Bois Cheri tea plantation

A couple of weeks ago we had an absolute dream holiday in Mauritius! I’m working on a general blog post from our trip but thought I would start by showing you guys some pictures from a tea plantation we visited – Bois Cheri Ile Maurice. It was interesting to see and learn more about how tea is made as we love tea and drink quite a lot of it. We started in the factory where we learned about all the different stages of tea making, from fresh leaf to when the tea is packed. Then we continued through the plantations up to a beautiful villa where we enjoyed a tea tasting session with a wonderful view over tea plantations and a small lake.

I’ve just been to see the physio for yet another treatment, getting so tired of being injured! Apparently it’s not my ankle that is the problem but my lower back and the pain is then spreading down through my entire leg. So both my leg an my ankle is all swollen and right now I can hardly go for a walk without being in a lot of pain… Really hope I’m getting better soon, can’t wait until I’m well enough to go back to boxing! Well well, enough with the complaining! On Wednesday we’re leaving Joburg for a long weekend in Cape Town and Franschoek, I hope to post the rest of the pictures from Mauritius before we leave.

5 tips for exploring a new city

Since we’ve been traveling quite a bit and always find ourselves having a great time I thought it would be an idea to share my best tips when it comes to exploring new places. I wrote this post when living in Geneva and we explored new cities and small villages almost every weekend but never published it. All the pictures are from our babymoon in Milano last April ❤

Don’t overdo it – first of all, having a too tight schedule when traveling can destroy the whole experience. Allow your self some time to explore new places without rushing to the next thing and do not book to many things in one day. We prefer to play it by ear when traveling and for us half the pleasure is having that time to sit down and enjoy a long lunch, glass of wine or coffee without feeling that we have to rush to the next thing. Leave the stress at home!

Be picky – There’s no way you can do and see everything when visiting a new city, especially not if you are just there for a weekend. Doing something you’re not really that excited about might ruin your day! I just hate standing in line so I would never consider attractions that would make me wait for hours. I like to keep it simple! When in Milano we got to see and do much in a short time but didn’t do anything that kept us waiting and it all was just a great blend of things – shopping, food, walking around seeing all the historical buildings and hanging out in a park.

 

How to find the good restaurants – finding good restaurants can be quite difficult in a new city. My tips is to forget about the restaurants in the tourist areas, they are usually far too overpriced and the food is rarely any good. We like to use Tripadvisor to find good restaurants and as it’s the guests who rates them we rarely get disappointed. We have found some of my absolute favorite restaurants by using this website, restaurants we never would have found otherwise!
Dare to explore – a lot of times it’s first when you leave the crowds and tourist attractions that you get to explore the real culture in the city or country. Try to take a small detour from the tourist areas and you might just bump in to some hidden jems you never knew you could find!

Comfortable shoes are essential – for me, the best way of exploring a new city is by foot. Bring some comfortable shoes and clothes that makes it possible.

Xo

Lake Como

 

On the way back from Milano to Geneva the other week we decided to stop by Lake Como and Lugano. I never seem to stop being surprised by how many beautiful places there are in Europe and I’m such a lucky girl who gets to visit so many of them. What I love most about Europe is all the old beautiful architecture – you can almost feel the history and also that all countries and areas have their own style. 

Como is a small Italian village located by lake Como on the border to Switzerland. We didn’t see much of the village but it holds numerous works of art, churches, gardens, museums, gardens and palaces. What is the most spectacular about this village is it’s location by the water with houses built on the hills facing the water. I can imagine that this is a great place bringing a family to spend some hot summer days! 

We had to get rid of some energy before getting in to the car again so me and London chased each other – I just love these pictures as we always do this when we have to cross a field, haha! ❤

Italian coffee and finding those perfect little gems

I just love to explore new cities! To leave the shopping streets and tourist areas to find calmer streets that usually hosts perfect little gems like this little café in Milano were we stopped to have proper Italian coffee and a panini. We didn’t have to go many blocks from the Duomo Cathedral to get here but it felt so much more genuinely Italian and Milanese. 

 

 

I’m working on a little guide to Milano but as I have lots of pictures to go through and as I am traveling to Stockholm as we speak you’ll just have to be patient for a little longer. However, I’ve prepared a post with my favorite area of Milano and will keep you updated from Sweden. 

Have a great day!  

Home sweet home

We’re back home after a great trip to Milano – I completely fell in love with the city and would love to go back! Although, I have to admit that it feels good to be back home and I need some well deserved rest before leaving for Stockholm early on Wednesday.

I have a lot of pictures in my camera to go through and I’m looking forward to show you more pictures soon – this is one of my favorites so far!

Packing for Milan

So tomorrow we’ll be heading towards Milan, we have some small plans on stopping by a Swiss city for one night one the way back but have decided to play it by ear. I have scheduled some posts for you as I’m guessing I’ll be busy experiencing Milan, for example I’ll show you a sneek peek from our house and let you know where we celebrated the Easter holidays last year.  When we get back I only have two nights at home before travelling to Stockholm for some appointments, don’t know why I always seem to have two trips booked at the same, last time I only had one night at home.  If you’re interested in updates from my travels you could always follow me on Instagram: postcardsfromjosefine

My migraine came back yesterday and lasted until today, as soon as I skip a single yoga or workout session it comes back – frustrating! My friend Sarah (check out her blog here) came over with some delicious Swiss chocolate to cheer me up and that really made my day! ❤

Have a happy Easter!

Babymoon coming up

On Thursday we are leaving for a babymoon in Milan, Italy and I’m so excited! It’s the first time we will be visiting the city and who knows when we will be able to leave a romantic get away again – just the two of us! I’m looking forward to drinking tons of Italian coffee, eating pasta and to do some shopping but mostly just spending some time alone with my husband, strolling around the city and sitting for hours in restaurant or cafés just enjoying life and early spring.

Has anyone of you been to Milan? Maybe you have some tips that you could share? What to see, what to do, where to eat?

 

 

 

(pictures borrowed from Google)

New design, new name, new start!

Welcome to my new site – Postcards from Josefine! I felt I really needed a fresh start and I hope you like both the name and the the new design. Thank you so much dear Isabell N Wedin for helping me with the header!

This spring I have some small trips planned around Europe – hopefully I’ll be able to show you places like Lugano, Milan and Paris, and of course a lot of places around Geneva, before our baby is being born. As my belly is growing and I am visiting all these wonderful places I felt I really needed to update my wardrobe and ordered some new dresses. You can tell I really have a thing for lace at the moment and nothing feels as good as wearing flowy dresses when being pregnant. I’m looking forward to show you some new looks shortly!

My husband has left for a weekend in Chamonix with some of his childhood friends so I’ve bunkered up with a lot of food, new flowers, movies and books – but first I’m off for some Starbucks in Geneva with my friend Sarah. Hope you’re all having a great Friday!

More Key West

Här kommer en bildbomb från Key West, verkligen värt ett besök om man är i Florida! Från Miami kan man ta buss ner på ett par timmar, många som bor i Miami tar dagsutflykter hit. Om man befinner sig på västkusten kan man ta Key West Express, en stor katamaran, antingen från Fort Myers eller Marco Island. Eftersom fisket är så bra runt Key West serverar restaurangerna mycket fisk och skaldjur, man får dock se upp lite då de gillar att fritera fisken vilket jag inte är så glad för… Gillar man hummer är det verkligen ett paradis då det finns mycket av dem här. Vi träffade ett par häromdagen som har en fiskebåt i the Keys och de berättade att de kunde få 150 humrar på en dag, vilken dröm! Ett måste att prova är man är här är deras Key Lime pie.

Here’s a photo bomb from Key West, well worth a visit if you’re in Florida. From Miami you can hop on a bus that will take you there in a couple of hours, many residents just takes day trips. If you’re on the West Coast you can take the Florida Express, a large catamaran, from either Fort Myers or Marco Island. Since the fishing is great around Key West the restaurants serve a lot of fish and shellfish dishes, but heads up for deep fried if your not really in to that since they really like to deep fry the fish here. If you like lobster this really is a paradise. We meet a couple the other day who told us they have a fishing boat – they can catch 150 lobsters in a day, what a dream! A must while here is to try the delicious Key Lime pie.