Time to update you

Hello everyone!! It is time to update you on what we have been up to in Melbourne during winter.















Actually winter has been "MUY CALIENTE" (very hot). I am back into Salsa and I am loving it. I am learning Rueda again, a particular salsa style from Cuba. I met some salsa lovers as passionate about it as I am. We get along very well and we have lots of fun. We now go dancing twice a week! Oh Yeah!

We are doing yoga again and it is amazing how good it feels. I have considerably improved my meditation skills since I first stated 4 years ago. I never thought I was going to “control” my wild mind ;-). I am still waiting for the levitation lesson ;-)















We have recently organized an evil party, where everyone had to come dressed in their favourite evil character. Duncan, Paola and Tim made The Joker the most popular character (Batman would have panicked at our party). I dressed up as Morticia from the Adam’s Family. We also had a sexy pirate, a hairy Viking and a sweet devil. I cannot believe how much effort Paola and Tim put in their character. Monica must have been a pirate in another life because she looked terrific. Henrik had a fake beard that ended up everywhere (literally). Mich, the little devil, had to share her horns and “fork” with everyone. Mat did not think he needed to dress up at all… it is true that he can be scary sometimes, especially after a few beers.















We already have more party ideas, but decided to organize them later so friends do not think we have a personality problem. Not so long ago, we cooked French for Mat, Mich, Lori and Ian. Duncan and I had a lot of fun dressing up in French style ;-)





























Cathie and Olivier recently visited us from Sydney. Thank you guys for the game and the chocolates (Godiva! my favourite!). I love playing games with you (people: DECENT games, ok?). I loved our walk in Philip Island and seeing the little penguins at sunset. I did not know Olivier was such a “garlic lover”. Did you like Brunetis (the Italian style café in Melbourne)? I cannot believe it has the type of hot chocolate I love… the thick one… I should mention that they also have the largest variety of patisserie I have ever seen in my life… everything looks, smells and tastes delicious. Monica and Paola, we should go there one day… and then cry together ;-)




















We recently celebrated Monica’s birthday… I felt like a child again with all the toys and balloons. Every time we go to her place, she prepares a spectacular feast. She is such good cook. Yes I know Henrik, you are cooking too… so you get part of the credit. By the way, we should have a Danish night soon ;-)


































We are enjoying exploring Melbourne’s cafes and restaurants… it is hard to have a favourite, as there are so many interesting places. Thanks God we do not have to miss the wine because you can find very decent ones here. I have even found a gorgeous rum from Jamaica for my cuba-libres… life is GREAT!!

We Moved To Melbourne!!!!

Yes! We are back! And we have news: we have moved to Melbourne (another city of Australia, to the South). Duncan found a job here and, after thinking a lot about it, we decided to move. I came to Australia to settle down and stop moving around and what do we do? Exactly that! Well, most of the time we do what we want so I do not mind letting “life” decide for once… it makes life believe it is in control ;-)


People used to tell me Melbourne has a more European style than Sydney and it is true… I do not know exactly what it is… perhaps the trams, perhaps the interesting cafes, restaurants and boutiques or the fact that people dress up a lot more than in Sydney. In any case, here we are Melbourne!! Nice to meet youuuu!! Next time I will post some pictures of the city and the house we live in.


Let’s see what we did at the end of summer in Sydney. We, of course, enjoyed the beach a lot. The water was deliciously warm, and quite energetic with so many waves. It was great for any occasion: to relax, to sleep, to read, to picnic, to exercise, to yoga. Anyone missed the gorgeous “qualities” of the woman on my left ;-) ?


We organized quite a few dinners in the terrace. Paul and Maria: we are going to miss cooking for you. It was great to have you!! We shared so much :-P what was that delicious chocolate dessert that made everyone lick the plates?


We enjoyed quite a few cultural activities… I think we did every single music and food festival in Sydney. We even participated in Melbourne’s festivals while we were looking for a house to rent.




Oh yeah! Shake gorgeous, shake!! Karin, That should have been us!! I miss dancing with you... queen of shaka :-)

Olivier and Cathie have been best adventure partners.



Remember camping near the lakes?… heavy rain tested our patience and endurance… the four of us spending hours in the “hall” of our tent, smelling Duncan’s boots… the chocolate saved us :-) After complete intoxication, we decided to abandon the tents and to look for alternative accommodation. We found a very simple but gorgeous cottage at the feet of a mountain… just perfect. I loved the open-fire in the living-room!




We tried to find places to fish but end up going to the local supermarket :-D We really need to get better at fishing.

I am posting a picture of the super BBQ we had… no, no, it is not the kangooroo Duncan and Olivier hit with the car on the way to the supermarket.


We are going to miss you guys. We had so much fun together. Je suis contente de savoir que nos services de “liquidation de voisins” ont fonctionne. Je n’oublirai jamais la soiree espagnole... qu'est-ce que j'ai rigole avec les questions pour un champion ou une gitane... comme Cathie ;-)

And… CONGRATULATIONS to Mat and Mich who are now engaged!! It is so great to know that you are going to celebrate your love next year… and we are heeeere… Ah!! Soooo romantic… we are very happy for you. And we are really enjoying this sort of breakfast tour of Melbourne!!

A Big Move (again)

Hi Everyone,
It's been some time sine we've updated the blog. Apologies for not keeping you in the loop. Of course there's been a really good reason... ! Finally I took a job - unfortunately (!?!?) it was in Melbourne... Of course Elena said this was long planned! For those of you who don't know, Melbourne was where I was born many years ago - actually we're living about 3kms from the exact hospital where I was born. This is strange after living away for so long.
We're living in a suburb called South Yarra. It's a picturesque part of Melbourne, about 2.5 km from the city centre - about 40 minutes walk along the river. Elena had full control and choice over where we lived, so she's very happy living in the midst of cafes, nice restaurants, lots of clothes shops...
But, its cold. The weather is normally about 10-15 degrees during the day, and down to 3-5 during the night. We're looking forward to summer and getting a more reasonable 25-30. Melbourne has a couple of beached - but you cannot compare them to Sydney.
Anyway, we'll be back with more - and a couple of pictures soon. Now that we've go internet, we can also start skyping people again.

US Presidential Elections

You have to see this...

Working Hard...

As you can see, it's a hard life in Sydney...