Happy joint Birthday - Aurora & Andrew

 Today is a very special day as it's a joint birthday for my younger brother Andrew and his beautiful little daughter Aurora. He is 38 years young and she is a big girl of 5 and very cheeky at that!

Christmas Christmas Christmas

Or should I be politically correct (thanks bureaucracy), and call this time of year ‘Seasonal Greetings’ so I don’t offend anybody! Anyway enough of this as I don’t want to get into a debate on what is or isn’t accepted, or waffle on about what I did or did not do over the festive season, so I will kept this short and sweet. So what have I done? Well here is a quick synopsis, so hold on to the reigns of your Reindeer, sit comfortably in your sleigh and enjoy the ride. Early December I had a return squash game with Monica and this time I beat her 3-2, so I’m actually improving. And I hope Santa brings me a new squash racket then she will have no chance, that’s provided that I don’t over indulge and eat too much food, otherwise I will be wobbling around the court. Next, I had several ‘Apéros’ at work, with friends and neighbours. Additionally a few Christmas lunches and dinners, then left the sunny snow covered mountains of Switzerland behind and headed of for the damp, wet and windy south coast of England returning to the UK for Christmas with my family and friends. From the 24th to 30th I stayed with my sister and her family, which was great fun catching up as this was the longest period I have actually stayed with them, but well worth it. A little hectic at times as she has two sons aged 13 and 6, but all in all a great time. Then off to my parents on the 30th till the 3rd when it was time to return back to Switzerland and home, well a second sort of home. My parents had just arrived back from a 7 day break to Italy and had enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Europe on their coach trip. As the weather was pretty bad and the heavy winds had arrived in the UK a lot of New Years Eve outdoor parties and events were cancelled, so we (my parents and I), just stayed indoors and played silly games, which was also very nice and completely different from last year as I was in New York. So having caught up with friends and family the 10 days disappeared very fast and it was time to return to Switzerland and a new year ahead to look forward to.

Gatwick Airport

If you are preparing for you holiday, business travel or any other type of destination, then Gatwick airport is not the place to help you relax. Why? Because of the hustle and bustle once you arrive. As an example, I arrived on the train from Brighton, on an old (maybe it was modern) but nevertheless a train that did not seem to fit into today’s modern world, as you seem to feel every bump of the journey. Although pretty strange as the train is on rails, but it was no comparison to the smooth quiet trains of Western Europe, yes those on the other side of our little island. Anyway I made it (not a bad journey) and as it was mid afternoon then the train was pretty much empty, so I did not have to hunt for somewhere to stow my bags….. and now that I have degreased it’s time to be back on track…. So having arrived at Gatwick nice and early I managed to get an “A” boarding with easyJet, wow you say, but this is some achievement as I have never managed that before. But this does not guarantee a good seat; I have still have to do the ‘supermarket dash’ to get one of my choice, weaving in and out of the elderly and the children that have priority boarding, or for an extra price a privileged boarding pass, whoopee! So having waited for the elderly, the children and families, then the privileged (mugs that paid more), it was then my turn to board. But I still managed to get my chosen seat, so there! But before I get on to that I will step back a bit and explain my frustration, well more my ‘grumpy old man’ syndrome. Once through the security checks and into the duty free section of the airport I had a 2 hour wait as my easyJet plane was delayed (what a surprise), therefore with fingers crossed I hoped I would get home the same day. So with the delay and getting to the airport early all I wanted was some peace and quiet so I could catch up with some light reading or work on my laptop. But in the absence of a quiet area I could not find this little place of solitude and I had to endure the noise, which I can only compare as a discothèque. The continuous popular (crap if you ask me), music so damn loud that everyone had to shout to be heard. This just adds to the overall ambiance which does not help anyone relax. To add to the already deafening noise, there are children crying, or maybe screaming to be heard by their parents who are also shouting at each other, then the loud bastards on their mobile phones shouting above the music, the mobility car for the elderly beeping along with an ear piercing screech, but to top it all, the ‘per de resistance’ is the PA system that blurts out every few minutes to advise people of their departure gate or the regular rubbish such as …your baggage will be removed and destroyed if it is not filled up to the brim with duty free alcohol and cigarettes.. So no wonder kids are hyperactive before their trip and people wound up and agitated, as this is not a pleasant place to be. Let alone the shops luring you in with cheaper than high street prices, so get in fast and spend some more money, you fat overweight lard arses. I’m glad that mobile phones are not permitted on a plane (yet this is to come), as you would never get any peace and quiet in today’s ‘rat race’. My ideal world would be to have some quieter more somber music, even pipe music, a lot lower in volume and have some chill out areas for people to relax and read or just to prepare for the journey ahead. Maybe I’m turning into an old fart, but go to Gatwick and try for yourself… Happy Holidays :-)