Flowers and sunshine

Today after a church a wonderful friend and I set off to the Morges Tulip Festival, an annual and very popular event in a town close to Lausanne. It was a delightful afternoon. After weeks of grey skies and rain, today was the most glorious day - very warm, a cool breeze and blue skies! We had a wonderful time wandering around and admiring the endless varieties of the beautiful tulips. 

Today was "Swiss Day" at the Festival, which meant we came across these people playing the Alphorn/Alpine horn which were frequently used for communication in mountainous regions across Europe. I am not quite sure how the different sounds are produced, but it was fun to listen to!

Let's go for a run!

I ran my first 10km race in Europe this weekend! It was a fantastic experience. It is a popular event in Lausanne, with thousands of runners and many supporters. The crowd support was incredible, with people cheering all along the way with music playing. The best part was the children who read your name on your number and cheer for you by name while putting their hands out to touch yours along the way! Thankfully the route for the 10km race is quite flat (not so easy to achieve in hilly Lausanne!)  and it was actually a very enjoyable race. My target was to do it in less than an hour, and I crossed the finish line at 59:39, so I made it!

I have always enjoyed running, but have come to enjoy it more since living here. It is so easy to go for a run, so safe and the magnificent views along the way are definitely good motivation. And now that is staying light till 8:30/9:00pm and warming up, I don't really have an excuse! A friend and I are thinking about signing up for a half-marathon in October all along the lake... have to set the next target to keep moving!

Cully Jazz Festival

Last weekend, despite the wet and windy weather, a couple of us headed over to the Cully Jazz Festival, for some good music, good festival food and some fun together! The Jazz Festival is an annual event hosted in the town of Cully, which is in the wine producing Lavaux region of Switzerland. This region is beautiful and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Apparently an estimated 45 000 people attend this event annually, and along with the paid concerts there is also plenty of opportunity to hear all types of Jazz for free! There are many wine cellars and bars in Cully and these are turned into the venues for the festival. People come and go, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the music. It was a great experience, and I look forward to visiting this festival again, as well as the Montreaux Jazz Festival! There is always something to do in Switzerland...

16 weeks of life in Lausanne

Reflecting back on my first 16 weeks of living in Lausanne leaves me with a grateful and satisfied heart. What a wonderful adventure this has been! I remember leaving Johannesburg airport on 27 December  2011 with my sister as my travel companion (I am so glad she came with me!), filled with anticipation and anxiety, uncertain of what to expect, but ready for an adventure.

The first few months of life in a new city were filled with many challenges, but also many moments of joy as I took in my new home and environment with much excitement. Setting up home in a new city was frustrating at times - especially because of the language barrier and cold winter weather. Thankfully, I was blessed with much practical help from colleagues, strangers and new friends. For me, the initial weeks were filled with what felt like an endless amount of administration... but I was determined to experience life in Switzerland while setting up home. The weekends were filled with making new friends, a few trips to snow-shoe and ski, enjoying swiss cuisine, exploring the hilly city of Lausanne, trips to various Swiss cities and soaking up each new experience.

Some highlights of the recent months include:

• Mom and Dad's visit!
• Trips to Italy, Leukerbad, Château-d'Oex (for a balloon festival) Zermatt, Geneva and Zurich
• Runs along the lake
• Plenty of Swiss food...
• Enjoying tasty meals with new friends
• The snow!
• The cute bakeries and tea rooms... need I say more?!
• Cully Jazz Festival
• IKEA - I felt like a kid in a toy store!
• Nespresso coffee everywhere... including on the service cart on the train!
• Speakings of trains... the public transport is incredible
• Movenpick Ice-Cream

Some of the more challenging and slightly funny memories:

• Automatically switching into Afrikaans when speaking French (this has happened more than once!)
• Learning to order bottled water as "with or without gass"
• Searching on several occasions for sunflower seeds and shoe-polish
• Sitting in the first class on the train by accident...
• Walking for an hour to find a store that was 5 minutes from me when I started out
• Opening a bank account and getting internet banking to work - this tooks weeks due to a combination of me not understanding the process or being able to speak French
• Many awkward exchanges in French... 

On reflection, it comes down to this: despite my moments of loneliness and missing home, I love life in Lausanne and have so many reasons to be grateful for this incredible experience. I am expectant of all that is to come....