One of the absolute highlights of our Montreux stay was dinner at the famous Montreux Jazz Cafe by special request of Mlle! It turned out that we were there on the Sunday celebrating Mother’s Day in Switzerland, which happens to be the same as Australia (2nd Sunday in May) so we figured we had a …
It was only a few weeks ago that we were staying by the shores of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman in French) at the start of an 8 day Swiss holiday. We chose to start our trip in Montreux partly because our London based daughter, Mlle, is working in the music PR industry and wanted to …
Regent’s Park used to be one of our favourite places for a weekend stroll when we lived in London. We would push our elder daughter around in her stroller – she’s now grown up with a family of her own! I also remember trips to London Zoo, which is housed in one corner of the park and …
York has always been one of my favourite places to visit both when I was still living in Yorkshire and nowadays on visits back home. With its rich tapestry of history, wonderful old cobbled streets, alleyways, the imposing Gothic minster not to mention the numerous little curiosity shops plus cafes and restaurants galore – suffice …
A favourite spot for a walk when I’m visiting my family up in Yorkshire is the gardens at Harlow Carr in Harrogate. Run by the Royal Horticultural Society, the Harlow Carr Gardens have a lovely natural feel about them though it must take a lot of work to maintain, even if does appear effortless! I …
We spent our first weekend in the UK checking out the annual Cheltenham Jazz Festival. Our younger daughter, Mlle, works in the music PR industry and was working there all the long weekend though we did manage to catch up with her in between all her commitments! We saw some great artists performing including the …
A few years back we stumbled by complete chance into a wonderful garden festival taking place in the historic town of Koblenz on the Rhine. We were spending a few days there and kept seeing signs for BUGA everywhere! Intrigued, we finally asked someone in the local tourist office and found that Koblenz was hosting …
Alas after being temperamental for the past few weeks my home computer decided to have a total nervous breakdown yesterday collapsing into repeated blue screens with “the kiss of death” then it packed up altogether. Hence I’m only able to use my iPad for the next few days whilst it is at the computer repair …
We were lucky enough to visit the exquisite gardens of Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo at arguably their most spectacular during the glorious displays of spring (see here for last week’s “Taster”). In April the azaleas and rhododendrons are a profusion of wonderful pinks, reds and soft creamy whites. We had a lazy lunch …
Post flu lethargy and a busy weekend have not been conducive to blog writing! With another wild and wet weekend we are beginning to think spring has got lost en route to Perth this year! C’est pas normale! So on this chilly Sunday evening, it’s nice to be able to carry on sorting though the …
