Istanbul - Turkey

I have just returned from 3 days in Istanbul, my first time in Turkey and hopefully not my last. This was afterall a business trip and I flew out on Monday and returned this afternoon after only 3 hours sleep, so could not keep awake on the plane and train home. Let me digress for a moment and tell you about my dream on the plane. I was drifting in and out of sleep as soon as I sat in my seat. I had to get the early plane back to Zurich and that meant leaving the hotel in the main city at 05:30am. But as I was out the night before and then watched the Arsenal and Juventus game, which was of course an excellent result for the Gunners, I only had 3 hours sleep, so this must have been a late recording of the game being on so late. So I nodded off, the type of sleep that as soon as you close your eyes you are away in Dream World and nothing else disturbes you, besides your nodding head and the airstewardess asking if you want breakfast. But besides that I was out cold, and I hope not snoreing, but dreaming one of those strange, bizzare perplexed dreams. I was inside this long narrow corridor, like in a hotel, with lots of closed doors and the only exit was right down the far end. So I remember I was running down towards the end, which wasn't really the end, as once you got there you had to turn towards the right and sort of double back on yourself down another long coridor with more closed doors. I thought for a moment do I carry on to the end of this passage and end up in another, or do I open one of the doors and see where this takes me. But as I got to this thought the airstewardess was asking me if I wanted breakfast. So I never actually solved the puzzle, but within that split second of waking up, I thought I was back in my hotel bed and this was the wake up call I had asked for and I was now going to have to make my way to the airport. Very strange, but it always amazes me how quick you can get into what apears to be a deep sleep. Don't ask me the meaning of this dream, maybe its simple, then again maybe not! So Istanbul, what do you want to know? Well its a very busy thriving city, full of life and diversity, both with the people and buildings. You can be in a wonderful 4 star hotel, yet beside you can be a derelict building. These pictures were taken near my hotel 'The Marmara Pera' which is beautiful. The good thing is I managed to negotiate a good price, which included breakfast and free WiFi, so was great. And it is only walking distance from the main shopping street, which was full of great restaurants. I was with my colleague Markus (from finland) and we had a great time, the food, the service and the people all added to an enjoyable time. As this was business I did not get time to go site seeing, so will leave that for my next visit. BTW, see if you can spot the satellite dish!!

Spring forward

Guten Morgen, well it was until I relised that the clocks go forward and it's actually 1 hour later so I'm even later getting up than normal. But the good news is I spoke with Shi on the phone yesterday and managed to use the code words, which if all 4 words were mentioned, then he had some more VIP tickets for todays game. Well it worked, not as easy as I thought, but Shi, James, Tickets and Hotel, meant that he wanted me to go to the hotel and pick up the tickets. It's a pitty there was only 2 as I sort of feel a little guilty going twice. So as promised (this is now on record) if I get 2 more VIP tickets for future games, then these will go to Marc my Deutsch teacher as he is a Berner and a true long term supporter, not like me! Although I could be, but I can not claim this after 2 weeks....I know that others reading this who also support YB's would like tickets, well I shall take this into account without making it too difficult for Shi, as he is cool guy and I don't want to spoil the kindness he is showing. The weather today was fantastic, Spring has really sprung, it was at least 16' degrees and no wind at all, actually dead calm. So I thought I would go for a run as I haven't for a while. A nice run down by the river would be good for me. So I put my running stuff on and went down around the 'Rose Garden' towards the river, along one side, crossed over down the other and back again, but this time I stopped at the stairs at the Kursaal (Kornhause) bridge and tried the steps, but these nearly killed me, so I walked up them and home from then onwards, thinking I'm going to have a heart attack. Then off to football as there was a 16:15 kick-off, so a quick shower then I was on my way to meet my buddie Marissa. This time we both had VIP tickets and we sort off new the routine, so as we approached the VIP enterance the doors opened and in we went. As this was a more popular game, YB's again Zurich, we had to wear our wrist bands, the type that once on you can not take off as you will distroy the sticky strip. I asked at the reception on the 3rd floor, what the format is and what's what and what can we do. We were told that the VIP YBs table is the one we use, and we could basically help ourselves to anything we wanted, food, drinks, programmes, whatever. So I thought since I have not spent a single cent I should at least buy a scarf, so I can be a proper supporter. So I now have a nice YB's scarf. I shall not wear this in the UK as I could get arrested for supporting Young Boys! Well the game was not so good for the YB's as they lost 2-0, and after dominating the game they lost by 2 silly goals. The first one was a great cross into the box and was nicely picked up by the Zurich player and he scored. Several mistakes there, the cross should have been intercepted, and the player taking the shot should have been better marked. Bad defence caused this one and it was pretty evident. The second goal was simular, as YB's had a free kick up in the Zurich half and did not make the most of this, but instead left themselves wide open at the back. And sure enough the ball was cleared by Zurich, the defence played an early ball straight up to the stricker and he ran from the half way line to the goal completely unmarked, and then was presented with a one to one with the goal keeper, who hesitated and then came out, leaving a possible shot over him or to one side. Well this worked and Zurich played the easy shot to the left hand side of the goal keeper , placing an nice sweet shot (on target) straight into the goal. Once again bad defending and a bad judgement for the goal keeper. He was stuck in two minds and this was his error. As I said YB's played the better football overall, but the result is the 'icing on the cake'. They had more shots, but 1 in 4 actulaly went towards the goal, the others way off the mark. The corners were very simular, as they did not appear to use any set play and it was more hit and hope. Sorry guys, you could and should have won, but defensive errors, and bad shooting was the name of the game. BTW, Shi came on after the first goal around 80 minutes, so played for 15 miutes in total. I personally thought he should have come on from the start, as he is probably the tallest player and the Zurich defence would have seen this threat as they looked shorter, and if this did not work replace him after the first half. Moral of the story, do not let a single stricker lose, stick to him like glue and if a cross comes in mark the sole player that causes the threat. Also practice your 'bloody shooting!' Here are some picture. Pictures from top left are; the outside of the 'Wankdorf' stadium, after the first goal, at the end when people started leaving, Marissa taking it easy in the VIP area, me with my scarf and in the back ground you will see the President of YB's and his wife. I tried getting some tickets off him for the Swisscom Cup final against Sion, but he said it is already sold out! What a pity :-(( but I should have dinner with him and his wife sometime and talk team tactics! For future reference, arrive at the stadium at least 2 hours before the game, eat drink and get merry, then watch the game through your blured vision, eat more at half time, use the lovely clean toilets, mingle, chat with everyone, watch the second half, then stay in the VIP lounge for another 2 hours, mix with the VIP's, the players and their families, drink and eat some more then try and remember your way home....

The Weekend

I was rudely woken by my alarm telling me to get out of bed it's Saturday and I have had my 8 hours sleep and to get my lazy arse out of bed and do something. I thought I haven't had enough sleep yet, it's the weekend so shut up and leave me alone, but as I had to get out of bed to switch the alarm off I looked at the time and it read 9:30am and the sun was shining. So I thought I should do something constructive, after all I was due to go snowbaording but the weather in the mountains was bad and once again this put a stop to this. I then saw the message from Markus telling me to be ready at midday so we can have a day out in the little historic town of Murten, in the French part. I then thought that my plan would be to do a 'spot of shopping' and get some food in the cupbaords for the weekend as the shops close at 4pm and I will be forced to go to the Bahnhof (station Migros) to get some supplies as they are open on Sunday. Well my plan did not work, I was too lazy and only just managed to get to meet Markus and his girlfriend Michaela on time. Here are some pictures taken in Murten, and for more information on this beautiful historic medieval town click on the link. Starting from the top left the pictures are; a view from the top of the defence wall of the inner city, Markus, Michaela & Thing (from the Addams Family resting on Michaela's shoulder), the high street, some wind surfers and a kite surfer (who was excellent!), Michaela testing her balance so she can join the Olympic wind surfing championships (no chance!), another view of the bottom end of the town and the vineyards. PS all these pictures where taken with a Sony Ericsson K750i as I did not have my good camera with me....so not bad

So what's new today?

Well, it's actually 1:05 in the morning so I'm off to bed. I'm sure today, once I get out of bed, will be another eventful day, as today is school and more Deutsch lessons. Oh, before I forget I better remember to do my homework so I know what we are talking about in the class. Also catch up with Shi Jun, who played for 85 minutes on Wednesday against Schaffhausen. The score was 1-1 and 2 YB players we sent off with red cards, lucky for me is wasn't Shi. I will try and get some more VIP tickets for Sunday's home game....good night! Ok, I'm back. What a day, it has rained most of the day, maybe a good sign that the weather is getting warmer as the tables were out in the squares last week. Anyway, I noticed I have 2 comments today, one being a mysterious person leaving a message in Deutsch. So the answer to your questions is: "Blick und Sie sehen! Versuchen Sie den Archivabschnitt und beginnen Sie am Begining". Just a quick note to everyone reading this, please use the 'Archive' button on the right hand side if you want to go to the very start as this current page will not scroll down that far as it automatically archives to save space. Ich spreche kaum Deutsch, warum, wegen ist schwierig! Mein Deutsch ist sclecht, so neit lachen Sie! It's strange being back at school trying to learn a new language, and as you get older it is more difficult as you tend to compare rather than absord. Also with some Nederlands I thought I would have an advantage, but I'm now mixing them together, saying nay instead of nein, but then I thought this was just me, but at least 50% of the class keep saying nay, which is strange and makes me laugh. Anyway the class is cool and has a variety of students from all over the world and some really nice people. The funny thing is, as most of the students speak their own language we have to speak our bad Deutsch to try and have a conversation, which is good if you want to know their name, phone number, address, marital status, and where they come from. But if you want to know more about your buddies, then you both need to study the next chapter. I found sign language helps, especially with Shi, as I wanted to tell him I'm his number 1 fan and I would like some more VIP tickets to the game on Sunday when they play against Zurich, and that the coach of YB's should have me to a training session. I think it worked as he said he will call me in the morning to let me know if he has more tickets, which I thought great, but then I thought how will he tell me this as we don't speak the same language and my Chinese is not very good, and I'm sure sign language will not work over the phone. So I said to him just use a few key words and we will be ok. The key words are James, Shi, tickets and hotel. This will translate to; its me Shi, get your butt down to the hotel tomorrow I have got you some tickets for Sundays game! I'm keeping my finger crossed that everything goes to plan.....Ok, I'm off now, signing out for today and will let you know the out come tomorrow, which is actually today if you look at the time, whoops, you can not see the same time as me, you get the first message time as I added to this! Gute Nacht...

Happy Birthday Mum

Today is dedicated to my Mum, this is her special day and she's still recovering from a bad bout of the flu. So shoo you flu shoo!

Parents Wedding Anniversary

Congratulations, today is the wedding anniversary of my parents. This picture was taken a few years ago when I lived in Utrecht in Holland. As nice parents they always enjoy coming to visit me in different countries and Holland was a great treat for them. They had mapped out all the places to go and seemed to know more about tourism in Holland than I did, but then we have different interests, mine was the 'Red Light Area, Coffee shops and bars' (not really!). This was a lovely Spring day when we went to Floriade 2002, the largest garden and flower festival in Holland. The Netherlands' Flower Exposition happens once every ten years, and 2002 was one of them! Where : Haarlemmerme, Holland, between Hoofddorp and Haarlem. When : from Saturday 6 April until Sunday 20 October - 9:30 am to 7 pm.

We had a great time, many laughs and some very special moments. As you see by their smiles they are still remembering the funny incident in the wooded area whilst we were rope walking between trees. This is a personal joke so sorry can't share this one, but if you like raspberries, then you may understand this! I still laugh today when I recall this! :-)

Wankdorf if you please!

Wankdorf, oooh Matron! Well this say's it all, what a name I thought when I first spotted this place. Actually Wankdorf is an area in Bern where the National Football Stadium is, the BEA Expo Exhibition Centre, Garden Centre, shops, etc. So if you are luckly enough to live here watch out for the ladies of the night or you may well be Wankdorf! Migros is everywhere, Migros this Migros that, they do everything. Better known for being the biggest 'Supermarkt' in Switzerland but they do everything from food, games, tv's, holiday's, courses in everything you could image, even my Deutsch classes are with Migros. Migros is a house hold name and if your looking for something you can't go wrong with Migros!

Curtains

I thought I would share this funny story with you about my curtains. In my appartment I don't have any curtains yet, so I have to keep opening and closing the roller blinds, so I thought I would invest in a nice full length set, but what fun this was 'not!'. I took the meassurements and went looking in the local interior shops. I checked the sizes and bought some nice neutral colour ones, as my Mum always said, 'Don't get them too dark or it will make your room look smaller' so I took her advice, for once. So each set was supposed to be the same size meassurement, or that's what it said on the packet. Big long bastards would have been a closer meassurement, as when I hung them there was some extra, which I expected and I knew I would have to take up. But I thought if I take up the same amount on each, then this would save me having to hang them all first. After all they were all supposed to be the same size, and I believed this looking at the label the packets. So I got the ironing board out, meassured the first by hanging it up and taking up what I need so they flow easily without touching the floor. Easy, I thought, so I ironed with that sticky strip your get, the stuff that makes it easy so you don't have to get the needle and thread out. So all 3 now ironed with the same amount of turn up at the bottom, so now the fun starts, hang them and your done. Well not so easy, as 2 out of 3 were perfect, the same size the same length and looked good. But the 3rd set was still touching the floor, how odd I thought as this was the same meassurement. So although I turned this up the same as the other 2, it was still too long. So I was up and down hanging bloody curtains all night. The neighbours must have thought I was a litte strange as the curtain were up then down and up again. Opened then closed a dozen times. So the moral of the story is, hang them all and don't believe the sizes on the packet. Lucky for me the sticky stuff can be reused! PS if you want to see a piture of my curtains, I must have at least 3 requests!! My lovely curtains, well you wanted to see them so enjoy!

The Big Game!

Today was a good day, full of excitement as I went to the Swiss National Football stadium (very nice)to watch the local Bern team (BSC Yong Boys)play. Well if you have a free ticket to 'Stade de Suisse' then it's an insult not to go and enjoy the football. After all I was there to support my new Buddy, Shi Jun the number 21, as he is a fellow Deutsch student and an up and coming international footballer. He is currently on a 5 year contract with BSC YB and I'm sure I will go to many more games. As Shi Jun is still currently proving his ability he normally comes on near the end of the game, for around 10 minutes or so. But as the time was ticking away and there was no score, I thought bring on Shi, he will do the business. And like magic the coach must have read my mind and called him over to play. Shi was the first and only one of the 3 subsitutes to play today. But as Shi was getting ready you will not believe what happend....Young Boys actually scored in the 87th minute which delayed Shi coming on. I thought, 'he's never going to get on the pitch, then I will never see him play and I can not say to him in class that I watched him'. But then in the 90th minute Shi came on and was very good, creative and a joy to watch, well for 3 minutes anyway, so I look forward to the next game and another free ticket! After all I am now his number 1 fan!! Let me fill in a few blanks, BSC Young Boys were playing against Neuchatel Xamax FC who are currently in 8th position in the 'Rangliste der Super League' which is the equivelent to the English Premiership. Whilst BSC Young Boys are currently in 3rd position and now on 39 points. There are only 10 teams in this league. The lower league is called 'Rangliste Challenge League' which has 18 teams in this, but if you want more detail check out the web site. The Swiss Cup final I mentioned earlier in the blog is called the 'Swisscom CUP' and BSC YB will play Sion a team from the lower league on the 17th April, so I hope to get some tickets for this game. Some additional info, I went to the game with a fellow student from my Deutsch class called Marissa, as we were both given free tickets. My ticket looked very offical and had the gate number the seat allocation and the bar code to get in, but Marissa only had a blue paper wrist band, with no markings on at all, so we both thought this was a joke and not a ticket. I was very proud of my ticket as it looked offical and I new I would get in to see the game. But how wrong I was, she had the VIP ticket to all areas and the VIP lounge. Although we met up inside as I was behind the 'dung-out' I could go upstairs also, so we sat watching the game together. Marissa was not sure what she could get with the ticket so I tried it out on the VIP lounge. The doors opened and I entered and was presented with a room full of VIP tables, a bar, restuarant, everything! So I sheepishly asked what I can do with this ticket and was told that I could eat and drink as much food and drink as I like within the 3 hour time slot of the pre and post-match event. So I thought since I'm in there I will have a drink or 2, and then pop back outside and give Marissa the ticket so she can go in, which we did. Unfortunately we could not go in together so maybe next time I will ask Shi for 2 VIP tickets as these are much more fun. We mingled with the players wifes and family, then with the TV crew etc, this is the way you should always go to a football game, much more fun!!!! After the game we thought since it is a beautiful day we would walk back into the city, not too far, about a 30 minute walk and in the sun it was very nice. We were not sure on the way so we followed the tram line and then it was easy, very easy in fact. Back in the city centre we had a coffee then went to see the bears as they are not always out and Marissa had not seen them. But to our amazement they were not there. The lazy buggers must be having an afternoon sleep, after eating all the food from the tourists. So we carried on the round trip back up the hill on the other side of the old town to the 'Rose Garden' which is situated at the top of the hill overlooking the city. This is absolutley beautiful, the views are great and well worth the walk. Be prepared cos my watch said it is 570 metres high, so a steep climb. Here is a picture of me resting on the wall at the top with a view of the old town in the distance. BTW no it's not my yellow handbag!

Bern - the Bear necessities!

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining the snow had cleared from the streets and it felt like Spring, so I thought I would go and see the Bears! Bern is renowned for it's bears, even the Bern flag 'bears' this! Everywhere you go in Bern there will be some monument or symbol of the bear, either in the big squares or the names of hotels. There are 3 bears, maybe more, but I have only ever seen the same 3 each time I have been there, but they are really fascinating as I have never been so close to a bear before. You are even allowed to feed them, so they sit there waiting for you to purchase the proper bear food from the tourist shop. I have just added a couple of pictures but I actually took quite a few. Here is a picture of me, this was taken by a complete stranger. I spoke to her in my schoolboy Deutsch and asked if she would take a piture of me and here it is, not bad I think! This is on the big bridge over the river towards 'Kursaal' the Allegro hotel and casino. If you get to the middle of the bridge and look over you will 'shit yourself' as its bloody high up and a notorious and favoured spot for suicide jumpers. Apparently Bern is not just the capital of Switzerland it is also the capital for jumpers and there have been a few over the years. If you look carefully you will notice my cheeks are tightly clenched and I have a tight grasp of the rail. :-0

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To all my Irish buddies, enjoy the celebrations! This picture is 'meine Deutsch' class with some of the students, actually there are around 16 students but I think they were all in the pub celebrating St. Patrick's Day and were having Irish drinking lessons instead. As you see I put my Irish football shirt on to show some respect! If you look carefully you will see an international footballer, no it's not me, it's Shi Jun the tall Chinese guy at the back. He also gave me a free ticket to their game on Sunday so I shall go and watch him play. BTW they played on Wednesday and are through to the final of some Swiss Cup, so I better get some more info on this!

Budapest - Hungary

This is Joe my hungarian friend standing beside his new car. As life is hard in Hungary he was extremely happy when he was able to buy his first car, an East German (state of the art) Pimped Trabant! I'm only joking, of course this is not Joe's car he has something far better, but it is not uncommon to see a lot of these cars here. There are several train stations in Budapest, although this one is situated in the city 'Pest' whilst over the River Danube you will find yourself in city Buda. When the 2 cities merged they formed what is known as Budapest. To learn more about the history of these 2 beautiful cities click on the link in the title. I was fascinated by this train, because if you look carefully you will notice the offical train markings (the number of the carriage) seem to be over the top of the graffiti, which is a little odd, rather than remove the graffiti they just remark the carriage over the top!

As Joe's girlfiend was working, yes on a Sunday (they have some great shops, just like being back in the UK as you will find; Tesco, M&S, C&A, Miss Sixty, Morgan, etc), we went off to do some sightseeing and he became my personal tour guide. These are some of the great shots I managed to take, although it was freezing cold and windy I nearly gave up. As you see Joe was wearing his ski jacket and felt hot, me on the otherhand nearly froze to death, so I blame my cold on this. Joe was looking forward to his holiday as he was taken his girlfriend that very afternoon to a Wellness resort where you enjoy steam baths, saunas, bubble baths, massages, wellness food and you can go out horse riding, playing golf or walking in the forest, etc etc. The place is Bükfürdő, a little village 240km west of Budapest, very close to the Austrian state border. Hungary is rich in thermal water and many people come from all over the world to bath in these and have a nice relaxing wellness holiday. 'I want one!' The link I have shown is Wellness in Budapest.

As I have just returned from 3 days in Budapest, yes this was a business trip but I still had time to do some sightseeing and have some fun. I will fill in the details and add some pictures soon as I'm too tired tonight. Gute Nacht

Guten Morgen

So what's new today? Well I woke up with a throbbing headache, not usual for me as I don't normally suffer from headaches, but this was a whopper and stayed with me all day long. Anyway one strong painkiller and a good nights sleep and it was gone, so no time to write my blog, so this is it for today. Anyway I'm still playing around with the settings and editing and moving things around, adding new hyperlinks, etc so I'm sort of getting the hang of it. Before I forget this is a special day, not for me but my little sister, so Happy Birthday 'Betty' and I wish you all the best and hope to get back to the UK soon to see you. Although this picture is a few years old, it is still one of my favourites. I'm off to bed now as I'm travelling tomorrow and need to make an early start. Gute Nacht!

Guten Tag!

As I am now living in Switzerland I thought it only right to learn some lingo! My 5 years living in Holland should put me in good sted to master this, but how wrong I was. So today was my 3rd lesson, so I can now say 'Hallo' to someone, not sure who, but to someone none the less. Maybe this section should be in German to show my new skills? Ok, here goes, the basic stuff so don't laugh. Guten Tag, ich heisse James, ich bin 40 (vierzig) Jahre alt. Ich komme aus England und meine Telefonnummer ist +41 79...... Well that's it for now with the German, maybe some more next time, once I learn how to ask for the time. My class is great, full of international students, from everywhere; Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Florida, Miami, Paraguay, Turkey, Philippines and China, oh yeah, the guy from China is Shi Jun (no:21) the international footballer, who now plays for BSC Young Boys. He promised me some free tickets to his next game, so can't wait. Anyway I'm off to bed now so Tschuss, Gute Nacht and Auf Wiedersehen (Pet!)

Pilatus - Switzerland

The summit of Mount Pilatus is 2132m (7000ft) and you need to take 2 cable cars to reach the point where this picture was taken. Then if you are brave and would like to walk up the steps to the summit, then this is very worthwhile as the views are breathtaking. I was up there in the winter, as you see by the timestamp on the picture, and it was bloody cold! So wrap up warm if you plan to go to the top. :-) It's a pity it was a cloudy day as we could not see through the clouds, but this is also magnificent to see. Then get down the steps before you freeze and have a nice warming 'glug wien' to put the colour back in your cheeks and sit in the sun with a blanket around you until you fall asleep. You will be woken by the black crows (dohle) who pester you for food, which of course is forbidden. (naughty crows!) When you are feeling like some real fun, get the cable car down to the next level and get yourself a sledge, which is free, well not really but its part of the entry fee, so enjoy it. There are around 6km of downhill tracks full of wild kids, that shoot past you as they seem to know what they are doing and can control their direction. Not like me, my first launch off the top took me into the trees, until someone kindly told me how to control these, then I was off, like a steam train flying. Watch out as some parts are really fast and bumpy, I was airborne a few times and up on one edge, but that's all part of the fun! This is a picture of me (on the left), my work colleague John (yes in the silly yellow hat and no gloves!) and his cute daughter Yasmin that had more idea that the pair of us. There is a very funny video of us taken as we first took off, which is a great laugh, you actually see me shooting off towards the trees and everyone laughing.

Something about me!

Born in Edinburgh, lived in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Brighton, London, Amsterdam and now Bern. This is a view from my new apartment in Bern.

Where do I start?

Well I've finally taken the plunge and launched my Blog page, so where do I start and what will be interesting enough to fill up all this blank space?