Photo of the Week - In Your Face!

Around this time last year I was in Hong Kong for a week, it was a brilliant time. I really enjoyed my first venture into Asia and hope to go to Japan next April!

One of the many things I realised about HK is that is it busy all day long and that people are everywhere at all times of the day. In this area in Kowloon where are lots of markets to visit, there were so many shops signs and advertising, that it felt like that was the only things to see!

I do not have my first holiday of the year until the end of April and to be honest am feeling a bit restless and want to go somewhere!

A Day At The Lake!

All alone!

Fancy a swing anyone?

Look what we made!

On Thursday it was a really wonderful sunny, warm day, just the sort of day you cannot stay inside at all! So for the last day of the sport holidays we took the kids to the lake in Richterswil for the day. There is a great play area and next to the water a large sand area and places to grill.

From work we took lots of buckets and spades and the children had a great time in the sand. The boys made a volcano which you can see in the last photo, they were all quite proud of it.

For lunch we had our usual sausages and bread, it was really great to be grilling when it is only the middle of February and usually it should be very cold. As you would expect the place was very busy but we were the only ones grilling. We all had a great day out!

Photo of the Week - Even Numbers!

The photo of the week comes to you from Stirling in Scotland, after our visit to the castle we walked down this street in search of a coffee shop. I happened to notice the shop number signs and thought it looked quite interesting. A little different to the usual kind, the only thing is the number 4 is very hard to see, but is there right at the bottom of the sign in the middle. You may have to click onto the photo to see it at all.
Just booked our tickets to go back to Scotland for October! How far in advance you book flights? Never know if I should wait nearer the time and maybe it is cheaper or by then it is too late to get any tickets at all!

Happy Valentine Day!

Roskilde and the Viking Museum

Our summer holiday in 2013 was to Copehagen, we spent a week there with my parents. During our stay we had 3 day trips and one was to Rosklide, to visit the Viking Museum. Not that far from Copenhagen we went by train, to get to the museum there is a walk through the town down to the sea, around 20mins.

The museum is outdoors and indoors, it is a very much on hands, you are able to help and make stuff. At the boatyard you can the craftsmen working, which was quite interesting to see and all the tools they need to make boats.

The museum holds a large collection of traditional nordic wooden boats and the reconstructed viking ships, which gives an idea of how the original ships looked 1,000 years ago.

On some boats you can board them and look around and see what they look like, Alessio quite enjoyed himself. Inside the museum there is the history of Nordic maritime adventure during the Viking Age and the five Skuldelev ships and its history too.

The kids can also dress up like Vikings, write their name in runic letters and there are also boat trips to take. Plenty to keep the kids busy, not mention yourselves too!

The town itself is very pleasant, an amazing cathedral, some lovely colourful buildings and shops to browse which should keep you even busier after the museum.

Definitely worth a visit and it is free for kids up to 18yrs old which is a bonus too.

Stirling Castle

A trip back in time to our visit to Scotland over Christmas, one day it was decided to visit Stirling Castle. I had never visited this castle before so I was really keen to go and Alessio in general likes to visit castles. My father came along too, it was bitterly cold and rainy day, basically the sort of day to stay indoors!

Before we went inside we stopped nearby for lunch, once fortified with food we set off up hill to the castle entrance. The castle is very impressive indeed and the surrounding views were amazing, so on a lovely sunny day they must be even better!

Built on Stirling Hill it has steep cliffs on three sides, the first records of Stirling Castle date back to 12th century and King Alexander I. In 1314 the Battle of Bannockburn took place with Robert the Bruce the winner, as always we had to fight the English!

Mary Queen of Scots was crowned queen here in 1543, so many important events took place. The gardens did look nice but with the crap weather we did not walk around them. I liked seeing the Wallace Monument in the distance, it looks like it is perched on those trees.

Once we had seen all the buildings and rooms we set off to find a coffee shop, afterwards we got the bus back to our car. All in all a really interesting afternoon, if you are into history and like castles this is definitely worth a visit.