Suburban Life 2024

I think it is safe to say now that I have failed at my New Year’s goal to ”blog at least once a month”. Oh well, there is always next year. This year there has certainly not been any spare time. Between work, two kids, a new house, and trying to maintain some social and travel life there are always a million things to do. Scheduling things has become extremely complicated, with lots of considerations at every step. When can we do this between school, work and other commitments, is everyone healthy, do we need help with the kids, which activities can we do with each, etc… It’s definitely very full on at the moment, but I am trying to also just ‘live in the moment’ whatever that means… 🙂

Highlights of the year so far: we did manage to have a few ski days, not as many as I would have liked, but it is always tricky between childcare, ski lessons, winter bugs, injuries, etc. Next year we plan to do a proper ski vacation in the Austrian Alps. I have heard very good things about these ”kinderhotels” where they have a lot of child friendly facilities, so I am excited for this. This year between Christmas in Romania, Easer in London and some work travel we stayed here for the February school holidays. We did enjoy the Basel Fasnacht festivities though, which are always a good time. I also did manage to sneak in a girls weekend to Baden Baden in February, which was fantastic. I am definitely doing that again. I really enjoyed the spa, the food, and of course the uninterrupted sleep!

Other than the family visits and activities with the kiddos, we have mainly been sorting things out around the house, and endeavouring to tidy up the garden. It needs a lot of work and most of it is planned for next year, but we want to do what we can ourselves this summer. I do really enjoy gardening, and I think this will only increase as it starts to look nicer. The weather has also been a bit crazy; it was warm, things bloomed, we de-weeded, raked, removed some unwanted shrubs, stumps and things from the garden, then things grew wild while we were away, more things bloomed, and now the weather has turned super cold and we had some snow and a lot of rain. So gardening is proving a tad tricky with these fake springs and second winters. I would have really appreciated this cold spurt in February when we had to cancel kiddo ski lessons at our local mountain due to lack of snow… ah well, win some lose some, as they say.

Another highlight was our trip to London. We managed to see a couple of musicals, eat loads of delicious food, and visit a lot of family and friends. It was a packed trip, as always, but definitely a great time. There are always endless fun things to do in London. The weather was not so great there either, but that did not hinder much. I am glad we have still managed to do some trips, even if they are not super exotic. This year a big focus will be the house and garden, and adjusting to life as a family of four. We do have a bit more travel planned, but nothing crazy. Figuring out what to do with the cat is also always a fun challenge. Let’s see how we go!

Weihnachtsmarkt Enthusiast

Through absolutely no fault of my own, I have become a big Christmas Market lover. I didn’t even notice this happening, but I guess moving to Switzerland in such close proximity to so many cities that do it up big, it was bound to happen. Up until moving to Switzerland I had only been to Winter Wonderland in London, which I absolutely loved and went every year. But usually at Christmas I was either in London or going to Canada, so I had not done a lot of other markets, though I did stumble across the Paris Christmas Market one year when I went in November for a work trip. In any case, that was only London and Paris I sampled in 8 years. However, in just over 4 years of living in Switzerland we have now been to Freiburg, Colmar, Strasbourg, Basel, Salzburg, Budapest, and even Sinaia’s Christmas markets. I could very well be forgetting some, but my sleep deprived brain can only think of these at the moment.

It turns out I really enjoy seeing how different cities ”do Christmas”. I cannot even say I have an ultimate favourite. I love different Christmas markets for different aspects. Colmar’s was probably one of the cutest, most picture-worthy because it just felt like every house was a little, decorated, gingerbread house, the city was just built for Christmas. The lights at the Strasbourg one were very impressive and it was just huge. I loved the selection of stalls at the Salzburg Christmas Market, Basel’s is great for taking kiddos with lots of rides and children’s activities. So it’s impossible to pick just one. I still have a few others on my list. We need to check out more of the Christmas Market’s in Germany. I have heard good things about Hamburg’s, and given that Christmas Markets are very germanic in origin I’m sure some of the ones there are awesome.

What do I look for in a good market? Lots of good food, variety of things to buy, fun activities, and amazing decorations. I also love it when I find one that has something none of the other’s has, which most of them do; there are always unique features if you pay attention.

Our Christmas market adventures were part of our Christmas trip this year, and it definitely got me pumped to do more of them in the future. I know there are a lot of Christmas nay-sayers and bah-humbuggers out there who say it is too commercialised, etc., but I am a sucker for Christmas everything. I love the twinkly lights, the baubles, the snow, the decorations, all of it! I guess the marketing works on me. You can really go crazy with buying Christmas baubles, especially in Basel! There are some amazing bauble stores and stalls at the market, and some of the baubles can be extremely pricy. So I do have to hold myself back at times, but I do enjoy adding to our Christmas tree a little bit each year.

Swiss Summer

Since our baby-cation, if you can call it that, in London we have been in Switzerland for the summer. There has been such a huge “to-do list” it’s completely insane, but I’m glad we managed to squeeze in a few things, even though it has been hectic. My favourite things to do in the summers here are go out in nature (hikes, walks, lakes, etc.) and to the outdoor swimming pool, the zoos, parks, dining al fresco, typical summer things. We had some guests over so we managed to squeeze in a bit of fun amidst all the chaos with new baby and preparing for a big move.

One of the sights we finally ticked off my list was Aareschlucht (The Aare Gorge) and it was SO COOL! You get to walk through caves, on these rocky ledges and there’s gushing water everywhere and it was really neat. I would definitely go back because it was quite unique, and a really good place to take visitors. The walk isn’t too challenging, but there are some very narrow parts, like I don’t think everyone could actually do it – a 6 foot 8 bouncer size man would struggle – but it was very cool nonetheless! I had a baby strapped to me and was quite nervous about this because we had not been and I wasn’t sure what the footing was like, but it was totally manageable. They also are nicely set up as a tourist spot so you can get lunch there, buy souvenirs, etc.

Otherwise we also did a little day trip to Luzern, which is always a fab excursion in the summer, and they had my favourite passionfruit dark chocolate bars again, so I stocked up – delicious. We have also been to the outdoor swimming pool and out in the parks, and I am hoping to sneak in a couple more hikes this season, but let’s see how packing goes. The weather holds up quite well until November so we still time to do more this year, but moving prep is taking up a lot of our spare time.

We also made it to my favourite lake spot and I hope we can go one more time this year. We go to this place that has everything: parking, food, change rooms, toilets, nice dock, crystal clear blue water, and it’s only a fiver for entry. It’s such a great day out and only an hour away from us, so whenever the weather is good on a Sunday it’s the obvious choice.

The other nice treat this summer was discovering some tasty new food spots. I now know where I’m going for lunch every time on our Luzern day. We’ve now tried quite a few of the restaurants along the water and I have found my favourite. I also finally got a chance to eat inside Basel’s famous Trois Rois. Food has definitely been a highlight of this low-key summer.

Since we are moving in a month (omg crazy!!) our main focus now is furniture and doing little bits in the house, so the only trip left for the year is Christmas in Romania. This is definitely our least travelly year ever, but with a second baby and big move that is kind of expected. The nice thing about living in Switzerland though is I feel fine to travel less since it’s so beautiful here and there are so many things to visit and that we still haven’t done! My Swiss list is ever growing instead of getting smaller 🙂

England for a Minute

We recently spent two whole months back home in England and welcomed our new arrival. I was very glad we left a little bit earlier than originally planned because our son decided to surprise us a week early; so we avoided having a very dramatic drive through France. It all worked out very well and I was able to have the same doctors and hospital as the first time, even if it was a bit of a shocking timing. It was also really nice to spend such a long chunk of time in England since we moved almost four years ago, and have a lot of family and friends around for support.

This trip was definitely not like our usual trips back because of the obvious, but we still managed to squeeze in a few things other than cuddles, nappies and sleep deprivation. We had a few yummy meals out, mostly sushi, Chinese and Indian. This included the super tasty food at the hospital. We did not have any visitors this time and only stayed for 2 nights because I was eager to introduce them to each other, but it was such a better experience for me personally. I was way less anxious and crazy because it wasn’t all new and terrifying. I actually ate the food this time and enjoyed it! With my first I was basically force feeding myself because I had zero appetite and was just terrified of taking my eyes off the new tiny human in our care. Beyond the hospital room service, we managed to squeeze in a quick date night, take aways and a few lunches out. I never thought I would be saying ”I miss London Asian food” but here I am… (funnily when I first moved to London I thought the Asian food was awful compared to Vancouver)

It was also great that we had time to squeeze in a bit of sight seeing. We did a Thomas the Tank Engine steam engines day for our four year old’s birthday. We went to Bournemouth for a few days, as a little family getaway, and this included an Oceanarium visit. We also went to the London Transport Museum, and the RAF Museum. Being a boy mom I am getting used to a lot of vehicle enthusiasm. They were actually pretty cool to be fair, and I had never been before. It’s always nice doing new things when we are back, as it often feels like I have done pretty much all the tourist attractions in London.

It was also just nice being there long enough to see a lot of our friends, and going to the neighbourhood fete, and the parks and playgrounds. Usually everything is just a mad rush to see people and get things done, but it was nice having an extended visit. Even with 2 months we still did not manage to see everyyyone, but we tried our best. We basically just said to our friends whoever wants to come visit let us know, as organising a big gathering was beyond my capabilities this time round. We only have one other trip planned this year as we also have a big move coming up, so just Christmas in Romania, but I do love Switzerland in summer and fall so I don’t mind the lack of travel this year. We have plenty going on at the moment 🙂

Spring Time in der Schweiz

Spring seems to finally be here. We have had very crazy weather this year with warm temperatures/no snow in January and February, then very cold, rainy days in March and April, just completely odd. But it seems to have warmed up and we are now experiencing ”normal” May weather, just in time for us to leave for the UK for two months… The weather in London is looking cooler, but to be honest I do not mind cooler weather in the slightest at the moment. Our flat can get very, very hot so I am not looking forward to July and August in it. I am also looking forward to being in London for a couple of months, it has been nearly 4 years since we moved to Switzerland so it will be nice to be there for an extended period.

We have not been doing a whole lot the past couple of months. We did manage to go to Fasnacht this year, and enjoyed the music and carnival action before the winter bugs got me.

Otherwise life has mainly consisted of a lot of close-by Basel trips, though we did venture to Blausee for a day, which was beautiful and scenic. There was also a day trip to Sikypark, a ranch with wild cats and many other animals, the highlight of which was the white tigers for me. I had only every seen white tigers in real life once before on our honeymoon, so finding them here in Switzerland was quite a treat as they are my favourite animals.

In general though it has been pretty laid back, going to parks, small hikes, chilling, and planning our next move. We have also been around Riehen and Lörrach and explored areas close to Basel these past few months, which has been really nice, loads of hidden gems close to our ”hood”. Nevertheless this year has been a very different pace to last year’s craziness. Not to imply that this year will not also be chaos, but just in very different ways. Adulting is vastly different depending on what is going on I have learned. I am trying to learn to be more laid back, something that definitely does not come naturally to me at all. But so many factors are out of our control so being able to roll with the changes is an important life skill.

I do not know exactly the next time I will get a chance to blog. Realistically probably after London, so in July some time. The frequency this year will be a bit all over the place, but eventually I will get back to a normal rhythm. Wish me luck!

Trains, Planes and Automobiles…

This year has been off to a mellow start. We have not been doing a whole lot, which is just what we need, or at least what I need. Last year was too go-go-go, so this slower pace is very welcome. We have mostly stuck close to Basel the past couple of months, just exploring the areas nearby. We have found lots of little hidden gems around Basel-Land, Lörrach, Feldberg, Mulhouse and St. Louis. Basically our surrounding towns and villages. It is nice that this consists of two other countries though. Since the snow in Feldberg has been not-so-great this season, we have only ventured to the “local mountain” a few times for some 3-year-old ski practice. So on other weekend we have had to find other attractions.

We first discovered, through a recommendation, the Mulhouse Train Museum. My son was over-the-moon happy. He loves trains and there are a lot to see at this museum, from all different eras. It was crazy just to realise that trains have been around for 200 years now! It’s also really nice experiencing things through his eyes because he just gets so excited and happy when he is seeing things he really likes and enjoys. The museum has some giant ware-house style rooms with loads of different trains that you can look at, some of which you can climb on board and others you can just look into from the viewing decks. They also do a great little train ride where they drive you around past all of the parked train cars outside, of which there are is such a huge variety.

Since discovering how happy this made him, we then also decided it was time to venture to the Swiss Transportation Museum. Luzern was probably the farthest we had travelled in a few months, and it is not even very far! I had really not expected this museum to be so huge, so we will definitely go back many times in the future, because there is a lot to see and do. I think we may go for the annual pass, because it’s a great day out that you can definitely do a few times in a year.

This museum had everything. Trains, cars, planes, helicopters, space shuttles, just so much to see and do. You can feel how happy the children are running around, bouncing off the walls in this huge museum. There are indoor and outdoor components, including being able to get on board some airplanes and trains. The hardest part was dragging my three year old away from each section to see the next section; the tantrums quickly subsided when he saw the next exciting area though. I guess being a ”boy mom” there will be a lot of cars, trains, planes and transportation-related activities in my future.

Overall it has been really nice slowing down the pace of life and doing these kinds of things. Often when we travel a lot and are always rushing around we don’t stop to discover the things right in front of us. I think COVID had also reinforced that for me because we were unable to travel very far so we explored nearby places a lot more. I think this is also why I like moving to new places, because you see a place so much more thoroughly and fully when you are living there for a long period of time.

Five Years of Bloggy Fun

Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since I started typing out my thoughts in blog form. I swear time is racing by as I get older. So much has changed in that time too, so this blog has morphed from a review on food and London experiences, to more about travel and life. One big change, I don’t live in London anymore, and it’s hard to believe it has been over 3 years now since we moved. My life also looks very different 5 years ago vs. now. New country, new company, parenthood, and all the changes that come with that; it has been pretty wild. Sometimes I wish things could slow down a little bit because I feel like so many things are zooming past. I think having kids does that though, or so people say.

This year will be another totally crazy year. I am sure I will be absolutely exhausted come time for my annual reflection next January, but I am looking forward to it. I feel like I am really in the ‘thick of it’ – life that is, so I just have to enjoy the ride. This year travel will be minimal and consist of just a few longer trips rather than a lot of small trips, which is a much better pace at this stage of life. Lots of little trips worked really well in my 20s when I had lots of energy and no children, but now a fewer longer length travel stints is better and less stressful. Plus you don’t feel like you have to cram everything in the few days you have and rush around, which is actually quite nice. I am really embracing the 2-3 week holidays people love to do here.

It has also been just over a year now since I started regularly gymming and really increasing my activity level and focusing on a healthy lifestyle. I have to say I really notice a difference both mentally and physically. I think when you’re younger it’s easier to neglect that side of things and get away with it, but now I really notice if I don’t eat well, sleep well, exercise, drink lots of water, etc. Wow, I am so middle aged! But again having kids, and especially doing it in your 30s, does make you think, “oh shoot, I better take care of myself so I can be there for them later.” That is definitely something I wish I had done at a younger age, but life does not always work out to the schedule you set for it, a lesson I have learned.

So since there will be fewer trips I will have to blog about food, experiences and Swiss life more. It will be a bit different to food and London life, but still in-keeping with the theme of the things I love and enjoy. Food is still very big (obvs!), travel, and general adventures, but of course, those all look different as a parent. I think we have managed to still incorporate all the things we love into our lives though so I am not complaining! Anyways, that’s all for now.

Long Overdue Return to Greece

Although we did not go back to our wedding island (Crete), we did celebrate our 5 year anniversary in Greece this year, on a new island, Corfu. It was beautiful. We wanted a pure and simple beach vacation, lots of swimming in the sea, playing in the sand, minimal hassle. We also had a lot of family join us, 3 out of 4 grandparent sets, so that was great too.

The main thing I noticed about Corfu compared to the other Greek Islands I have been to, is that it is very lush and green. There are beautiful trees, loads of olive trees all over the island, bright flowers; it was very different to Rhodes, Crete, Mykonos, even the parts of the mainland I’ve been to. There are some sites to visit, and we did go to a few, but we were not on a mission to see every site in Corfu by any means. We had a day in Corfu Town, which was neat and had a cool fortress. We also went to the Northern town of Kassiopi, a fishing village really, which was very beautiful and charming to explore. You could see Albania from there in the distance across the water. We even ventured to a couple olive oil farms to pick up some yummy olive oil straight from the source. There was also the small village next to our resort up on the hill, Pelekas. And there is also the Empress Sissi’s palace you can visit, which has beautiful gardens and a giant statue of Achilles, very Grecian.

The biggest highlight for me was swimming in the sea, the water was so clear and perfect, and the sand was soft and lovely. It’s sometimes hard to find a good beach in Europe because there are a lot of stoney ones, or where the sand isn’t that great, but I specifically sought out a nice sandy beach, and it did not disappoint! I was a bit nervous about the weather, since Crete is a lot further south and the temperature during our wedding was perfect at that time of year. I thought maybe Corfu would be cold and rainy in October, but out of the two weeks we were there we only had a couple of days of rain, and the majority of the time was sunny and perfect temperature for the beach. We used the cooler days for some site seeing and spent the sunny days on the beach.

We also opted for an all inclusive resort, which just made meals easy and we didn’t have to think about anything, which was great. The food was delicious and there was a lot of variety, so we definitely over-ate, but that’s to be expected on holiday… Our one blunder of the trip was our attempted day trip to Albania. It turned out we needed both our passports and our work permits with us, so we were not able to get across the border. It was very irritating because we had woken up early for the tour and it was just such a stupid reason not to get to do it. We even had pictures of our work permits on our phones, but this was insufficient. Very irritating for a day tour, we thought passports would be enough since that is what we were told when we booked… anyways, other than that everything was great. It was nice exploring a new Greek Island as much as I do want to go back to Crete, we’ll have to save that for a future anniversary.

This concluded our travel for the year. We had a couple more trips planned, but the plans changed and we decided to stay in Switzerland for the rest of the year. Life likes to laugh at my over-planning clearly. We had a solid chunk of travel this year though, so I cannot complain. It was actually probably a little bit too much. Next year will be a lot different and far less travel, but that is ok. It will certainly not be boring!

Where has This Year Gone?

I am still in absolute shock we are halfway through September already. We have done a lot this year, but it still feels like the time has gone insanely fast. Way too fast. I set out a bunch of goals at the start of the year, New Year’s goals not resolutions because I prefer to call them goals. I would say I have stayed pretty well on track with these goals. Some are one-off items to tick off the list, and some are things like daily steps count, daily Duolingo, weekly this and that, so I cannot say I have fully stuck to them until the year is over, but so far I am on track, which is positive.

I do wish there was a way to slow time down though. It feels like just yesterday it was January and we were just coming back from Christmas in London, ready to tackle the year’s activities. Now we are already thinking of our last couple of trips and holidays of the year (Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas)… It’s really nice we have been able to do so much travel this year after COVID messed up and postponed many plans the two prior years. Next year however we want to do less travel, as much fun as it is, it really does get exhausting, and this year by the end of the year we’ll have done 10 trips, which is just way too much. Next year I would like to keep it to the 4-6 range. It’s tricky with family in two different countries because of course of those 10 trips, five will have been back to the ”homelands”, but still, we are definitely reducing it next year.

I think maybe this also made the year feel like it flew by because we were constantly on the go or preparing for the next trip. I would like to slow down a bit next year and be a bit more present, less whirlwindy is the goal. Plus we still have lots to explore in Switzerland that we miss out on by being away too much. I would have liked to do a few more lake days this summer, but September has gone from summer to winter, so we will not be able to squeeze any more in this season. And we did less hiking than I would have liked and again the weather is getting cold quite quickly. I think because during COVID we were able to do like 2-3 trips in a year, that kept changing and getting ruined, this year we took the opportunity to do a lot more travel, but now I am happy to find a middle ground for next year.

That being said, I am very excited for our next trip though, it has been 5 years since our last time in Greece for our lovely wedding, and I am super excited to explore a new Greek Island for our anniversary.

The Northern Tour and London

As it was wedding season recently, we had a couple of weddings to attend back to back in the UK. With the first wedding being up in Scotland we decided to make a holiday out of it. I lived in London for eight years and I did explore some parts of the UK, but definitely not everything I had wanted to see. Often for a long weekend it was easier to hop on a flight or train to another country than explore within the country. So now when we go back to visit I want to try see some of the places I have not had a chance to go to yet. This time we covered a fair bit of ground for only a week. We started out in York, made our way to Durham, then Newcastle, and a quick stop at Bamburgh Castle before heading to Scotland. There we had a brief stop in Edinburgh, stayed in Perth and hiked in Loch Lomond, and finally spent a day in Forgandenny for the wedding.

It was a great trip, however it was very exhausting. We packed a lot of sights into a short period of time, and then had a few days in London and another wedding in Hampshire before heading back home. It was a bit crazy, but I am glad to have seen all of these places now. The North of England is really a hidden gem. There are so many charming medieval towns, castles, cathedrals, and just so much history to explore. I loved everywhere we went and would really like to go back. I think August is definitely a good time to go up North weather-wise, especially with heat wave everywhere else; it was nice having warm but not crazy hot weather the whole time we were up there.

The other big highlight for me was the food. We had loads of delicious meals everywhere we went. Lots of very nice, fresh seafood, and haggis in Scotland was a big highlight, so yummy! We even had some very impressive sushi in Perth.

The London leg of the trip was very brief, managed a couple quick dinners with friends after work, all in a mad dash as we had back to back appointments and errands. But it was really nice to see some friends and attend the lovely weddings. I always say next time we go to the UK we’ll try and have a more ‘relaxed’ trip, but I have now learned after the last six trips back that no trip back will every be relaxed, as we always have way too much to do and too many people to see (and food to eat!). Food-wise I try to go for the more exotic cuisines because this is what is hardest to get in Switzerland.

Next time we go to the UK I am hoping we can tack on Cornwall as I have never been and it looks beautiful. And I would still really like to see the Lake District on a future trip as well. There are of course still a lot of places I have not been, but these two are probably top of my list. This year has turned out to be a lot more travel heavy than I intended, and we still have 3 trips to go until the end of the year, so it’s a bit crazy, but I guess after COVID we had to make up for lost time.