Make your Month Yours

Welcome back to another episode of A'lil Hoohaa's monthly photo blogging challenge. In 2026, the prompts follow a pattern:

January: Make your month colorful

February: Make your month loving

March: Make your Month Fun

In April, we were supposed to make the month "ours." Now that can mean a number of things, right? For me, it had a slightly rebellious undertone, like taking my life back. 

You may remember that in March my lovely coworker had a bike accident and went on indefinite sick leave, leaving me to cover the office madness full time. That situation stretched well into mid April. I am not going to lie, I started feeling stuck and uninspired.

And this happened right when spring was in full swing, along with the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. As every year, my goal was to prewrite all 26 posts. I still cannot tell you exactly how, but somehow, for the first time in 12 years of participating, I managed it. I knew there was no way I would have time to write posts from scratch during April while also working, traveling and then visiting and commenting on everyone else's blogs.

You are not required to choose a theme, but I find it helps. This year, I decided to focus on the 1980s. Even though I was still very young, IMHO this decade gave us the absolute best music. I figured the rest would practically write itself. Aerobics, feathered hair, and Jordan sneakers. But I did not stop at fashion. I also covered topics like the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Ethiopian Famine  and how Ronald Reagan won the 1984 election by a landslide. If you would like an overview of all the posts, head over here.

So how did I make April my month?

While hubby and son went on an extended trip through the Czech Republic and Eastern Germany by train, I only took four days off work and joined them in Prague. I will probably blog about this trip in more detail in July, but let me tell you, Prague is an absolutely gorgeous city to visit. There is history everywhere, of course, and while I am not exactly an expert on it, I really enjoyed wandering through the beautiful Old Town. The buildings are so well maintained, and because the entire area is car free, you can simply stroll from one amazing spot to the next.

The building you see here is the Old Town Hall, and crowds gather there for the astronomical clock. Installed in 1410, it is the oldest functioning astronomical clock in the world and features a mechanical procession of the Twelve Apostles every hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. I have to admit, I did not quite get the hype. Tourists must be really bored to stand there packed together shoulder to shoulder, practically inviting pickpockets to help themselves.

Now this, on the other hand, was something on my bucket list that I found far more impressive: Franz Kafka's Head, an 11 meter (36 feet) tall kinetic sculpture by artist David Černý located outside the Quadrio shopping center in Prague. Installed in 2014, the 39 ton bust consists of 42 independently rotating stainless steel panels that continuously shift and eventually form the writer's face.

Back home, I had exactly one day to do laundry and get my act together before heading back to work on Monday. With the rest of the family still on the road, I fully embraced the opportunity to order veggie pinsa delivery and binge a handful of The Mentalist episodes. How was I never aware of this series when it originally aired in the 2010s? That is a rhetorical question. I had a toddler and a demanding job. 

Being able to order food, relax, and only look after myself for a few days definitely counted as making the month mine.

I think during the entire week I spent home alone, I only cooked dinner once or twice. One evening, I took the train into Zurich to check out Cartel, the Crazy Burrito Shack. During the ride, I spotted what looked like a giant sculpture along the shore of the Limmat River. I mean, how else would you describe a gigantic soda can sitting there?

Of course, taking a sharp photograph through the window of a moving train is pretty much a hopeless endeavor.

"One day I really need to go there and check it out properly," I told myself. Usually, those kinds of plans never happen. Except when you suddenly need the picture for a photo blogging challenge. So here we are.

It is called Lumpy Purple Can by artist Tobias Kaspar, and it sits in the middle of a beautiful nature reserve.

A monument to throwaway culture, the sculpture appears like a foreign object in nature, sparking curiosity and reminding passersby and train passengers, with a wink, of the value of our waste and where it ends up.

Taking advantage of one of those rare combinations of a day off and gorgeous weather, I ventured out to Rapperswil, often described on social media as "a getaway from Zurich in under an hour." Do we really need labels like that? I am not sure. To me, it is simply a beautiful medieval town on the eastern shore of Lake Zurich. They do an amazing job keeping both the old town and the lakeside area with lots of restaurants with outdoor seating car free, which always makes me feel like I am on vacation.

These were my five - thank you for joining me to make April my month.

As always, don’t forget to check out the posts from my fellow bloggers participating in this month’s challenge!