't promise you to be on time. But of course, I try to keep you informed about what I do, even if it's only a short statement. So far, I wish you all the best and want to thank for some tips you gave me.

Always desire to do something useful (Sophocles)

Good morning,

Summer doesn't fulfill all its duties this year. Temperature fell to 13 degrees Celsius this morning and therefore everyone is complaining. To swim against the tide, I prefer fall and winter anyway which is way I am not that much touched by the conditions. Eventually I leave to the West Coast tomorrow in one week, where the weather will be more than hot. I can only hope to survive Death Valley. Having said this, I begin to pack my suitcase this week and I will document it to show you next week. Are there any indispensibles you take with you when you go on vacation?

Besides the usual work, I went out Thursday and Friday night with my colleagues. Yesterday I only came home at 5.30 am - of course I still suffer my tiredness today. We went to a club I have never been before (SIP), but I actually prefer other clubs here. However it was a night fun out, especially because we had a delicious barbecue before.

After only 3 hours of sleep yesterday, I figured out that there was s soap box derby in my little village. I only know such events from films, so I found it rather interesting to go and watch. Some soap boxes were really professional, some others really funny. Unfortunately one crashed just in front on my eyes  - that was the moment I left. Afterwards I went to the Tomatoe Festival in nearby Carouge. This district is one of my favourites here, lovely little houses and a well-tended area, perfect to have some cupcakes and a coffee.

Barbecue

Pregaming

Colourful bottles (Tomatoe Festival)

Carouge

Cupcake cafe

It's been quite a while that I have decided to learn a new language. In my university it was difficult because my schedule didn't accord with the language classes and now it is impossible because I will move every 6 months. I need something consistent. In order to do so, I had a look in the internet to find some tutorials to learn Russian. Yes, that was my plan. Altough Russian is important in business world, it is a huge challenge due to the new alphabat and grammar and will therefore take a lot of time. Instead of Russian, I found a perfect page for my objectives to learn a different language: Swedish. As I can easily imagine to live there later and will now start to learn the language which resembles English and German that I already speak. I am a fan of challenges - here is the next one.

With this revelation I see you next week. Enjoy it!

P.S. I didn't cook recently, but if I do so (and this is my plan for next week) I will publish a new recipe.

A week full of happiness

Swiss market

Vespa

Swiss house

Birthday cupcake + prosecco

Canon + H&M scarf (sale)

Poster wall

Graffiti

Dinner at the lake

Appearances aren't deceptive: I am now a proud owner of a Canon EOS 550D. It wouldn't be exagerated to say that I am in love with it.

Remember my list that I compiled in spring? The camera is the first accomplishment that I can tick on it. Beyond the camera, you could also find that I wanted to celebrate my birthday in a parc with lovely selfmade cupcakes, friends, family and champagne. Instead of realizing this idea, I yesterday went to Switzerland's capital to see a friend and to establish a replacing program: a small tin of prosecco, cupcakes from the cupcake store and a picknick in a parc. My original plan couldn't be fulfilled as none of my friends were here and my parents had invited me to have dinner at the lake.

I also want to make use the opportunity to thank you for all the wishes that I have recieved during the past days. All the acknowledgements made this week to a really special one, hence I figure out now who my friends are. Thank you a lot.
Still, I need to get used to the "2" in front of my age. It feels like a huge step, kind of being now are real adult.

I hope you all enjoy summer the best way as it is possible. See you next week!