Vorwärts!

Since the last time I posted, I have done very little, aside from melting and whimpering in the supermarket because the air-con is on. I hope this is a blip OR that I will get used to the heat before the summer starts.

I also finished reading the book Stiller by Max Frisch. It was a little bit good, and finishing it means that I can start a new one on the train tomorrow...

... which is when I go to Brüssel and then to London. VERY excited.

See you afterwards!

Osterkuchen

After the success of the countless cupcakes and the Christmas cake, I thought I would also turn my hand to making a simnel cake for the flat. Of course I knew that cooking a whole simnel cake would take hours and, unlike the welcome fug a Christmas cake makes in the winter, the weather's been too hot to have the oven going for hours. So I baked cupcake-sized simnel cakes (minus the traditional decoration, because I couldn't be bothered and the Swiss don't know any differently...) I'm pleased with the results.

In other news I didn't get my fees-thingy from Sheffield so will have to pay 4.2k for my masters next year. I made myself better by going for delicious vegetarian food at lunch time, buying wine for with dinner and listening to Adele on repeat...

Eine Wanderung

Two of my fellow Sheffield alumni (one a former house-mate) have been visiting Basel this weekend and I've had some time to hang out a little bit with them yesterday and this evening. Yesterday we arranged a little walk- nothing too strenuous and also close to Basel. We headed to Frick (lols) and walked up the Thiersteinberg, all 750m of it... which seems more impressive to an English person than a Swiss. Still, rolling hills, views to the Black Forest and Rhine to the north, and time spent in the fresh air. I took some pictures, and look like a lobster. It was an afternoon well spent.

Schon Wieder Da

I'm back in Switzerland after a wonderful weekend in Sheffield. I was attending a wedding and spent that day basking in the sun, drinking champagne and devouring food from a double Michelin starred restaurant, washing the whole down with lots of wine. The day was really nice, and everything went perfectly (and wasn't at all hindered by my help; I had to dry the flowers...).

On Saturday I also got to see Jules and Big P (Hello!) and Elaine and Belino (Hello!?) for some drinks and food. It was great catching up and having things paid for. The evening M and I did a mini pub-crawl through some of Sheffield's less well-known but still good establishments.

Sunday we went for a drive and lunch in the Peak District, and then dealt with separation anxiety.

Back at work for this week though Easter holidays start on Friday- two fellow Sheffield allumni are coming for a visit and to go for a hike in the countryside around Basel. I also think I am cooking for them. It should be nice. Otherwise, trying to think of a way to spend the early part of next week, before I train off to Brussels!

Kreuzworträtsel

My bag is packed full of books and Ricola and Swiss fizzy sweets. In about twenty minutes I need to leave the flat to catch a train to take a plane and then a train to Sheffield (check out that metre) for the weekend; I'm heading back for a wedding, and hopefully to see a couple of Sheffield people (legends?) at the same time. It'll be nice to be back (I just hope the weather's as nice as it is here).

Thought I'd also take the opportunity to share with you my new hobby: cryptic crosswords. This isn't too bad considering I hadn't got a clue what they were getting at on Saturday. Gäll?

SVP Dummheiten

Today in the Tages Anzeiger:

Wie ernst die Parteien Fukushima heute nehmen, zeigt sich daran, dass unterdessen sogar die SVP das Thema auf ihre Mühle umzuleiten versucht ... Ohne die Einwanderung der letzten Jahre, so geht Ihr Argument, könnte man Mühleberg abschlaten, dessen Strom würde nicht benötigt.

That the parties are taking Fukushima seriously is evidenced by that fact that even the SVP has tried to turn it to their advantage ... They claim that, without the immigration of recent years, one would have been able to shut down Mühleberg [the oldest Swiss power station, which was built in the late 60s], because the electricity it produces would not have been needed.

What a load of bollocks.

Kuchen mit Schoggi-Frosting

We got two new flatmates today and as part of making them feel welcome I thought I would make some cupcakes. My go-to recipe at the moment is the very simple vanilla cupcake recipe found in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Don't let the word vegan put you off, though; they are light and fluffy and you can really taste the vanilla in them. Sometimes, though, a mound of American-style "frosting" can prove to be a little bit too much- it's very very sweet. So yesterday I decided to tone it down a little bit and mixed a good quantity of cocoa powder in with it. It worked, and they were a success this afternoon.

In other news, Spring is now here in full-force. There are blossoms and flowers and countless magnolia trees everywhere. Today I saw a bee. And a butterfly. It's nice. It has also inspired me to start on a summer project: operation cryptic crosswords. So far I still have no clue, but persevere I shall!