Home Swiss Home!

Sorry - things have been busy lately so I have not had the opportunity to post recently...
Well, the move is over and an we are settled into our new Swiss home.

And just like Italy...

...everything up the side of the
building & through a window!

Here we go again...

Most everything is unpacked and put away - I know there will be more moving around within the house to be done but that can wait for now.
I am guessing that everybody would like to see a little of our new place...

Empty Living Room...

Furnished Living Room...

Empty Dining Room...

Furnished Dining Room...

Our new Kitchen...

...w/Almost US Sized Frig!

More to come in future postings - I want to leave a little to the imagination...
Tom & I are both settling in nicely. Tom is a little further away from the office than he was in Italy but he is still pretty close. Just a short walk and a short bus-ride away. He is doing well with his new job and is close enough for us to do lunch during the week!
As for me, I am just getting the lay-of-the-land in our new city! I have started taking classes in a pottery shop. I am learning to 'throw a pot' on a potters wheel - it is a lot of fun!

My first 4 pots...first time out!

Second time out - fine tuning! 

Ready for first baking...

Two more for the collection...

A little drying and they will be ready for the first baking. Then I will add a glaze and a second baking - and Voila' (pronounced - Wa-la) - Pots for everybody!
Put in your orders now! (just joking)

I guess the BRS Europe Switzerland is open for business!
We already have our first guest - Tom's friend Stephen is staying with us for a few days after a business trip -
Yesterday was a little rainy but today was amazing. We took a drive to Montreux, stopped at the Chateau de Chillon, had a wonderful lunch, rented a boat and buzzed around the lake for about an hour...
WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME!

Panoramic view of Montreux and the French Alps from Lake Leman...

The Chateau...

...and the lake...

Me, the Guard & Tom!

Tom & Stephen on the walkway... 

View from the bridge... 

...& the other way...

  

...Tom looking out!

Stephen & Tom!

Off to Montreux and the lake...

First up - Captain Ron!

...let's head to France...

Tom, Stephen & I on the high seas!

Captain Tom's Turn...

Stephen finally relaxing...

...me too (this is for Angi)

Our wonderful time on the lake...

...and our boat (on the right)

It was a great day just having a little fun in our new home with an old friend!
Thank you Tom and Stephen!
Enough of our wandering for right now...
I just wanted to provide a brief update on our lives -
We are well - we can see France from our terrace - and life is good!

As most of you may know I am heading back to the US this week for the Gale Family 60th Anniversary Cruise (and a few other things). I will probably not be able to post for a while but will post everything upon my return!
Some stuff will be posted more quickly on Facebook but even that will be sporadic.

For right now - Tom & I would like to send everybody our love and best wishes!
Be well - Live well!
Ron & Tom

Addio a Roma...Bienvenue en Suisse

Translation from Italian and French is "Goodbye to Rome...Welcome to Switzerland"

Wow! Not even sure where to start. Everything has been so crazy our heads are spinning...

Let's start with packing and leaving Rome...

Originally the movers were supposed to come and pack up the Rome apartment on May 27th but they called and requested that that date be moved up to May 23rd (something to do with a parking permit). At 8am in the morning a cast of characters arrived at the apartment and started packing everything we own. 

Because the apartment in Switzerland is smaller than the apartment in Rome we decided to send some of our belongings back to Richmond. So, prior to their arrival I separated and labelled what was to go where...

Then for the next two days I sat around and watched our lives being placed in boxes. I must say it was a rather boring process. The one thing we were happy about was that the same company that moved us into the apartment was chosen to pack us up and move us - but - if you go pack to the blog posting about us moving in you will notice the movers were an average age of about 70. So, two plus years later they are now an average age of 72+. We could not have asked for a better group of guys!

Our lead guy - Franco...

...progress after one day!

I will not bore you all with the 3 days of packing so I will move onto the move...

The same crew that packed us arrived on Sunday morning to move us. Those of you who have visited know that the elevator in our building is pretty tiny - so as with the move in - they had to set up a lift on the side of our building to move all the items down to the truck.

Going down...

...and loading up!

Even a smaller version of the lift was set up on our terrace to get the large items from our second floor, down to the terrace and then down to the truck.

Load'r-up...

The little lift!

Again, it is just amazing how these guys do what they do...

Bruno, one of the older movers...

...and his older brother!

Bruno's view from above...

...a few last things to go!

Tom and both noticed (and were surprised) how big our place was once they were finished.

Before...

...and After!

To finish off with the move (at least the packing and moving of the apartment) I will show you the video of a load coming down the side of the building - enjoy!

After the apartment started being packed we moved into a local hotel and for our last week in Rome we stayed at the Weston Excelsior - it is a lovely hotel on the Via Veneto - it became home base until we moved to Switzerland. We had 4 days left to say goodbye to friends, Rome and relax before leaving...

We had a few Martinis!
(Ok - more than a few)

We went down to MateArts &
said Goodbye to the Ceramics Class

 

Last lunch at Antonino's
with Zaven & Tom

The Lovely Ladies from our
Dry Cleaner (& a little gift)

Our last dinner was done at Alfredo's
The restaurant Tom & his parents
came in the 70s... 

...and a few more Martinis...

To finish off we would like to thank all the people that made our stay in Rome a wonderful experience. We also need to thank Rome itself - it's an amazing magical place to spend time (and live) with the one you love!

Arrivederci Roma!

<><><><><><>

Bonjour Suisse!

On Friday, May 31rst, we headed to the Roma Termini to start our new adventure to Switzerland. Traveling by train to Switzerland is a very relaxed way to travel (unless you have a load of bags to bring with you).

Tom with our luggage waiting for the train...

 

It's a 3 hour ride to Milan, we switched trains and then another 3 hours to Lausanne...

We arrived in Lausanne about 5pm that evening and headed over to the corporate apartment. Our temporary home for a few weeks until our home is ready.

Welcome to our new adopted home!

It was raining when we arrived in Lausanne but the next day turned out to be a beautiful day so we walked around Lake Leman, had a wonderful lunch at a local crepe restaurant and visited the 'Temporary' Olympic Museum (the official museum is closed for restoration and the temporary museum is being hosted on a boat until 2014).

A cute little boat on the lake...

...& just a lovely day to walk around!

At the Olympic Museum...

...posing with the Olympic Flag!

Olympic art at a traffic circle...

...& fun with flowers around the lake!

I am going to start signing off - 

I will do another posting soon and give everybody more details on Lausanne and our new home...

For now - I'll show everybody our new place from the outside and it's view...

Enlarge the photo to read the caption...

The view from our terrace!

Ok - time for me to stop typing and start making dinner. Tom will be home soon.

We would like to send our love and best wishes to all our family and friends (all over)!

Special Love (LSD) and wishes to our cousin Bill - who is a little under the weather at the moment! Get back to 100% quickly!

Au revoir pour l'instant! (Ciao for now or Bye for now)

Bisous a' tous (Kisses to all)

Ron & Tom