Lausanne, los primeros días

Tengo la suerte de tener gente alrededor que me ayuda a recordar que es bueno escribir las memorias iniciales al llegar a una nuevo sitio. Normalmente estoy tan metida en los detalles del día a día que la sorpresa de encontrase con algo nuevo me va pasando por enfrente y aunque la noto, no me tomo el tiempo de apreciarlo como debería. Por eso decidí escribir un poco sobre las primeras impresiones de lausanne, mientras estoy "fresca"

Lausanne hasta hoy tiene cosas que la hacen resaltar de entre los sitios donde he vivido. Una de las cosas que mi memoria esta tratando de empujar al papel (en este caso a la pantalla) es la bondad o quizá esa no es la palabra correcta, me sale "politness" pero no me refiero al politness inglés ... sino más bien la amabilidad y la cordialidad con la que los Laussanoises y quizá todos los Suizos viven su vida. Uno camina por la calle, y la gente sonría y te dice, Bonjour madame, le tocan el pelo a Sebastian or le dicen algo dulce en francés. Es una ciudad y tiene su caos como cualquier otra pero nadie deja de hacer contacto visual y saludar... esa familiaridad de villa, pero extendidas a toda una ciudad.


Of course the hills, ... the first week we got here, I seriously cried (really) at the prospect of having to come up and down a major hill. Our temporary apartment is located near a park called Mon Repos, there are beautiful view of the lake and the mountains and we are just a few minutes away from the coast... idyllic, except for that to get to that beautiful view we have to walk up from the road on an almost 50 degree angle, come on legs! you should see us by now, we have trained ourselves to the point of not fainting when we get to the top, we only pant and pant until we get our breaths back. How's Sebastian doing with the hills? he's thankful he's still allowed in a stroller.

Green, Green, yes, Lausanne is a city full of gardens, trees, flowers, in fact I have heard that there are more green areas per sq meter in this city than any other city in Switzerland, or was it Europe. Well, to me it's like talking about billions and trillions, at that level, I don;t see the difference. Coming from a not so green city, Europe in general looks very green indeed, but I guess I still make the point about Lausanne because compared to London, or Luxembourg, it does feel green greeen.

oh that view ... being able to see the lake and the mountains from your window apartment is a pleasure. Lausanne has breathtaking views ... it really spoils you. Before moving here our checklist for apartment requirements were the usual ones: a minimum number of sq meters, proximity to a park, washer and dryer, garage; after seeing Lausanne, well, you are almost obliged to include and prioritise "the view" (and you usually end up paying well for it). We ended up finding a really good apartment (more about it in another post) but sadly no view. Something to look forward to when we go for our walks.

Mis sonrisas

Mi Sebas el chistoso ...

love you pollito

A week in Perú

Trying to pack up as much as we can before Switzerland might be the cause of my latest ailments (a cronic sneeeeeeze). Sebastian and I flew to Peru for a week, or so we thought. We kind of missed our connection and so we made it to Lima a day later and then from the day we arrived we rushed (or I rushed) to do and see as much as I could.



My friends from London, whom I had not seen in years, my parents and siblings enjoying Sebastian (and enjoying cinnamon rainsin bread!), Peruvian Paso Horses in Mamacona, the latest restaurant - a Peruvian Japanese place and the wonderful La Mar (Chuck would love these places) ... and I can keep going. 6 days!

It was all to fast but good. I believe that the best visits are those where you want to stay a little longer.

The highlight for Sebastian, obvious: the horses, or "muuuusss" (moooos) and "neehhhhss". He loves them and he made Nonno and Tutti very very happy.

The cape runs in the family

A couple of months ago, Sebastian received this Superman outfit from Cindy, his loving babysitter / Floridian grandmother. And he of course loved it immediately. However, I am almost sure his generation has no idea who Superman is ... anyway he likes to think the "S" stands for Super Sebastian (and who can argue?)



After we passed thes photo to the grandparents, aunts and uncles, we received this other one back:


This is Uncle John (John Maier), Chuck's maternal uncle. He is proudly showing the Superman outfit his mom, Helen Maier (grandma Maier), hand-made for him. This picture put the biggest smile on my face. I can only hope that I have the skills and patience to make something like this one day.

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Kids surprise us so much; the things they come up with, the games they play, the imitations ... mostly our own kids are the ones who surprise us the most, probably because we get to see so closely their growing and their learning...

Sebastian sings everything from Old Mac Donald, Baa Baa Black Sheep to Andrea Bocelli's Con te Partiro and Alicia Keys No One, No One! it's sooo sweet to hear him sing along in the car. I am sure all kids do this, but I am secretely convinced he has a musical gene. I am still looking for mine, so he must have gotten his from Chuck's side.

When we were in Lausanne he stopped to look at this kid play his guitar, and every time we go to the mall (poor Sebas he has to go shopping with me, Chuck has effectively relieved himself from this task) he gets to see the man playing the piano at Nordstrom (fortunately that's all we do at Nordstrom :)


... or he will be a runner, these days that's all he does, run, run, run. Apparently walking is not allowed when you are almost 2 years old. We'll see ...