South Africa!

Our first week in SA was spent at Umhlanga - a beach town where my family spent our holidays growing up and where Chris and I went on Honeymoon. For winter, the weather was gorgoues! We spent our days going for runs, swimming in the sea, playing with all the nieces and nephews, eating lots of good food and resting! We re-visted some of our favourite places from our honeymoon like the Oyster Box for drinks and the most amazing aftternoon tea and Little Havanna for incredible steak.

Our second week was in JHB and it was so wonderful to have so much time with family - we loved being together. On the Sunday night, my mom, sisters and sisters-in-law organised a surprise early 30th birthday party for me which was amazing. We went to a Spanish restaurant and some of my closest friends were there - such a great surprise. Later in the week Chris and I went away for a night to a boutique hotel as an early 1 year anniversary celebration - we loved our time together and enjoyed all the hotel comforts - our jacuzzi, drinks in the lounge by the fire, room service for dinner, a great sleep and delicious breakfast. My mom had saved us some wedding cake in the freezer, so we enjoyed that during the week too.

We had also planned a early surprise 70th birthday celebration for my Dad, but I didn't know that the family were planning this as another surprise for me! It was a fantastic night - great company, delicious food, the family poem and fun on the dance floor - especially with all the little ones!

On the Saturday before leaving we cooked a Venezuelan lunch for everyone and enjoyed our last meal together. The goodbyes never get any easier, but we are so grateful for the time we can have together as a family.

Helsinki!

My good friend Tiina, who I met during my PhD,  is Finnish and we have always talked about taking a trip to Finland together and we finally made it happen during this past June.

We met at the airport on the Thursday evening and made some ourselves comfortable at a great Air BnB appartment. We went for a quiclk walk around Helsinki and then stopped for dinner and got some grocery supplies for the weekend. I learnt that Finnish people really enjoy all forms of dairy, especially yoghurt!

We started our Friday morning with a run along the sea and then had breakfast at home - I tried a Finnish rice pastry which was quite yummy. We then put our walking shoes on and commenced our tour of Helsinki visiting all the major sites. We stopped for a coffee and a typical cinnamon pastry before continuing our tour. We went to the National museum and had dinner at a Finnish restaurant.

Saturday morning started with a long walk to the olympic pool in Helsinki for a long swim followed by the most amazing all you can eat brunch with Moroccon style food - all veggie based and delicious. We spent a few hours there indulging and talking before having a rest at home. Then we did some more walking - all along the sea and found ourselves at a Nepalese restaurant for some curry for dinner.

Sunday started with another run and quick coffee stop by the sea in the sun before it was time for me to head home.

It was the most amazing weekend of quality time and converstation with Tiina, plenty of good food, exercise, and lots of walking - more than 40km over the weekend!

Catch up time!

My corner of the Internet has been a bit neglected! Time for an update. The last 6 months since my last post have been wonderful and jam packed! The best part of it all has been building and nurturing my marriage and enjoying every day with my husband - he is such a wonderful companion. 

Some highlights of the recent months include: 

Chris and I celebrated our first Christmas together at home! We so enjoyed some quiet days and cooking some delicious food together, and had a night away at Chateau D'Ouchy here in Lausanne.

We went to Birmingham to have a 2nd small wedding apéro with some of our UK friends who couldn't attend the wedding.

Valentine's Day - we went back to the hotel in interlaken were we decided to get married, and spent some time sledging in  Grindelwald and enjoying the tastes and sights of Interlaken

We spent the winter season improving my snow boarding and enjoying the mountains whenever we could. 

Then we moved! We found a great apartment that we love in a super location and had so much fun setting up our home together. It was a big job to choose and purchase all our furniture, build most of it, and move all our possessions, but it is so worth it - we love our home! 

I took up a new hobby - cycling! Chris helped me find a second hand bike and has been a great coach. Although the I really up riding a bicycle, it was usually in the garden or in a park and always on a mountain bike, so adjusting to road cycling has taken some time. I love it and we are so blessed to have stunning scenery and routes on our doorstep! 

And we bought a new car, and I got my Swiss drivers licence - I'm appreciating the independence and flexibility that this will bring. 

We had a weekend in London - enjoying plenty of good food and shopping 

While all of this has been happening I had a very full semester of teaching - I had 6 hours of class time each week lecturing master students in bern and Lausanne, plus all the preparation time and admin. I really enjoyed the class in Bern - I developed my own content and had a great group of students, but the Lausanne teaching was a bit more challenging. However, I learnt a lot and was grateful to have the experience. 

And my church involvement has continued and expanded slightly - taking on more responsibility for some other events on the church calendar. I'm continuously impressed with what my team accomplishes!

I had a long weekend in Helsinki catching up with my dear friend Tiina - post to follow! 

And we recently spent two lovely weeks in SA - more on this too Later!