#1 Homeland Discoveries: Biel

Another week has passed and I was set out on another adventure. This time with a fellow friend of mine in tow. Having lived in Switzerland for so many years, we both realized that we simply have not seen everything this beautiful country had to offer. And now was the time to change that. We found a date, bought our train tickets and soon enough we were on our way to the first stop in our Homeland Discoveries; Biel/Bienne, what a city!

Without a plan in mind or any ideas what we could do in Biel as we exited the main train station we took a look to the left, to the right and then just followed the stream of people into the center of the city. Funnily, that day a culture event was organized. Ethnicities from all over the world that lived in and around Biel met up, set up their stands (where they sold lovely little snacks and bits and pieces) and played their music. It was a delight to experience something like that, especially considering the difficulties at the moment for minorities and the refugees in Switzerland. I couldn't believe how happy everyone there looked. Whether it was a Ethiopian family next to Croats, in between Tibetans and Somalians, they and even the Swiss seemed to get along just fine and together enjoyed a sunny day at the river.  

After walking along the shopping street, that would have eventually lead us to the Old Town *cough* that my dear friend Viviane however, didn't seem to believe, we walked back to the train station, elegantly taking a U-turn and soon found us at the lake. It was a beautiful sight, especially considering the fact that the lake compared to land sights of lake Zurich was encased by little mountains and just gave off completely different vibes than we knew.

We rested our bones and joints at the lake for a while and then gathered ourselves up back again towards the train station. A map was needed so we informed ourselves and again strolled down the shopping street we took before. (; Finally, we found what we were looking for. The historic centre of Biel, and let me tell you, it was a sight to behold. The buildings, little niches and alleys completely captivated me and if I could, I would move into one of the top flats with a roof-deck in no time. Having been on the move since the early hours we soon felt ourselves getting a little hungry. Now we were two animals on the hunt for food.

We asked a local sitting on a cosy chair in front of his house where he'd recommend us to have a little bite. And the restaurant St. Gervais was where we ended up at. It was absolutely delicious and even now typing it makes my mouth water again.

With a full stomach and satisfied in every way, the exploration continued. I had a bit of fit, probably due to the enormous amounts of food I had just consumed, and desperately wanted to mount a fountain. I failed. Nevertheless, we found a couple more beautiful spots and even entered a church, right at the center of the old town, in which we surprisingly found a fish tank with a lonesome fish. Poor guy.

All in all, I again had the pleasure of visiting an amazing place, which didn't even require me to board a plane. Seeing as we had an amazing day, laughing our heads off 80% of the time and simply enjoyed our adventure, Viviane and my tours of Switzerland definitely haven't found an end yet and I'm excited where our travels will lead us next.

Lots of love,

J x

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cologne

And once again my alarm went off at the most ungodly hour in the morning. 4:27 am. That was when I dragged myself out of the warmth and comfort of my beloved bed and tried to get myself ready for the adventure ahead of me.

A couple of weeks ago when I celebrated my 19th birthday, yay, as a present one of my aunts invited me to accompany her on a weekend trip to Cologne. Of course, I couldn't pass this chance. And seeing as this also was a last minute decision all that was left for me to do was book a train ticket from Zurich straight to Cologne, rather than spending a couple of zeroes more on an overpriced plane-ticket.

So last week the time had come for me to board the Eurocity train at 6:00 am in Zurich. Train journeys always had a capturing flair for me and allowed me to either shut myself away from the world with a pair of headphones, bluntly taking in my surroundings (and ever surprising train companions) or simply immersing myself in a lovely book. And that was exactly what I did for the next five hours. Soon enough, after seeing the sun rise over Frankfurt and passing Karlsruhe and Mannheim I suddenly found myself in Cologne. With luggage and map in hand I first of tried to navigate myself out of the train station. Not wanting to go through any more struggles after that rather challenging task I rewarded myself by taking a taxi to our hostel 'die Wohngemeinschaft'.

Now, this hostel wasn't anything I expected. As the name itself says it is constructed as some sort of flat share. There are single, double or bigger rooms each assigned different themes out of which we got the six bed ballet themed room. An absolute delight. Everything was arranged in a retro and late 80's kind of way which a total paradise for a blogger like me.

Honestly, all we did the first day was explore and shop. Pascale, my aunt is an even bigger shopping queen than I could ever be, and we both found and spent more than enough. From Pfeilstrasse up to the Dome we seemed to have walked miles and miles and saw shops - which to my delight - couldn't be found anywhere in Switzerland.

Cologne is beautiful in it's small and intimate kind of way. It reminded me a bit of Berlin with its the little boutiques, old buildings and lovely cafes. Although it isn't as fast and international in comparison it still held this great appeal, which will definitely lead me to come back again (great apologies to my bank account in advance) very soon.

After having feasted on a great meal the night before, on Saturday we made our way over to the yoga studio right across the street. However, it wasn't just an ordinary studio that offered the basic yoga classes but actual Hot Yoga, which I can tell you, I greatly underestimated. When Pascale suggested to take such a class I simply shrugged it off and thought, why not, I'll be able to tick it off my bucket litst. During Hot Yoga (also known as Bikram Yoga) the room is heated up to 40° Celsius throughout the whole 1.5 hours. I don't think I have ever shed so much sweat in those 1.5 h in my life. Even the lean and fit bodies in front of me had river like sweat trails floating down there legs in the down dog position. It was unbelievably hard to pull through without giving up but looking back and also the feeling after having mastered such a class, was incredible and if I find the time, I actually might start taking some classes in Zurich.

Check out the studio we went to in Cologne here.

Needing to get in those carbs after such a draining morning, we set out again and explored Cologne some more. Wherever you go, there are wonderful little streets and cafes to discover, seemingly never ending but that's exactly what I loved about it. 

I could go on and on about Cologne in my little rant, but I think for now and the short time I spent there this most definitely is enough and perhaps in the future I'll give a more detailed insight in my shopping experience over there (;

Not sure where my travels will lead me next but I'll sure try to keep you posted within the next week.

Until then,

J

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Changes

Couple of changes taking place on some thoughts of now. Mainly Layout updates and restructuring. Don't you worry though, my Cologne post should be up in the next couple of days.

Until then,

J

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portobello road market and fashionistas

4:47, yep, that's what my alarm is set to for tomorrow. Pretty destructive but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.Last sunday morning I stood up about an hour later than what will await me tomorrow (lucky me!) and made my way over to the Basel Euroairport to catch the cheapest, last minute flight to London Gatwick I was able to book a couple of days earlier. It's been roughly 5 months since I've last set foot on my homely british soil and was not only looking forward to enlarge said footprint but of course finally seeing my father again. To say that 1.75 days here aren't enough is quite an understatement, but being a hardworking, fully booked out (newly) 19-year-old as I am, there really wasn't another possibility, was there? Although it seems like these 1.75 days have gone by in a blink of an eye I've managed to squeeze in a lot more in that short amount of time I ever thought possible. Once again, London has fully blown my mind.

The day I arrived, myself, Dad and Dorothy made our way over to Greenwich park a lovely place set south of the Themse overlooking nearly whole of London and home to the Meridian, oh yeah. Next to one of the universities I've been looking at, there also happened to be a vintage market, which I can tell you was quite delightful. Next to trendy blue denim levi's jeans and pinup dresses one could find the most despicably dressed Londoners sashaying through the markets, some of them even gathering up the courage the shake off their booteeeys  on the dance floor. The characters you see not only at such conventions but London in general are one of the things that constantly pull me out of the oh so prim and proper Zurich and into the unknown, openminded life of London.

Three quarters of my stay in London having past, the next day my dad and I made our way uptown to a place I surprisingly haven't visited in the last couple of years, Portobello Road Market. What a lovely, enchanting part of London found in the posher Notting Hill area where only a few days earlier the Notting Hill Carnival took place. Small little boutiques lined up in houses coloured like rainbows I simply couldn't get my fill of everything to be found there. From unique jewelry (on which I - surprise, surprise - had to splurge), delicious little cafés and vintage stores a true and hip Londoner could find anything his fashionable heart might desire. A perfect place to take perfect blog pictures. As I am not a fashion blogger, I didn't really have the means to take fancy photographs of my oh so fashionable looks. Nevertheless, my dad was so kind to take mercy on me and used me as his 'guinea pig' to experiment with his new camera.

Soon enough we found ourselves in the center of the center, strolling along Regent street and even popping into the gigantic Oxford Street Topshop - much to my delight. Nevertheless, the highlight of the day had to be those three little dogs strapped to the railings in front of one of the houses in Notting Hill. Couldn't stop gushing about them on the way home.

Now I'm sat in the living room, nice and cozy wrapped up in a blanket and cup of tea on the side, writing this post and not believing how much I've done in the last 24h, far too much to be able to jot down in words. However, it is worth mentioning that I finally stocked up in my porridge department and the suitcase, small as it may be, definitely is a kilo or two heavier than when I arrived. Back to work tomorrow and I think that my short trip might feel like a dream as soon as I'm back in Switzerland, I'm still unbelievably grateful for having been able to simply set my behind on an easyjet chair and jetting off for a while. Something I might start doing a bit more often.

A extremely tired, but happy swiss girl logging off, talk to you soon, next time, definitely when I'm in Germany!

Over & out,

J

Photo creds to the dad.

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