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!

The Golden Circle - Iceland

Thingvellir National Park

Icelandic ponies

Geysir Geothermal Area

Strokkur erupting!

Gullfoss Waterfalls

A trip to Iceland would not be complete without visiting these 3 major attractions know as The Golden Circle. It is a popular day trip from Reykjavik which covers around 300km in Southern Iceland.

The first stop was the Thingvellir National Park, this site is of historical, cultural and geological importance. The mid-Atlantic ridge is where the North American and the Eurasian tectonics meet and is visible in the park. The historical importance is Althing which is the National Parliament of Iceland and was founded in 830 in Thingvellir National park.

The second stop was the geothermal area Haukadalur which is home to Geysir and Strokkur. Geysir rarely erupts but Strokkur erupts every 5 to 10 minutes and up to a height of 15 to 20m. And we saw it erupting a few times and it was amazing! Alessio liked this area a lot and the smell was rather potent indeed!

The final stop was the Gullfoss waterfall which means The Golden waterfall, we walked down to the area, quite amazing to see! It is located on river White, which is fed by Langjökull, the second largest glacier in Iceland. The water plummets 32m down in two stages into a cannon which is 70m deep. We only saw it from the top it was possible to see the waterfall from another angle.

There are many tours doing the Golden Circle and they pick you up from your hotel. I would really recommend seeing these attractions, you can also just rent a car and do all 3 by yourself too.

Have a great weekend!

Fun at the Fair!

Picking a prize!

It probably was a bit boring for him!

During Easter I took Alessio to the small fun fair at Bürliplatz, we intended to go on Good Friday but it was closed. So we went Saturday evening instead, there was not too much to do but we stayed for a while. First we went on the Ferris wheel and got great views of Lake Zurich! Alessio tried his luck and won a blue and yellow ball, at these stalls where you need to knock down tins by throwing small balls. He did not fancy any of the other rides, but went on the trampoline about 7 times though!

Have a lovely weekend!

China Gardens Zurich

The Chinagardens in Zurich is situated near the lake at Zurichhorn, easily reachable by tram numbers 2 and 4.

The gardens were a present from the Chinese partner city of Kunming, it is regarded as one of the more impressive gardens outside of China. The gardens opened in 1994 with the theme Three Friends of Winter, it was given in thanks for the help with the technical and scientific assistance in the development of the city drinking water supply and drainage in Kunming.

I went there at the beginning of August as a trip with the children from work, it did not take very long as the kids were inevitably bored! It was very peaceful and a place to reflex in quietness. The children were in fact very good and hardly made any noise, but we did not stay that long. It is not that big so it doesn`t take that long to look around, there is a small palace with two rooms and some furniture.

Once it enough to visit, this was my third and more than likely my last visit! If you have not seen these lovely gardens I would recommend to see at least once!

Red Bull Flying Day

During the summer months there is always lots of stuff to do and see in Zurich, and this was one of them. Red Bull Flying Day which involved 50 teams from all over Switzerland making their own flying machines. They then dress up. give themselves a strange name and before taking off have a dance performance which is all part of the points given on the day.

It was a lovely day not too hot, it was very busy and we got there around 3.30pm. We walked around to find a spot to watch but not so easy to find. We started off in an area just next to where the whole thing was happening. When we looked up we could see the teams taking off and then watch as more often than not the planes just smashed straight into the water.

After a while we went to get some food and then watched from a scream how they all fell into the lake or how some actually flew! One team got a Swiss record (I believe) for flying 55.5m before crashing into the lake.

All in all it was great fun, lots of families with children were there and you could also just sit and bring your own food and drink too if you wanted.