Ypres, Belgium

In October we spent one week in Belgium and for one day we went on a tour of the WWI memorials, sights and museums in the Ypres Salient. The visit to Ypres itself was at the end of the tour and we did not have a lot of time in the town.

We visited the museum In Flanders Field which was a lovely museum but we only had one hour and this museum needs at least 2/3 hours or more to fully enjoy it.

Finally we visited the Menin Gate which is quite an amazing memorial and it has the names of over 54,600 British and Commonwealth men who have no known grave, killed in the Ypres Salient. The arch was designed by British architect Reginal Blomfield in 1921. At 8pm every evening volunteers buglers from the fire brigade sound the "Last Post" this is a moving tribute to the fallen men for their courage and sacrifice in defense of their town.

We did not see this as we had already left but I would have definitely liked to have experienced this event.

The whole tour was really amazing and very moving, will do another post with all the other sights we saw and visited.

Have a good week!

365 Photo Challenge Days 328 to 338

Day 328: Friday 1st September - Picture I bought in Scotland

Day 329: Saturday 2nd Sep - Alessio at Park in Green

Day 330: Sunday 3rd Sep - Alessio`s 11th Birthday!

Day 331: Monday 4th Sep - Cupcakes for Alessio by Hannah

Day 332: Tuesday 5th Sep - Flowers to cheer up the flat

Day 333: Wednesday 6th Sep - At the badi Kilchberg for Alessio`s party

Day 334: Thursday 7th Sep - Good book

Day 335: Friday 8th Sep - Evening sky

Day 336: Saturday 9th Sep - Staff training day in forest

Day 337: Sunday 10th Sep - Museum in Zurich

Day 338: Monday 11th Sep - Church in Fribourg

The Christmas lights went on yesterday evening here in Zurich, they are called Lucy and that means the Christmas markets are opened. Tomorrow Alessio and I will go to the food market at Bellevue, as there is his favorite burger. It is called a Luma burger and hopefully it will be there as he will be disappointed!!

We will also go and see Paddington 2 as he it liked the first one and it looks quite good. On Sunday it is the Santa Clause parade and he wants to go to that, I suppose in a couple of years he will not be interested in these pre Christmas events as he will be a teenager! So best to enjoy them as long as possible!!

Have a great weekend!

Jucker Farm/Bächlihof Visit

Alessio and I visited Jucker Farm with his friend Josiah in September and we had as usual a great day. Alessio and Josiah played on the giant haystack for a while and then they went around the maze too. I wondered around the farm and bought gourds for the house. I do like to see the different types and fantastic colours. We also had some yummy food, I do like the pumpkin soup there. They have a great selection of desserts, which I had to take some home of course.

In October I went to Bächlihof farm with the kids from my work. They always have a great time, again with the haystack and the play area too. The theme this year was forest animals and they were as usual just amazing.

This weekend at Jucker farm it is the Christmas market, I have been twice and it is always nice. Most of the Christmas markets will be opened this weekend, so we will go to the one at Bellevue as Alessio is desperate to have a Luma Burger!

Baby Shower Fun!

At the beginning of October Hannah and myself hosted a baby shower for our fabulous and gorgeous friend Katrina. As you can see from the colours that Katrina is having a little girl and so it was pink, pink and more pink.

All our lovely friends came with food and drinks to my place and it was such a lovely day that we were able to sit outside.

Hannah made her delicious cup cakes as usual (if you need any cupcakes for any occasion please contact her HanMadeCupcakes@gmail.com) and Riikka made the fab nappy cake for Katrina.

We had a few activities to do but we were having just a great time talking about baby stuff that we only managed two of them. We had bought a number of white bodies and everyone decorated and wrote something on each of them! We also played parcel the parcel, with one small present in between the layers of newspaper for each person.

So thanks to everyone that came and of course to Hannah who did most of the work in buying all the stuff. Lastly to Katrina (who i saw today as it happens by accident) it is not long now. Looking forward to meet this little girl!

Have a great weekend!

October Reading List

October has been and went and I managed to read 6 books, not too bad! Here is the list:

The Day is Dark by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, I have read a few of her books and have liked them all and this is no exception. Plus it was set on Greenland which I find very interesting. Again it features Thora Gudmundsdottir, a lawyer who goes to Greenland with a bunch of other people to investigate some serious crime.


The Miniaturist by Jesse Burton, set in Amsterdam in 1686, Nella Oortman arrives in the city newly married. The review in the link is not the best but I did enjoy it!

Rush Oh by Shirley Barrett, this is tale of whaling at the beginning of the 20th century in Australia. Told by the eldest daughter and all the happenings of the family as they try to survive through killing whales. As I do not like to hear of whale killing I thought it would be a hard book to get through but it was ok.

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black, this is the first in the series with French/American PI Aimeé Leduc. I liked it because it is set in Paris but I would read more of the series too.

Dark Suits and Sad Songs by Denzil Meryrick, third in the series of DCI Daley and his team investigating murders.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, this is set during the WW2 and also just after the end of the war. Writer Juliet Ashton correspond with the people of Guernsey about their life on the island during the occupation by the Germans. I loved this book and have seen it is to be made into a movie too!



Here are a few links to check out!

If you are a fan of John Green then you will be happy with his new book Turtles All the Way Down

Philip Pullman has a new book out, I am just reading His Dark Materials trilogy and am loving it. Here is the man himself answering questions.

The amount of plastics we use is just terrible and now it has been found in sea creatures in the remotest places on Earth.

I am a big fan of Instagram, so here are some pics!

Last of all, while we were away last month on holiday we visited the city of Rotterdam and one of the places I wanted to see were the fantastic Cubic Houses. I loved them and you can even see inside one too! If you happen to be in Rotterdam or are going definitely visit them!!

Have a good rest of the week!!

Diamond League Athletics 2017

Back in August Alessio and I went to the Diamond League Athletics Night in the Letzigrund, this was our second time and it was again really great! Last time we saw Usain Bolt run and this time we saw Mo Farah!

Our seats were not the best this time, we were seated behind the starting line and last time we were at the finishing line. We saw the pole vault quite good, but the other events were too far away to see, apart from on the large screen.

I like the races the best and how the whole stadium really cheers on the runners. Just before the starter gun it is so silent you could hear a pin drop!

At the end there was a firework show and Amy Macdonald sang a few songs, which was a bonus as I have not seen her live before!

Have a good start to the week!