April Wrap-Up

I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of yet another month. In just 2 days time it’ll be May, although the weather doesn’t show it unfortunately. Reading-wise April has been a productive month for me, as I managed to read 5 books and 1 short story. When I first set myself a reading challenge back in 2011 I managed to read 20 books in the course of one year. And now, only 4 months into 2013, I’ve already managed to read the same amount of books as I did in the whole of 2011 so I’m pretty pleased with that 🙂

The books I read this month:

  
     

 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (to be reviewed)
The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen
Fast Times in Palestine by Pamela J. Olson
Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Who on Earth is Tom Baker? by Tom Baker

This month I had also intended to visit the town of Cluny, because I love history and it’s supposed to be a really lovely town, but due to the bad weather I didn’t manage to actually go there. So better luck next month I guess. You can read more about Cluny and its historical heritage here and here.

I did manage to visit Lyon last week. It’s a beautiful and lively city neatly wrapped around the rivers Rhône and Saône. It has lots of wonderful shops, beautiful architecture, and an abundance of nice cafés and restaurants with delicious food. The weather was beautiful that day, so I managed to get some lovely shots with my iPhone (I’d forgotten to bring my camera).

   

 

So that’s all from me for this month. I’m already curious to see what May will have in store for me 🙂

Sometimes there’s no need to travel far

Yesterday I went skiing for the day in the Jura mountains, which is only a 1.5 hour drive from where I live. It’s close to the Swiss border – in fact, in some places you can actually ski across the border – and it’s an absolutely beautiful place. It’s hard to believe that a place so amazing as this one is so close to where I live that I can just go there an back in one day. I am definitely going back there soon because I’m now in a skiing mode. But first: a hot bath to relax my muscles a bit, because they are pretty sore

View from the ski slopes

So much snow!

Me in action

Home Sweet Home

I often dream of faraway places, of travelling the world. But today has reminded me, once again, that home isn’t that bad either. Some people would argue that travelling is overrated when you’ve got scenery as beautiful as this right on your doorstep. However, I am not one of those people. My will to travel hasn’t lessened, but for now I’m quite content where I am.

Fond memories…

…of London. Today it’s exactly a year ago since I was there. For me it was the fourth time visiting the city, for my mum it was the first time she was there properly (she’d been there once for a day when I was a baby), so I was playing her tour guide and loving every minute of it. From all the places I’ve visited so far London is my favourite place to be, and I wish I could go back there soon.

View from the plane

Bit of sightseeing

Braving the ice cold wind for a quick snap on Millennium Bridge

A tour of Globe Theatre

Seeing the play ‘The Lion in Winter’ and meeting Joanna Lumley afterwards

A trip down Portobello Road

These are just a few highlights of all the fabulous things that we crammed into the 4 days that we were there. It’s such an amazing city, and there’s just so much to do and see that I could easily go back another four times and explore new things each time.