It's been some time since we posted but it is the time of year where we are mostly heads down and the rest up focusing on school, work, study and transitioning through the seasons. Still, let's see if we can summarize a couple of months and a very interesting end of October.
Aside from his very busy work, Tony finds this an emotional time of year as most of his sports (Aussie Rules Football, Formula One, southern hemisphere Rugby Union, and U.S. Baseball) all transpire during this period and he likes to think all his teams will win. This year was not unkind to Tony, but it was certainly not triumphant by any means (all excuses have been expunged from what would otherwise be a 2000 word summary):
- Collingwood made the finals but never really threatened;
- Red Bull will win the championship but Mark Webber has fallen away again;
- the Aussies may have to be re-named the Wobbalies (and need to send their Kiwi coach home); and
- the Yanks blew a great season and fizzled out like a team worth a fifth of their salary.
Sarah & Alexander are now immersed at school, and Sarah has started as a teachers assistant for her Drama School. Melissa is wrapping up her assignments for her Bachelor of Behavioural Science with only one more part-time year to go out of six (how time flies). The summer heat is now dropping away and the evenings and mornings are very pleasant -- the tidal change from exhausting summer to enjoyable spring is being dramatically embraced and outdoor dinners are now looked forward to every evening.
We had two more visitors through on the "Visit Dubai 2012" program with Tony's cousins Robin and Martin and their partners stopping by. Tony was disorganized enough to be absent for business on both of their visits (however it was not at all clear whether that was a negative or a positive).
The Harlem Globetrotters visited the UAE for the first time and brought their well known but equally loved brand of entertainment to the outdoor arena where the Dubai Tennis Classic is held. Lot's of fun for Sarah, Alexander and Tony as Special K and the team delivered the goods and managed to "just" beat the opposing team with seconds to spare.
The Eid-al-Adha holiday fell at the end of October and the FrenchamFamily decided to spend the week in Venice despite the fact it is towards the colder months (but that meant there were less tourists which we prefer). What we didn't count on was the seasonally high tides which, with a full moon and some global warming added, meant the popular tourist locations were under water once or twice a day. That first morning that we stepped out of our hotel and found that the sea had come to greet us was certainly unexpected, but Melissa made a dash for a nearby store that sold gumboots and after that we were back in business. It might seem that a flooded city cannot operate, but Venice knows how to make this work (our last night in Venice had a 1.4m tide peak which was the highest since 2010 and 80% of Venice was under water, but life goes on).
The food of course was fantastic and we decided to never eat in the same cafe or restaurant twice. Inevitably this was not a perfect experience as three of the four FrenchamFamily members went down with gastro one day but all was forgiven by the end of the trip with a wonderful final evening at Luna Sentada restaurant which we highly recommend to anyone visiting Venice (say ciao to Ermanno for us).
It was a pleasure to be in a city with so much history and with the only sounds being those of the people and the water -- NO CARS! One can (and did) walk for days and every twist and turn delivered new pleasures. Cathedrals, palaces, eateries and so, so many shops.
We also took a water taxi to Murano where the Venetian glass artisans work their magic and then onto Burano which is known for it's colored villas and lace industry (which seemed to get Sarah excited above).
Arrivederci Venice. Mille Grazie.
Aside from his very busy work, Tony finds this an emotional time of year as most of his sports (Aussie Rules Football, Formula One, southern hemisphere Rugby Union, and U.S. Baseball) all transpire during this period and he likes to think all his teams will win. This year was not unkind to Tony, but it was certainly not triumphant by any means (all excuses have been expunged from what would otherwise be a 2000 word summary):
- Collingwood made the finals but never really threatened;
- Red Bull will win the championship but Mark Webber has fallen away again;
- the Aussies may have to be re-named the Wobbalies (and need to send their Kiwi coach home); and
- the Yanks blew a great season and fizzled out like a team worth a fifth of their salary.
Sarah & Alexander are now immersed at school, and Sarah has started as a teachers assistant for her Drama School. Melissa is wrapping up her assignments for her Bachelor of Behavioural Science with only one more part-time year to go out of six (how time flies). The summer heat is now dropping away and the evenings and mornings are very pleasant -- the tidal change from exhausting summer to enjoyable spring is being dramatically embraced and outdoor dinners are now looked forward to every evening.
We had two more visitors through on the "Visit Dubai 2012" program with Tony's cousins Robin and Martin and their partners stopping by. Tony was disorganized enough to be absent for business on both of their visits (however it was not at all clear whether that was a negative or a positive).
The food of course was fantastic and we decided to never eat in the same cafe or restaurant twice. Inevitably this was not a perfect experience as three of the four FrenchamFamily members went down with gastro one day but all was forgiven by the end of the trip with a wonderful final evening at Luna Sentada restaurant which we highly recommend to anyone visiting Venice (say ciao to Ermanno for us).
We also took a water taxi to Murano where the Venetian glass artisans work their magic and then onto Burano which is known for it's colored villas and lace industry (which seemed to get Sarah excited above).
Arrivederci Venice. Mille Grazie.
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