Expat Travels : From Switzerland to Canada

Photo Hunt - Pink

2009-07-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Pink

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

Pink Flags

There are some things about Victoria in summer that just rock.

Beacon Hill Park has a stage which comes alive in the summer time. When there are larger events, they even set up benches for people to enjoy a free concert.

I couldn't help but notice the flags, including all of the colors of pink.

Often times you will see many seniors enjoying the music, which is such a wonderful way to showcase local artists and enjoy.

There were just too many things I found that were pink. Here's another photo from our trip to California. I took this at my brother's wedding.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone celebrating it!

This Kid Rocks

2009-07-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

Check out this awesome video of an 8 year old keeping up with Lance Armstrong.

Way to go Liam, what an awesome ride to be on!

Happy Canada Day

2009-07-01T07:26:00.005-07:00

Wishing Everyone a Happy Canada Day!

I'm off to do the Canada Day 10k run...

Hopefully a few more photos will follow! :)

And a sub hour time - 55:14 - my first 10K in Canada.

An Extended Holiday

2009-06-30T08:02:00.003-07:00

Since Canada Day falls on a Wednesday this year, it just so worked out that I was able to have a long weekend.

Here are a few photos from a beautiful bike ride down to Willows Beach followed by a spectacular sunset that evening...

A crowded day at the beach.

A secluded spot.

I love the beautiful colors on the windows as the sun goes down over the horizon.

The beautiful evening colors.

What a spectacular view.

The photos were a little shakey, but you still get the point.

Almost time for the Tour

2009-06-27T20:11:00.004-07:00

I'm so happy to know the tour will be going through Switzerland this year and nearing Montreux or the surrounding areas where I would bike too. I'm still guessing it will be an exciting tour. The excitement opens on July 1st, Canada day and officially starts on July 4th, Independence day. I'll definitely be watching what I can.

Photo Hunt - Flags

2009-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Flags

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

This is quite an easy one so I wanted to pull out some more unusual flag finds from my shots. These all come from last years Canada Day parade which will be in just a few days once again. This year we will be celebrating it in Victoria.

Canada Day 2008 in North Vancouver

Celebrating being Green

I spied a Swiss QCells. And look at all of the flags on the car.

I loved the flag on the tail the best.

Photo Hunt - Creamy

2009-06-19T06:27:00.001-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Creamy

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

I had to get the definition out to see what I could do. Creamy, containing cream.

I love homemade apple pie with whipped cream, especially when we are guests in Switzerland! This was from my last trip in March 2008. Talk about being spoiled!

Sailing Without Wind

2009-06-17T21:06:00.003-07:00

One of my favorite past times while living in Montreux was going down to the harbour to watch the boat races on Lac Leman. Actually this could even be done while at home since our view of the water from the backyard was so spectacular. I used to sit out watching the boats for hours.

I also clearly remember seeing Alinghi on the water back in 2003 and was overly fascinated along with everyone around me.

The famous Bol d’Or regatta was a bit slow this year to say the least. Lack of wind made this the slowest race in nearly 50 years. Just how slow is slow? It took the 1st place team 19 hours, 33 minutes and 26 seconds to finish the race.

I'm imagining the course to look a bit like the above spring shot I took in 2003.

June can bring rains and lots of winds but I'm fairly certain the summer suntanning weather wasn't exactly what the sailors had in mind for this race. You can read the entire story from Swisster, but in particular I loved this quote from the article.

“It was the slowest race since 1962,” Christophe Lamps, Bol d’Or spokesman, told Swisster. In that year the first boat across the line took 31 hours, 54 minutes and 49 seconds to complete the 123-kilometre course across the lake and back. “Of course at that time they didn’t have the multihull technology,” Lamps noted.

One might also note that Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi finished sixth, while Pascal Bidégorry, aboard Banque Populaire, ended up fifth. Yup it was a long, yet colorful and exciting race.

Heavy Flirtation

2009-06-17T00:41:00.001-07:00

Peacocks in Beacon Hill Park

Peacock Dance of Flirtation

Over the weekend, I was given a show from one very flirtatious peacock trying to win over his woman. I saw the show twice and it was incredible impressive.

Advertising is Everywhere

2009-06-15T00:49:00.001-07:00

I wasn't fully aware of how much advertising was in my hometown of Victoria, BC until I went out to hunt for the last photo hunt on advertisement. I was shocked how many signed I found within 7 blocks of where I live.

Here's a collage of what I found with very little effort as I was walking down the street.

Click to view larger

And another assortment of random shots of advertising.

Click to View Larger

From Left to Right and down, this is what I snapped. 1. A local tourist shop and bug zoo sign. 2. Liberty Gelato and Ice Cream (they have the worst hours ever 10-4 I think.) 3. A condo Ad 4. Noodle Box - A famous stir fry joint in Victoria. 5. Maps of the city can be found abundantly as well as beautifully designed utility covers. 6. Coast Capital and the Bay Centre. 7. Victoria Transit with an advertisement on the side. 8. McDonald's - Open 24-7.

It's interesting how much I see when I really have a minute to stop and look. Normally I'm riding my bike, running around Victoria or in a lake which doesn't afford my hands to be free enough to snap a photo.

Swiss Cows

2009-06-13T18:39:00.001-07:00

Something Cute!

Don't mind me, I'm just day dreaming a bit...

Photo Hunt - Lock

2009-06-12T05:44:00.003-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Lock

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

The only photo I could find was at the Victoria tourist office with bike and lock.

One easy rider bike, lock included!

Happy Hunting.

I'm still going strong at the triathlon thing. I know I should report about it more here since it takes up all of my blogging time. I began lake swimming this season with my first wetsuit. Our pool is closed for 3 weeks, so more open water swimming is in the forecast.

City Views

2009-06-07T11:36:00.005-07:00

Sunday afternoon we went walking around Victoria and Beacon Hill Park. It game me a great chance to take some photos of the beauty surrounding our home.

We started out seeing a few baby ducklings doing their own thing. It was so cute!

Sitting on the Fence. I still don't understand peacocks.
They are one funny bird!

We walked a little more until we reached the ocean and had this beautiful view.

I thought this shot of the lone runner was really neat.

Just sitting watching time go by.. Ah, it's so beautiful here in Victoria!

2009-06-05T06:01:00.001-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Advertisement

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

I clearly couldn't picture myself having a photo of an advertisement for this photo hunt. But I ended up finding many photos in my archives from Switzerland that passed without much searching.

I figured I would head outside and see what I could find. Here are just 4 of the many photos I found within seconds.

A Telus advertisement on the side of the car, definitely Canadian.

An advertisement on the side of a car for beer.

What a beautiful advertisement!

And my prised photo of the hunt, the Google Street View Car. It found me. And I just happened to have my camera out. I'm guessing I also got my photo taken by it too.

Of course I planned on doing a collage but ran out of time. Maybe I still will, as I just loved this photo hunt!

Happy Hunting. Today is my 2 year date since immigrating to Canada.

Canadian Citizenship

2009-06-02T21:57:00.007-07:00

I was reading a great blog post from Zhu on Do You Speak Canadian ...Eh?, which rang an alarm in my head to check on my own Canadian Citizenship wait. So I headed over to do the calculation since my last time and found out that I'm exactly eligible to apply this week! Shocking as it has come up so fast.

You see this Friday (June 5th) Makes 2 years since I've been a landed immigrant of Canada. It's such an easy date to remember since my father's birthday is the day before.

Now I've gotta hurry up and get the citizenship application filled out, paid up, photos taken and sent out! Apparently they have made the process a bit easier to understand for calculation purposes.

What is the residence requirement?
To be eligible for Canadian citizenship, you must have lived in Canada for at least three years (1,095 days) out of the four years (1,460 days) preceding your application. Please note that you cannot meet the residence requirements for citizenship without a minimum of two (2) years as a permanent resident.

When calculating your time in Canada:

only the four (4) years preceding the date of your application are taken into account;
each day you lived in Canada before you became a permanent resident counts as half a day;
each day you lived in Canada after you became a permanent resident counts as one day;
absences from Canada may have an impact on your residence. Only a citizenship judge can determine if you meet the residence requirements with fewer than 1,095 days of physical presence.

Now I need to start checking the backlog to see how long it will take (probably a good 2 years) waiting....

Oh Dear

2009-05-31T07:49:00.004-07:00

Last weekend, we took a delightful bike ride along the Lochside Trail. I brought my camera in my pack and pulled it out at a delightful moment.

On the way back home we were treated to seeing a mother and her baby fawns just to the right of this scene.

She was taking care of her two fawns.

Look carefully and you will see two in this photo also.

This is a far away view before zooming in on the little guys.

And by far the cutest photo of the bunch.

Have any of you seen babies from 2009 and photographed them?

Photo Hunt - Books

2009-05-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Books
Go to Tnchick.com to participate

This is One of my favorite notebooks given to me as a going away gift while I was living in Montreux with this view, a perfect place to read outdoors with an incredible view.

How sweet is that! And what's so cool about the notebook is also how very soft and squishy it is!

Today's View

2009-05-27T20:48:00.006-07:00

Views from Victoria. (Click to enlarge)

We live quite close to the inner harbor and usually venture around here at least once a week to see this beautiful view of the Empress Hotel. I really loved this shot I took and new I should share it..

Photo Hunt - Plastic

2009-05-22T05:03:00.002-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Plastic
Go to Tnchick.com to participate

A plastic mobile wind toy blowing on the Huntington Beach Pier.

Taken in Huntington Beach while on Vacation..

Happy Hunting! Wishing everyone a great sunny weekend outdoors.

More from California

2009-05-17T17:05:00.006-07:00

As most of you know by now, we did a quick 8 day trip to California. We were in northern California as well as Southern California. We got to meet a blogger, as well as some of my good swim friends, spend some time seeing new sites and then family for my brother's wedding.

Here's a look at some of my favorite pics from the trip.

Our home of Victoria from above. Our home is close the harbor seen in this photo.

Flying into San Francisco was quite interesting seeing all of the wetlands colors, especially this green water. I was so interested in the layout of it all too.

We spent nearly 1 day in the Morro Bay Pismo area. Apparently people think it's a good idea to make the squirrels fat so that they beg for food instead of live life self sufficiently... I just shook my head in disgust.

Morro Rock in the early morning sun.

Down Santa Barbara reminded me of Vancouver's Steam Clock.
The colored buildings here were so beautiful. I'm sure I could have stayed a few hours taking photos but we were there for a walking excursion.

The beach of Santa Barbara from the Pier.

After arriving in Huntington Beach, we gathered and looked at old photos again. P had a blast hearing all of the stories about me.

HB beach Patrol

A trip isn't complete without a shot of a few surfboards.

The venue of my brother's wedding. Mind you that this was during the rain that I took this photo. The grounds were so beautiful. I think it usually rains once in April and it happened to scare us the day before the wedding.

I'll work on editing and getting a few of the better pics up on Redbubble and Flickr.

Photo Hunt - Painted

2009-05-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Painted
Go to Tnchick.com to participate

A row of bikes all painted Yellow..

This photo was from our trip in California and at Huntington Beach.

This weekend is a three day holiday weekend here in Canada, Victoria Day. Yeah for holidays. I'm just happy to have a few days to relax and catch up!

Happy Hunting!

Street Paintings

2009-05-14T20:37:00.004-07:00

Some cool artwork done in Europe thanks to O who just had a little boy over MY Open Roads who happened to find this stuff.

My favorite by far is called Lava Burst.

as well as this one in Paris.

I've been a bit silent, still recovering from lack of sleep but definitely looking forward to the long weekend!

Bloggers Meet

2009-05-08T06:39:00.006-07:00

While P and I travelled to California, we drove a lot and met up with one fellow blogger I'd love to spend time being in the same country with.

We decided a great mutual meeting place was at the beach in Santa Barbara. Sabine had just celebrated her 40th birthday too and took time out of her busy schedule to come meet up with us and show us around down town Santa Barbara. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. It was still cool but sunny and just beautiful.

I just love the photo P managed to take of us, next to the famous dolphin fountain.

Here's a look at a few other photos from the trip.

P and I in Santa Barbara.

The Beach with flying pelicans.

A street in Santa Barbara.

Pelicans are abundant here and fascinating.

Walking on the bike, running path. Sunshine!

Lunch was at a creperie which was so fantastic and fun. The woman who runs the place is from Brittany and she enjoyed speaking to us entirely in French. My French is getting very rusty but between P and Sabine, they helped me with some of the missed translations.

Of course we both discussed our love for Switzerland as we discovered we could have crossed paths while living there. Both of us really want to go back to live. Sabine of course was originally from Switzerland so she does have a few more ties than myself.

All in all, P and I enjoyed ourselves so much. Thanks again Sabine!

I'll be forgoing this photo hunt. I have too much going on and need to prep for my triathlon on Sunday! Happy Hunting.

We Made it Back

2009-05-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

We made it home yesterday after 8 days away in California. We managed to visit San Jose, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Huntington Beach, and Bakersfield and traveling roughly 1200 or more miles and participated in my brother's wedding.

Santa Barbara

Huntington Beach

Morro Bay Sunset

I've just started to process the photos. Here's a few of them for you. This weekend I have my first triathlon too! So I am going to be very busy and will probably take off from the photo hunt this week seeing that I don't know what to post yet either.

Photo Hunt - Walking

2009-05-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Walking

Go to Tnchick.com to participate

This is one of my favorite walking trails in Switzerland located near Montreux. The views are incredible and also have some unexpected views such as the train passing by as you walk along the trail.

The trail starts in Montreux and can be walked some 10 plus km's to Villeneuve along Lake Leman's waters edge.

Happy Hunting - We are busy vacationing in California.