Tuesday 21 October 2014

Don't deny yourself the absolute pleasure of this book.


Wow. What a book. Every page of this book had me completely hooked. Not only was the storyline completely unpredictable but I really felt like the main characters and the few closely surrounding her, had an extremely readable and interesting dynamic. I felt a wave of different emotions towards them, pity, envy, anger, sympathy and more. I found myself holding my breath, a lot, and crying too, there was a lot of that. 

Lockhart really connects the reader with Cadence and her struggle, setting out little clues throughout the whole book, to keep the reader gripped. The whole concept is so clever and I was constantly envious of the imagination and talent that had been invested into the book. It is a must read, and I hope that you will be as riveted as I was. 


Monday 21 April 2014

Rome Day 4 - Thursday March 27, 2014

I woke up at half nine this morning and had a light breakfast before heading back to my hotel room to pack up and take a shower, before I had to check out. At 10:55 with five minutes to spare, I caught the elevator to the lobby and checked out leaving my bag with the concierge for the morning so I could do a bit more exploring. My foot was still bad but I forced myself to walk to the Spanish steps which was about 20 minutes from the hotel. I decided that they weren’t that impressive though, just some steps really. I decided to try and find this pizza place called Pinsere that I had found on Tripadvisor which had been rated like the the second best place in Rome for Pizza, When I was leaving the steps however, I was accosted by a street seller who wanted to give me a rose. I declined and tried to walk off but he chased after me and insisted that I take it because it was a lucky rose, so I did. Then I walked off, then a few seconds later, he came running after me and asked for some money and when I tad him I didn’t have any, he took the Rose back of me, which was hilarious, I was also relieved, because I felt like a bit of dipstick carrying around a rose by myself. 

I eventually found the pizza place, it was tiny little place tucked away, miles away from the centre of Rome, but there was a queue outside of the door, so that was the first sign this was going to be good. I was also soaked from the torrential downpour that was continuing without any signs of stopping. I was rewarded however as the pizza was absolute incredible, I will link the place here, you absolutely have to go and get a slice or 3 or 4 from here, because it was to die for. Like seriously impressive pizza. Ut was a thick base pizza but the dough was so soft and squishy, and just yum. There were loads of different flavours, but because I am not very adventurous with food, which is a massive flaw, I decided to stick with margarita. I wish I could have had two, it was so good! 

It was getting close to the time I needed to catch my train, so I limped back to the station and witnessed a guy get knocked off his moped, not seriously though, he just kinda fell off then got back up. It wouldn’t have been funny but when the taxi driver got out of his car, he was eating this massive baguette and continued to do so whilst they argued in Italian, presumably about whose fault it was.

I picked my bag up from the hotel, and headed off to the station. My first train was at 2:20 and 10 hours later I was back in my bed, exhausted but full of lots of great memories and looking forward to planning the next adventure!!

Thanks for reading my Rome blogs, hopefully you have enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. 


Rome Day 3 - Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Today I was going to Vatican City, to visit the museum there as well as explore inside St Peter’s Basilica. The Pope was speaking in the square this morning so when I got there it was heaving with people, so they weren’t letting anyone into the Basilica. I decided to hit up the Vatican museum’s first, and I was glad I did because when I got there wasn’t a queue to get in, I had to leave my bag in a cloakroom which I did first before upstairs into the maze of corridors and rooms that make up the museum. I don’t want to complain throughout this blog, but I was in serious pain with my foot by this point so I did take the shorter tour through the museum, so that I could see the highlights, rather than wandering round for hours. The Vatican was pretty cool, there was lots of high ceilings all intricately decorated with paintings, very awe-inspiring. I went to the Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina) which is famous for being the place where the archbishops all gather to vote on a new Pope, which the two chimneys etc. The walls are all covered in paintings, I think mostly by the artist Michelangelo, who is the guy that is buried in the Pantheon. The most famous one is probably the Creation of Adam, which you would recognize. There was benches all round the room so I took a seat to try and take all of the paintings in, they were pretty incredible. After the Chapel, I hobbled along to the Borgia’s apartments which were room painted for Pope Alexander VI and belonged to the Borgia fam, at some point as well. There was also this massive Bronze statue of Hercules which I thought was particularly notable because of its history. Take a seat kids, and I’ll explain. At the time, this statue was created a lot of bronze statues were being stolen and melted down, so that their bronze could be sold on for a profit. This statue however, had been struck by lightening and was considered to be a bearer of bad luck, as a consequence of this it was buried and that is only reason that it still exists today, and I think that bronze statues from the Roman past are quite rare so it makes this one very special. 

To exit the building you had to use this staircase which confuses the life out of me and I still don’t really understand how it works despite having walked down it. The staircase is a replica of the Bramante staircase that exists in another part of the Vatican n order to preserve it. The staircase is a ‘double helix’ meaning that it is two staircases, built together to allow people to ascend and descend without meeting other people… 

I went back round to the Basilica, as I left the Vatican, I noticed the huuuge queue to get in and was glad I had stopped here in the morning. By know they were letting people inside St Peter’s Square in order to queue for the Basilica, so I joined another huuuge queue for the security which unfortunately was unavoidable. I stood in the queue for around three quarters of an hour in front of some French children who were so incredibly annoying, and kept walking into the back of me, and pushing and shoving each other. I wanted to shout at them but I didn’t, instead just shooting them evils but they didn’t get the message. THEN when I was nearly at the front of the queue, two Mexican girls casually strolled up, pushing in the queue and stood in front of me. If it had been a short queue I would have let it go, but considering I had stood there for nearly an hour I was not letting this slide, and when the queue started moving I stepped in front of them and gave them a very pointed look and they stayed behind me after that, which I didn’t actually mind at least the separated me from the French children. FINALLY I was through security, and heading inside the Basilica, This was probably my favorite part of the trip, and SO worth the hours wait. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and no words I use will come close to justify to absolute beauty of the interior of this building. My first thought was, and I know this sounds incredibly stupid, but there was so much space between the floor and the ceiling, I don’t think I have ever seen a ceiling that tall and everywhere you looked there was a statue of a painting. It was just gignormous and grand. I was seriously impressed and completely blown away by the scale and magnificence of it. I walked around a few times, just trying look at everything. 

It was around five o’clock now, and it was going to take me a good hour to hobble back to the centre of town so headed back past the street sellers, who were packing up for the day, along the river, back through the Piazza Navona, past the Pantheon towards Il Vittoriano before veering off to the north of the city back to my hotel. I made a plan in my head, to go home, get changed and come back out for dinner and walk round all the monuments once the sun had gone down because they were meant to look really splendid in the night with their lights on. Once I got back though, I was tired from my walk and my foot was too sore, and they thought of having to walk back into the city wasn’t that appealing, so I made Rome food mistake #2, which I think I deserved purely because of the absolute stupidity of this idea. There was a Chinese across the street from my hotel, yeah I know. And I decided that this would be a really great idea, Chinese, film, ice pack and bed - perfection. Urgh no. First the ice machine was broken - hi swollen foot. and secondly the Chinese was so disgusting that I couldn’t even eat it. I asked for crispy noodles and they gave me… well I don’t know what they gave me.  I’ve included some google images for some expectation vs. reality imagery.  I was so put off that I didn't even eat the vegetable in sauce creation I had been presented with. Needless to say I was pissed, so instead I ate some Mikado sticks and watched some TV before falling asleep with the light on and waking up at 3am, majorly confused as to where I was in the world. 

Tomorrow is packing, Spanish steps and trains… lots of trains. 
Fun facts about this blog: 
I’ve written Basilica nine times and spelt it wrong every time and I spelt Chinese wrong twice. What?



Thursday 17 April 2014

Rome Day 2 - Tuesday March, 25, 2014

I had every intention of getting up early this morning in order to beat the queues around the Colosseum but I am really not an early riser - mornings are just so hard!! After a breakfast of yogurt, melon and nutella on toast (not altogether) I made my way downtown in search of lots of big old buildings. Finally arriving at one of the biggest and oldest of them all. After about a half and hour wait I headed inside. I don’t know why, but I always seem to get ridiculously emotional when I visit old places, or famous monuments and just like the time when I cried on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial I couldn’t hold back a few tears looking out over the Colosseum. It is just incredible to think of all the history and stuff that has happened and all while this building has just stood there. People died in the space in the middle and I was standing the spot where someone was cheering and watching death happen… and enjoying it. And that is just a little bit cray. But there you are. The colosseum was amazing! The rain held off for most if the morning, so I wandered around for about two hours and then left heading towards the Roman Forum. 

The Roman Forum is a big space where lots of different & important government buildings used to stand.A bought a ticket to get in, and then realised that the ticket I bought at the colosseum also included the Roman Forum, so I basically paid twice. What an idiot.
The Forum is mainly just ruins now and you have to use a lot of imagination to try and picture how it used to look. A few temples remain including the one that is supposed to be the tomb of Romulus, the first king of Rome.I wandered throughout all the old stone towards the Capitolina Musuem. I didn't go inside here however as there were other things that I wanted to see more. I did however, stop at the Capitolina cafe, which was one of the first big mistakes I made with food in Rome. 

I don’t know whether I am just a bit fussy when buying food from out and about but the service and the food in this cafe were both appalling. The staff were rude, the kind that make you feel your an inconvenience for wanting to buy food from them. Then despite my panini being taken into the kitchen to be toasted it came back, barely warm, with big slabs of mozzarella all cold. Yuk! After two bites, I gave up pretending that it was even a little bit edible and left. It had started to rain by now, so I decided to visit the Pantheon for a little shelter. The Pantheon was another impressive sight, again one of the oldest buildings in Rome. It was commissioned to be built as a temple to the Gods of Rome, by Marcus Agrippa, around 14AD but was rebuilt and opened in 126AD by Hadrian.  That like 2000 years ago. How is it still standing? It is one of the worlds largest unreinforced domes. From the outside you wouldn’t think any thing of it, as it definitely shows its ages, but I think that is the beauty of it because as you step inside, it is very clear that no expense has been spared in both the design and upkeep. Raphael, who was an artist in Ancient Rome, is buried there. 

After my disastrous panini, I was still hungry so I choose one of restaurants in the Pantheon square to have a bite to eat. I had spaghetti carbonara which was delish, a little different to what I was used to but I guess that was because it was authentic. It was exactly what I needed to keep my going for the afternoon. 

I didn’t really have anything planned next so after stopping at Grom, a famous Italian Gelateria, and picking up a Hazelnut scoop and a Nougat scoop, I just wandered around all the little streets, enjoying the architecture. I eventually found myself alongside the River Tiber so I crossed over and started walking toward Vatican City & the Basilica. There are a lot of street sellers in Rome, you can’t walk 2 minutes down the street without bumping into someone trying to sell you an umbrella if it’s raining, or a some tacky souvenir. It was very annoying. Some were easy to get rid off whilst others wouldn’t take no for an answer and would wave their merchandise in your face, so I had to shoot them evil looks. There were a lot of these on the approach to the Basilica, but I battled through.

The Basilica looked very impressive from the outside, I didn’t go in, as that is on the itinerary for tomorrow, I made my way back across the river and made some monumental errors whilst map reading and couldn’t work out where I was for a good 30 minutes. Eventually I asked a policeman & he pointed out where I was, which was on a completely different part of the map than I thought I was. I wanted to visit Piazza Navona which was meant to be a ‘must see’ which some cool fountains and impressive architecture. I eventually stumbled on it accidentally - which seems to be a recurring theme - and it was a very nice place to end up. There were lots of stalls and street artists, and the whole Piazza, was lined with restaurants, with outdoor seating and patio heaters and of course, two large and intricately carved fountains. 

It was late now so I headed back to the main part of the city, I was still full from my late lunch so I decided to skip dinner and collapsed straight into bed. 

xx


Wednesday 2 April 2014

Rome Day 1 - Monday, March 24, 2013 - Rome.

I woke up ridiculously early this morning, whenever I have to be up for something important I find it nearly impossible to sleep the night before because I get paranoid that I am going to sleep right through it. After double checking that I had everything I needed for my 3 days in Rome I set off for the bus stop at about 6:00. 

During the day the buses run at six minutes and 36 minutes past the hour, but apparently this early in the morning they only run at 25 past, which meant I had a nice 20 minutes wait at the bus stop. It had snowed the night before so everything was covered in a nice blanket of snow and even though it made the wait a bit colder, the view was pretty so that compensated for the loss of feeling in my fingers. 

Finally the bus arrived, I was surprised to see it was very full of morning commuters. Whenever I had been on the bus before there was usually no more that five other people on it. I got into Zurich okay and stopped off at an American bakery called Blueberry, which does THE best blueberry muffins, seriously they are incredibly delicious, so I picked up one of those for the train and found my platform, after locating my train, carriage and then seat, I settled in for the first leg of my journey about four and a half hours to Milan. I watched a film on the train, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we travelled through the Swiss alps, it was very special.

Milan station was packed with people, so I located my train as quickly as I could and got out of the way, there was a lady sitting in my seat when I got on there, so I had to try and indicate as best I could that I had to sit there, and luckily she got the idea and moved. The journey to Rome was not as long, only around two hours, so I watched Stuck in Love, which is becoming a favorite, so mine - go and watch it right now. 

Finally we arrived in Rome, the station was again very busy and I was super paranoid about all the pick-pocketters that I had been warned about, they were meant to be really bad at the station. By some miracle I found my hotel after a 10 minute walk, I had a little help from the map, but I wasn’t sure that I was reading it right, so after a series of lucky guess I arrived outside and went to get checked in. My room was really nice, I had managed to get a great deal on bookings.com, so thank you to them. It was the Rome Life hotel, just north of the main city, and I only had a short walk to get to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Il Vittoriano and all the other main places to see. 

After dumping my stuff, I grabbed some money and my camera and set off to explore the city. I stumbled upon Il Vittoriano, although you can’t really miss it. I didn't have a clue what it was until I went inside and located the gift shop. Just standing outside though, I was completely blown away by the scale of it. It was incredibly big, it is not popular with the locals, however, I don’t know whether that is because of how much of a tourist trap it is or whether they don’t like the fact that it is a monument to Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. I caught the lift to the top, which gave spectacular views of Rome, and you could literally see everything, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, the Forum - just everything, so if you ever go to Rome, put it on your list of things to do.



I took some pictures, but the pictures don't really justify how much you can see. After buying some postcards, I made my way to the Trevi Fountain. Halfway there it started to rain, luckily the temperature was still mild so although I was a little damp, I wasn't cold. The Trevi fountain was very very busy. There was a school group there as well as lots of tourists taking selfies. If there is another more annoying than crowds of people, it’s crowds of people with umbrellas. And if there isn't anything more annoying than that it is hug groups of school children with umbrellas. I tossed my coin in the & made a swift exit. Not sure how I managed it but I did get slightly lost on the way back but that was okay but I walked through less busy parts of the city and saw things that I probably wouldn’t have done if I had gone the right way. You will find it to be a recurring theme in my adventures, that I have absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever.

I had dinner at this cute little Italian restaurant just round the corner from my hotel. I had passed it on the way back and it had look nice so I popped in, I didn’t really register what it was called though; all I know is the pizza was yummy. There was a group of American students, in there when I arrived and after they left about halfway through my meal, another group of American couples came in and sat at the same table. I had a margarita pizza, which I appreciate is so unadventurous but whatever, I’m not really a fan of thin crust but I really enjoyed this pizza it was the right combination of sauce and cheese and the base was a little crunchy whilst also being soft enough to eat. WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR? After dinner I conveniently passed a gelateria on the way back to the hotel and stopped in to get what was probably the most indulgent ice cream in the word, a scoop of Nutella ice-cream and a scoop of Oreo. YUM! It was the most perfect 2000 calories end to my day and after I had demolished it, it was time to get into bed, ready for another busy day tomorrow. 

Sorry it has taken a few days to get this up, just been getting back into the routine. Next post on Wednesday - see you then!! xx


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Thursday 20 March 2014

Happy one month in Zurich to me!! - March 21, 2014

Technically my one month is tomorrow, but who's counting.
Now I know what you're thinking, not another picture of a sunrise and the view, well yeah, I know, sorry, but this one comes with a message. 

This picture doesn’t really begin to convey the absolute beauty of the Swiss Alps with the sunrise shining on it at half six on a Wednesday morning. But it gives you an idea and I really hope that it can inspire you to go after what you want in life. 
Yesterday morning when I woke up, I hadn't really slept that well, I was super tired and it made me feel a little bit sick, needless to say my 6:30 start was not appreciated and I wanted nothing more than to just roll over and go back to sleep. I have a job though and I needed to get up and do it, so I climbed out of bed and headed up the stairs to the kitchen to start making breakfast. As I got to the top of the stairs, I just stopped and looked out at this view and as it  has done on previous mornings, it just stunned me. There has been a lot of mist the last few weeks so this was the first morning in a while that I had been able to see the Alps in the background and the sun was shining on it and I thought wow.
Not everyday is great, we all have shit days in life, it's part of living and being human, but having something like that to wake up to every morning, it just makes the day a little better. It doesn't have to be a view, it might be a person (although don’t let your happiness depend on something you may lose), music, a tv show, anything, it doesn't matter as long  that  brings a smile to your face. You have to find your own joy and happiness in life, because you are the only one that will have to live with the regret of being unhappy and not making the most of everyday.
If you don’t like your job, then don’t do it. Look for something that you will enjoy doing, or even just start taking an evening class that will help you to get you to where you want to be. Get a hobby, when was the last time you tried something new and stepped out of your comfort zone? You will be so amazed what can happen to your life if you do, life is there to be lived, and I don’t even care that some of you will be rolling your eyes, like whatever, because seriously, roll your eyes all you want, but your the one that will suffer if you don't find something that makes you want to get out of bed every morning.
Looking out at the mountains yesterday morning just put things in perspective for me. I was in another country, living my dream, and there are even more amazing things coming in the next few months, I didn’t need to be a bad mood, because it isn’t going to do me or anyone any good at all. Okay, I still felt a bit sick and tired, but I felt motivated to try and change the day around. I turned the radio on, made a fruit salad and put a smile on my face, and it's amazing what a smile can do. 
People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be” 

- Abraham Lincoln


So be happy, be the happiest you have ever been, you are never as young as you are right now, and forever isn't going to last. 
Also a big thank you to everyone who is reading my blog, I love you all enormously.

See ya laters potaters
xxxxx

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Hello explorers,

This weekend I went to Uetliburg, which is a point, near where I live, where you are able to look down the mountain over the whole of Zurich. The views were incredible, the sun was shining and it was a perfect day to have a little wander up there. There isn't much to do up there, other than enjoy the view, so that is what April & I did, we had ice-cream and sat on the grass for a good two hours, just soaking up the sun and watching everything that was going on around us.

It was a pretty picturesque day, and I can't wait to spend more sunny sundays relaxing up there.

I have a pretty exciting trip coming up next week! Eeeeeek! I am so excited, so keep your eyes out of that and I will blog again sooooon.

Love you all a great deal xx

p.s. Happy Birthday Emma!!

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Saturday, March, 15, 2014

The most important thing that happened to me today can be explained in one picture.

Need I say anymore....

xx

Thursday 13 March 2014

Sunday March 9, 2014

Sunday March 9
Rugby daaaay!! 
Wales were playing England in the Six Nations today, so this was obviously a very good day and the only reason that I would ever voluntarily spend 2 hours indoors on another blisteringly hot day. April came over in the afternoon and we sat in the garden again, making plans for the future and choosing places to go and visit. We have a few parks that we want to see and some walks that we would like to do, so keep your eyes peeled for those, I’m sure they will result in some great photos. 
I will gloss over the rugby match, as I’d rather pretend it didn’t happen. Poor Wales and poor Leigh Halfpenny!! Out for the season - devastated. But it’s okay, Scotland - Wales this weekend, so hopefully we will have a better result. Blaah. Enough rugby talk. Although I do missing playing so so so so so so so so so so much. :( Hard life!! 
Now you can see why I didn’t bother blogging the weekend, nothing of any interest. It is Wednesday now and the highlights of my week so far have been ordering a Starbucks in German from the grumpiest Starbucks employee in the world and burning my arm trying to make lasagna. 
I have red some really cool articles on iPhoneography and have downloaded some super cool apps in order to take some great photos on my iPhone, so keep an eye out for those too.
Not much else to report. This weekend, we are planning a trip to Uetliberg to have a picnic, it is a little bit further up the mountain from where I live, and the views over the city are supposed to be even better than where I am now, so I am sure you will all be delighted to hear there will be some new panoramic shots coming soon!! 
Anyway the dishwasher is beeping at me to be emptied and I suspect the laundry is finished too so I will leave to enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I hope that wherever you are the sun is shining and there is a smile on your face.
Mucho amore,
See you laters my little potatoes.
xxxx

Saturday March 8, 2014

Hello my little explorers,
Sorry for the silence recently. I haven’t been on any big adventures, so I haven’t got many photos or videos to show. But here is a little run down of whats been going on since I last wrote. 
As I write this the sun is beating down and it is a truly beautiful day, there is something about the sunshine, it just seems to make the world a much better place. 
This morning I went into Zurich, to go to the English book store. I bought some marmite and cookie mixture. I know that’s cheating, but trying to work out all the difference ingredient names here, is just exhausting so I was giving myself a break. Plus cookie mixture = minimum mess. 
It was a really hot day. And when I say hot, I mean the sun was shining, and there was no clouds. For me, that means a tshirt/shorts/skirt/flip flops kind of day. There wasn’t much of a breeze so I thought, ‘why not bust out a skirt, they haven’t had an outing in a while’. Apparently though in Switzerland or maybe just Zurich, skirts are clearly not approved of until later in the year. I got some one the dirtiest looks ever. Like yeah, my legs were a bit white, but they’ve been wrapped up in tights and jeans all winter and I am from England. It was a really nice day and people were legit walking about in winter coats and boots, and I was in t-shirt, skirt and converse. The phrase sticking out like a sore thumb comes to mind. So after a bit of food shopping, I scurried home to the refuge of the garden, where I knew the squirrels wouldn’t judge me for my summery attire. 
I had the house to myself all weekend, so I just sat in the garden for a little while. I read my book, ate some berries and soaked up the sun. I even saw a butterfly, which proves that summer is on the way. 
For dinner I made pea soup. I was extremely impressed with my efforts, this isfirst time I have ever made soup and it was bloody delicious. 
After pea soup I made the cookies that I had bought earlier. I don’t know what it is about pre-made cookie dough but I always seem to mess it up. I always over bake the cookies, I don’t know how I manage it, so they were very crunchy cookies, but they still tasted yummy, so never mind. 
I can’t remember what I did Saturday night, proof that it wasn’t that exciting. 

Sunday March 2, 2014

I was going to go to the Zoo today, but the weather was still really cloudy and cold, and I wanted to save the experience for a sunnier day. Instead I met up with April, who is nannying for another family in the village. We went back in to Zurich and she showed me around a bit more, we got Starbucks (Only my second since I’ve been here, promise!) and chatted about all the things that she has done in Zurich as well as the other nannies, that she has met and all the things that she would still like to do before she leaves in May/June time. The lady in Starbucks spelt my name wrong, which brought me great amounts of joy. 
After Starbucks, April showed me where my German class would be as they were starting on Monday, and then we went to another Italian restaurant and just had dessert and chatted a bit more about life, amongst other things. It was a lovely day and I am grateful to have made a friend here. On Tuesday, we are going to go around the village and see where the swimming pool and the library are, etc. We are also making plans to go to the Bear Park in Bern, which will be fun. But the same as with the Zoo we are waiting for the weather to warm up. We got back at seven in time for dinner, and then just time for a shower, before I got into bed exhausted after my busy weekend, which is how weekends should be. 
Have a great week everyone!!
xx

Saturday March 1, 2014

This morning, I had a tiny bit of lie in, then after that it was time for my trip into the city. I had a couple of things on my list, but I was kinda just planning to wander round and try and get to know the city a bit more. 
The first thing I did when I got there was visit Grossmünster, which is a really big church on the west side of the river, to get there, I had to walk through all these bendy, cobbled streets. It was pretty impressive, the stained glass windows weren’t as pretty as the ones in Fraumünster, but it was bigger so you can’t have everything! jks. The one cool thing about this chuch thought, was that you could climb to the top of the one of the spires, which was a really long way up.
The first set of stairs were stone spiral ones, that you could barely fit two people up, and as I was halfway up there was this group of ladies coming down, so I had to like smoosh myself against the wall to let them past. It was one of those really awkward situations, that there was no way out of. However, the spiral staircase eventually opened up into a bigger wooden one, that allowed for more than one person to go up and down. There was literally no one else climbing up or coming down at this point though, so it was really eerie and I definelty felt like Quasimodo, climbing the tower to ring the bells
The view at the top was worth the spooky climb though. It was a really cloudy and grey day though, I imagine on a clearer day, you see further out and the city will obv look a lot brighter, but even I had a lovely view of the city.
After visiting the church, I had a wander round the cobbled streets, looking in at some of the shops. I stumbled upon this kinda plaza, which was at the top of this steep hill. It was really nice up there, there was a park with kids playing and these old gentlemen playing bowls and chess, the cuteness of it melted my heart a little bit. I sat and watched the chess game for about fifteen minutes and then it got cold so I decided to walk back into the centre of town and try and find the National Museum. I passed the chocolate shop on the way and went back in to see them making the chocolate again, today they were making the chocolate bunnies for Easter, and there was a news reporter there, interviewing the two chocolatiers. I did make a note of the name of the store to tell you, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it is. I will do better next time, promise. I also found an English book shop which stocked lots of English goodies, like Cadbury’s chocolate, Marmite(!) and Heinz Salad Cream, which I have clearly taken for granted because I miss it. After restraining extortionate amounts of willpower in both the book store and the chocolate store, I went in search of the museum, which I found on the other side of the Hauptbahnhof (Main station). 
It cost 20CHF to enter, which I didn’t think was that bad for a a museum, there was lots there, but a lot of the descriptions were in German, Italian or French and it was kinda difficult to figure out where the English descriptions were, so I just kinda looked in awe at all the cool stuff that had been dug out of the ground, from the past. There were these really cool rooms, that they had moved into the museum, with all wooden panelling for the walls, which had been had engraved, and these massive tiles stoves that were used to heat the rooms, although obv they hadn’t been dug out of the ground.. Most parts of the museum were really empty, so I was wandering around the museum by myself, which again was insanely creepy especially when surrounding by loads of old stuff, which could definitely haunted or cursed or something. I also have the most irrational fear of the mannequins that they dress up in museums to display clothes, but was relieved to see that they didn’t really use them. That was until I walked into this room, and there was about 5 mannequins in there. I don’t understand why they need faces, it’s just creepy and weird. 
I jumped like 10ft in the air, the fact that I was completely alone made the situation 1000x worse, so I got out of there sharpish and went in search of some signs of life. 
By this time it was about 5pm, and the museum was closing so I headed back out into the city. I wandered over this bridge that had all these padlocks on it, put there by couple I assume. Cute. After that I went in search of somewhere to eat by myself, comforted by the wise words of Mencken ‘He who eats alone, chokes alone.’ I eventually found a Italian restaurant, where I managed to eat some pasta, without choking, and read my book. The fact that I was surrounded by couples, feeding each other and making sappy faces at each other across the table nearly put me off but I was super hungry and managed to keep my food down. After I ate, I made a swift exit into the rain, and walked along the river before eventually catching a tram back to the station, to get my train back home.
When I got back, I was soaked through, from having to walk back from the station, and so had the hottest shower in the world to warm up. Vodafone had finally unlocked my phone so I have my Swiss number now! And that was the end of my very exciting Saturday. 

Thursday, February 27, 2014

HAPPY FIRST WEEK IN SWITZERLAND TO ME!! 

I just thought I would add some photos, that have sort of have summed up my week so far, excluding any that I have already posted in previous posts.
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Photo 1: This weeks quote, couldn’t be more true and probably my favourite quote at the moment. Life is short - cliche but true and if you always stick with what is comfortable and familiar you will never get to experience new stuff, and trust me new stuff is amazing. Get off your butts and do something before it’s too late. Look at me, I get to wake up every morning to the most amazing view, I’m going to be able to spend my weekends, seeing loads of new places and best of all, I have my own bathroom that I don’t have to share with my stupid brother (yes James, that means you). Step out of your comfort zone and you’ll be amazed at what is out there.

Photo 2, 3 & 4: The pretty view I get to wake up to, and also it snowed today - pretty random compared to the previous two.



Photo 5: This one is for the uni lot - made me smile when I opened the cupboard and found these and they constantly remind me that I have loads of friends! ;) (prv jk sry)





Photo 6: Laundry day yesterday and I realised that I own maybe too many  owl socks. 



Photo 7: Received this little message yesterday from one of the favs and I cannot tell you how much I laughed. I thought it deserved to make it to this little summary of photos from my week. I miss you too Jenny! 
Anyway one more day until the big exploration of Zurich commences, I need to start planning my itinerary. Very excited.




Sunday, February, 23, 2014

Sunday February 23.
This afternoon we came home from Arosa. The trip down was lovely, very scenic, as are most places here in Switzerland. The road down from the mountains had 360 bends in it!! We got back around 4pm and after unpacking, I went for a drive, to get used to driving on the other side of the road, which isn’t actually that bad, and driving automatic - having been so used to manual, this was a very weird experience, which is gonna take some time to get used to, I kept hitting my hand on the door, when I accelerated, as I automatically went to change gears. 
After that, it was dinner and time to read my book quickly before bed and a 6:30 start - to get the girls up and organise breakfast. 
As I am now back in Zurich and started working, my days will probably be filled with lots of laundry and cleaning, so I won’t be blogging as much, because thats not really interesting stuff. I will, however, be endeavouring to travel as much as I can on weekends, so I will most likely be updating my blogs on Saturday & Sunday nights.
For now though, have a great week, wherever you are in the world.
See ya laters potaters xx

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Today after breakfast, I went for a walk around Arosa. It is so pretty. The mountains are just absolutely stunning, I can’t get over the beauty of the whole area, and that people get to wake up to it every morning. 
I climbed up onto the of the mountain, not very high or far, as I didn’t have the right shoes or anything, just enough to get a nice view. There was this cute little church there, I wandered around took some photos, and videos. And I slipped over 3 times. Luckily there was no one around but I still laughed and hoped I didn’t look like a crazy person. 
To get up to the little church you had to cross from one side of this hill/mountian to the other side over a ski path. I swear to goodness, I thought I was going to die or at least crash into the skiers coming down the mountain at 1000mph. I wanted to try and get across quickly, but at the same time, the ground is slippy and I was obviously on a slant, so it made it really hard. I will leave you to imagine how riducilous I looked, trying desperately not to fall over but at the same time maintain an air of ‘everything is fine, I do this stuff all the time’ which hello!! I don’t’ 
But risking my life, was definitely worth it to see this little church and the view.
After having a little wander round the churchyard, I had to then get back down the mountain. Luckily, this time, there seemed to be a break in the skiers, and going down hill was slightly easier, so I think I looked less ridiculous, but only slightly. Halfway down I stopped to watch some little kids learning how to ski, it was very cute, and they kept falling over when they tried to sit on the seat things that pull you up the mountain, 
It was about four pm then so I decided to get back. As I got to the bottom of the mountain, I slipped over again and I really wish I had someone to laugh it of with, because it was really funny. I hope that you are all laughing now. 
I managed to get back to the apartment okay, although there was a slight moment of panic when I thought I was lost, but then I wasn’t so it was fine. 
Nothing much happened in the evening, just had some dinner then went to bed, as I was super super tired from all my falling over.

xx

Pictures
Video

Friday, February 21, 2014


Friday, February 21.
Today was a very quiet day. we slept late, then had some breakfast - yogurt, bread, cheese, meats - very Swiss. Then I had an hour or so to read & just potter about before we went sledding. 
Sledding was incredibly fun - never done anything like it & I have never seen so much snow. It’s so thick and just covering everything, amazing. The views from the sledging run were pretty impressive - the pictures aren’t that great because of all the white, and I only have a little iPod, not really qualified for the job. 
We came back to the house afterwards and I watched Wild Child with the girls before dinner. Dinner was mashed potatoes, carrots and like a stewed beef - it was another incredibly delicious meal. I definitely need to polish up on my cooking skills and German!! 
And that was pretty much it for today - like I said very quiet and relaxing before the real work starts on Monday. Had another lovely chat with the family after dinner, and now I am in bed. 
Goodnight! x

Pictures

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Thursday, February 20.
What a perfect day! Had a bit of a lie in this morning as I was up til late unpacking and sorting my room out. Such a beautiful and sunny day, the temperature is like a British spring day. A little bit cold, but in the sun, it is nice and warm.
I left the house around 12, and caught the bus to the train station, all my myself (!!) then on the train to Zurich, I tried to be polite and let this elderly lady on the train first but as I stepped back I hit another lady with my bag. Fail. 
The train took about twenty minutes, not too long at all. Barbara had drawn me some maps of where to go in the city, so I managed to make it out of the Hauptbahnhof (main station) quite painlessly and was delighted to see not one but TWO Starbucks. I had to find an Apple Store to try and get a new adapter to charge by phone and MacBook as the ones I brought were the wrong size, silly me. So I found one on the Main Street called Bahnhof Strasse. Could I be anymore in love with Apple. I spoke to this really lovely guy you helped me find the right charger for my phone and then when I explain that I needed one for my laptop too, he had to go and check which was the right one, when he came back he brought one with him and gave it to me for free! Amazing, that’s twice I’ve gone to Apple to help in a foreign county and they’ve been so generous. Majorly impressed, please all go and buy Apple products.
Anyway, it’s about 2pm and we aren’t catching the train to Arosa until 4:40 so I’ve found the most beautiful place to sit and look out over the river. 
I’m going to sit here for a bit and enjoy the view then head back into town for some lunch, because I haven’t eaten yet and I’m starving, and then it will be on the train to Arosa. 
3:30: I’ve had a lovely wander round Zurich today, not too far as I didn’t want to get lost. I visited a couple of churches - St Peter Kirche & Fraumünster - love a bit of culture. Really beautiful architecture and stain glass windows. Went into this amazing chocolate shop, that literally smelt like heaven, it was incredible.
Then I did the unspeakable, I had a Starbucks. An absolute travesty, I know, but it was familiar, easy and scrummy so I just did. I can’t wait to learn German, I feel terrible not knowing the language, and everyone here speaks English which makes me feel worse, so I really need to get going with the sprechen sie Deustch. 
4:30pm: Time to catch the train, and here we are in the mountains, it was dark again when I arrived so I haven’t seen much yet, but I am sure they’ll will be some photos to follow in the morning. 
See ya laters potaters xxx

Pictures

Wednesday February 19, 2014


Wednesday, February 19
Guten tag amigos.
How are we all.
Big today today!! Moving day!
I got up early this morning… 9am, that is very early for me, and finished off the last of my packing - toothbrush, make up, excetraaa. Then I had to go and pick Piers up because he was coming with us to the airport, cute, then I had to go get some passport photos, for my Swiss train pass, not my passport, I like to leave things to the last minute but not that late.
After that it was airport time, check in, security, blah blah blah. Then onto the plane, I found the sun, hiding above all those horrible rain clouds that insist on hovering over the UK, it was so nice to see the sunshine! Flight was very quick, I read for a bit, listened to some 1D and had some apple juice and a cookie - I really want to make sure I record the very fine details.
After my amazing cookie, we landed. In Switzerland!! Nearly lost my passport twice - left it in the pocket behind the seat, then on the side in the bathroom - absolute nightmare, but I was really tired and at least I didn’t actually leave it.
Getting my baggage off the carousel was so much fun(!!). My bags were really heavy, and everyone was standing around watching me struggle, felt a bit silly. Why do I need so much stuff?
Then I met up with Barbara, who is the lady I am working for, she was very friendly and happy to see me, as I was her. After all the talking and planning it feels so good to finally be here, in my home for the next 5 months. We went and got my train pass sorted for our trip to the mountains tomorrow, and then came home to get settled in. Barbara drove through Zurich, it was dark but from what I could see, it looks so pretty. Can’t wait to have a proper explore in the daylight. We then had beetroot soup for dinner, never had it before, but was very interested to try and it was scrumptious - go and make some right now.
Now I am in bed! Facetimed with the familien (look a German word!) obv, then took a shower, and I was going to go to bed, as I am so tired, but I’d pulled all the stuff out of my suitcases to try and find other stuff and it was everywhere so I decided to just tidy up and unpack now, so I can sleep a bit longer tomorrow.
Home alone for the morning, then taking my first solo adventure into Zurich to meet Barbara and Sinja and travel up to the mountains for some fun in the snoooooowwwww!! I love snow.
This is a very condensed version of the day’s events, I haven’t mentioned the six other times I left my passport lying about because I don’t want to bore you, but I hope you got the general idea, because I’m too tired to write anymore. (Only joking!!) (There were only two other times.)
It goes without saying that I miss all of your faces a ridiculous amount.
Catch ya later potaters.
xxx

Pictures


The beginning.

Impossible is merely a word that others use to hold themselves and each other back. Nothing is impossible if your heart and souls wants it badly enough. I want to travel the world and see things for a different perspective. And it all starts here. 
3 days till my first adventure.
5 months in Zurich. 
YOLO babbbbby!!

I’m going to write it all down. Well as much as I can and it’s all going to be here, in this little corner of the internet. I hope that you can find something that you enjoy and somethings puts a smile of your face. 
I have to get back to packinnnng. But hope to see you soon!! :) xx