Happy New Year

More guests ... as it is still rather green down here, we went in search of the snow on Pilatus, Rigi and in Engelberg.


Pilatus 31.12.12

Pilatus

Pilatus

Rigi pics to follow when I find them.

We started the new year by teaching Petra new tricks - skiing adventure in Engelberg.

Ready to go...

"Ich freu' mich so !!!"

Ok, this bit was fun, so...

Right then, what are we going to do now ???

We ski...

Winter Wonderland

This is hard work - why do we have to ski uphill ???

And the overall verdict...

When can we go again ???

Back at the car - it is definitely getting too dark to ski now

Christmas Guests

Sadly, all the pretty snow in the "lowlands" had gone by the time our christmas guests arrived, but at least the weather tried to make up for it by presenting us with blue skies and some quite spectacular wind.

Christmas eve had been forecast to be extraordinarily warm, with the "Foehn" wind lifting temperatures to as high as 20 C - we only got about 17.  On christmas day, we opted for a quick change of plan, as the weather was forecast to get worse the next day, so instead of opening presents in the morning, we went for a walk up on Zugerberg.

 

 

We even found some snow...

... and then some more...

White Christmas after all

Sunglasses are a must this christmas

 

 

And yet it was plenty warm enough for a little christmas-day sunbathing

 

 

On Boxing Day, the weather was still better than we'd dared to hope, so we went for a little potter to Zug:

Zugersee



 

It was quite windy, and the lake was more like the sea than a lake - we almost got wet feet walking along the lake promenade !

Splash !

 

 

In town, we found some lovely christmas decorations, which we took as a timely reminder to go home and eat more cake ...

 

First Snow

The last weekend in October, just when we changed from daylight saving time to "winter time", the weather helped us realise it really is winter - so, of course, we had to go and play in the snow for a bit on Sunday. These pictures are taken on "Zugerberg", one of our local mountains.
It was strange to see trees covered in snow but stilll having colourful autumnal leaves - very beautiful !

Sherlock Holmes

Another weekend, another beautiful place to visit... this time Meiringen, the Swiss town of Sherlock Holmes fame. We did not make it to the Sherlock Holmes museum, however, leaving that for a rainy day.  Instead we went for a little walk to see the beautiful autumn colours and the nearby Aare Gorge, which is simply stunning.
Here are the pictures:

 

Orticolario, Como

Last weekend, I went to Como with Doris, a friend from work from my Ticino days - the same one who came to the Chelsea Flower Show with me earlier this year.
You will see a theme develop regarding our travels... this time, we went to the "Orticolario", an annual flower show in Como. 

Here are a few impressions - without detailed comments, otherwise it will take ages again until I get this published... 

Yumm. Well, it was in Italy, after all... 

Fun things to do with wood... 

... and fun things to do with fabric

Lake Como

Art ?  

y

Personally, I thought neither the dangling price tag nor the bamboo "lining" did this display any favours... shame, really, as the house, the cast iron window boxes, and planting were really beautiful. 

Fun things to do with rusty metal

Shop till you drop - as opposed to Chelsea, where the main theme was "look now, buy on the internet later", the Orticolario took a more traditional "buy now, pay cash, and have fun squeezing all the plants into you car" approach... thankfully, Doris had borrowed a van, so she and her 3 sisters could shop to their hearts' content