March Reads

Now that we are in April time to post about what I managed to read during the month of March, 5 books.

In no particular order first comes Whiskey From Small Glasses by Denzil Meyrick, this is the first in a series about DCI Daley. In the first book he has to investigate a body washed ashore in the west coast of Scotland. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely continue reading this series.

The Irresistible blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe by Mary Simses, this one I also really enjoyed and liked the front cover too. Set in Maine, Ellen Branford sets off to deliver a letter for her grandmother who has just died to a man she once loved. It was grandmother`s last dying wish that Ellen would do this and also has serious consequences for Ellen too.

A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs is back and after losing her husband and unborn child, she finds herself on a ship returning to England. At a whim decides to disembark in Gibraltar and while there stumbles across a dead body and stays to solve the crime. It is set in 1937 so the Spanish civil war is raging and plays a part in the murder. This book is in my challenge as part of it is set in Spain. I liked the character of Maisie Dobbs and will try to read more of this series too.

Freeze Frame by Peter May, it involves Enzo Macleod a leading forensics investigater, a Scots based in France. He made a promise to a dying man, to study the room in which the man died and left clues in said room which has been untouched since the murder. Enzo has to discover what these clues are and find the murderer. This is fourth book in this series, also very good! Another for my crime challenge!

My Biggest Lie by Luke A.M. this is the last book for March, set in London and Argentina it tells the tale of Liam Wilson is has a good job and a girlfriend and then one evening it all goes wrong. He goes off to Buenos Aires to try to get it back, but it is not so easy to do. It was okay, quite funny but hard to feel sorry for the guy though!


So links of interest!

Vanilla shortage means paying more for ice creams!
I would like to visit Oman once, so may read this book for a feel of the country.
Stories from flight attendants I guess they have seen and heard lots of stuff!

Alessio`s First Communion

On Sunday Alessio had his First Communion and to celebrate my parents came out from Scotland for the occasion. I think Alessio was a little nervous that morning as he could`t wait to leave for the church. His other grandmother came, along with his Uncle Luca and Aunt Andrea and their two children Valerio and Mattia and also my friend Arlene.

We arrived just before 9.30am and all the kids got their photos taken, then we waited for the beginning of Mass at 10am. Their was a band playing for the occasion and they were very good, it really lifted everyone. Alessio had two readings which he read out loud very well. All the kids did very well indeed and no one seemed nervous at all. In fact I was probably more nervous than Alessio!

Afterwards all the children, the priest and the ladies who helped the children with the communion got a group photo. Then we could photos with the family, poor Alessio was getting totally sick and tired of getting his photo taken. There was an apero at the church and then we headed off into Zurich for a meal.

Alessio got really lovely presents and he was very happy. It was a lovely day!

Photo of the Week - Dachau Concentration Camp

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! Mine was really busy but lovely and I will tell you all about it another time!

One of the weekends in March I went to Munich and one of the thing I did was visit Dachau Concentration Camp. I do have lots more photos and will do another post on this visit. It was certainly a difficult and very emotional visit, extremely interesting and incredibly sad!

This weekend my parents are arriving and staying one for week, Alessio has his First Communion on Sunday. So it is quite a busy weekend again!

Photo of the Week - Hello Moon

It is mid-week and soon the Easter weekend will begin, taking you back to Sunday evening which is when I spotted the moon. It has been out nearly all week (I think) and it always seemed full to me. Anyway I like to see the moon and how brightly it shines.

Quite a lot of people go away over Easter, taking advantage of the fact you don`t have to take any holidays. I normally stay here, but decided in December to plan Easter away this year. So I am off to Ljubljana, Slovenia. It will be my first visit to this country and am looking forward to this adventure.

Where or what is everyone else up too this Easter?

Bächlihof Farm

The weekend was lovely with great weather, now it has gone a bit colder! Alessio started off the weekend with a football match which I am very glad to say his team won 6-4. I was very happy as the week before they got such a thrashing!

The day continued with a trip to the cinema to see Kung Fu Panda 3 for Alessio with a friend and I saw London Has Fallen.

On Sunday I decided to visit Bächlihof farm, at first Alessio wasn`t to keen about the whole idea. Once we arrived and he saw the big haystack, he was a happy chap! From January to mid May the farm has made things out of straw and apples. It is a lovely place to visit, lots of good food and the kids are kept busy. One of the things was an old style telephone which I don`t have a photo here, but it is on facebook and instagram if you fancy checking it out! It was quite cool!



Some links to check out:

New cities to visit
Spring essentials
World Poetry day

Bergen Bryggen

In February Alessio and I visited the Norwegian city of Bergen on the west coast. Bergen has lots to offer visitors and one of the most important sights is Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen.  It has been on UNESCO list for World Heritage since 1979.

In the 13th century the Hanseatic League set up one of their  four European offices on the Wharf called Bryggen, the city was and still is an important port for Norway. There have been many fires as the buildings are made from wood, therefore the buildings have been rebuilt at different times. They are fantastic to see, we wondered around the narrow alley ways and climbed up to see some of the shops.


News from around the world:

Obama gives his views on Trump
The island at the end of the Star Wars movie at the centre of a row
Vienna to Budapest in 10 mins by train!
Old photos of the Golden age of travel down the Nile

Snowy Garden

Now that it is the weekend, it is actually hard to believe that on Tuesday morning the outside of my flat looked like this. I mean it looked really beautiful, don`t get me wrong! It is nice to see snow covered on nature, as it had not really snowed that much this winter.

I guess this was maybe the last show of winter before spring officially starts, there is always a chance of some late snow even in April. (let`s hope not).

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!



 Some links to check out:

With Easter in a few weeks, here are some ideas where to go!
A blog I really like, there are always fab photos of flowers and gardens!
If you have a stopover in Iceland this is a new way to spend it!