LDOS

After returning from a rather rainy Normandy and experiencing the rather unfortuitous effects of unpasteurised cheese (please take note for future reference ladies and gentleman that it is not, I repeat, not pretty), I was pleased to curl up in my own bed with my thick polish goose feather down duvet. Waking up to fog yesterday morning, I believed the summer to be over. Finito. Au revoir. Auf Wiedersehn. However, I was pleased to have been proven wrong as the day progressed. Even though there had an autumnal feel to the air, shorts and t-shirts were still on display at the local retail park in Thurmaston. The sun indeed had its hat on. Hip hip hip hip hooray!

This old ticket made me smile along with a few Sicilian memorabilia...I found it at the bottom of my bag, which I hadn't used for two years...

Life is like an old handbag. You just never know what you might find.

Swiss Kiss

I feared that being back in Heidi Land after almost 4 years would only disappoint. I was, afterall, an Erasmuser, living it up in Halls of Residence that looked out onto Lake Geneva and the Alps with fellow free-spirited students from around the world.

However, I am pleased to say that my flame for Switzerland has been reignited. Obviously, the chocolate, cheese and 'Lulu' helps.

Even if it is -7.

I'm in Miami...

I can't think of anything better to do on a cold, damp day in Geneva, other than reminisce about Miami.

Although not quite as hot as we expected, plenty of opportune moments presented themselves in order to be able to strip off on the beach and sport my new a-symmetrical all-in-one swimming costume. Not bad for mid-January.

My sister, a mutual friend and I were invited to attend the dream wedding of another mutual friend, who I had the pleasure of first meeting in my first year of University. She was Sandy and I was Marty. We never looked back.

Her wedding will certainly be a tough one to beat. Palm trees, sea-front, golden chairs for the congregation, fainting bridesmaids, personalised cocktails...just to name a few things. And thriller, of course, was a personal highlight for me. The perfect way to rid yourself of the post-Christmas blues. Perhaps everyone should consider getting married in exotic locations in January...?

As for Miami itself...if I had to sum it up in one sentence, it would be: tacky but cool, with a few cuban cigars thrown in for good measure.

Across the Pond

So, here I am...in the land of maple syrup and grizzlies. (No, I'm not referring to the Canadian Opera singers)

After having been interrogated by customs, my luggage rampantly searched through and locking myself out of my room, twice no less, in less than 24 hours of my arrival...I can safely say that I am definitely a European type of gal. Or, perhaps it's just the jetlag. But, rest assured, there is a Starbucks on every corner to cure this rather irritable condition.

I was, however, extremely happy to have been taken to Lawrence Market on my first day in order to get a taste of the Ukrainian-Canadian culture over here.

You can keep your maple syrup.

...But I'm taking the Perogies.

l'Objet de mon Affection

An ordinary Sunday in March at Les Marolles...

Metro: Porte de Hal/Hallepoort

Le printemps est arrivé...Found a Belgian replacement for Mischa...along with Tin Tin's dog. And Verdi's Requiem on CD for €8. Bargain.

Junkie

There's something that has to be said about trawling through collections of vintage junk...

I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt, like the so many that I played out as a child. ...and you just know it's the place to be if there is a hip young crowd, accompanied by their Pug.

Balls of Steel

Built in the late 1950s, The Atomium was designed by André Waterkeyn for Expo '58. Its nine balls represent the atoms of a metal crystal enlarged 165 billion times. Rather excited by the prospect of visiting this bizarre structure, its substance failed to impress...

It has to be said that certainly in this case, girth isn't everything...

...although you can still have fun under the sheets.