From winter to spring

This weekend I had the joy of walking out of the house for the first time without my scarf, gloves & beanie… instead, with my sun hat & sunglasses. Yes, we have finally had a snippet of spring and warmth – it was a gorgeous day! I made the most of it by heading to the London Zoo and relaxing afterwards (with a little snooze under a tree) at Regents Park.

It has been a little while since my last blog, so what have I been up to? I have been staying local with a few day-trips to local sites in and around London. High points include:

• Eating a famous red velvet cupcake (ie. crimson red cupcake with crème cheese icing) from the Hummingbird café at the Portobello markets.



• Watching “the race that stops this nation” – the annual boat race between Cambridge and Oxford. It was a stereotypical cold, wet & windy day in London for the race, though that did not deter the revellers to watch the teams row past along the Thames. It was good fun to be a part of.



• And finally, my desire to see snow in London came to fruition a few weekends ago. On the Sunday morning, I woke up with the snow still falling down outside my window. I was surprised that it really did dump. There was even enough snow to build a snowman in the backyard. I was pretty impressed that he managed to live for four days following being built.

King of the Castle???

With four days of the Easter long weekend to enjoy, Jase & I headed on a road trip to North Wales. We stayed at youth hostels located within and around Snowdonia National Park. The landscape of North Wales is sensational - it is an adventurer’s paradise! I look forward to exploring the area further in the summer time.



Highlights of the weekend include:

• Exploring numerous castles built in the late 1200’s, including Caernarfon, Harlech & Conwy Castle;


• Attending a half Welsh/English Easter day church service;
  
• Visiting the longest officially recognised place in the UK. The name is Welsh for “St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave”;


• Riding the historic Snowdon Mountain Railway 5/8ths the way up the tallest mountain in Wales – Mt Snowdon (at 1085m, it’s shorter than I was expecting!). The train is the easy option for climbing to the summit, though it was restricted over the weekend due to the snow capped mountains; and


• Snowing at the hostel on Easter Sunday!!!

No friends on powder day...

Destination: Kirchberg, Austria
Purpose: Snow, snow and plenty of skiing
Summary: It was a perfectly scripted week of conditions for avid skiers and boarders alike, with the chalet accommodation conveniently located at the base of the Kitzbuhel ski resort – a great base for the full week of adventure…

I had a bizarre journey to Austria and here is a quick overview … The extremely turbulent and delayed BA flight from Heathrow was diverted to Zurich in Switzerland after Munich airport was closed with hurricane winds. I ended up jumping in a hire car with two fellow passengers - a random Scotsman & Finnish lady. We ended up driving four hours through Switzerland and Austria to meet our connecting transfers at Munich airport. A few hours later I was picked up by Shevy, the Aussie hostel manager who coincidently grew up in a neighbouring suburb from me. After travelling along the German autobarn at speeds up to 250km/hr, I safely arrived at the chalet almost 24 hours after leaving my house in London.

For the eager skiers out there, the conditions were fantastic! The week started off with beautiful sunshine, with slightly icy & moggly runs. This was followed by 48 hours of snow dumps, with over a foot of fresh powder across the slopes and across town. The rest of the week of skiing was amazing with superb weather, great runs and plenty of fresh powder to enjoy!! [Photo: green one day... white the next!]

There were plenty of other snow bunnies staying at the chalet to enjoy my week with. My main skiing buddy pushed my limits on the slopes and helped me with my technical ability along the way. The hard thing will be to remember it all for next year! By the end of our 7 days of skiing, we had pretty much covered every run of the Kitzbuhel resort - magnificant! After a hard day’s work on the slope, we finished the day relaxing in picnic chairs with a mug of gluvine (mulled wine) at one of the many slope-side pubs along our final homeward run.

Another activity for the week included a night time toboggan ride along a poorly lit track winding through the forest, stopping for a traditional meal along the track. The run had the potential for absolute carnage with the speed you can gain and the lack of ability to control the toboggans, but we all managed to walk away with only a few bruises despite a few crashes. All good fun!

A Lille birthday celebration

Any excuse is a good excuse for a mini-break weekend. Over the past weekend, I headed to Lille in the North of France with some London buddies to celebrate another year of life.

We arrived with ease on the Eurostar, most commonly known for its quick route between London and Paris. Our weekend was very strenuous… well, for our stomachs anyway. In summary, our activities included:

• A little window shopping in the boutique stores lining the old cobbled streets
• Admiring the artwork at the Palais Des Beaux-Arts
• Enjoying the French banter and barter at the Wazemmes market
• Relaxing in street-side cafes drinking coffee
• And eating plenty of baguettes, cheese and pastries

On the Saturday evening, based on a recommendation from a work colleague, we had dinner at a little traditional French restaurant in the outskirts of town – the Le Chat Dans L’Horloge. Our meal included some regional dishes (of which we are still trying to work out what we ate!), finished off with some more commonly known desserts including crème brulee and profiteroles.

Another perfect destination for a mini-break weekend from London!

English Countryside

This weekend I had the pleasure of helping Waty (my ex-housemate) and her now husband Dominic, in celebrating their marriage. Located in the countryside a few hours north of London, it was a beautiful day. The reception at Horwood House was classically English, remnant of the many Jane Austen movies I have watched over the years. With the glorious sun that shone brightly all weekend, came the fresh crisp English air that even sent chills through the locals.

I took advantage of the opportunity for a weekend mini-break in the countryside and hired a car. On Saturday night I stayed at a local pub near the reception. It was approximately minus five degrees overnight. My car, and the drink bottle I left in it, was suitably frozen by Sunday morning. It was minus two degrees when I drove off in the morning after eating a hearty full English breakfast.

It was my first drive in six months, so it was good to be back on the open road. With a helpful road map by my side, I weaved on the minor roads through the little villages, heading east. I stopped at Bishops Stortford for a quick hot chocolate with Sarah before taking the highway to the coast.

Back within the London M25 orbital, it was a little more problematic with reading the road map. By chance I ended up taking the Woolwich Ferry (on the east side of London) across the Thames. It was timed perfectly with the colourful sunset. My journey continued as I headed south west to drop the car off and go home. It was great to drive in the country, but I’m glad I don’t have to tackle the London traffic every day. Another superb weekend!