Verona & Lake Garda (sep 08)

Our fellow travelling friends recommended Verona, so we were off again… and seeing as it’s an Italian town, we didn’t hesitate. Lake Garda was very close by (less than 20km) so we started our trip visiting the small towns of the lake. Desenzando Del Garda was our first stop… there was a Harley Davidson motorbike festival on, and the small town was filled with motorcyclists enthusiast! They are friendly giants and are so passionate about the mortobikes.. we caught the ferry across to the peninsula Sirmione… it’s this small strip of land that goes up in the middle of the lake for a few kms. We went up to castle to get a great view of the lake and town. Lake Garda is lot less touristy than Lake Como, it’s where the Italian goes for their time off. We took a bus trip ride to Presciera, and then train to Verona.Verona itself is lovely, big enough to see things like the colosseum and Juliet’s (as in Romeo and Juliet) but small enough to make it feel so authentic. The river than runs through the middle of the town is so clean, and the weekend we happen to be there, there was a games festival on, so each corner we turned, there was a different local games. The town was buzzing with a good atmosphere and the fantastic weather (not to mention the FANTASTIC food) made our weekend away yet another memorable one.

Aix-En-Provence - France

After seeing so many big European cities, the charm of small towns, cobbled streets, a more local feel was what we were after. My search leads me to Aix-en-Provence, a town filled with water fountains, the gateway to the Provence region, with lavender fields and known for its Muscat wine.We flew into Marseille which we were familiar with and then caught a bus to Aix-en-Provence. We love the old town, the aroma of fresh breads and pastries, the vintage looking biscuits and sweet store, the cafes and boutique shops. The town is filled with water fountains, I think over 40! They are great landmarks to meet friends. The streets were lined with chestnut trees (not edible ones though). The weekend was a lazy one, strolling through the old markets, eating local delicacies, and enjoying an opera singer practise in the old cathedral. A perfect weekend away.

Pisa, Berlin & Paris

After Joe went back to London to work, my parents and I continued our mini Europe tour. We caught the train from Florence to Pisa. Seeing as Joe and I recently went to Pisa (May08) I still remembered my way around. Our friends recommended a great restaurant, excellent Italian food at local prices! The pizza came out piping hot, and pasta was so tasty! My parents were very pleased! We had gelato on our way back to the hotel, and it was a wonderful time, spending quality time with my parents in the middle of Italy!

The following morning, we went to see the leaning tower and the surroundings, then jumped on a plane to Berlin. My parents were amazed how quickly we can hop from one country to the next! Berlin is so different from the towns in Italy, a lot more modern, most buildings were ruined from WW2. My dad enjoyed reading about the war at the Reichstag, and what’s left of the Berlin wall. Checkpoint Charlie was another spot, it made you realise this all happened not so long ago. A visit to the German city is not complete without trying out all the wurst aka as sausages! Our favourite is the curry wurst (it’s just a sausage sprinkled with curry powder and a delicious tomato based sauce).After a gruelling week of walking and sightseeing we headed back to London for a rest, and also see the sights of London. It happened to be a lovely day! (very odd) we visited tower of London, Borough Markets and walked along the South bank. My parents enjoyed the entertainment along the south bank and the relaxed atmosphere.Sunday morning, we jumped onto the Eurostar, and in 2 hours and 20mins found ourselves in the middle of Paris. One of my dad’s friend who he hasn’t seen for 34 years met us and took us to Versaille, residence of King Louis 15^th (I think).. We also did all the touristy stuff, highlight was the night tour. It really is the most romantic city in the world! After 4 days in Paris, we headed back to London, and completed last minute shopping and prepared for my parents departure. Although a short Europe trip, we packed in a lot!

Rome & Florence

With Lisa's parents over visiting us, we organise a tour to some of the must see cities, starting off with Rome and Florence.

Starting off in Rome, the Eternal city, and one of the most visited cities in Europe, we started our day early and headed for the Vatican City (a city and a country) to see one of the worlds largest Cathedrals, St Peters Basilica, a grand marbled building, home to the Pope and the Catholic community. We spent a few hours exploring and discovering all the statues & religous relics, and Lisa and her mum even had time to attend a mass.

Upon leaving the Basilica, we headed the the famed Piazza Navona, passing along the way the Castel Sant' Angelo (mausoleum of Hadrian). After grabbing lunch, we stopped by an old Gelato place Lisa and I ate at on our first trip to Europe, on our honeymoon. What's so special about this place? There's well over 50 different Gelato flavours to choose from.

Moving along, we stopped by the Pantheon (a temple built for all the gods of Ancient Rome), recognisable for a great hole in the roof of the dome. We then walked to Rome's largest and most famous fountain, Trevi Fountain, threw in a coin, and wishing to one day return. After re-couping a little bit of energy, we made our way towards the spanish steps, window shopped along via Condotti (I call it designer street) before retiring to our hotel for an afternoon siesta like the Italians do.Nightime we explored the area surrounding the Colosseum, and relaxed, admiring the view of of floodlit Colosseum, had our last gelato for the day before calling it a day.

The second day started with a visit to the Roman ruins, once a bustling city graced by Julius Ceasar and Napoleon Bonaparte, before heading over to see the inside of the Colosseum where gladiators once fought, and criminals fed to the lions.
Continuing our Italian tour, we caught a train from Rome to Florence, a city famous for it's culture, art, leather goods, and gelato. After checking into our hotel, we had a quick night tour of Florence, and went searching for a good Florentine gelato, and in Florence city centre alone, there were over 50 gelaterias.The next morning started with a climb of 463 steps to the top of the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore for a birds eye view of Florence and it's famous terracotta rooftops. We then wandered through the many small streets of Florence, for more gelatos, pizza's, and paninis, while bargain hunting at the markets. In the evening, we made our way up to Piazza Michaelangelo, where there was a magnificent view of Florence 's skyline as the sun began to set, before ending the day with a visit to 'GROM' the best gelatos we've eaten on this trip.
The final day was about shopping, hunting for leather goods, italian foods, and more gelato. Unfortunately, I only managed to squeeze in one more Gelato before I headed back to London, and Lisa and her parents continued on their tour to PISA.

Dublin, Ireland

Our much anticipated trip to Dublin was our first exploration to Ireland, a country famed for its sports loving, Guinness beer drinking, happy go-lucky people with natural beautiful countryside of rolling hills, castles, and amazing land formations such as the Giant Causeway in Northern Ireland.Dublin city is divided by the river Liffey, with the northern side a shoppers heaven dominated by some of Dublin's largest departments stores and shopping malls dotted along pedestrian only streets, and this is where our self discovery tour of Dublin started.

Crossing the river to the southern side, we visited one of Dublins most famous institutions, Trinity College, a 400+ year old year old university producing famous graduates such as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, both fmous writers. The College library holds one of Irelands most important national treasures, the Book of Kells.For lunch, we search for a traditional Irish pub, and settled for some traditional Irish stew, and some bangers and mash, washed down with a pint of Kilkenny (no Guinness for me, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the taste). Our day ended early due to heavy rainfall, to the point when we arrived at the hotel, we found the reception to be flooded. We stayed in for dinner having local Chinese take away.The following day started with great weather as we headed for Temple bar, and area where the main attraction are the Irish Pubs, and restuarants. Afterwards we explored nearby Dublin castle, St Patricks Cathedral, then all the way over the to the east side to explore Merrion Square Park, which has a statue of Oscar Wilde, & the St Stephens Green, a beautifull park/garden at the end of another famous Dublin shopping strip, Grafton street.

We both agreed next time, we'd like to see more of the Irish Countryside.

Cotswolds

The Romantic Drive – Cotswold 19-20^th July

After a couple of rainy weekends, we found a weekend with half decent weather to do our first road trip in the UK, the romantic Cotswold. We picked up our hired car Sat morning, and after getting over the shock of petrol prices, and our GPS in placed, we headed off to the English countryside.

Joe was happy to be behind the driving seat, although the little Ford Fiesta was no Golf, it was nice to cruise along the highway away from the city life. The drive reminded us of the numerous road trips we enjoyed back home, however the added advantage here is that the GPS beeps at you when speed cameras were coming up.

The Cotswold is a lovely place, made up many small quaint towns. Cute little English cottages with pretty gardens lined the streets of the town. The English have preserved this area so well, although only an hour and a half away from London, it was light years apart. We felt like we stepped back in time, and everything was moving in slow motion.

We visited various towns such as Stow on the Wold, Lower Slaughter, Bourton the Water, Stanton & Winchcombe and enjoyed numerous Devonshire cream teas in the gardens… very “English”Our favourite was Boughton on the Waters, not only was it the prettiest town (apparently it’s the Venice of the Cotswold with its canals and footbridge) it was the most memorable, as it there we received the phone call from our good friends, Vicks and Vinh who have just given birth to their 2^nd son Isaac. Congratulations guys!

Family in London

My parents, aunts and uncles recently came to Europe for a holiday, and made London their first destination on their 2 week tour of England, France, and Italy. Their first introduction to London was getting stuck in traffic for about 2 hours to travel approx 20km. The stop and start, and unfamiliar roads tired them out by the time the arrived at their destination.
Lisa and I were acted as tour guides, taking everyone to most of the main attractions of London, from Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Parliment House, Big Ben, Southbank, St Pauls, Chinatown, up Regent and Oxford Street. We covered the city on the London using the buses and tube, and fortunately for them, the tube was not as crammed with people like usual.
We also took a few keen shoppers, to go shopping in London, visting Regeant Street, Picadilly Circus and Harrods. Everyone was very suprised how good and cheap shopping in London is. Their favourite store however was LillyWhites! where they couldn't resist the bargain.

It was nice to see everyone again, and nice to see my family come London, and see other parts of Europe.

Wimbledon 2008

On 27th June, Lisa and I went to our first Wimbledon tournament, and we were lucky because we got the tickets through a public ballot (like a lottery for Wimbledon tickets, but you still have to pay for the tickets). We went on Friday of the first week of play, and got access to Court number 1. We were counting our lucky stars, because many British people miss out on tickets many years running, and in our first attemp, we got tickets, on Court number 1 (only second to Center Court), where we got to see the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Anna Ivanovic, and Marat Safin play.

It started off with rain delays, so our first match with Lleyton Hewitt ended up being delayed by 1 hour. It was very frustrating with rain delays, because people get on court, then they get off, then on then off. The 1 hour wait was worse than waiting for a delayed BA flight, as you're always in suspence and hope that the bad weather moves on and play to start.
Once play started, it was clear all the way, and when Lleyton was playing, all the Aussies in the crowd went crazy, even Lisa! It seems a relatively easy match for Lleyton, as he went on to win in straight sets. Anna Ivanovic was next on court, and she was terrible, as she slumped to a straight set slaughter by the Chinese girl Zheng Jie (who made it all the way to the Quarter Finals). The last match of the day was Marat Safin, which got the crowd going a little bit with his antics, and his temper.

During the day, we had to do the tradition Strawberries and Cream @ Wimbledon, only made possible thanks to HSBC, as we got free vouchers to get them. No way were we going to pay £2.25 for a tube of 6 Strawberries with Cream.
Anyway, the day out was a good experience, and throughly enjoyed it. Now we can say we've been there!

Lake Como and Milan

On the weekend of 13-15 June, we went to Como (the Italian Lake district) and Milan in Italy with our friends Ed and Lyn. We flew out on Friday night after work, and thinking because we're flying with EasyJet, and not BA, everything would be OK. However, we got it all wrong, as we were once again delayed on take off, which then compounded our problems. Rather than getting to our hotel in Lake Como at 11-12 midnight, we got there at 1:30 am due to buses replacing trains.
Anyway on with Lake Como, we woke up to a huge buffet breakfast that had possibly 30+ different things things to choose from to eat, which was amazing. After taking in fuel for the day's adventure, we headed for the Ferry Dock, and got ourselves on the ferry, heading for Bellagio (half way up the Lake) At first it was fascinating to see all the little villages, waterfront houses, boats, boats sheds, waterfront hotels, but then everything started to look the same. At that stage we were only 30 minutes into our 2 hour ferry ride to Bellagio, so it ended up being a very nice and long ride! Also the weather was quite overcast, so there was not much opportunity for good photos.

When we arrived at Bellagio at around 12 noon, pushed for time, we whipped out our cameras like a bunch of crazy tourists, and immediately started snapping away, at anything almost, just to get enough photos of the village in the limited time we had. Bellagio is one of the larger villages on the Lake, but still relatively small, with many small hilly cobble stoned streets, lined with Cafe, Bars, shops, and restaurants to cater for the tourists and small local population. It was nice to just stroll around in the streets, windows shopping taking photos, drinking coffee, eating pizza, and not worry about to many cars. There was nothing very distinctive about Bellagio, there's no main attraction to see or do that you can recommended people to see or do. It's more a place to chill out and relax.
After about 2 hours, we headed back to the ferry docks to catch the ferry to the next village, the village of Varena. Varena had just as many buildings as Bellagio, but everything more spaced out. As we wondered around town, we were starting to get hungry and were looking for a place to have lunch. However at around 2-3 ish, everything was starting to close for the locals afternoon siesta. Oh man, such bad timing, and to temporarily hold back our hunger, we got stuck into my emergency food..... choc chip cookies. The highlight of Varena was Villa Monastero, which had a beautiful waterfront garden, which for €3, we got to wonder around at our leisure. Varena was another typical hilly village and by around 4:30 pm we were starting to get tired and hungry, and thought we better head back to Como, so we commenced our 2 hours ferry ride back. Along the way we managed to see George Clooney's (a famous American actor in case you didn't know) Italian villa, a waterfront property on it's own piece of land. We only knew because the ferry stopped right in front of it for a while, and everyone was out taking photos of it. That weekend, George was home!..but we didn't get to see him, and the girls felt they missed out, especially our friend Lyn, who was so smitten that she called him Georney.

When we finally arrive in Como, our quite relaxing day our took a very opposite turn, the town of Como was in full party/festival mode, with life music, food stores, bands, street acts, street exhibitions, and thousands upon thousands of people. Not sure what the event was, but it was a great atmosphere, but being a little tired, and hungry, we had to go look after our stomach's first, and looked around for dinner. We always enjoy dinner in Italy, as it's always cheaper than most of Europe, great pasta & pizza, and easy to drink Italian wine. We settled on this Pizza restaurant, that had the most extensive pizza menu I have ever see, about 5 pages (A4 size) of pizza's. However, we opted for the pasta's for main, and a pizza for entree, and were stuffed!
Wondering around Como that night was like wondering around London, so many people, heaps of noise, street performances, buskers, and music. When in Italy, we cannot go a night without finding a good Gelato, which in Italy generally is very easy (so to coffee). We spent the rest of the night wondering the night flea market dotted along the lake.
The following morning, the weather in Como was terrible, raining! So we caught a train to Milan. I was so looking forward to dropping by this Italian restaurant (run by Chinese people) Lisa and I once at at, which we loved!!!! unfortunately, being a Sunday, it was CLOSED!!!! Disappointed, we headed for the Duomo to grab some lunch, and take some photos of the Duomo (Milan's Cathedral) which we could not get last time because it was covered in scaffolding. We did a little spot of souvenir shopping, and after which we headed for the airport and home.

A nice, relaxing, and enjoyable weekend, eating pasta, pizza, and gelato, what more can you ask for from a holiday.

Glasgow & Edinburgh - Scotland

For Britain's May long weekend, we went to Scotland to visit Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our trip started off badly thanks to British Airways, getting us there at 1 1/2 hours late, so by the time we got to our hotel, it was 1 am. It was a Friday night and as we walked from Glasgow Central station to our hotel, there were quite a lot of people were out, partying, drinking.. and drinking. Around every corner we turn, we saw bars, pubs, and nightclubs.

The next day, strolling the streets of Glasgow, I thought it was very similar to London, in terms of architecture, shops, transport, and also strangly enough Sydney, for the newspaper format, the shopping malls, and food courts. We walked along Buchanan street, which to me is like the equivalent of Oxford Street in London or Pitt Street in Sydney. After half the day of wondering around the shops, I thought there must be some nice scenery down by the River Clyde, as most cities have a lively waterfront. Not Glasgow, the waterfront was a boring mess, full of contruction, lifeless waterfront. We walked along the river for about a kilometer and found nothing. We walked around for some photo oportunities, and it seems beautiful scenery was hard to come by in Glasgow city, or maybe we were in the wrong spot, anyway we retired for the day, and decide we'd head for Edingburgh early the next day.
Catching the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh was a nice easy trip, taking in the beautiful rolling hills of that of the Scottish country side. Our first destination was Edinburgh Castle, a military fortress, sitting perched high atop Castle Rock, dominating the skyline of the city of Edinburgh. It is also the site of the world famous Edinburgh military tattoo, an event held annually, in the Esplanade in front of the Castle.

From there we walked down the main pedestrian shopping strip called the Royal Mile, stretching from the Castle down to Holryrood Abbey (Next to Holyrood Park) filled with bars, pubs, restaurants and tourist shops. We stopped of at a restaurant to try the traditional Scottish dish of Haggis with a side serving of mash, and Bangers and Mash.
Holyrood Park, and within the park is Arthur's seat, a huge volcanic rock formation. Arthur's seat provides the best views of Edinburgh, (251m elevation) if you can make it to the top, and a major attraction for every tourist. The climb to the top to Arthur's Seat was a steep but short 1 ½ to 2 hours trek. It was a great physical climb but not dangerous due to the marked track and path, but as we climbed higher and higher, the more Edinburgh city revealed itself. The mountain was covered in lush green grass with fields of yellow wild flowers, so it was a great photo opportunity all around. Once at the top however, the view was well worth it! A truly breath taking 360° view of Edinburgh, from the Castle in the horizon, the sprawling city to the right, and the sea behind us. After a while at the top , the wind was becoming too much, and cold, we descended down the mountain, and this was a much easier affair. Lisa decided to run down parts of it, and in her excitement ended up on her bum, luckily, the ground was soft, and she suffered no damage. For the rest of the afternoon, we wondered through the streets of Edinburgh, much more relaxing, quieter, and slower than what we experienced in Glasgow.

The next day, we headed out to Roslin, to see the recently world famous Rosslyn Chapel (Thanks to the novel "The Davinci Code"). We took a 40 minute bus ride out to country-side Edingburgh or see one of the most interesting Chapels in the world, for its one-of-a-kind architecture, it's history, and the legend that it once housed the "Holy Grail" (believed to be either the cup that Christ drank from at the last supper, or the key that that would be the destruction of the Catholic church). In this one chapel, it has stone carvings and symbols belong to many different religions/beliefs all under one roof. However the most interesting feature, was the apprentice pillar, carved out by one talented apprentice, who was in the end killed by the master Mason for out-doing him.
We thoroughly enjoyed our Scotland trip, more Edinburgh than Glasgow, a city rich in history, and culture, and felt all relaxed and ready for the working week ahead. When we got to the airport, we were brought crashing back to reality, as BA stuffed our home trip (as they so often do). After wasting 1hr and 45 minutes, we were on board, to a pathetic excuse of lateness due to weather. We were lucky enough to catch the very last running tube back into London.

Hampton Court Palace

Recently we went to see Hampton Court Palace, inspired after watching the movie 'The other Boleyn girl" to see the home of King Henry VIII, which was built by Cardinal Wolsey for his own residence, before the took over.

The Palace was about 45 minute local bus ride to get to, and spanning six acres of land, nestled next to the river Thames. As a historical Palace, it is opened to tourists, like us, to wonder the palace grounds, work our way thru their 'World famous' Maze, the first in England, and see the beautifull and immaculate English garden.

Inside the Castle, we explored King Henry's Apartment, seeing the many rooms he had, the Queens Apartment, and the huge Tudor kitchen where food came from to provide for the whole Castle.
We had a guided tour of the Castle by a lady wearing the traditional costumes, in 25+ degree heat, and the histroy lesson was well worth following the crowd. It was amazing to have a glimps into the life of a King who has shaped and changed England in terms of religion, views on marriage and divorce. It was King Henry's decision to split with the Catholic Church, so he can obtain a divorce from his Queen, to marry Anne Boleyn, hence the beginning of the Church of England.

Pisa - Cinque Terre - Genoa

Trekking Cinque Terre Italy, 2-5^th May

This trip has been a long waited trip and definitely worth the wait. We flew out on a Friday night to PISA. Our crazy Italian taxi driver got us to our hotel in once piece, and although it was late we managed to fit in our first dose of gelato.
Saturday morning greeted us with gorgeous weather. We made our way to the leaning tower of PISA. We didn’t want to do the touristy shot, but in the end, we couldn’t resist. After spending some time there, we caught the noon train to Raggiomorre, the first town of Cinque Terre. The train ride was enjoyable as we passed through the countryside of Italy, passing fields of wild flowers. We knew we’d soon arrive as the train reached the coast. The view was breathtaking and this was only the beginning.

We quickly settled into our room which looked like an Italian household spare bedroom with an ensuite, but with a view out to the sea, we were happy. We got ready to tackle one of harder trek to break up it up.

Cinque Terre is made up of 5 coastal towns, (Raggiomore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso) all joined by coastal walks. Some walks were quite easy with proper paths, others a real trek. It is 9km in total. We broke up the trek over a few days, to enjoy the views. Spring is the perfect time to visit Cinque Terre, it’s warm (it was 22-27 degrees) but not too hot. The flowers are blooming, and the perfume of the flowers lingers, the birds are chirling and butterflies float through the air. It was truly the picture perfect. I haven’t even started on the food yet. Cinque Terre didn’t disappoint with its selection of pizza, pasta, gelato or coffee. We ate to our hearts content. Very happy indeed.

After indulging in 2 days in heaven, we headed off to Genoa where our flight leaves. Genoa is known for its blend of old and new. Its new architecture looks out of place, and for me it looked like a mess. Although there were many grand buildings, frankly I am getting abit over buildings. After seeing the natural beauty of Cinque Terre, it was hard to beat.

Cinque Terre has been the highlight of our travels since we’ve arrived, and what a great way to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of being here in the UK!

Amsterdam

Cycling the Tulip fields 19/20^th April

A fortnight after our skiing trip, we were off again, and this time to ride through the tulip fields in the Netherlands. Like many of my travel ideas, this was something I wanted do ever since I saw it on one of the Oz travel shows.

We haven’t been to Amsterdam since our first time, during our honeymoon. Joe recognised the central station immediately, not much has changed in the 5.5 years or so. We walked through the streets and stopping at local markets and trying the local feed… needless to say, the croissants (French influence) and the sausage rolls (German influence) they did very well. After we settled into out hotel, we took to the streets, after admiring the canals, we soon discovered, all the canals looked the same, so we took it pretty easy, just wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere.

The line for Anne Frank’s house was so long, luckily we booked our tickets online, so we skipped the queue. The museum itself (the house Anne lived in) didn’t have much as most things were destroyed once they were found, however it did leave a dampening feeling as you creep through the area that was occupied by the family. We all felt we had to whisper, as if we also had to be very quiet. Anne's room was quite small and I enjoyed seeing all the pictures she decorated the wall with. Although I always knew Anne was always a real person, it just really hit me that all the horrible things that happened weren’t so long ago. It made me think the human race can be so cruel. I left with an appreciation of how this little girl’s diary has touched the hearts of so many around the world.

We awoke to a glorious Sunday morning, as we packed up and got ready to make our way to the Keukenhof garden, the largest tulip festival in the world. The tulip festival is a huge tourist attraction, there were people everywhere! It’s actually very similar to the Floriade in Canberra, however spread over a larger area. After looking at the millions of flowers, we hired our bikes to explore the tulip fields. We rode along the fields which resembled carpets of colours. Most of the flowers are grown for their bulbs, as apposed to the flowers for the florist. We had a great time; even we took a wrong turn and ended up at the beach! We rode like mad to get the bikes back to the shop and catch one of the last bus back to the airport.

As we climbed into bed, exhausted after our ride, and flight back to London, I was happy I got to cross off “riding through the tulip fields” on my “things I must do” list.

Skiing in the French Alps - Chamonix Mont Blanc

Lisa and I recently got our first taste of skiing in Europe, and our destination? Chamonix Mont- Blanc in France. On this trip we went with our friends Ed and Lyn (fellow Australians living in London), who like us, have not skied since our last ski trip back in Australia some...... 8 years ago! so as you can imagine, we're quite rusty on our beginners level skills, and also being 8 years older, we're not as brave and as fit as we used to be.

The first day, we went up to Les Houches (Elevation 4280m) where we warmed up with some 'Green' runs. This was so easy and everyone picked up their skills easily... it was a nice and gental slope. After a few hours, we headed for our first 'Blue' run, and boy, the 'Blue' run in Europe is more difficult than the Australian Blue run. For the rest of the afternoon, we spent on our arse or face planted in the snow!

Day 2, we went to try and conquer Chamonix!... We headed for Les Praz ski field (in Chamonix) which started with a 15 minute cable car ride up the mountain. We all headed for the first of 2 green runs available on the whole slope. The first beginning part was a steep downhill slope that was narrow, and freaked everyone out a little. "You call this a Green run? oh hell!" and down we went. Lets say Lisa tried it once, and that was then end of her skiing (still tired from the previous day ;) Lyn went a few more times, and retired. Ed and I flew down the Green runs and enjoyed it heaps. We chickened out on the Blue runs though, as old age and tiredness caught up with us :P
We headed back to Chamonix town center, where we then made our way up to explore Mont Blanc, with the use of a cable car of course which took over 30-40 minutes to get to the top. Mont Blanc (Elevation 4810m) is the highest mountain in Western Europe, and is the highest mountain I have ever been up. It was so high, that Ed and I started to suffer from altitude sickness (I know I definitely was) but the girls were unaffected, which I was thought was quite strange... it possibly came down to the fact that they didn't expend as much energy as we did skiing. When we finally got to the top, the view was absolutely breathtaking (literally!), absolutely worth the trek, but being so cold, and so high up, we only spent a short time up there and made our way back down the mountain, back to a level where I can breath normally again.

On day 3, we left Chamonix and headed to Annecy, small lake town in France. A little piece of paradise that was picturesque, not over run by tourists, and had a great little French fresh produce market dotted along small back alley's. To me, it was the perfect town to live in. We all got some French tarts/pastries from a French bakery, barely stepped away from the store before we devoured the food we bought, right in from of the store owner, who just smiled with the satisfaction know we enjoyed his pastry & tart.
Day 4, we spent the day discovering Lake Geneva, and walking through the old city. The most distinctive thing you can see, in Geneva, is the fountain in the middle of the Lake, the signage of expensive watch brands, such as Rolex, Patek Phillipe, Frank Muller, ....swatch! :P The city was a little sleazy (due to the presence of prostitutes, thanks to the presence of rich businessmen), food was expensive, and not really that nice. Geneva, the home of the European Parliament, the home of expensive watches, designer clothing stores, a center for business, but in my opinion, not really a place to go on holiday.

Living in London

It’s been a while since our last update, that’s because we’ve stayed put in London for a while. We’re hosting Joe’s cousins from Germany whilst they attend English school during their school holidays. We did manage to get away to Brighton, a seaside town south of London. It looks like a great weekend getaway for the locals, however the day we visited Brighton it was snowing!

Not much happening here, so here are my thoughts on what I love and dislike about London.

5 things I love about London
1. Gateway to Europe for all our travelling adventures
2. The sheer volume of things to see and do, theatres, plays, concerts, ballets, operas, museums, galleries
3. Beautiful manicured parks, there are always flowers everywhere for the public to enjoy
4. The quaint country towns, so cute and there’s always a history lesson to be learnt
5. Christmas here is magical

5 think I dislike about London
1. It’s awfully crowded
2. There is a real problem with youth crimes here, always a murder, or some stabbing involving youth as young as 12!
3. Too many wet/drizzly days… I don’t mind the cold, but we need the sun!
4. Asian produce, particularly Vietnamese is expensive and not very good… and the seafood here is crap!
5. It’s so far from home.

Windsor Castle

Last weekend Lisa and I went to visit the Queen at her weekend holiday house at Windsor Castle. When we got there, we didn't get meet her as we didn't have an invitation, and she probably was not around.

Anyway, we wondered around the castle and had a look. Perched up high on the hill, you get a wonderful far reaching view of Windsor & Eton, and it was nice. As we walked around the grounds, you get to admire the grand architecture, and the solidity of the surrounding guarding walls. I heard (from the audio guide) that the wall in some areas would be solid rock 4m wide. Try and shoot a cannon ball through that Napoleon!

We had a tour through the Castle, seeing relics, treasures, monuments, and weapons, dating back 1000 years ago. The Castle is the oldest and largest occupied Castle in the world, and was built by William the Conquerer. It has been modified and fortified by the many Kings (Henry II, Edward III, Edward IV, Henry VIII) who lived here in the later years. It was an amazing experience to be standing on the very ground that all these past Kings and Queens have stood. (Sydney definitely does not have anything like this, Old Sydney town? ...pffftt!)

After spending about 3-4 hours exploring Windsor castle, we explored the surrounding area of Windsor and Eton (has a famous college, one that Prince William and Harry study at, and founded by King Henry VI in 1440). The town of Windsor was quiet, more laid back and relaxed, it's a nice place to live, and besides, who wouldn't want a neighbour like the Queen?

Madrid - the Capital of Spain

We recently went away for a weekend trip to grand Madrid, the Capital of Spain. Madrid felt nicer, friendlier and a safer city than Barcelona, perched up in the mountains.

We arrive Saturday morning, and headed for the town centre Puerta del Sol, but firstly had to take Lisa to Madrid's famous shoe shopping strip 'Calle Augusto Figueroa'. Shoe stores lined both sides of this particular street, from moderately prices to the more expensive priced ones. On this occasion Lisa left empty handed.. or footed!

We then then made our way to Puerta del Sol, considered the centre of Madrid, a busy intersection with about 6-7 road meeting at one spot, lined with many shops, Tapas bars, ice cream shops, a very special Bakery, and a momument of the "Bear and the (El Madroño) Tree" (The symbol of Madrid). The plaza was a perfect place for a good coffee and Gelato, and that is what we did as we sat there in the centre soaking up some much needed sun.


We then continued on through many streets, and lanes and ended up in Plaza Mayor, a Grand arcade (similar to that of Brussels). The Plaza Mayor, in the past, has been the center of festivities, bull fights, royal coronations and executions, today though, just plenty of tourists, sitting around, enjoying the food and drinks form all the surrounding cafe's and restaurants.

As we explored the city, we could not help but notice how many Tapas bars there were, you could be forgiven for thinking that the people of Madrid eat nothing other than Tapas. Lisa and I searched long and hard for Madrid's famous Churros, a long donut covered in chocolate, but we came up empty stomached. It was very surprising not a lot of stores sold this since it was a popular sweet snack.

On Sunday we headed back into town early and went for a long walk, and explored Retiro Park, Madrid's answer to Hyde Park. The locals were out in force in the park, running, walking, roller blading, cycling, and just enjoying the beautiful day. There were many cafe's spread throughout the park, and would've been a perfect place to sit back, put your feet up, enjoy a cup of coffee, and just soak up the atmosphere.


The park had a huge pond where you can go to hire a row boat, plenty of shows, and buskers to make it an entertaining place to be. It was one of those perfect days where you could just find a spot in the park, lie down on the grass and soak up the sun, and pretend we were back in Sydney. As with all good things, the trip came to an end, and 2 hours or so later, we were back in cold and gloomy London.

Paris in the Winter

Paris 19/20^th Jan. Post by LP

We booked this trip some time ago…. Me being the planner, wanted to see the Louvre during winter, as I thought less people and shop the sales in Paris and not so dependant on weather as we’d be indoors.

We left first thing on Saturday morning, the station has now moved to Kings Cross, as new tracks were laid for Eurostar, which shaved 30mins of the trip. Previously the Eurostar would go at normal speed till it reached France and then full steam ahead as their tracks are newer. Now we are blitzing through UK and France and in 2 hours and 15mins, we are in the middle of Paris. We made our way to our hotel and off course the fist thing we did was visited our favourite pho restaurant in district 13. The pho was a bit salty for my liking, but still very tasty.

The rest of the afternoon was shopping at La Fayette… again I was in heaven , the frenzy made me dizzy, people everywhere which for me is a turnoff, I enjoy to shop in a calm and less frantic environment, but that’s abit too much to ask when you want to find bargains! I found shoes I liked, but the thought of trying to get a sales assistant to find the other pair, lining up to pay was too much for me, so I exited empty handed. We then made our way to the Sacre Coeur, Joe has been fascinated by this church since our first visit to Paris, so we came back to do more exploring. It’s situated high on a hill, which looks down to Paris which provides a great view…

It’s getting dark by 5pm, so to take advantage of lighting we made our way back to Notre Dame to take some night shoots. I am taking more of an interest in photography and was quite proud of my creation with my little camera… I tell Joe, he’ll be faced with some competition soon!

Sunday, we finally made it to the Louvre. What an amazing museum!! It’s so big, so we noted all our must sees and worked out the most efficient way of seeing it. Our must do list included the painting of Mona Lisa and Marie Madeleine, statue of Aphrodite and Psyche & cupid, and Winged Victory of Samothrace. The highlight for us was Napolean’s apartment; the photos we took did not do it justice. The extravagance was out of this world, the luscious furniture, the luxurious fabric of the curtains, the details of ornaments, and the gigantic sparking chandelier! We were told that if we looked at each item in the museum for 30 seconds, it will take us 9 whole months to finish it!

After the Louvre we went on last minute search for French wine and pate to bring back with us… So hard trying to find any shops opened on Sunday, but we finally found one!! Nearly missed our train ride home, we virtually got onto the train and a few minutes later, it started moving… Close call!