Serbia
I have been on a weekend trip with my friend Linda. We have a tradition to travel somewhere together every year, and this year our destination was Serbia, where we visited the capital Belgrade and the second largest city Novi Sad.
In Belgrade we started with a visit to Kalemegdan fortress where we walked around and enjoyed the nice view over the rivers Sava and Danube.
One of the entrances to Kalemegdan fortress.
Hotel Moskva, a famous hotel in Belgrade.
We also made a day trip to the city Novi Sad, about one hour's drive from Belgrade. There we visited Petrovaradin fortress, from where we could look out over the whole city. We had lunch in a restaurant downtown before we left Novi Sad. The restaurant were serving delicious desserts! I had a white chocolate mousse. Yummy!
The town square in Novi Sad.
The cathedral in Novi Sad.
Before we left Serbia I had to spend my last Serbian dinars and I found a funny gift at the airport, a chocolate sausage! :-) The whole sausage was made of chocolate with pieces of biscuits inside.
Gozo
We brought the car on board the ferry that took us to Malta's sister island; Gozo. Here we had booked a really nice hotel, Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz. The hotel looks like a local luxury mansion. From Gozo we also made a boat trip to the Blue Lagoon, where mummy and daddy could swim in the turquoise water.
Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz
Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz
Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz
Our balcony at Kempinski.
They had yummy cakes at Kempinski.
The azure window. A natural stone arc.
Gozo's spectacular coastline.
One of the many churches on the island.
Salt pans.
The entrance to the old city of Victoria.
Street view in Victoria.
The old city of Victoria.
Victoria offered an amazing 360 degrees view over Gozo.
We were having a local lunch in Victoria.
Mgarr harbour on Gozo.
The Blue Lagoon.
Malta
Finally it's time for me to show some photos from our very first family holiday abroad. This time the destination was the island of Malta and the sister island Gozo. Both islands are beautiful and the architecture is special, almost all the buildings were constructed of a yellowish sandstone, which is typical for Malta. We rented a car and explored both Malta and Gozo. The distances are short and everything is easily accessible when you have your own car.
The view from our hotel balcony in Sliema, where we spent the first nights.
We made a day trip to the capital Valletta. A beautiful historical city.
Valletta is nice, but maybe not the best city for a baby stroller. :-D
Valletta
Valletta
The view from the Upper Gardens in Valletta.
The Upper Gardens in Valletta.
My darlings in the Upper Gardens in Valletta.
The Saluting Battery in the Upper Gardens in Valletta.
A spectacular view over the neighbour city Vittoriosa.
The parliament building, a more modern side of Valletta.
Colourful fishing boats in Marsaxlokk harbour.
Marsaxlokk harbour.
A nice swimming spot called St. Peter's pool.
Spectacular coastal scenery.
The view from our hotel balcony in Golden Bay.
Popeye Village, where the Popeye movie was shot.
Popeye Village.
Jurmala
After Riga we spent some time by the sea in Jurmala, where we stayed at Baltic Beach Hotel, a huge SPA hotel located on the beautiful beach. We had a wonderful weekend, enjoyed good food and went to the SPA. I really needed this relaxing weekend.
Riga
For the first time since Liam was born I have been away for a weekend. I spent it in Latvia with one of my friends. First we visited the capital Riga. I fell in love with the old town in Riga, it was very picturesque.
We had an unforgettable dinner at the fish restaurant at Le Dome hotel in Riga.
Liverpool
Every second year we are travelling on a weekend trip to a European city with the company. This year the destination for our trip was Liverpool. I didn't know much about Liverpool before the trip, except the fact that Liverpool is the hometown of the Beatles and they have a famous soccer team. Liverpool actually surprised me, especially the area by the river, which was a very nice area to walk around in.
Liverpool cathedral.
The street Penny Lane, famous from a song by the Beatles.
The Strawberry Field Gates. Famous from another song by the Beatles.
Afternoon Tea.
Porto
While you are waiting for my photos from our vacation in Brazil, I have some photos from Porto in Portugal to show you. I went to Porto on a business trip in the beginning of this week. I didn't have much spare time for sightseeing, but the day I arrived I had a walk in the old city, which was very cozy. The city is divided in two parts by the river Douro. On the Douro river they have different cruises, from a couple of hours to week-long cruises. That is what I want to do the next time, go on a cruise on the Douro river!
Douro river.
View towards "the other side" of the river.
Inside the old train station.
The old cathedral.
The old cathedral.
The old cathedral.
One of the many churches in town.
The tram.
Zermatt
Back in August last year one of my friends told me about their plans to travel to the Alps for a skiing holiday, I almost immediately decided that I wanted to join them. We booked the trip in August and now 6 months later, it was finally time to go. We took a flight to Geneva and from there we took the train to the cozy Swiss village Zermatt.
Zermatt is famous for Matterhorn, the Toblerone mountain. From our hotel room we had a fantastic view over Zermatt and Matterhorn in the distance. The hotel we stayed at had a hot outdoor jacuzzi from where we had a nice view over the mountains.
The village of Zermatt lies at an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level. The highest point the ski lifts can take you is up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 3883 m asl. On a clear day you have a remarkable view from up there.
Up at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise you can also visit the Glacier Palace, where you can walk through a glacier crevasse and look at ice sculptures.
In addition to skiing, and after ski of course, we also enjoyed nice food and wine at different restaurants in the evenings. I had a lot of rösti, a traditional Swiss dish made of grated potatoes. The best one I had was served with smoked salmon. They had a lot of bakeries in the village and all of them were selling miniature versions of Matterhorn made of chocolate.
