Not many updates on here recently, but then again, I’ve had an unprecedented six weeks at home.  I’ve just about gotten into the swing of things in Basel.  I’ve stopped asking Aude to arrange a ‘wake-up call’ each morning.  I don’t look for my newspaper outside the bedroom door anymore.  And I’ve grown accustomed to the fact that, no matter how hard I try, the cats simply will not give the same respect to the ‘do not disturb’ sign on the doorknob that housekeeping does.

Back on the road again for a very quick trip to Bangkok to host a two-day workshop, then onto London for a day of meetings.  It was my first trip to Bangkok since the riots, and it was reassuring to see that everything was getting back to normal.  Same friendly faces in the hotel (many of whom now recognise me) and same smiling faces in the streets.  It’s always a pleasure to return to Thailand.

Since I was stopping over in London, I decided to throw some business BA’s direction.  It was the weekend after the Basel Tattoo, and it turns out the entire Royal Air Force Fife & Drum Brigade was on my flight.  That excitement aside, arrived in London and briefly got my first taste of LHR T5 – but, disappointingly, it was only an amuse bouche as my flight was leaving from T3.  Headed to the lounge for a quick massage and a light dinner, then boarded the flight.  Managed to snag my favourite seat, 63K, on the upper deck and settled in for a great flight – it reminded me again of how much I like BA’s product and service, and I still think that their seat is wonderful for its privacy and their bed is the most comfortable in the sky.

I arrived in Bangkok mid-afternoon.  I had a great seafood dinner, and treated myself to a two-hour massage – the perfect antidote to a thirteen-hour flight.

My workshops went well, although my head nearly exploded after a four-hour discussion of the finer points of Thai Withholding tax.

Another great BA flight, this time shared with the Australian Men’s Volleyball Team, and a short-sleep later I was back in London. Aude took the opportunity to join me in London for the weekend.  We hit the sales hard and came back loaded with full suitcases, and we also had a chance to visit with old friends and Aude’s brother and sister-in-law. 

Back to London to enjoy a healthy full-English breakfast

I’d forgotten how grubby London is.  Maybe I’m spoiled because I live in Switzerland, where everything is clinically clean, but London really is gross.  Streets covered in rubbish, dust, newspapers and vomit.  Is this really the cultural capital of Europe?

We arrived back in Switzerland on Sunday evening, just in time to be treated to a wonderful fireworks display for Swiss National Day, also marking our first year in Switzerland.  It was quite a week.

Life hasn’t been all hard work, though. I was invited to run a five-day training course for some of our recently-promoted graduates, based in Alicante, Spain. Since I only had a week of vacation, there was no way I could turn down a week in the sun.

There were over 400 participants involved in the training, and we managed to take over the entire hotel. The weather was great, with temperatures in the high twenties and low thirties, warm water in the pool and lots of sunshine. My biggest regret was not bringing sunscreen – even though my time outside was limited (as I was preparing classes), I still managed to find enough time in the sun to burn myself. I spent the rest of the trip doing my impression of a lobster.

Delegates playing ping-pong by the pool

Relaxing by the pool

Cruising on a dolphin…

Flying fish!

Playing in the pool

They really laid on a lot for the guys. They had chartered a plane from Paris for all the French delegates, and there was a real party atmosphere as we headed to Alicante. On the second night, they rented an amusement park exclusively for us. On the third day, they brought in all sorts of games around the pool for a team-building afternoon. My two highlights of that day: first, the rest of my team-mates assuming I was a recent graduate (haven’t felt quite that young since I was carded at a bar in the US) and the second, someone coming up and complimenting me on my good English (I was the only native speaker involved in the training!)

The class itself was a lot of fun to run – I have run similar classes before so didn’t have to do much preparation. The delegates do most of the work themselves, and present back on the final day (after spending all night in a nightclub we rented for their exclusive use. Many didn’t get back until 6am, but they still managed to be up and working at 8am despite being told they weren’t required to start until 10h30! That’s a pretty dedicated group.) Here are a few pictures of them giving their presentations…

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

Students presenting their case studies

And here are a few team shots as we presented the awards…

The most important moment of the week – the winning scores are revealed!

Student team

Student team

Student team

Student team

Student team

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have updated my blog, but that is mostly down to constant travel. I was in Switzerland for a few days, then Barcelona, then to Lisbon for a wedding, then back to Barcelona for a few days, and I am now finally back in Paris. It looks like I will actually get a full week in Paris this week (unless I have to go to London for the day on Friday – the outlook is 50/50 right now) followed by a week in the south of France. My first holiday in a year, and one that I am really looking forward to!

Darren and Lina’s wedding in Lisbon was fantastic – lots of entertainment, good food, and beautiful weather. We even got a more scenic tour of the Portuguese countryside than we anticipated, thanks to the bus driver’s detour when he couldn’t find the house.

Aude can’t resist a guy with a cleaver

What is it with Matthew and pigs?

Lina walks up the aisle

Darren and Lina exchange rings

The newly married couple walks down the aisle

Outside the chapel, getting ready to throw her confetti…

Lina’s mother shares a laugh

Darren and Lina, under a shower of flower petals, as they leave the chapel

Aude and Mascha

These two didn’t say much…

Simon, Jill and Aude

Darren catches his breath

Simon and Jill

Matthew and Aude

Here comes trouble!

Aude

Tables decorations

More table decorations

Wine bottles, lined up and ready to go!

Another table decoration

Best man

Lots of little ones around!

Dance lessons before dinner

Darren and Lina show us how it’s done

Nice glasses, mate.

Portuguese cheeses after dinner

Lina and Darren share a secret

Happy bride

My twin

Lina takes the lead dancing

Darren and Lina strut their stuff

This goes beyond Dirty dancing — this is downright Dangerous dancing

Roar!

You really shouldn’t mix alcohol and cigarettes.

Turns out there isn’t really much to photograph around Geneva. Oh well, here is some evidence that I was there…

Boats on the harbour in downtown Geneva

The Geneva skyline

The Geneva Jet d’Eau fountain

A statue in the park

I spent Monday through Wednesday in Barcelona, or more accurately, outside Barcelona. The factory is just beside the airport and the hotel was in Gava, directly on the beach but a fair way outside the city centre.

Looking out onto the pool from my room. Unfortunately, cold weather and rain plus long working days means that this was as close as I would get to going for a dip…

One of the nicer hotel rooms I have been in on this project…

One of the nicer hotel rooms I have been in on this project…

Free minibar. The sweetest words a travelling consultant can hear. Is there any reason not to love this hotel? (For the record, the minibar contained 3 bottles of soda, 4 bottles of water, and a 25ml bottle of beer. Before anyone gets any ideas…)

This was my first trip to Barcelona, but I didn’t get to see much of the city. I saw quite a lot of the airport (although not the airline lounge, despite being entitled access I was banned because my codeshare was apparently not eligible). My experiences flying with Iberia confirmed my worst fears: the airlines of Latin countries are generally to be avoided. Tiny seats, surly service, and not even a free glass of water. Not exactly what I expect when I’ve paid nearly EUR600 for a ticket.

I did get to see a lot of Barcelona that was not on the tourist track, however. The taxi driver did not know where the hotel was, so we relied on GPS. And GPS decided to take us on a tour of some of the grottier areas of Barcelona. And right through the middle of the trucker’s strike.

The factory itself was interesting, although I have not had a tour of the production facilities yet. The overwhelming smell when I was there was of fruit flavouring, cloying and sticky-sweet. Apparently this isn’t too bad – when they produce mint products, the smell is unbearable. Remind me to give mint day a miss.

We had some great tapas at a restaurant near the hotel, washed back with a good bottle of Rioja. I was pleasantly surprised after coming from Switzerland – I had to ask the waiter if the wine was priced by the glass or by the bottle, because a bottle of wine in Spain was roughly the same price as a small glass in Switzerland.

It managed to rain for nearly the entire trip. Not quite what I had expected from sunny Spain. Overall, my first trip to Barcelona wasn’t an overwhelming success. Maybe next time will be better.

After a long day of flying from the UK, with a very early start, Aude finally arrived in Istanbul early Friday evening. We headed down to Baghdad Street, on the Asian side, for a quick dinner of kebabs. Our cab driver was the worst that I’ve encountered in Istanbul – and that’s saying a lot. In the end, we got out and walked, fearing for both our lives and our stomachs if we continued on in the taxi.

I don’t know where this myth started about the Turks having great food. Sure, you can get your choice of lamb or chicken grilled to perfection at most places. But that’s about it for variety. Maybe a salad or some fish, grilled without any sauce. For the record, if I never eat Turkish food again, it will be too soon. The diet is one part of this country I certainly won’t miss. The Turkish have one of the highest smoking rates in Europe – nearly 90% of adults here smoke. And they have a correspondingly low life expectancy. But I suspect that their early death has nothing to do with their smoking – they smoke so they don’t have to eat their rubbish food, and eventually they face their millionth kebab and just give up the will to live.

Never mind. Aude had brought some champagne with her, so we had a few glasses and called it an early night back at the hotel.

Saturday morning, I hired a car and driver to spend the day with us. I did the same thing when I was in Sydney and Bangkok, and I remain convinced that this is the best way to see any city if you’re short on time. Our chauffeur whisked us off to the European side of Istanbul (via ferry, which was a nice way to get our first views of the old city) and then from one place to another, no waiting, no confusion, no language difficulties, and most importantly, no hassle. He even recommended a great fish restaurant for us at lunch. We had the terrace to ourselves, and had a great time watching the world go by.

Aude did a great job setting out our itinerary (I’m usually useless at things like this, and happily handed over the guide book and delegated all responsibility for planning our day, my role having ended at booking the car.) We took in all the big sights in the old city – the Topkapi Palace, the Aya Sofya, the Grand Bazaar, and the Egyptian Spice market. It was a great day out, and the weather stayed absolutely perfect for us.

I took loads of photos, but I’ve chosen a small handful for this website. I’ll stick the rest up later when I finally have some time.

Matt and Aude on the ferry from the Asian side of Istanbul to the European side

A group of Muslim women visiting the Topkapi Palace

There are cats everywhere in Istanbul. Here’s one of the little guys peering out of a fountain at the Palace.

Matthew standing outside the entrace to the kitchen at the Topkapi Palace.

The entrance to the inner courtyard at the Topkapi Palace.

Aude in the gardens of the Topkapi Palace, enjoying the perfect weather on a November morning.

Aude on the stairs in the gardens at the Topkapi Palace.

A view of the Asian side of Istanbul

One of the mosaic doorways at the Topkapi Palace

Lunch in an Istanbul restaurant

Fresh fish!

Aude outside the Aya Sofya

Aya Sofya

Aya Sofya. Clearly the signs didn’t apply to the cats.

Inside Aya Sofya

Inside Aya Sofya

The Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque

Aya Sofya, looking fantastic in the setting sun

A balloon seller

The Grand Bazaar

Gold sellers at the Grand Bazaar

The Egyptian spice market

Uh oh! Aude needs to be on the lookout for counterfeit products — they’re everywhere!