Originally posted on The Empress Exported


I'll admit that, in the nearly 18 months since I've been in Switzerland, there's been very little - apart from the obvious things; friends, family - that I miss about home.

I think in there lies the key word for what I do miss - the little things. Just recently, I've realised that there's lots of little things from back home that I took for granted. Mostly, it's food. Some food habits from home have been hard to break....

EmpressJo

Originally posted on The Empress Exported on 29 February 2012



This is a post I've been meaning to write for a long time, but now I've been compelled to. Long before I moved to Switzerland, I knew it was an expensive place. Perth, where I'm from, is also pretty expensive; in fact, it lies just outside the top 10 of the world's most expensive cities. (Geneva is ranked 3rd.) So when I first moved, I didn't really notice too much of a difference.

But gradually,...

EmpressJo

Find the original post, with photos, here.

So today was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. Only it was -6oC (21oF for you folks on the imperial system). That’s pretty cold. Freezing in fact. And it’s been that way – and worse – for the last week and will continue in this vein for at least this week. Thursday and Friday were the worst days, with temps around -8oC, but with fierce 40 – 50km/h winds straight from Siberia, the windchill made it feel it was more like -20oC. It’s even...

EmpressJo

Originally posted on the Empress Exported on 9 October 2011

Yes, I’ve been a little quiet lately. Travel and social engagements have kept me busy throughout the rest of summer and into the start of autumn. And autumn is here with a vengeance; today it’s only 12C and there’s a healthy dusting of snow on the Alps. But the cooler weather hasn’t deterred festival organisers or festival goers. Over the last few weekends, I’ve attended two festivals in or near my home town, Nyon. One...

EmpressJo

Originally posted on The Empress Exported on 16 August 2011

It seems that come August, Geneva drinks a little too much from the bottle of fun she’s had stashed away in the draw all year, rips her shirt off, runs around yelling and generally just goes a bit nuts. And I’m glad to see it.


It starts on 1 August, Swiss National Day. I wasn’t here for it this year, but I’ve heard that Geneva starts to warm up for that; apparently there are some events on a smaller...

EmpressJo