Month: January 2016

Warm and cool glow

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Being a relative newbie in Switzerland (I think the locals consider you to be a newbie even after 20 years, let alone four), I still get a kick out of snow. It’s finally started to hang around, and combined with the welcome sunshine these past few days, it produces some lovely light.

Yesterday morning I took photos about 8.45am, with a warm glow bathing the Stöckli, and today I ventured out at 11.15am when it was clear and bright. I like both lights; they have a certain (but very different) mood that is pleasing. Warm and cool.

The countdown to the house move has well and truly begun … I’m still making the most of every minute.

Do you prefer warm and cosy or cool and crisp?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Delicate and intricate

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There’s an ornate building next door to my work which I’ve loved ever since moving to Bern. It’s in the Langgasse quarter, which has lots of uni buildings, student accommodation and a laidback feel to it all, all conveniently located next to the main train station. I may have talked about this area, and building, before.

Walking along the main street, just past the building on the left, is a driveway. My eye was drawn to an amazing plant growing along the fence. Just like the massive building before, it was delicate and intricate in a different way. Balls of a fine swirly, white, starchy substance replaced any greenery and brown octopus/spider legs wiggled inside. What a showstopper of a vine!

I stole a sprig for closer inspection. Here’s what they look like magnified …

The spiders legs fall out very easily, and the feathery material feels almost little a cotton ball/make-up wipe thing – not as soft as you’d think, but not scratchy either.

Do any of my clever green-thumbed friends know what the plant is called? I had zero luck searching the internet.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

And Vale Alan Rickman. What a chameleon he was, with such an expressive face and that rich, smooth voice.

Often copied, never equalled

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The shock of David Bowie’s death last night, just days after his 69th birthday and the release of his 25th album, feels quite surreal. Not knowing he was sick makes it harder to grasp.

One of my friends wrote, “Not too many famous people’s deaths make me go ‘Aw, fuck,’ but David Bowie’s has.” and I feel the same. He will remain a hero for more than one day.

What was your favourite Bowie song? (Did you even like him?) I think mine is Changes. But there are so many good ones.

Put on your red shoes and dance the blues …

I see faces

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Today is the beginning of the blog without dates. Not the edible kind, but the time-frame kind.

Dates at the front of my posts put a time “limit” on them and I feel bad when I miss days. Without the daily exercise thing, there’s no longer a date dependency, so from now on I’m just going to write. Whatever comes to mind. Hopefully fun things, inspiring things, interesting things. Today let’s start with something silly.

Do you often see faces in inanimate objects? I love when stuff has a life of its own. Here’s the window latch/catch in our lounge room. I only noticed a few days ago what a great face he has, with his long shoot of plastic wheat. *chew, chew, y’all*

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What a face! I think he has a story or two about living on the land

I’ve given gifts of books with photos of faces in random objects as the subject matter, and always thought it was a good laugh – almost a challenge – to see and find faces, but never wondered if this “phenomenon” has a particular term or reasoning. Ta-dah, the power of the internet – I now know seeing faces in objects is called pareidolia (link to Wikipedia explanation).

Leo had never “seen” the man in the moon until we met, but now he knows where the eyes and mouth are. I have always seen the face, and the rabbit in the moon. But should I be admitting this? A study has concluded that people who see faces in stuff are more likely to be neurotic! Me?! Neurotic?! 🙂

They could be right. I’m always looking two steps ahead for danger and often pre-empting an accident situation, much to Leo’s annoyance when we’re in the car. “Brake!” “Pedestrian on the crossing!” “Slow down, please!” I admit I’m not a good passenger sometimes. Nervous Nelly. I say it’s all part of my previous job as a producer/production manager on television shoots. You’re always on the lookout for something that could injure someone. Hell, I paid wads of cash each year for personal liability insurance, and never wanted to test if it was worth it.

Here are some interesting stories with further explanations and examples on the pareidolia subject here (NY Magazine), here (Huffington Post) and here (BBC – the woman in the toast). If you’d like to see a whole Twitter feed dedicated to the topic, go here for some laughs! But only if you’re neurotic 🙂

On the theme of faces, this could possibly be the last photo of all these faces together at this table. We had fondue on Friday night at Liliane and Rene’s with The Usual Suspects, Liliane’s mum Hertha and Liliane’s good friend Lene from Gemany. A great night.

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Happy faces, in a familiar setting. How many times will we all be together here before Liliane and Rene move house?

Wishing you a wonderful day … filled with faces in inanimate objects … Brake!

Holiday on the rocks #2

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All kinds of cacti could be seen on Fuerteventura. These ball-shaped ones are always impressive, especially in clumps

Following on from yesterday’s reminiscing about the ingenious ways to use all those volcanic rocks lying around on Fuerteventura beaches, here is part two.

The second thing I had never seen before was on a day trip to Lanzarote. We caught the ferry for about 50 minutes from Corallejo to the port of Playa Blanca. Then we shuffled onto a bus for a five-hour tour of the island, stopping at an Aloe Vera factory, a winery and the Timanfaya National Park.

When I found out a winery was included on the tour, I admit I rolled my eyes. Seen one vineyard, seen them all. Rows and rows of vines, try some wine, on you go.

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Seen one winery …

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… seen them all?

But this winery is one I will never forget, because these are the vineyards …

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Each plant has its own hole, protected by a volcanic rock wall to stop wind damage. Have you ever seen anything like it? And for the record, the sweet white was too sweet but the dry white was quite nice (not that I know anything about wine).

So, the scenery was memorable for many reasons – the ground was so dark and the mountains looked amazing, with various red flecks from different minerals – but this Canary Island version of a vineyard takes the cake! Totally eye-popping moment and well worth the visit.

To find out more about the La Geria vineyard, and to see the plants in a better state than we saw them, go to this website. http://www.lanzarote-virtual.eu/lanzarote-round-island-trip/la-geria-vineyards-of-lanzarote

Here are some other snaps, taken from the bus, of Lanzarote. Around the port, it had a much cleaner, almost clinical, feel to it than Fuerteventura. Like the rich and famous, rather than the surfer crowd, would be comfortable there. But these are countryside pics.

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Yaiza has been voted the loveliest village in Spain – twice!

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Like being on Mars or something, but still incredibly beautiful and interesting

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Camel, anyone?

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Our tour guide making sure we were all prepared to hold a handful of small stones from one of the ‘hot points’ at Timanfaya National Park. They were damn hot! I had to drop mine quickly.

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Dry twigs caught on fire very quickly when put down this hole

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Water poured into this funnel burst back up within three seconds

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The restaurant in the park cooks meat on a naturally heated grill!

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We learned about the different types of lava flow as well. You’re not allowed to walk anywhere off the track because it’s so unstable and fine in places

So there you go! It’s nice to be surprised, isn’t it?!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Holiday on the rocks

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Two things have really stuck in my mind from our recent holiday in the Canary Islands, and they both involve the volcanic rock found everywhere.

From Corralejo, on Fuerteventura, we walked to the big beaches, or grande playas, near the extensive sand dunes on the north east of the island, and as we came around the coastline past the great holiday houses and beach bars …

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They even built some houses with the volcanic rock. Normally it was a garden feature but some houses used them for walls and not just pavers

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I went to uni in Toowoomba. Nice to know it’s a mere 18,000+ kilometres away

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A chilled place to hang out with a drink, looking at Lobos Island

… and hit the sand, Leo pointed out some circular formations, obviously built by man, using volcanic rock.

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What could this round mound be?

From a distance, I could only see two, so I thought they were places to barbecue (check me out, the classic Aussie, thinking of a barbie) and smartypants Leo, who’s been here before, laughed at my stupidity.

Do you know?

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What could …

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… they be for?

They’re for people to lie in, normally naked!, to protect themselves from the wind. And boy what a wind. It’s a windsurf/kitesurf mecca, which makes for tough conditions on the beach if you want to bare it all.

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Kites all over the beach. The ones with a human attached at the bottom, going through water …

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… like this guy

Of course, people wearing swimmers also used them, but I have to say (from the cheeky peeks I was taking as we walked past them, and there were dozens of the formations, some in better states than others) that the majority were filled with rudie nudies. I’d want to to save my bits from being whipped by the sandy wind too!

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Three wise monkeys

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I stayed fully clothed!

I’ll tell you all about the second weird man-made rock formation thing that I’ve never seen before tomorrow.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

p.s all the good quality photos were taken by Leo. Thanks Leo!

December 19-January 2: Canary Islands

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Sunrise in Corralejo

Buenos Dias señoras y señores. Feliz año nuevo!

Ok, all that came from Google Translate but my wishes are hearty and authentic, even if my methods are somewhat dubious!

We had a wonderful holiday in the Canary Islands, where I faked a Spanish accent while ordering dinner and found two new Latin lovers. Leo isn’t concerned.

Our base was in Corallejo at the north of Fuerteventura and we travelled all over the countryside, leaving the island only once for a day-trip to Lanzarote to visit the impressive and Mars-like Timanfaya National Park.

Lonely Planet map of the Canary Islands. West Africa is less than 150km to the east

Lonely Planet map of the Canary Islands. The north west coast of Africa is about 150km to the east

Three days in a hire car were enough to see a fair whack of the island, especially the impressive bottom western tip, and one day we rode 44km on an unpaved, rutted coastal path on bicycles. We’d hired the bikes for two days but couldn’t face another day in the saddle.

My favourite moment was watching brave kids in El Cotillo jump in and out of the rough surf.

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Love this shot – captures the moment perfectly. I had heart palpitations watching them dive in and out, doing flips and being crazy

We ate and drank like kings and queens, lazed in the sun, were impressed by the kitesurfers, windsurfers and stand-up paddleboarders and I caught a cold at 2pm on New Year’s Eve. Woo me.

So here are some “wrap of the day” photos from the trip:

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Day 1

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Day 2

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Day 3

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Day 4

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Day 5

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Day 6

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Day 7

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Day 8

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Day 9

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Day 10

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Day 11

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Day 12

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Day 13

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Day 14

At first I was worried I wouldn’t like the arid landscape, but even though it was sparse with barely a tree around, the old volcanic mounds were beautiful and changed dramatically with the moving sun. We’ll definitely be going back. I might need to re-learn all that Spanish I forgot when I moved to Switzerland!

Wishing you a wonderful day.