Wednesday 27 June 2012

Photo of the Week - Art in the City


Last weekend I went to the park next to the Viaduct shopping area in Zurich with Alessio, as we were leaving I saw this art work hanging under the arch. At first I wasn`t sure what it was and then I remembered that I saw somewhere written that in this area, Zurich West there is a Public Art Festival which runs from 9th June to 23 September. Some 40 artists from all over the world are exhibiting their work in different places around Zurich West, the above is by Swiss Artist Franziska Furter called Mojo.

Check out the website for more details and where to see more art in the city! I hope to see more myself over the coming months when I have time!

Sunday 24 June 2012

Lugano by boat



Last weekend I went with my lovely friend Aimee to Lugano where we stayed overnight, the next morning we went with the Bernina Express bus to Tirano in Italy and then we took the Bernina Express train to Chur. I will post more on all that at a later date, but we were dead lucky with the weather. June had been a mixture of rain and shine but on our weekend it was hot, hot and hot!! We went by train to Lugano a little detour because of the rock slide near to the Gottard but we arrived around 3pm. Once we checked into our hotel we walked around the town and decided on a small boat tour. I had already done this before but ages ago and with it being hot, it felt like a good way to cool down. The boat passed the village of Gandria which looks lovely, and then onto the other side. One of the other stops is at San Rocco which also looked lovely, which we passed by on the bus the next day.

I will be back in Lugano in August so will do more posts on it then, but it is always lovely to come to the Italian part of Switerland for a weekend. You really feel like you are getting away from Zurich as it is so different.

Friday 22 June 2012

Photo of the Week - Sreet Art from Amsterdam



This is taken in Amsterdam not sure where exactly anymore! I did not see lots of street art but maybe I was not looking in the right places!

Thursday 21 June 2012

Amsterdam Snaps!



Back in April we spent 5 days in Holland, we based ourselves in Amsterdam, but took 4 days trips. The day we arrived and the day we left and of course the evening were all spent in Amsterdam. This was my 4th visit to this city and I have to say I really love Amsterdam. I love the canals, the architecture and the night-life is quite interesting too!!

I have to say that it was really good that we managed to visit 3 other cities too, as Holland has lots to offer than just Amsterdam. There are still lots of other places that I would have liked to have seen, maybe I will see them one day. This time we did not take a canal trip in Amsterdam, I have done that in the past, this holiday we did the boat trip in Utrecht.

If you have the chance to see other places in Holland then do so!

Monday 18 June 2012

May- Books, Films and Concerts

I thought it was about time to write up the books and films I saw in May, before June is finished! I only read three books, it would have been five but two I started and could not get into them.

I start with Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, this novel I enjoyed a lot. It tells of Harriet Baxter, who leaves London to go to Glasgow, an avid art- lover she befriends Ned Gillespie and his extended family. She tries to help them whenever possible, but eventually something terrible happens that may destroy everything. It goes back and forth from present day where an elderly Harriet is writing her memoirs.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell is another enjoyable novel. Lincoln O `Neill is a bit of loner, he works at night for The Courier as Internet Security Officer, one of the aspects of his job is to read e-mails when they have been flagged up. He begins to read the e-mails of Beth and Jennifer. I cannot help himself instead of sending them a warning he keeps of reading them and eventually falls in love with Beth. It is a easy book to read, but fun.

Lastly I read The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa, set in the beginning in Peru, Ricardo meet the bad girl and promtly falls for her. He then moves to Paris and meets her again training to be a communist as Comrade Arlette. She disappears and reappears in his life throughout the years and he always takes her back. I enjoyed the book, although I could not see what he sees in her that he always goes back to her whenever she reappears in his life.


The films I saw in May were The Avengers no need to explain that one, then One for the Money with Katherine Heigl based on the Janet Evanovich book of the same name. I enjoyed the film but not having read the book cannot say how it compares.

The Lucky One with Zac Efron also a book by Nichlas Sparks, a soldier in Iraq finds a photo of a girl. It was lying on the ground and it just happens to save his life, he is then determined to find out who she is and thank her. An enjoyable film to see and of course romantic.

Bel Ami with Robert Patterson set in Paris, he play George Duroy, meets up with an old friend and he help Duroy get a job and meet lots of people who elevate his placing in society.

Finally Salmon Fishing in the Yemen set in Scotland, London and Yemen(Morocco), it is a romantic comedy film. Ewan McGregor stars Alfred an expert on Salmon fisheries for the British Government is approached by a sheik who want to introduce salmon fishing in the Yemen. From the book of the same name by Paul Torday which I have also read. I certainly enjoyed seeing the scenes in Scotland and just love Ewan`s accent!

Finally of course I saw Coldplay at the end of May which was just a brilliant concert!

Friday 15 June 2012

Guinness Storehouse in Dublin


While in Dublin part of our long (hen) weekend was to visit the Guinness storehouse, this was the first time for me, so was looking forward to it. Once inside you make your way to the first floor, there is a shop if you fancy buying anything. Then the tour begins with lots of old machinery, written information and videos informing us about how guinness is made. There are four ingredients used to make guinness barley, hops, water and yeast. There is also information about the Guinness family too.

Then there is a small tasting, I have to say that it is not really my favorite tipple (sorry). There are a number of restaurants and you can even learn how to pull your own pint correctly and get a certificate to prove it!

At the top is Gravity bar with 360 degree views of Dublin, there you can sit and enjoy your pint of guinness relaxing and looking at Dublin. We were lucky to get seats of us all, and no we did not drink all those empty pint glasses! It certainly would be cool to be there at night to get the lights!

Afterwards we hopped back onto the bus into Dublin centre, I managed to get a photo of the bar from the bus. It is a cool looking bar!

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Photo of the Week - Fancy Me!


This brings back memories of the long weekend in Dublin, on Saturday morning myself and a friend (Riikka) were looking for a place to have breakfast. We found this cafe (cannot remember the name) and I order a coffee and some toast. Rather surprisingly the coffee came with this packet of munchies, sometimes you get a small biscuit but a whole packet of sweets is another thing. The place was fine and feeling refreshed we wandered off again to look around!

Monday 11 June 2012

N is for Nature

Upper Ticino
View during the walk from Nuolen to Schmerikon
Richterswil


The next letter in the alphabet is N and I thought Nature was a good idea for this letter, I picked only a few photos as I could have really gone to town. This weekend coming I will be off to Lugano and then on Sunday I go on the Bernina Express from Tirano to Chur, so lots of nature this weekend.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Sunday 10 June 2012

Moon Story


Last Tuesday 5th June on the way back from a concert by Death Car for Cutie, I saw the full moon. It was so strong the light from it, so as usual I took lots of photos. Here are just some of them, it was interesting to see the moon pass behind the clouds and come out again.