home sweet home: bring them down

Each year the same spectacle happens everywhere in Switzerland: the cows are leaving the mountains for the winter and come back down to the valleys. The farmers lead their herds back down the mountain slopes and their arrival in their home towns is generally celebrated with joyful festivities.

Typical event highlights are the procession of all cows through the city center (they are all nicely decorated with flower bouquets - note, the biggest bouquet for the cow which gave the most milk during the summer), traditional dance and music performances and a lot of typical Swiss food consisting mainly of cheese.

Last year we have joined such a celebration in the French part of Switzerland. It was a fun day and gave us the possibility to catch a deeper glance into Swiss culture. Highly recommended!










Greetings from Monteverde, Costa Rica. After stopping at the Arenal Volcano and checking out the cloud forest on Monteverde we will drive towards the Pacific Ocean tomorrow! Hope you are all doing fine! Kristina*
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home sweet home: beautiful lucerne

Last weekend we had the most beautiful weather - sunshine and 18 degrees. And this in November.
So we took the opportunity to visit one of my most favorite Swiss cities - Lucerne.

Lucerne really brings all together: a cute old town, a wonderful lake and nearby mountains that are already covered with snow right now. We took a walk along the lake shore to the city and enjoyed a fabulous day outside - I wished this lovely November weather would have stayed longer - this morning  I woke up with rain and wind outside. Brrrr....













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// foto focus // angkor wat

The town of Siem Reap at the shores of the Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia is mostly famous for the breathtaking ruins of Angkor Wat. This is such an amazing place, words normally fail to describe it, you have to see it with your own eyes. Its simply breathtaking.

Due to the steady tourist flow that Angkor brings to the small town of Siem Reap, it is easy for the visitor to be blinded by the nice hotels and the developed inner city of Siem Reap. In fact, Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries worldwide and most of the people remain to be still very poor. We visited a school that was build by two girls from Bern, it was a wonderful experience and the kids were beyond sweet!

We hired a tuk-tuk driver for two days and also hired a tour-guide for one day. This way you also learn about what you see and then on the second day we had time to rumble the ruins by ourself.













And the most breathtaking view is the sunrise over Angkor Wat - unforgettable!





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la serenissima - en detail

The details of Venice are as beautiful as the big picture.
There is so much to see and explore. See below.












This was the last post on Venice - it is such a beautiful city - really a must-go if you ever happen to visit Italy!


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2011 calender love

Each year around this time I start my hunt for calenders! I always have at least three calenders in my apartment, sometimes even more. So today I stumbled upon the amazing blog decor8 and there I found the most beautiful calenders I have seen in a long time. I am so excited!

I have selected my favorites (see below) - now I just need to decide which ones to order!


2011 Paris Poster Calender by littlebrownpen



The tree calender by photographybykarina



The fine arts calender by photographybykarina




2011 calender poster by SweetFineDay



2011 Looseleaf Calender by simplyhue


2011 Fine Art Calender by AmeliaKayPhotography


2011 Desk Calender Daydreams and Fairytales by ChelseaVictoria



2011 Art Calender by jennifersquires



You can find more amazing calenders on decor8

I am definitely planning to also prepare a calender for my family this year, just got so much inspiration, now I just need the time. Guess this has to wait until I am back from vacation. I will keep you posted!