Last meeting, last day :(

Sad faces from the kids.........

My first and last meeting were both at Novartis, quite fitting as they are our very best International client.  In my last meeting today I was told that we are doing fantastic work and they are more than pleased with our service and quality.  So so nice to hear and the best possible bon voyage. 

It's going to be hard to get back into the swing of things in the office, I've gotten so used to running around all the time!!! I am excited for a Mary Lou's coffee and chipotle lunch, I must admit!

So this is it, our last day here.  It's bittersweet, we are looking forward to coming home, but sad it's over too.  Tomorrow we head back to London, home for good on Sunday.  

Today we packed it all up, then spent the day shopping for souvenirs.  The kids had their last day of soccer camp and they both wished they could go back.  :( Here are some pics from our last hours:

Boomerang back to London

We booked into a Marriott (take a guess why we chose it: they had a swimming pool !!!),but we didn't know much about the location and we totally lucked out.  It's in the part of London called Camden, and because we got in early, we had a full day to explore with no plans, and the concierge told us about the Camden markets so we went.   It was so much fun!  We bought some cool stuff (some very unique stores) and had some great street food.  

Here are some pics:

After 3 hours of shopping and eating, we hit this cool art school with a summer beach exhibit, complete with tiki bar, sand, lawn chairs, and beach balls.  Completely random, but completely fun!

This Moscow mule was fabulous!

I also need to mention that we went into the downtown Camden area for dinner, and had probably our best meal of the trip.  Outdoor patio setting, great food and drinks, casual and not too expensive.  Name is, The Engineer.  It was also a concierge recommendation and it was a great one!

Tomorrow it's a theatre show and high tea!  Last day if our trip!!!!!

Last train ride :(

It's almost over!!!  Today marked my last official train ride.  I started my day early meeting with the authorities about the new office. This went great and i know exactly what i need to do to begin the permitting process for the office here. 

I then met a current HR client for lunch before quickly making my way to the train station for a 2pm train to Luzern for a follow up meeting at Merck.  It's only an hour each way, but I soaked up the countryside and I have to say, I am going to miss this way of traveling! 

View from train window today:

Tomorrow is light, just one meeting, so I am going to take the kids to soccer camp and watch them play for a bit.  Thursday is completely open to pack and great ready to head back to London early Friday morning.  Well be in London, where this whole journey began a month ago, Friday and Saturday, and the we fly home on Sunday.  I can't believe it's almost over.  

Also this afternoon there was a big organized Rhine swim, albeit a bit random for a Tuesday.  Eric said there were over 6,000 people swimming.  Unfortunately, this was the only picture he took.  Swimmers headed up our street and the food tents at the rivers edge. Like I have said, always something going on here.....

FC Basel

While I was on the train last night to Paris for meetings today at BMS and Sanofi, Eric and the kids went to see FC Basel play Zurich at St. Jakobs stadium.  What an experience!

13,000 ft!

Before we had to catch the train back to Basel on Saturday, we had enough time to take the gondola to the top.  The trip is officially called Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.  It was thrilling. Unfortunately, Eric and I both got altitude sickness, so once up there,  we didn't stay too long.  He was super dizzy and I was sick to my stomach. Up at the top there is a glacier igloo, an incredible view of the Alps, and people were actually skiing.  Amazing!

So here's the view of the Matterhorn at 4,000 ft

Here it is at 13,000 ft

Ice palace

Cold and windy at the top, we were under dressed

Gondola back down

So tired he fell asleep mid bite, with his ham in his hand

It was a great trip to Zermatt.  Eric and I will come back, but next time, without the kids.  I want to do a lot more hiking!

Best day of the entire trip, in my opinion

I cant pinpoint what exactly it is, but Zermatt is amazing.  We hiked, hit a ropes and zip line park and it was just such an awesome day, so I'm just going to show it in photos. 

Breakfast

First sight of Matterhorn, but was short, it clouded up about 2 minutes after this photo

We hiked for about 3 hours, 67 complaints from Maddy, 19 from Bailey.  But it didn't ruin the hike, just added some color!

Halfway up there lies the cutest place to eat...

That's Zermatt in the distance where we started our hike:

Ropes course

First time zip lining!!

Goats in the street on way home

Ended the day with dinner and dancing

Zermatt, only 3 hours from Basel!

I had no meetings booked for Friday, so we decided to head down to Zermatt for a few days.  For those that don't know Zermatt, it sits in the Swiss Alps at the foot of the Matterhorn.  Today was rainy again, so we didn't yet get to see the Matterhorn, but it would be directly behind the kids if it were visible and I'm sure we will see it tomorrow:

We're staying at the Park Hotel Beau Site, which we chose because of the indoor pool, but the room is lovely, and when it clears we will have a great view of the Matterhorn from our balcony.  Today we swam and got settled, had some fondu fun, and tomorrow we'll hike and head to a ropes course on the hill.  We're probably going to need to do a little bribing to fit in a hike, but it will be worth it!

Here are some pics from today:

On train

Balcony view

In front of the hotel

Preserved part of Zermatt that's called the old village with houses from the 16th century.

Getting ready to swim

Fondu!

Long day....

More BD meetings!!!

I had 3 BD meetings at Roche today.  In Basel, Novartis and Roche are the 2 big fish in town.  Roche is a very different company with a much larger recruiting function, so they use agencies for only 2-3% of their hiring, but I think there is a place for us, and I think they do too.

Today was beautiful!  It was cold and rainy and exactly what we all needed.  I am actually excited to go to bed tonight and get cozy.

I have a meeting in the morning and then we are headed to Zermatt, a small town in the Swiss Alps at the foot of the Matterhorn.  Maybe we'll ski??  We are
only going for 2 nights, back on Saturday, because I have to go back to Paris for meetings on Sunday night, and Eric and the kids are going to an FCBasel game!  I'm actually very jealous of that, but then I remind myself that I'm going to Paris for the night, and realize that I can't complain. :)