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

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

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

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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. 

Pictures from my weekend

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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. 

Video from my weekend

Pictures from the weekend

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