Basel Doors and Windows

Going back again to Easter Monday when we visited the Vitra Design Museum, we also did a wander around Basel. Four 4 years I worked in Basel and did not see that much of the city, so every time I come back to visit I see a new area. It is really a beautiful city, especially the old part and lots of nice bridges too.

After our lunch we walked around the area of Markt Platz, on the other side from the Town Hall there were lots of small streets full of lovely buildings. This was an area which I had previously not ever seen so I was glad to see it.

Arc de Triomphe

Recently Alessio and myself visited Paris for a long weekend, the main reason for a wedding which took place on the Sunday. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and made our way to our hotel, which is located very near to the Arc de Triomphe.

As this was the first time for Alessio I tried to plan things that would interest him and of course me. For me this trip would be the fifth one to Paris so I also wanted to see and do things that were new for me.

In the evening after wondering around the city we ended our first day with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe. I have seen this monument probably on each visit but had never been to the top. Since I wanted to avoid the queues of the Eiffel Tower I decided this was an excellent alternative. There was a small queue but this moved quite quickly and soon we were ready to climb.

Sadly there was not a lift so climbing the many, many steps was the only way up! To be quite honest I was completely unfit for this endeavour, and as my son lovely said to a friend when we had returned "my mum nearly died climbing to the top". Well I wasn`t quite dead but my legs were like jelly by the time I reached the top and eventually my breathing returned to normal!

The views are the reward and we were extremely happy with what we saw and most of the iconic sights can be seen from the top. Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider from WW1, interred on Armistice Day 1920.

The Arc de Triomphe is situated on the Place de Charles de Gaulle, to reach it you must take the underpass. Alessio got in for free and for me it was 9.50 euro, not too bad, certainly well worth a visit (even with the climb).

Photo of the Week - Sunset!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings all had big storms! Really, really loud thunder on one of the evenings, but before the storm started on Sunday I was treated to a lovely sunset! It is a shame that there are many buildings around here as it would have been such a fantastic sight!

A Visit to the Greifensee!

Fantastic view of Mountains

Heron in the reeds!

Granny with Alessio

While my parents were visiting we did a lovely walk part of the way around the Griefensee. To walk around the lake is 18km which would take roughly 4.5 hours. A bit too much for us, although it would be a great walk!

I drove and we parked very near to the lake at Niederuster from there we walked around to the other side to Maur.

The walk was very pleasant, we walked around a nature protected area for many birds. In fact we saw quite a few storks and some herons. There is a observation station for those people who are more into bird-watching. Since it was Good Friday there were plenty of people walking, jogging and of course on the lake.

Sort of halfway around our walk there is kiosk selling some sandwiches and soup, but we decided to carry on until we reached Maur. We were really in need of a sit down and some yummy food, before we caught a boat back to Niederuster.

That was certainly enough walking for us that day, back to the car and home!

Tokyo at Night!

Shibuya

Tokyo Government Office

Shinjuku

Over a month since the trip to Japan and still got lots of posts to do, but this one is all about Tokyo at night. To be honest seeing Tokyo at night was one of the most exciting parts of the whole trip. At times I could have just sat in a bar and looked, it was just amazing.

The first evening we walked to see the Tokyo Tower, another evening we explored Shibuya Crossing, another evening we visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices where there is an observation floor. We had a quick wonder around Shinjuku which is called a city in a city.

All the sights we saw in Tokyo were really amazing and really great.