Spot of snorkelling

Well, not quite the tropical waters of Indonesia, but a spot of snorkeling after school on Monday was one way to beat the heat and I had my first lake swim of the year too - wonderful! Just love the adventurous nature of these two!

Swimming season started in Zurich

The lake was still chilly on Friday, but it didn't stop Bea and Ili taking the plunge (they had two days school holiday to enjoy). But, by the end of the weekend the Lake had amazingly heated up and Zurich was in full-on summer mode, with lakeside bars and lidos heaving! Had an evening swim at Utoquai, and Bea swam out to join Papa on the raft (can just see Bea swimming out from the bottom right of the piccy).

Swimming in Siena

Although most of the time we were driving around looking at potential places to live around Siena at the weekend — what incredible scenery, miles and miles of astoundingly beautiful landscapes — we did have a few hours to enjoy our accommodation at the Borgo, and of course the pool. A couple of Bea's classmates live here, so perhaps we'll be back another time!

School visit

So very very proud of these two, and although they were a little nervous, they took their first morning at their new school completely in their stride. We'd actually met a couple of children the evening before, as we were staying at the same accommodation, so that made things a little easier for them. They both loved the school, and I was very impressed with what I saw too. The International Baccalaureate is a great program and will suit Bea and Ili — a great mix of multi-cultural and multi-lingual children.

At the Borgo before we set off.

The school.

Florence (on route to Siena)

While Frith was in Kenya for a few days, the kids and I travelling back down to the Siena area so that they could have their first trial day in school. We had an overnight stay in Florence and watched a beautiful unset over the river Arno, and the large coypu swimming in the river. Such a beautiful city.