A Little Lausanne

About a month ago I was in Switzerland for work. I didn't get much time to do much outside of the conference but the dinner for the event was in the Olympic museum in Lausanne. It was already dark when we got there and I only had my phone so the pictures are not great but you'll get the idea :)

The first part of the photos are what you see when you arrive and lead you up to the entrance. . .

And the rest are from inside the museum . . .and I think I got a bit obsessed with Canada so there quite a few pics of Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.

Calgary is the one in the middle

You should be able to pick out Vancouver, if you are Canadian :-P

Anyone recognize the yeti looking guy?

This is the an actual camera from the Berlin Olympics which were
the first to be broadcast on TV

I just thought this was cool

There were a lot of speeches in German even though we were in the French part of Switzerland so instead a few of us spent out time checking out the medals.

Where I live

and where I was born

 And again a little of Canada . . .

Ottawa during the holidays

I usually write these posts mostly for my friends and family I left in Ottawa but this one is for my friends and family here. 

After meeting some former work friends, I walked down to the Byward Market and while passing by Parliament I saw this . . .

So apparently Ottawa is also all lit up over the Christmas season!

Home for the Holidays!

After, a crazy week of holiday celebrations (including too much champagne the night before) I flew home.

I was, however, very confused when I got there!

I think my parents have gone a little crazy but it was pretty epic. Note the complete lack of snow. And then a week later . . .

It was fun to be home and a busy couple of weeks hanging out with friends and family!

A morning walk in Porcia

Sunday we got up earlier than I do to go to work! Every Sunday morning runs/walks are organized in the surrounding towns. The weekend I was there it was in Porcia. While still chilly, it was a nice sunny day so quite an enjoyable excursion.

Markers are placed to identify the route.

And volunteers are set up a various points on the route with drinks and snacks.

I think it's a great concept!

The crew that headed out!

The scenery along the way:

A mid-route selfie

Could my jacket be an puffier? Feeling Canadian in this pic!

Dinner in Pordenone

Pordenone is the biggest city near where my family lives. I've been there many times but never during the holidays and never really for anything other than shopping. 

In preparing this post I learnt that Pordenone was created in the High Middle Ages as a river port on the Noncello, with the name Portus Naonis - meaning literally  'port on the Noncello River. In the 1200s it was handed over the Hapsburg family and then it was acquired by the Republic of Venice in 1514.  After the Napoleonic period, Pordenone was included in the Austrian possessions in Italy and then annexed to Italy in 1866.

Ok, enough of that - we went to eat and drink! Again, the town was all decked out for the holidays.

Town centre

The pre-dinner cocktail - why we sat outside I have no idea!

A restaurant dedicated to prosciutto, um hell yes!

And then we headed to nearby Cordenons, to stand out int he freezing cold to drink more. Apparently, Christmas markets are where people go in the evenings to hang out. Even though I'm Canadian, I was the coldest person there!

Sadly this is the only photo I have of the market

A Pre-Christmas trip to Italy

So this was a month ago but the pre-holiday and holiday season were a little chaotic. The weekend before I flew back to Canada for the holidays, I decided to head to Italy to see everyone one last time in 2015.

It was a little frigid that weekend but we still managed to take advantage of a number of outdoor activities.

Saturday I spent mostly in Palmanova and its outskirts. The day started with a trip to the pool to see one of the little one's swimming lesson and on the way back we had to stop for a photo op with a giant chair - because isn't that what everyone does?

We're hard to see but we are there!

Then it was off to lunch at the Dogana Vecchia which was the old border between Italy and Austria until the First World War.

Someone was ready for lunch

And then it was off to Palmanova itself. Palmanova was built by the Venetians in 1593 and is a star shaped fortress. Today it is a UNESCO heritage site. Of course because it was Christmas, the place was all decked out for the holidays!

Heading to the main square

Love the Palm tree/Christmas tree combo

Someone was not interested in being in this photo!

The main square

Running to grab a coffee . . .

And after this full day, it was off to dinner . . . .

A Parisian Christmas Market

'Tis the season - for Christmas markets and Paris is no exception. They have been up and running for a couple of weeks now and I have managed to make it through the one on the Champs Elysée twice already. Though with the amount of people there, I question why!

The stalls mostly sell crap but you can eat some lovely crepes, roasted chestnuts and wash them down with some vin chaud :)