Geneva, Switzerland

 

Three days back from visiting Geneva, Switzerland and I’m still captured by the beauty of the city on the lake, nestled in the mountains.

Geneva isn’t the biggest of cities and can be explored as a tourist in two days. We arrived on Friday afternoon after a very easy and inexpensive bus journey from the airport to our hotel. We checked in to our hotel and dropped our bags before wandering down the hill past the UN headquarters towards the lake in search of fondue for dinner.

On Saturday we took a bus to the old town and spent the morning visiting the ‘reformation wall’, climbing the bell tower of St Peter’s cathedral, viewing the archeology museum and the reformation museum.

We then wandered towards the lake and through the shopping district to the ‘flower clock’.

The weather was unseasonably warm so in the afternoon when we got back to our hotel, I took some time to sit outside to read and reflect while M made use of the gym.

Our hotel recommended dinner at nearby Luigi’s, an Italian restaurant. It was clearly a locals favourite and made for great people watching as we ate our calamari and pasta.

On Sunday we walked to the botanical gardens which don’t seem to feature much on the ‘top things to do’ list but we would highly recommend a visit. We spent a really enjoyable few hours exploring and taking our time walking back along the lake with a little paddle in the mild and crystal clear water.

Our hotel did late check out so we were able to take a rest in our room before packing up and heading back to the airport.

Reformation Wall

A cute little attic apartment!

Calvin’s auditorium.

Flower clock.

UN headquarters.

Girls hike 2023- Mournes, N.Ireland

 I often think about how blessed I am to have so many friends who love to walk or hike together. I started walking with this crew 15 yrs ago when we all had new borns in the same year and had all recently moved to Bishop’s Stortford. Back then we walked round National Trust Hatfield Forest in a sleep deprived daze with babies strapped to our chests. Since then our families have grown, our husbands jobs have taken us to different places to live but our friendship and love of walking had remained constant.

On Friday I drove to Belfast International airport to pick up Rebecca, Sarah and Talitha before heading west to the Mourne mountains. We stopped for lunch enroute at Rowallen Gardens, a National Trust property on the edge of Saintfield. The rain was continuous but we still managed lunch and a walk. We had booked an Airbnb in the small town of Dundrum for two nights.

On Saturday we walked from Dundrum, through National Trust Murlough and followed the beach to Newcastle. After a pit stop at the trendy Birch cafe we continued along the coast to the start of the Granite trail. The Granite trail is one of my favourite walks in the Mournes as it is circular, has a little height to climb, stunning views of Newcastle and beyond and follows the dramatic Glen river back into Newcastle. It is only a morning walk and suitable for all ages and abilities.

This was our misty view from the top.

Back in Newcastle we followed the road towards Dundrum and stopped off at Murlough National Trust cafe for another cup of tea! Then it was a nice final stretch along the Murlough track to Dundrum. Rebecca is our walking stats tracker and I believe said we  covered 18miles.

On Sunday the weather was predicted to be wet so rather than be exposed in the Mournes for the day we decided to head north towards Strangford Lough and stop at Castle Ward National Trust. The weather wasn’t as bad as we expected so we were able to take a good walk, have lunch, and explore the house and gardens. 

The girls returned to England on Sunday evening and I’ve been reminiscing and giggling to myself ever since! Thanks for coming to visit…let’s start planning next years adventure!

August birthdays

Calvin turns 4 and MJ turns 14!

 

Back to school 2021/2022

 

Lilyjean starts her new school and Ezra starts P2.

Nana and Grandad C come to visit

 

Lj is 11

Lilyjean requested a ‘Red carpet’ themed birthday to celebrate turning 11. Her friend, Anna made her cake. As her birthday falls at the every end of the school year, it was special to celebrate with all her primary school friends, perhaps for one last time.

MJ thought he would be clever and put this poster on the door before the guests arrived.

 

Weekend at Galgorm

It was rescheduled twice because of COVID 19 but we finally made it to Galgorm Resort to celebrate a belated 40th birthday. It was so welcome and amazing to have no responsibilities for a few days.