Christmas Eve 2019

My front door wreath.

A knitted snowman and crocheted red wreath cover.

Only two blog entries for this month of December. It was difficult to choose what to

include and what to leave out!

Well I have been taking a great many photographs

and also been crocheting a lot too.

At the beginning of the month, we went to stay in the city of Zürich

where they had very pretty Christmas lights and a lovely Christmas Market.

Many of the stalls had beautiful handmade items.

There were beautiful decorated braziers dotted around the big square.

Perfect to warm our frozen hands!

We drank mulled wine which we put into thermos mugs to keep warm!

I got my Christmas mail off early and chose my prettiest stamps

and reviewed my Christmas card list.

I hung up some Christmas baubles.

This one was bought in Zürich.

I liked the snowy scene with trees.

A collage of this year's Swarovski star.

They come out with a new one every year.

The first Amaryllis plant gave four beautiful blooms

The details are so beautiful when I use my macro lens.

A while back, I started a giant granny square couch throw. I used chunky yarn to make it snug.

I was using up some balls that I had lurking in my huge stock!

I still needed two new balls to get the size I desired.

Teddy is wearing his new orange jacket too.

Here is the finished throw.

It measures 136 cm square. I could make it a bit bigger, but it is very manageable this size.

Teddy also got a new blanket to match his jacket!

The different crocheted elements I made for the garland above.

The Christmas cookies have been made and stored in a tin.

They are melt-in-the-mouth Viennese Crescents, made with ground almonds and vanilla.

The angel was made a few years' ago.

She usually tops the small Christmas Tree!

Here she is in her place of honour,

bathed in golden light

My tiny tree, just perfect for the space I have available!

This year, the decorations are mostly white with a discreet touch of red here and there.

There are butterflies and birds and tiny angels.

Everything with wings this year!

Luckily, there were some beautiful sunny days with pure blue skies

 and fresh snow on the mountain peaks.

This was taken from the upper part of my neighbourhood with my biggest zoom lens.

Christmas stars waiting for the Christmas tree!

Candlelight, a crocheted Christmas doily and tiny elf set the seasonal atmosphere!

A crystal Gingerbread House

lit by candlelight.

A Christmas collage which includes the tiny Gingerbread House,

A Christmas Carol, the classic by Charles Dickens

which I shall be reading over this Christmas period.

The cookie tin with an English snow scene

and a Christmas card.

There was a beautiful projected Sound and Light show in the centre of town

on the facade of the lovely old Town Hall.

This was my favourite projection

This was the last scene of the continuous scenes we saw during the fifteen minutes of the show.

The bauble I chose as my blog header for the month of December.

I also found this one in the Christmas Market in Zürich.

As a last photo, I include this one taken of the Lausanne Cathedral

tower and spire in the early evening.

All my very best wishes to all the friends and family who come here to visit

highlights of my life in photography.

Your visits and kind comments are so heart warming.

Thank you!

Lucerne in October - Part 2

Now we are going to glimpse parts of the old town of Lucerne.

The water which separates two parts of the old town

is called the River Reusse which joins the lake.

Here is a close up of Chapel Bridge with colourful flowers arranged along the whole length.

The well-known tower attached to the bridge.

The building with the arcades underneath is the Town Hall

with the clock tower behind.

This is the view that I had from my hotel room.

It's a very old pharmacy with lovely stonework and an exciting turret.

The small fountain which can also be seen from my room.

Looking towards the other end of the River Reusse at the opposite end to the lake.

After crossing one of the bridges,

there are beautiful decorated house facades to be seen.

This is one of my favourites.

It's part of the Waage Hotel which is steeped in history

which dates back to 1199.

The famous facade murals are among the most photographed in Lucerne.

I love the coloured tiled roof as well.

Here is a close-up.

I've shown this particular red and white building several times,

but taken from different points of view.

It was particularly lovely on this sunny day with deep blue reflections in the water.

This is the Jesuit Church which can be seen on several different photos

on my visit to Lucerne last December 2018.

Part 1

and 

Part 2

This is the interior of the church in the Baroque style.

More architecture with turrets and an old lamp

Another interesting detail.

Maybe you can just read the words below the middle window:

"Festina Lente"

which means: 'Hasten slowly'!

The sky was so pretty here

The saying goes: "Mares' tails and mackerel scales."

In the days of large sailing ships, these kind of clouds in the sky meant

a storm would be approaching soon and the sails should be lowered to protect

from accompanying high winds.

A close up view of the reflected flowers.

On our last evening, I left the dinner table right after the first course

to catch the setting sun.

We can just see details of the fortified wall leading up to the tower.

Next time, I'm going to walk up there!

An old lamp against that sunset sky.

It was a lovely stay in a beautiful town on the lake.

Lucerne in October. Part 1

This is our boat named 'URI'

Last time we came to Lucerne in December 2018,

we said we would return with warmer weather and that our priority 

would be to take a steam-boat cruise on the lake.

As soon as we arrived, we bought tickets for the earliest boat ride on the same day.

We just had time to drop our cases off at the hotel.

We're just leaving the town of Lucerne to do the long three and a half hour tour

of the big lake with lunch included.

This is Mount Pilatus

the iconic mountain which is 2.128 metres high.

I think it would be lovely to take the cogwheel train and then a cablecar and gondola

and to be able to see the whole lake from the top.

Before going any further, I should explain a little history.

On the map, we can see the whole of the lake which is quite a complex shape

with many bends and four arms.

On my notepad, I wrote down the names of all the different stops.

One of the stops was Rütli.

"For all Swiss people, Rütli is synonymous with the founding history of Switzerland.

Nourished by the impressive drama of "William Tell" by author Friedrich Schiller,

it is for many people the historic place where in 1291, 

the oath of the Swiss Confederation was sworn.

On August 1st, 1291, now celebrated as the Swiss National Holiday,

the three original cantons: Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden united and founded

with a loyalty oath the Confederation at the forest site."

Text taken from here:

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/destinations/ruetli-ruetli-meadow/

The canton of Lucerne (or Luzern) was added to the other three mentioned above.

The lake is called the Vierwaldstättersee

which means The Lake of Four Cantons.

The views are beautiful all along the way.

It's very mountainous with green pastures below.

The weather was perfect

All the views are different and always interesting

Sparkles on the water

A Baroque style church perched above the lake

There are several small safety boats around the steam boat.

You can see the name Uri on this one.

A sailing boat crosses our path

This is the cobbled pedestrian square which is in front of our hotel.

People were still sitting on outside terraces, thanks to the warm October temperatures.

After dinner, we walked around the pedestrian area of the town

where our hotel was situated.

I like the welcoming entrance to this historic hotel.

This is where we stayed: 'Hotel zum Wilden Mann'.

We stayed here last December when it was beautifully decorated for Christmas. 

I took so many photographs during this trip,

that I'll be posting Part 2 next week.