Random photos of Zurich and the Lake!

After our return from Iceland, Alessio and I continued to keep ourselves busy these past days in Zurich.

Thursday we were happy to see the sun and blue skies which we sorely missed while we were in Iceland. Therefore we went to St Josep park which is next to the Viaduct shopping area, this is one of our favorite parks. Alessio always finds kids he can play football with at this and there is also when the weather gets better a kiosk opens to keep the parents happy with food and drink while their kids are playing.

Friday we went to see a very good film called A Monster Call, it is quite sad so bring some hankies with you.

Saturday Alessio went away for a skiing holiday with his father, so I went for a lovely facial and saw the movie Lion with my friend Arlene. This is a fantastic movie and utterly recommend it!

Finally on Sunday again we had some nice weather and I decided to go for a walk by the lake from Kilchberg down just past Thalwil.

Have a great week!

Exploring the island of Sao Miquel, The Azores

Lagoon of the 7 cities

Lake Santiago

Lake Furnas

Our lunch coming out of the oven

For one week last summer we went to visit The Azores and we stayed on the largest island Sao Miquel. We did two day trips on the island and we saw lots of wonderful sights.

The first tour we visited the Lagoon of the Seven Cities, this is a twin lake situated in the cater of a dormant volcano. We had wonderful views from an advantage point called King`s View then we drove down to the bottom, everything was just so lush! From there we stopped and saw Lake Santiago which is situated also in a crater, surrounded by the Devassa Mountains. Again the view was just breathtaking seeing everything so green and serene looking. We also visited a pineapple planation which I have posted about here!

The second tour took us first to a ceramic factory where we saw plates, mugs and many other things being designed. Then we went to the only tea plantation Riberia Grande in Europe and had a tour around the factory to see the process from the leaves to the end product.

From there we went to a viewpoint to see the beautiful Lake Furnas and then down to the hot springs, where our lunch was being cooked. Furnas stew is lots of vegetables and meat, which had been cooking in the large pot from at least 5 hours. Men came from different restaurants in the town to collect the pots and return to each restaurant. It certainly was a novel way for our lunch to be prepared. We also walked around for a while, looking at the hot springs and steam holes. There was a strong smell of rotten eggs in the air which we found out was sulfur.

After lunch there was a chance to use the thermal baths, which Alessio and my dad did so for around 45 mins.

Then our tour was finished and we were driven back to the hotel. We really enjoyed both our tours and got to see pretty much most of the island. It is a beautful island and would heartily recommend a visit to The Azores. The other 8 islands can be visited too, sadly we had not enough time but I would have liked to have seen more.

January Reading List

In January I got through 9 books and you may be wondering how on earth did I manage that! Well instead of watching TV in the evenings I just decided to read my books and my weekends without Alessio were not so busy so I read also.



The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson

The Birdcage by Clive Aslet

Tread Softly by JJ Marsh

The Sea by John Banville

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich

1222 by Anne Holt

The Catalyst Killing by Hans Olav Lahlum

The Ice Child by Camilla Lackberg


I really enjoyed The Birdcage, 1222, The Catalyst Killing, The Ice Child, Tricky Twenty-Two and Tread Softly.

For my reading challenge the two books were The Birdcage and The Sea, both were new authors for me beginning with A and B. I will not necessarily go through the challenge alphabetically, as I have already done the letter T as I got the book from the library.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Photo of the Week - Mouth Watering Goodies!

Photo of the week comes from Barcelona and an amazing window full of fabulous looking pastries and cakes.

Here are some links to check out:

If you haven`t seen Melissa McCarthy on SNL impersonating Sean Spicer you should!

This was disgraceful Senator Elizabeth Warren was told to stop talking and sit down!

Looking forward to check this new series out Legion

Interesting read!

Which tree do you like?

365 Photo Challenge Days 96 to 105

Day 96 - Thursday 12th Jan - Only things missing is black pudding and tattie scone

Day 97 - Friday 13th Jan: Building in Barcelona

Day 98 - Saturday 14th Jan: Sagrada Familia

Day 99 - Sunday 15th Jan: Ceramic tiles on rooftop Palau Güell

Day 100 - Monday 16th Jan: Statue near to Marina

Day 101- Tuesday 17th Jan: Non-fiction book set in Iceland

Day 102 - Wednesday 18th Jan: Spinach pizza

Day 103 - Thursday 19th January: Purple flowers

Day 104 - Friday 20th Jan: Part of my reading challenge

Day 105- Saturday 21st Jan: Brandy`s new CD is out plus concert this Friday in Moods

Day 106 - Sunday 22nd Jan: Pesto sauce!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I saw two great movies this weekend at the cinema, Manchester by the Sea and Hidden Figures. I would thoroughly recommend checking both these movies out if you can!

I have been planning my trip to Iceland which starts on Saturday. I am so looking forward to this trip, Iceland has been on my bucket list for years! I am praying that we will be lucky and be able to see the Northern Lights (fingers crossed)!

Have a super week!

Palau Güell Barcelona

Palau Güell is a mansion designed by the architect Antonio Gaudi for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Gaudi, it is built between 1886 and 1888.

I really enjoyed visiting this place, the rooms, furniture and walls were all amazing to see. The huge gate at the entrance was to allow horse drawn carriages to enter and the horses were kept in the basement. The stained glass windows were just fabulous and the roof has a nice view and around twenty chimney with lovely designs.

I would really recommend a visit, it is located just off the Ramblas and it cost 12 euros and free for kids up to 10 years old.

Have a great weekend!