We arrive on Thursday evening, tired and with only one suitcase, in Zurich. Our second suitcase didn’t make it, because we had some music band on board with lots of instruments and therefore BA had to leave some baggage pieces back in London. We are called out and have to report to the “Lost and Found” desk, where we are told that our 2nd suitcase would be coming with the next flight and would then be delivered home the next day.
Luckily, we have not packed HIS and HER suitcase but have mixed our clothes well so that we both have something to wear. Tough luck though that the toothbrushes are in the other suitcase. Well, we get what we are missing from Metka and the whole mishap doesn’t affect our happiness to see our families again after almost a year.

During the six weeks we celebrate four birthdays, christmas, new year and many little spontaneous parties in between. We get spoiled with Mandi’s excellent 5 star cooking, Metka’s and my mom’s cookies and many invitations from my parents and Marco’s brothers. In the evenings we often play cards, which is always a laughter and sometimes our sessions last deep into the night. We are helping with the regular house cleaning on Monday, but Metka is taking care of all the laundry and we can just have a good time without worrying about anything.

In other words: we are getting spoiled from A to Z!

Since we have convinced Jackie’s parents to get rid of their very old DELL computer and finally buy an iMac (and an iPad), we are busy helping them with the installation and giving them some training. We hope things will be easier and more stable in the future. Metka got an iPad for her birthday as well – although there was some resistance at first, she doesn’t want to give it out of her hands anymore a few days later and she wonders how she could be without the iPad before – we are glad they all made the change and know that they will certainly enjoy their new Macs and iPads much more than they did the old slow and outdated Windows computer.

This year we are staying a bit longer because we want to be there to celebrate Metka’s 75th birthday on January 22. She has invited the whole family for lunch at the Altenburg Restaurant and afterwards the whole crowd gathers at home for coffee and cake.

For some family members this is the last time we see them so we already have to start saying our good-byes. On Tuesday we start gathering our things, which meanwhile are placed all around the house, and get our suitcases ready. The space we used for gifts we brought from America when we came is now filled with chocolates, cookies and cheese to take back with us.

Once again, a big THANK YOU to all of you!