November Reading List

I got through 6 books in November and for my crime novel reading challenge I read books from China and Laos.

Under a Cornish Sky by Liz Fenwick, I have read a few of her other books and like them, I enjoyed this one too. I do so want to visit this part of England (I think I said that the last time too) hopefully one day!

Disco for the Departed by Colin Cotteril, this is a crime novel set in Laos, not a country I know lots about. It was okay, not sure I will read another in this series though.

My Map of you by Isabelle Broom, I really like this book, easy to read and part of it set in a Greek island.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh, this is certainly a strange book. I read lots of reviews about it and some were good, some not so good but decided to try it. It is a bit out of my comfort zone this type of book, I did find it interesting and glad that I read it, not sure what else to say about it. Here is a review from the Guardian.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, this book got from the book swap I go too. It a series and this is the first one about magic and the supernatural. I would be keen to read more in the series.

The Firemaker by Peter May, this was my favourite and it was set in China. I really am looking forward to read the next one.

Sorry that I have not really mentioned what the storyline is in each book, but not really so good at that!

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Photo of the Week - Between the Trees

Photo of the week is from Luxembourg, I liked this view which I spotted between these two trees.

This weekend looks like being quite busy, first Alessio is singing on Friday evening with his school class and 12 other classes in a church in Zurich, a Christmas concert.

Two friends from Munich are coming over this weekend Janet and Claire, it will be lovely to see them.

On Sunday it is the Silvesterlauf, which basically mean New Year`s Eve Run the distances are between 1.4 km to 8.6km and my friend Markus is running. So good luck to him!

365 Photo Challenge 41 to 48

Day 41: Friday 18th November - Evening Sky

Day 42: Saturday 19th November - Sunny Day in Zurich

Day 43: Sunday 20th November - My travel mags

Day 44: Monday 21st November - After work treat

Day 45: Tuesday 22nd November - Walking around Au

Day 46: Wednesday 23rd November - Wild Mushrooms

Day 47:Thursday 24th November - Christmas Plant

Day 48: Friday 25th November - Grittibänz

Hope you all had a great weekend! I went to a Christmas party at a friend`s and it was lovely. Lots of people I have not seen for ages and good food!

On Sunday I went to see the movie Deepwater Horizon which I really enjoyed and do very much recommend!


Here are more information about the oil spill:

Oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon

What happened on the oil platform


Have a great week!

Bits of Luxembourg City!

So December has begun! The countdown has begun for Christmas! We are going a little back in time for this post to the beginning of November in fact. That is the weekend Alessio and myself went to Luxembourg City.

We left Friday evening, it is only a one hour flight from Zurich, so once out of the airport, onto a bus and checked into the hotel, we went for dinner. We didn`t do anything else that evening as Alessio does like to stay as much as possible in a hotel wherever we go!

The next day we took a bus to the MUDAM, a contemporary art museum and there Alessio was able to be creative in the kids section. Then we walked back into the city centre and looked for a place for lunch. The rest of the day was spent walking around the city, looking at the shops, buildings, we visited the Cathedral, looking at views, seeing lots of statues, watching a soldier guarding the Grand Ducal Palace and of course we visited an English book store!

Since we were both exhausted from all the walking we dined in the hotel and much to Alessio`s delight went to our room afterwards.

The next day was our final and we visited the old part of the city, we walked down to the Grund, where the river Alzette flows. It is a lovely area to stroll around and take in the sights. The Casemates Bock is a network of underground fortifications, which is a recognized UNESCO Heritage Site. We visited another museum, which wasn`t really to Alessio`s taste and continued looking for areas we had not explored yet.

Finally we went to a huge park and in this park we found a really cool playground which thankfully made Alessio happy! We stayed as long as we could as it was quite cold and headed back towards the hotel. We stopped off for coffee and cake beforehand, grab our luggage and headed off to the airport.

All in all it was a nice weekend, if I had planned it better we maybe could have visited Vianden Castle which is a bit out of the city. It looks very impressive!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Photo of the Week - Lonely Lighthouse

Photo of the week comes from the ferry trip from Oban to Isle of Mull, on our way I saw lots of fantastic scenery. I really like lighthouses, although I have not seen that many! I would certainly have liked to visit this one!

365 Photo Challenge - Days 32 to 40

Day 32: Tuesday 8th November - I really enjoyed this book

Day 33: Wednesday 9th November - I bought chestnuts for Alessio but he doesn`t like them

Day 34: Thursday 10th November - Turnips lanterns made by parents and kids

Day 35: Friday 11th November - Deco at home

Day 36: Saturday 12th November - Candle making in Zurich

Day 37: Sunday 13th November - I am really liking to eat soup at the moment

Day 38: Monday 14th November - Bakery in Kilcberg

Day 38: Tuesday 15th November - Lovely skies 

Day 39: Wednesday 16th November - Lake Zurich

Day 40: Thursday 17th November - Colouring in book I bought for Alessio

Hope you all had a great weekend! Alessio and I visited the Christmas market at Bellevue twice over the weekend. There are some great food stalls there and Alessio was keen to try some of them, so we had a Himalaya burger which Alessio was not so keen on the bun but liked the meat. We also had Dutch fries which were really yummy.

We also went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them, it was really great movie and look forward to the next one.

Wishing you all a great week!

Postcards of Porto Part 2

So awhile back I posted the first part of our trip to Porto in August, so here is the last part. We ended up in Porto after our week in the Azores with my father. This is a gorgeous city and well worth a trip. We planned to do a day trip to Coimbra but unfortunately I did not plan it so well, so we did not make it.  Here are the other things we did:

1) We visited Porto Cathedral, it is one of the city`s oldest monuments

2) Sao Bento Train Station, you might think why would you visit a train station apart from to leave the city but this train is beautiful. The historical station is know for it tiles (azulejo) which depicts scenes of the history of Portugal.

3) The Serralves Museum, this was a lovely museum and it had a great big park. In the park there were sculptures to find which of course Alessio liked to do!

4) Hop on/off bus this is normally not what I do, but for one day we thought and Alessio really wanted to go on it too!

5) The fantastic houses/flats with there coloured walls and balconies which I really liked to see

6) Port tasting, I really wanted to do this but with Alessio I decided not too. So the next time I visit Porto that will be on my list.

So if you have not been to this city then you really must, it is beautiful!



Here are some more blogs about Porto!

Caroline in the city

Food. Travel. Fun

I Heart My City: Maria