Bears!

Last weekend we ventured over the Swiss border to Singen, which is on the line that runs through Schaffhausen, a must-visit if only because of its proximity to the Rhine Falls, but it's actually a lovely town in and of itself (and the place that introduced me to the divine combination of chocolate and chili).

The main object of visting Singen was to get new protective clothing for himself before he either collects his old motorbike from the UK or trades it in to get a new one here, and although the town didn't charm us immediately, it was an excellent shopping trip and we found some curious sights - in particular a series of charming painted bears. (This must be a mainland European thing, as they do it with cows in Switzerland, but I hear there are painted gorillas in the UK as well.) There was also a deeply disturbing and enormous sculpture of flaccid naked people which I avoided looking at, and the excellent piece of graffiti stating "homophobia is gay".

Back in the UK

It was a packed week back in the UK for me, meeting up with friends and family in London, including seeing some the Mayor's Thames Festival...

... and this wonderful currywurst emporium near Embankment.

I'm normally not a huge fan of scribbly artwork, but I fell for this notebook after a friend brought me into Paperchase - not only is it Japanese-themed and very cute, it also has a plethora of pockets, including a big ziplock one at the back, which makes it my new travel planner for our trip to Japan!

I had invested in some moulded SIM card holders - since I now have four of them - but this will do nicely too!