Christmas from the past

The other day I went out looking for some balls for the Christmas tree. Even though we decorated it mostly with things made by us, we wanted to put also a bit of the classical stuff on it. And to my greatest surprise I've found out that you can get from that type of decoration I remember from my childhood - the little mushrooms and balloons, and faces that I believe long disappeared in Bulgaria.
And they are obviously used - here on the tree in one of our offices.

party on the table

In my last Hungarian lesson I learned how to say on the table and at the table. It is so much easier in Bulgarian - the same expression for both situations. And while speaking Bulgarian you cannot make the silly (and to other people funny) mistake to put someone on the table while they are sitting at the table. So practical!
Those guys, however, were clearly having a party on the table.
At a Christmas market in Zurich.

I am usually careful with books. But somehow I am not angry when I get all those spots on a cooking book. I even like them. I open the book and it smells of vanilla, and my memories bring me back to those cozy Sundays when the book was used...

Now I have to admit that I bought the book on Friday and this messy look it got only after the first recipe I tried out. If the cake tastes so good as it looks? I can't wait to find out - it is still cooling down...

This uncertainty and anxiety... Will it rain or not?
 

Poppy Flowers

They say your life today is an expression of your thinking yesterday. So true... A few months ago I was feeling exhausted with the constant travelling and trying to live two lives in two completely different places. While it can be certainly very enriching, it takes a lot of energy- energy to adjust, energy to take care of two homes, energy to transition between "here" and "there", not knowing anymore which is "here" and which is "there". I longed for some routine, waking up in the same bed, cooking in the same kitchen, having flowers in the balcony that would not die because there was no one to water them...
Thus, six weeks after I landed with my two suitcases, five weeks after I started my new job I feel like being at home in Zurich.
We have flowers in the balcony, bikes for the sunny days, and even a TV for the Euro 2012 :)

Smile

It is February and the singer from Deni's calendar is singing to his bear friend Chaplin's SMILE. Here is Dean Martin's version...


...and Chick Corea's piano...
 

Snow Outside And Nikola Tesla In My Mind

We had a lot of snow today and no electricity as a result of that. And while freezing under the blanket, I felt an even greater respect for what this man did.

Two Sundays, two places, two passions

Last Sunday we went winter hiking to Melchsee-Frutt.

The initial idea was to rent snow shoes or sledges. However, once we reached there and saw the options for simple hiking, we decided to stick to it.

 

Our target was the food place at the end of this path.

And today is the second day of a working weekend as a heavy training season started.

My Good-bye to an Awesome Year

These days I notice that people naturally tend to look back to their experiences in the past year. Well, I also had a look at the endless folders with pictures in an attempt to remember some special moments. And one of the first pictures I came upon was this.

So, this is not going to be a post about what happened to me but rather about the discoveries I made last year.
To go back to the picture - this was one of the best books I've read - 'Kornel Esti' by Deszö Kosztolány. A friend gave it to me on the first day of summer holidays. There couldn't have been a better time to read this humorous and elegant collection of stories (or maybe a novel?)....

Then of course come all discoveries I make all the time in Switzerland - a world so different in its structure and orderliness. As I've found out many people write about their experiences in this special country. My preferences, however, go to Swiss Watching, which I find informative and pretty amusing. But OK, I couldn't miss sharing this.

Obviously in Switzerland it is possible to buy your ticket after you get off the train...

Then I found out how inspiring online learning could be.

I discovered the fun of skiing in Bansko and Switzerland.

...and wrote an article in a real travel blog.

My latest sports passion is aqua gym.

I discovered Hungarian cooking, and re-discovered cooking in general. My cooking book library is growing, and so is the quantity of tried out recipes.

 

And I discovered new joy in my job by shifting the focus to more creative training topics, such as Drawing simple graphics for presenting...

  ...or Using colours and images in presentations...

Now I am looking forward to a year at least that exciting and encouraging as 2011.