Monday 30 May 2016

European Football Friendly Match in St.Gallen

















This weekend was quite the football one! On Saturday Alessio had a match which his team lost again, sadly and in the evening we watched the Champions League Final. On Sunday we went to St.Gallen to see the friendly match between Spain and Bosnia.

The match started at 6pm but beforehand we walked around the old part of the city for a short while. I had not been in St.Gallen for at least 10 years so it all new for me. The old part really looked lovely and would have liked to explore a bit more, but Alessio was not so keen. I anyway wanted to get to the stadium and get our seats.

We were in the Spanish section and it eventually got very busy but in general there were more Bosnian fans. Since the champion league final was played the night before with two Spanish teams their players were not going to be there, but I was really hoping to see the Barcelona players. Sadly they were also not present, but it was still a great match, really exciting.

This was only my second time at a football match and we both really liked the atmosphere and both sets of fans were very loud! Definitely would go again, both Alessio and myself want to see FC Barcelona play in Camp Nou. Not an easy task to do but will try for the next season!

Wishing you all a great week head!

Friday 27 May 2016

Pictures from Bergen

















During the winter break in February Alessio and I went to visit Bergen, and yes it was rather chilly! Bergen is the second largest city in Norway and it lies on the west coast and it has a huge port. There are many trips to take to see the fantastic fjords, we did a short one of 3 hours, but you can take ones that last the whole day or more!

There are quite a number of things to do with kids, we visited the aquarium and a viking museum. We also visited the Hanseatic Museum and Kode Art museum which had a part for kids. There is also a funicular to take you up to Mount Floyen 320m above see level, it has brilliant views of the city and surrounding area.

Bryggen the old wharf was very interesting to explore, you can walk in between the buildings and of course very colourful. There was quite a lot of street art which I do like to see!

We really enjoyed visiting Bergen in spite of the weather, of course visiting in the spring or summer is better as you can spend more time outdoors.

Enjoy the weekend!


Wednesday 25 May 2016

Photo of the Week - Looking Down


It is mid week and the photo is from Zagreb, while we were in Slovenia we had a day trip to Zagreb which is in Croatia. We went up a building from some great views and this is one of the many photos I took. It you have not ever been to Zagreb then you should it is a lovely city and sadly we had only one day to explore!

This weekend is a football one for us, Alessio has a match on Saturday and on Sunday we are going to St.Gallen to see a friendly match between Spain and Bosnia. I am really looking forward to see Spain play, especially the players from FC Barcelona.


Some links to check out

You may have remember that the Pope took some Syrian refugees to Rome, this tells us what has happened to them so far

If you fancy picking up the actor Shia LaBeouf you can if you can find him

Writers now have signed a petition against Donald Trump




Monday 23 May 2016

Dachau Concentration Camp















During March I visited Dachau concentration camp which is 16km from Munich, it is free to visit and if you have a car then you pay for parking.

It first opened in March 1933 as a concentration camp for political prisoners, this camp became a model for all the other concentration camps, it was open for 12 years and 200,000 people came through its gate. It was liberated in late April 1945 by the Americans, but before that happened it evolved into a death camp with many thousands of people who died of malnutrition, overwork, disease or executed.

The museum/memorial which is quite big is full of information about how the prisoners ended up in Dachau, their life in the camp, if they survived and how people died. This was brought to life by personal things of the people who were in this camp and firsthand accounts. As you can imagine it was pretty grim and down right horrible reading what the people were subjected too.

You are able to see the sleeping areas and toilet areas, the bunk beds are piled up, the grounds are quite extensive and you can imagine many people working the grounds too.

For me the most difficult part was seeing the actual area where people were gassed and then cremated. It was very emotional to stand in the room and think about the horror of what had happened here.

I think it is important to visit and read about what happened in these camps throughout Europe, it is very hard going but some things should not be forgotten.


Friday 20 May 2016

Postcards from London















For a long time I had wanted to take Alessio to visit London and finally we went last October with my parents. It was a great 6 days and we saw lots of fantastic sights and Alessio had a great time!

We saw lots of the major tourist sights such as Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Kew Gardens, a short boat trip on the Thames, Natural History Museum, Museum of London, St Pauls Cathedral and Portobello. We also went on a day trip to Brighton, which I already wrote a post about it.

I enjoyed it all and it was difficult to pick what to see and as always there is so much more to see and maybe one day we will go back for it won`t be a long time!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!