Turkey

It's been a while since my last blog, so apologies for that. I'll email around a few photos in a couple of hours and i'll do an album on facebook, for those who are on that - but it'll be a few days before I can do that. But anyway - Turkey...

Fiona and I began our holiday with four fantastic days in Istanbul. The weather was basically sunny every day we were there. It was a little hazy at times, and a little cold occasionally in the wind - but hey, it is only April and it's quite an exposed part of the city where we spent most of our time. Anyway, the after flying in and settling into the central, old part of the city - Sultanahmet, we spent the first day, nice and sunny, visiting the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia. Built in 537 - a Mosque until 1935, Aya Sophia is a spectacular sight, as was the Blue Mosque, so called because of the stunning blue tiles that colour the inside. Both were fantastic sights. We also visited the Basicila Cistern, which sounds a little strange, but was quite interesting and made for some excellent photos.

Day two we visited Topkapi Palace, on which construction began in 1453. Sprawling over a vast area, with numerous Courts, Topkapi was a fascinating place to visit - particularly its numerous treasures in the Harem, the Treasury and the Sacred Safekeeping Room. It was also a nice, sunny day, so we leisurely wandered around the grounds. Later in the afternoon, we ventured in the Grand Bizaare (market), where you can pretty much buy anything, from Gold to spices, Levi jeans to Turkish bread. It's quite the place - ideal for people who love to shop and haggle with the locals to get a good price.

The next morning, we took a public boat up the Bospherous River, to the edge of the Black Sea. There were some great sights to see on the way up: palaces, castle ruins, Embassy Houses, wooden houses and small suburbs. The boat ended at Anadolu Kavagi, where a climb to the top of the hill to castle ruins provides a view to the Black Sea, before we returned a few hours later. It was a nice and leisurely day away from middle of Istanbul - thoroughly enjoyable.

Our day trip to ANZAC Cove was a long day, but well worth it. We were up early and on the mini bus for a 4.5 - 5 hour journey to Gallipoli from Istanbul. The group was an interesting mix: us two kiwis, 4 Irish people, and 3 from Columbia - which meant we were the only ones that had an emotional link to the history of the place. We also picked up two Canadians, from a small town on the Peninsular - for the tour. Our guide was generally excellent, providing a thorough history of Turkey, the origins of the war - and the geo-strategic importance of the invasion. Visiting the Cove and seeing the graves and memorials was very sombre - and reinforced the scale and tragic nature of months of fighting. I know a lot of people visit Gallipoli Peninsular on ANZAC Day, and I know that it was special to them. But i'm very glad we were there not on ANZAC Day, so we could appreciate (in our own way) the history and sacrifice that was made, but without the crowds and in our own time. The view from Chunk Bair at the top of the Peninsular, which was taken and held by NZders for two days, before being taken again by the Turks (and where the NZ memorial is located), reinforced just how high up the terrain stretched and how difficult any sort of victory was for either side. After visiting the battlefields in Belgium and northern France a year and a half ago, I was very glad we could see such an important place.

Our last full day in Istanbul was a pretty relaxed one, taking in Taksim Square, the less-known but quite stunning Chora Church, and taking in the scenic view of the city from Galata Tower. President Obama was also visiting that day, and as a result the entire centre of the city was in lock down. We had to walk over 2kms around the outside of the Peninsular, just to get out!

The next day, we headed for the airport, and for 2 and a half days R&R in a region called Cappadocia, in central Turkey. we stayed in a very small and quiet town called Goreme, where we slept in a cave-hotel. It's hard to describe the landscape, so i'd encourage you all to have a look at it on the net - or see our photos when we put them up. It is simply stunning! We had a really great 3 nights, doing a surreal hot-air balloon ride over the spectacular landscape, a tour of the area (including wine tasting, a hike over the hills and a visit to an underground city, dating back to 2000BC) more fantastic Turkish food, and met loads of people - including a few Kiwis. It was fantastically sunny every day, and we even got a bit of colour. We flew back from Cappadocia to Istanbul for one more night, before flying back to London on Easter Sunday.

So that was Turkey! I was quite surprised at just how "European" Istanbul was. From the modern trams, cobblestone streets and modern shopping, some parts of Turkey certainly feel European. Almost all the food we had was great: meze, kebabs, seafood, breads, casseroles etc and the people were genuinely friendly. Cappadocia was truly special. I felt like I could just stare at the landscape for hours and hours, without losing interest. Our balloon ride over the town was probably the highlight of the holiday, but wandering amongst the hills and visiting stunningly decorated churches within the caves and in the open air museum of Goreme were equally as good. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Turkey. It would be great to go back and see some of the other great places we didn't see, but alas - the rest of the world awaits! ;-)

Wales, Xmas New Year and all that...

Hey. Just thought i'd give you a quick round up of the last few weeks or so of our lives. I took Mum and Dad to Cardiff for the All Blacks v Wales game. It was easily the toughest game of the tour, but still thoroughly enjoyable. It was also nice to get a bit of redemption after THAT game in Cardiff last year, which I won't talk about. After Dublin, I've now done something I was really hoping to do in the UK - to see the All Blacks play (and win) in all 5 of the major European rugby countries. Done. Major tick! ;-) That's 7 tests in less than 3 years - more than enough rugby ;-)

I then saw Mum and Dad off at Heathrow a few days later, safe and sound. They had a few days in San Francisco on the way home and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Work is still going well, and both Fiona and I were very busy in Nov/Dec. I have also been progressing my Stats certificate, which seems to be more work by the week.

On the 13th of Dec, Fiona and I went to see Elton John in concert at the O2, which was our Xmas present to each other. It was a pretty good concert (he played most of his good stuff, like Daniel, Candle in the Wind, Your Song etc), but lacked a little bit in atmosphere, compared to other concerts that we've been too.

Xmas was nice. Fiona and I spent 4 days in Oxford with my uncle and his extended family. Despite the usual chaos of having lots of kids and that many presents and people of Xmas day, we had really lovely food, John and Anne (and everyone else) did a superb job and a good time with the Kids.

Fiona and I had a pretty quiet New Year - had dinner and champagne at home, and have been doing a bit of sale shopping. We're off for a 10 night cruise in the Caribbean on Thursday for our Wedding Anniversary and cannot wait for the sun, warmth and clear blue seas of the Caribbean waters.

Hope you're all well, had a great Xmas and are enjoying the start of 2009.

The Emerald Isle

After a few days back in London and back at work after Egypt, Fiona and I, along with my Mum, Dad and uncle Mark headed for Dublin on Friday night, 14 Nov. We got into Dublin safe and sound, got our rental car and found our hotel.

I think the thing that everyone says about Ireland more than anything else is that the people are just so nice and friendly - and we had a great example of that on our first night. We were sitting in the hotel lobby, finishing a quiet drink before bed, when we were invited to join a few locals (and an Englishman) for a drink. It just so happened that they were in town on business (the wine industry) and were keen to share their very, very nice and expensive wines with us, while waiting for their early morning flight. In fact, it was like a proper wine tasting, such was the quality and variety they were feeding us :-) It was a great (if not slightly later night than we had planned) start to our trip.

Saturday we were up and about, sightseeing Dublin. We talked to a few locals here and there, wandered through the bar and cafe areas, full of rugby-goers. All the local were all great people to just chat to and very welcoming. After visiting Trinity College and seeing the famous Book of Kells, which I thought was really amazing, we did the only thing that any right-minded kiwi on the day of a rugby test in Dublin could do - visit the Guinness Factory! Actually, despite being a non-beer drinker, we all really enjoyed the tour, which ended with a free drink in a bar at the top of the factory, with a panoramic view of Dublin. There was also good shopping too be had, which a few friends and family benefited from.

It was then off to Croke Park for the All Blacks 22-3 victory over Ireland. The game itself was a little bit disappointing, with lots of mistakes by both teams, but in the end a relatively easy victory to NZ. The ground itself was amazing and full of emotional, Irish history - the loudest crowd i've experienced so far. It was just a shame that the Irish team couldn't quite match the Irish crowd.

Sunday was Fiona's 30th birthday, so we found a recommended cafe called "Queen of Tarts", which she really enjoyed, where we had morning tea. We then had a bit of a dodgy drive to Belfast. After totally over-estimating the length of the drive, we had loads of spare time, so stopped at a big mall for a bit of shopping. Fiona had to be back for work on Monday, so we took her to Belfast airport. But we followed the roads signs rather than Sat Nav, which was the longest possible route, and Fiona barely made the flight. But thankfully, she did. The rest of us tried a traditional Irish meal called a Boxty for dinner, which was pretty good.

Monday was a real highlight, driving all the way to the northern coast to see the Carnick-a-Rede rope bridge (which was sadly closed, so we couldn't cross it) and on to the spectacular Giant's Causeway. We had a fair bit of rain that day, but when we actually went down to see the Causeway, the sun came out and we had a brilliant experience, taking in the Causeway in all its glory with almost no one else around.

We then went on to LondonDerry (or Derry - depending on your politics). After wandering around the city walls, we visited the Bloody Sunday memorial and very powerful and moving murals; one of which is of a 14 year old girl who was accidentally killed by British soldiers while collecting rocks for school. Whilst taking in these amazing murals, we spoke to a local who was shot 3 times in the leg by British Soldiers during the battle of Bogside in Derry. He also told us that later, soldiers broke down his door and threw him in prison for absolutely no reason. He clearly held long, divisive feelings and said specifically that Thatcher should be indicted as a war criminal. It was quite amazing to hear (in person) from someone who was literally there and experienced everything, and felt so strongly in one particular way. But for me, the best part of experiencing that history first-hand, was that despite his strong feelings, he also strongly believed in the current peace process and said to us that he didn't want his children and grandchildren growing up in that life.

After Derry, we drove back to Belfast. Our last day we visited the murals from the Northern Irish conflict in Belfast, which were not nearly as impressive as Derry's. We also visited the docks, where the Titanic was built and literally had its final touches in the dry dock, which is still there, before being launched for Southhampton (from where it left - and then was sunk faster than pint of Guinness). We then flew back to London.

I really enjoyed Ireland, for the rugby obviously - but almost as much for the people we met: the wine drinking at the hotel, the locals on trams and trains that were so friendly and welcoming to us, and for the man in Derry who shared with us his experience of the conflict. It was something quite special.

Walk like an Egyptian...

The day after my birthday, Fiona, my Mum, Dad and I headed off to Egypt to fulfill a long held ambition to see the Pyramids and cruise the Nile. For my parents, having only been to Europe once before, let alone never visiting a country like Egypt, it was very much out of their comfort zone - but at the same time, a once of a life time opportunity.

We landed in Cairo late in the evening to absolute chaos and intense Egyptian heat. The arrival hall was more like the trading floor on Wall St, NYC, than an airport; but we nonetheless found our very useful tour assistant who guided us through the visa que and the long, long wait to go through immigration. Once all of that was out the way, we met the rest of our tour group and headed off to the "Pyramids view Hotel." It was pretty late by the time we made it, so went straight to bed.

Day two was all about the picture postcard stuff and Egyptian history 101. We started the day at the Sphynx and the Pyramids, which were truly everything I had hoped for. Mum and I braved going inside the second pyramid, which was like walking into a sauna, after walking down a mine-shaft. I didn't mind the walk down and into the Pyramid too much, aside from having to crouch so much, but the heat was too much - so Mum and I headed back out pretty much straight away. Fiona and Dad visited the boat museum, which housed some findings of ancient boats around the Pyramids, which they said were excellent. I'm really glad my friend Bruce had told me what to expect from local people around the Pyramids, who basically just harass you and harass you, over and over, unless you buy something or ignore them. I was pretty use to such situations from the Souks in Marrakech, but this was a lot more pushy and in your face than Morocco. It was a pretty unusual experience for Mum and Dad, who got suckered in once or twice, but did learn pretty quickly. The Sphynx was really fantastic and some of the most eye-catching parts of it were the beautifully carved and smooth, back legs, claws etc, which are still pretty much perfect.

After buying some beautiful papyrus from a gallery, (highly recommended by our guide); he then provided us with some fantastic falafel for lunch, en route to the Egyptian Museum. I had heard really good things about the museum, and having been blown away by the Met in NY and by the Hermitage in July, I did have huge expectations - and was not a bit disappointed. It was a really fantastic museum; small but full of Egyptian history and culture - and everything in it (except the Rosetta Stone) is original. From the slightly gruesome preserved animals, to the spectacular 11kg solid gold mask of Tutankhamen, Fiona and I loved every minute of the museum. After a bus ride back to Giza and a few hours rest, we enjoyed a really lovely meal altogether as a group, and even had a birthday cake for my Dad's birthday.

The next day was definitely not the best of the trip. Getting up early, we spent the day on the train from Cairo to Luxor. The train ride was good, comfortable, lots of leg room, really good to see the countryside of that part of Egypt etc. But the toilets on the train were revolting! Thankfully, we got to Luxor and joined our Boat, the M S Duma, which was very nice; and had a yummy dinner on board.

Day three in Luxor began by catching a boat across the Nile to the West Bank. While those light enough and keen enough (like Fiona) got to ride a donkey, the rest of us caught taxis up to the Valley of the Kings, via visiting the Colossal Statues of Memnon at Khornd. Our afternoon in the Valley of the Kings was really brilliant. Despite the intense heat of about 34-35* we visited the Tomb of Ramses 4th and Thutmoses, known as the Warrior King. The contrast between the two tombs was quite amazing, with the colours and hieroglyphics very, very different from the two periods. I'd certainly say the Valley of the Kings was a real highlight. After fending off a few more souvenir sellers, we headed to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Less than ten years ago, tourists were gunned down and killed by terrorists at this site, and it was hard to put that out of your mind - trying to concentrate on the fantastic carvings and statues. After lunch it was all free time. So after and a spot of relaxation on the boat, Fiona and I visited Luxor Museum - a really excellent museum we thoroughly enjoyed, and then wandered a few markets.

Day 5 started early for Fiona, who did a hot air balloon ride over the west bank of Luxor - which was quite stunning. With the rest of the group awake, we all then took horse-drawn carriages to Karnak Temple. Karnak doesn't have anything like the reputation of, say, the Pyramids of course, but it is just as spectacular. From the giant statues of Ramses II, to the "Forrest of Columns," with fantastic hieroglyphic carving and colours, Karnak was very much the surprise of the trip, and was quite brilliant. After that, we sailed on to Edfu, passed the Dam at Esna and the locks.

One of the more annoying aspects of a trip to Egypt is people harassing you to buy stuff. Some people really don't like it - others like me just accept it as part of the deal, and just ignore it. But one of the funniest things was that you couldn't even escape those entrepreneurs on the Nile!!! Two guys in a row boat decided, as their sales technique, to just row towards our boat and literally throw stuff up on deck, at you, hoping you'll buy it. On another occasion, we had two kids on a floating piece of wood, paddle up to our felucca to sing and try and get money out of us. Needless to say it was an interesting yet ultimately unsuccessful sales method; but hey - God loves a tryer!

We sailed on, visiting the Temple of Horus at Edfu and then to Kom Ombo, special because it is dedicated to two Gods, Horus (the Falcon God) and Sobek (the crocodile God). Sailing on further, we arrived at the beautiful city of Aswan. Then, Friday, was the day i'd really been looking forward to. We were up at 3.15am (yes, you read correctly), for our 3 hour, police-led convoy bus ride thru the dessert to the Temples of Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is an amazing set of two temples which were actually moved by UNESCO during the 60s, over 50m upwards and over 70m back away from the water. Not only is Abu Simbel breathtaking to look at, it is a truly engineering marvel. My uncle Mark had visited it over 15 years ago and described it as more spectacular than the pyramids, and i'd say they were equally as impressive.

Saturday, our second to last day of the tour, we had our one and only sleep-in, which was well needed. After breakfast, we did a felucca ride to Kitchner island to see the botanic gardens, which was quite a contrast to the dessert, history and dirt to the rest of Egypt. We ended the day with a sound and light show at Philae Temple. Most of our group really enjoyed it, but I was thoroughly under-whelmed. Sunday, we took the bus back to Luxor, had a really good look and shop around the markets, before flying back to London on Monday.

And that was Egypt. Fiona says it was her best holiday so far and its hard to argue - we really had a fantastic time. Out tour group was great, full of really nice, friendly and interesting people. The tour company was excellent, and Mohamed our guide was absolutely brilliant. Egypt itself is a really amazing place, so rich in history, culture and fantastic people. It was everything I had hoped for a more, and wouldn't hesitate to go back.

30th Birthday

Hi everyone,

Yes, it finally happened, I turned 30! Way back on 31 October, I had my 30th birthday at La Tasca Tapas bar in Covent Garden, and about 24 friends and family all come along and celebrate with me. My Mum and Dad had just arrived the day before from New Zealand, so it was really nice for them to meet all my friends who could make it. We had a really nice meal and plenty of celebration water. I've thanked everyone who came already, but just wanted to say again that it really meant a lot to me that you could make it. Also, if I haven't said so already, thanks to everyone for the birthday cards and best wishes.

Hope you enjoy the blogs on Egypt and Ireland. Soon to be followed by the Caribbean! :-)

From Russia with Love

Hi everyone. Fiona and I got back last week from a fantastic 11-day summer holiday in Estonia, Finland and Russia. We started in Tallinn, Estonia. After arriving early afternoon, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the old town, which was really nice. The cobblestone streets and architecture gave Tallinn a really nice, small-town feel. There was one massive downpour of rain as we wandered around, but it only lasted about half an hour and the rest of the time was beautiful sunshine until after 10pm. We had a pre-dinner drink at a fantastic wine bar, “Gloria’s Wine bar,” which was built into and under the old town wall. It was a really lovely place, with great wine and very cosy atmosphere. We had dinner at “The Old Hensa,” a medieval restaurant in the town square. It was a bit touristy, but we enjoyed the boar and other delights – as well as the ladies dressed as maid-Marion types singing from a roof-top platform. All in all, Tallinn was a really nice place to relax and wander, and take in the sights for an afternoon or so.

The next day we caught a ferry across the Gulf of Finland is beautiful weather, flat seas and very hot and sunny. Helsinki was also nice and sunny, and we spent another afternoon wandering around the city sights, including the square and a couple of cathedrals. We had met up with our friend Ethan in Helsinki, and he and I spent 2 hours taking in the Museum of Finland, which was pretty good. Fiona and I had a smoked reindeer sandwich each for lunch and soaked up the sun. Fiona and I thoroughly enjoyed a touch of luxury by staying a night at the Hilton (which was actually not much more than a double room at a B&B) and would definitely recommend it.

Saturday we embarked on our historic train journey to St Petersburg, following in the footsteps of Lenin who travelled in “The Sealed Train” in 1917 (with the help of German funds) from Geneva, through Finland, to St Petersburg to lead the Revolution. Our journey wasn’t quite so dramatic - thankfully. The train was very comfortable with more leg room than any train or plane that I’ve taken to date. It was just over a five and a half hour trip and gave us a good look at rural Finland and Russia. We arrived in St Petersburg safe and sound, to a very hot and sunny place. The taxi we had booked never showed up, but thankfully I was able to negotiate a fair price with a Russian taxi driver who took us to our hotel, where we met up with the rest of our tour group and had introductions.

Sunday was a bit wet (our only rainy day in Russia), but a perfect day to tour around St Petersburg. We travelled around by mini-bus taking in a lot of the main sights: Nevsky Prospect, Smolny Cathedral, St Nicholas’ cathedral, the Aurora (the ship that fired to signal the start of the Revolution in 1917), and the fantastic Church on Spilled Blood. After lunch, we took a tour of the Hermitage, which is truly amazing! We spent three hours doing our best to take in the spectacular state rooms of the Winter Palace and a small amount of the over 1 million exhibits that it contains. We all really enjoyed the tour – but couldn’t take in all in, in that short amount of time. During the evening, we went to a Cossack cultural show, complete with dancing Cossacks, singing, sword slinging etc. We also had plenty of vodka (which was VERY strong) and caviar – mmmmmmmm! ;-)

Monday we did more sight-seeing around beautiful St Petersburg, exploring Peter and Paul’s Fortress and Cathedral (where Peter the Great and Tsar Nicholas II are buried) and St Isaac’s Cathedral – which was spectacular. As part of the tour we had a very nice 3 course “Russian” lunch, including Borsch (Beetroot soup – which just tasted like stock), and very nice beef Stroganoff and pancake and ice cream (which were great). In the afternoon, we visited Peterhof Summer Gardens. The weather was very hot and sunny (again, you’re getting the idea!), so it was perfect to just wander around the Palace gardens, which were full of fountains, lining a canal which ran from the Grand Cascade to the edge of the gardens, meeting the Gulf of Finland. Fiona and I then finished a fantastic day (possibly the best of the tour) by seeing the “Swan Lake” ballet at the Alexandriinsky Theatre. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the ballet and definitely appreciate the strength and skill a lot more now, having seen one live. And the music was great too.

Tuesday was our last day in St Petersburg and a free day to do what we wanted. We went back to see the inside of the Church on Spilled Blood (built on the site of the assassination of Alexander II). The Church was floor to ceiling paintings, which were very impressive. We also did some shopping at the markets in front of the church and I took in a few last sights (the field of Mars and the eternal flame in memory of lives lost in WWII), St Kazan’s Cathedral and the Bronze Horseman (statue of Peter the Great, named after Pushkin’s poem).

It’s difficult to describe, but for me, St Petersburg’s is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. From the wide canals throughout the city, stunning architecture on every corner, amazing history, fantastic sites – it is a great place. We’d both really love to go back, especially to see the Hermitage, but we’ll have to see. If you get the chance, you really MUST visit St Petersburg.

Getting to Moscow was an “interesting” experience. We caught an overnight train from St Petersburg, to Vladimir – a small town and former capital. The train was really nice, modern and divided up into open compartments, each with its own table. It was really good, until you wanted to sleep; when it felt very hot, very small and not particularly comfortable. In saying that, we arrived in Vladimir at 5am and still managed to get 4-5 hours of sleep. Vladimir and Suzdal were two nice little towns, where we saw some lovely wooden churches and the old Kremlin.

By Thursday we’d made it to the Capital, Moscow, and what a difference to St Petersburg. Where St Pete’s had been beautiful, with a strong cultural and historical feel, Moscow was vey much the big, grey capital. However, despite the big-city overall feel, St Basils Cathedral on Red Square was absolutely spectacular (the one with brightly coloured, onion domes). There was also a fantastic market right next to our hotel, where we picked up some fantastic bargains, including Matryoshka dolls and one of those fluffy hats with the badge on the front. We also really enjoyed doing tours of both the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the Kremlin (although the latter was a little long). As well as a relaxing cruise down the Moscow River and seeing the Russian Art in the Tretyakov Gallery, our visit to Moscow was also a great trip.

And then we were on our way home. What can I say – Russia was a truly fantastic trip! Almost all our planning worked perfectly and we had a nice relaxing time in Tallinn and Helsinki. Our tour of Russia was brilliant, and I would thoroughly recommend On The Go for Russia. We had a superb tour guide; the food was mostly good, the sightseeing and cultural side of our trip was AMAZING! Our group was only about 12 people, a really nice size for a tour like that – and they were all really great people (aside from the fact the All Blacks lost to Australia while we were in Moscow, and 8 of the 12 were Australian!) All in all, I really, really enjoyed Russia and would recommend it to anyone. It’s not the friendliest place, nor is it particularly easy to get around without a little help (at least to begin with). But St Petersburg is just brilliant!
No more travelling for a little while now, but Mum and Dad will be here at the end of October, and we’re off to Egypt and then Ireland. Cheers!

Switzerland

At the end of May, Fiona and I spent 5 fantastic days in Switzerland (Suisse), staying with two friends of ours - Ali and Sophie.



On Thursday we flew to Geneva from London. We've been to Geneva before (our very first trip to Europe when we first arrived), so we caught a train straight away to the small town of Chermignon where my friend Sophie lives.



Sophie, Ali and I were all exchange students in Canada back in 1995/96. I hadn't seen Sophie since 1996, over 12 years ago, and I had only seen Ali once (very briefly for a coffee, in Wellington) when her and her boyfriend were passing through.



Chermignon is in the Sierre region, in the canton of Valais in Suisse. It is a very beautiful place, up in the mountains, looking out onto a spectacular view of the Suisse Alps. We spent two fantastic days with Sophie and her boyfriend, seeing other towns near by like Sierre and had a really nice lake-side bbq. It's hard to describe how fantastic it there: up in the mountains, fantastic weather, clean, fresh air...we slept to well it, it was great.



We then caught a train through the mountains, past towns like Inter-Larken, to Luzern, where we met up with Ali. Luzern is a lovely lake-side town. After lunch, we wandered the streets through the old town. A lot of the buildings in the older part of the town were painted with pictures, such as the last supper, knights, famous people etc. The colours and the quality were fantastic and quite unique. We also walked over the Kappellbrucke wooden bridge and wandered around the lake-side.



After saying good-bye to Sophie, Fiona and I went with Ali onto Zurich, where we stayed for two more days. On the Sunday, Ali and her boyfriend gave us a guided tour around Zurich - which is a very nice city - clean, attractive and welcoming. As well as looking all around the town, we took a train and then walked up the mountain and got a fantastic view over Zurich, which was a great place for some photos, and enabled me to use my limited German to order lunch - a simple Bratwurst and fries was pretty much all I could manage. Monday, before we headed back to London, we spent the morning shopping before meeting Ali for lunch and a good-bye.



Both Fiona and I had a fantastic 5 days in Suisse and we can't thank Ali and Sophie enough for having us stay with them. They live in a really beautiful country - not only clean, beautiful and very efficient (as everyone knows) but friendly, engaging, small everything you could possibly want and more. It was so nice to see two friends after so many years, and have such a nice time together. Suisse really is a fantastic place, but it was so much more for us because of our friends, who showed us the real life, rather than just the tourist places most get to see.



That's about it for a while. Fiona and I are having a couple of quiet weeks now before a busy July. I am doing a central London 10km run, which snakes its way through Piccadilly, the Mall, Westminster, Trafalgar Square etc. We're then hoping to visit my uncle and his family again for a weekend, for heading off for our big trip for the summer (and my dream trip for the year) to Tallinn, Helsinki and Russia - for 11 days!

Belgium & Lords

Hi everyone.

It's been quite a while since my last post, so here is the first of two new posts to keep you up to date from the past few months.

At the beginning of May Fi and I headed for a long weekend in Brussels and Bruges in Belgium. We took our favourite transport (the Eurostar) on Friday afternoon and arrived in Brussels in late afternoon. It was a fantastic, sunny day (as it was for the whole weekend) so we stayed out well into the evening wandering around the central square. For dinner we went to an out of the way old Belgian restaurant, which was brilliant. I had a superb steak and Fiona had guinea-foul with a raspberry-beer sauce -both of which were fantastic. Saturday (again in the hot sun) we spent the day wandering the sights of Brussels; starting with a local market, the Courts of Justice, the central square, Cathedral etc. We tasted some fantastic local cuisine, including beers, waffles, chocolates (a lot!) and mussels.

On Sunday we caught a train to the lovely town of Bruges. Bruges is a very old, quite touristy town with canals running all the way through it. We started the day with a canal tour, which went all around the town. It was another hot, humid day and Bruges was packed with tourists. But we had a very enjoyable day just wandering around, lounging by the river, and had a 3 course lunch. There aren't that many "big" sights to see in Bruges or Brussels, indeed probably the most important sight in Brussels is the statue of the little boy pee-ing! But we had a really nice, relaxing weekend in the sun and enjoyed Belgium for all it was worth.

A week or two later I got the chance to watch NZ play England at the famous Lords cricket ground - which all in all was a big disappointment all-round. My uncle Mark and I went on the Friday and saw about half a days play. the players were off and on the field all day because of bad light - which was just stupid, as it barely changed at all, all day. But it was nice to spend a day with Mark and see Lords. The Saturday was worse. It was freezing, we only saw about 20 minutes of cricket, and spent the whole day watching the rain off and on. So it was pretty disappointing - but we do get a refund for the Saturday.

Weather and play aside, really was not impressed by Lords at all. I never seen so many ties and blazers at a cricket game ever! and the whole place (acknowledging the tradition) was just very stuffy and "toff" (as they say in the UK). All-in-all it just wasn't any where near as impressive as I had heard and hoped it would be. Unlike Wembley, which is a truly fantastic stadium - one of if not the best in the world - something quite special. Anyway, on to Suisse...

Fi & Steve's Tour de France

Hey everyone.

Fiona and I just got back from a great week in France, finishing on the Saturday of Easter. We left last Saturday and after catching the Eurostar to Lille, we grabbed our rental car and headed to Boulogne Sur Mer, on the north-west coast. Our rental car, a small 1.2L Kia Picanto, we nick-named "the Jaffa" - as that was small, red and pretty much rolled up and down the hills. But it drove well enough and got us on our way.

Sunday morning dawned a nice day and after breakfast we had a walk around the town's ramparts, which included a viking ship at the foot of one of the ramparts. We then drove to Rouen, where unfortunately it was rather wet. We did have a very nice lunch and saw the impressive cathedral, but the rain had us on the road fairly quickly to Caen. Thankfully, with a bit of rain off and on, most of the rest of the trip was nice and sunny.

Monday we drove down the coast from Caen to the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy. We first stopped at Juno beach where Canada's troops came ashore and took control. We then moved onto Arromanches, where the British and some Commonwealth troops landed and faced a bitter battle with the Nazi's. We visited the Centre there and saw some quite remarkable footage of the landings and their aftermath. What I hadn't fully appreciated was that the allies built a floating port off the coast, buy building the necessary parts of a port in the UK and then towing them afloat across the channel. This then allowed them to roll out the necessary tanks and other hardware, as well as supplies, to support the troops advancing through the towns and cities of France. Some of the concrete structures of the port remain to be seen off the beach, providing a permanent reminder to the fierce battles that took place and the lives that were lost. We also visited Omaha Beach, where American troops landed - which was depicted in "Saving Private Ryan." It wasn't hard to picture and sacrifice that took place on those beaches, during those crucial days of the invasion.

In total contrast, after the beaches we drove to Bayeux to see the almost-1000 year old Bayeux tapestry, which tells the story of the Norman's invasion of England. For such a fragile relic, it is in fantastic condition and the audio guide explains the history very well. After a very busy and historical day, we drove onto Granville, with a brief stop in Coutances to see a very impressive cathedral.

Tuesday was a real highlight for me, starting the day by driving a short distance to Mont St Michel. If you haven't seen the Mont, it really is quite a stunning picture off the Normandy coast. It is dominated by an Abbey, which takes up most of the Mont and it was really enjoyable to walk around it and admire the views from the top. Sadly, the "town" was a real disappointment, not much more than the most tacky tourist shops you can imagine. But it didn't spoil the Mont itself, which is well worth the visit.

As we drove from the Mont towards Brittany, we ran over a small rock and got a puncture. We weren't impressed to see that the rental company had removed the spare tyre, so we had to call the help line and wait for a mechanic. To cut a long story short, we got towed to a mechanics and then onto a rental car hire...6 hours later, we finally got the tyre replaced and were back on the road. We did miss spending time in one or two places, but we did get to Cancale for a fantastic seafood dinner (I had a total of 5 courses, and enjoyed every minute!)

Wednesday we decided to get an early start and drove from Brittany south to the Loire Valley; "wine country." We started in the small town of Saumur, where we visited Chateau de Saumur and did some wine tasting. It was a really nice town and needless to say we very much enjoyed the wine, buying 3 bottles to take back to London. With a nice sunny day and having seen Saumur, we decided to drive on further into the valley to the small town of Amboise. The road wound it's way along the Loire river, which was a thoroughly enjoyable drive. All the way along, there are houses ("troglodytes") built into the caves and side of the hill that were very impressive.

We spent two nights in Amboise and had a nice, relaxing day in between. Thursday we looked around Amboise, its Chateau, shops and had a nice lunch. We also saw probably the best Chateau, Chenonseau, just a few km's away from Amboise. It is actually built over a river and was quite fantastic. We did more wine tasting in Amboise and bought another 3 bottles of really fantastic wine.

Friday we drove up to Chambord Chateau, the biggest in the region, and then drove onto Chartres, our last stop. After a five and a half hour drive from Chartres to Lille on Saturday, we were back on the Eurostar from Lille to London.

All in all, France was great. The week almost felt like a blur afterwards and I didn't really know where the week went. The history of the D-Day landing beaches and Bayeux tapestry, the stunning picture that is Mont St Michel, to the fantastic wine and Chateau's of the Loire Valley, we had a great time. Despite the negative impression that some people have of French people (particularly some Nzders and Brits), we have always found the French a friendly and welcoming people. France is one of our favourite places and we'll definitely be back again next year.

Tromso (and photos)

Hey everyone.

Click here for photos

Its been a while since I last posted, so here is an update. Fiona and I were both been really busy at work throughout January and we were hanging out for our trip of a lifetime (my words) to Tromso, in Norwegian Lapland, well up inside the Arctic Circle - about 70* north. And, we weren't disappointed.

Tromso is a truly stunning place, a small island with a population of about 50,000 just off the coast of Norway. A bridge over the freezing cold, calm waters links the town to the mainland and the landscape is filled with snow covered mountains. After two, two hour flights (via Oslo) we arrived Thursday afternoon. It was dark by around 3:30 - 4pm, but we did have a bit of a walk around the town at night to get ourselves oriented. As an aside, 4 kiwis live in Tromso - because of Norwegian women I am reliably informed.

Friday (the next day) we spent looking around the city, browsing through a few shops and taking a bus across to the mainland to see the Arctic Cathedral and visiting many of the sights around the town, including the Perspektivet Museum, which had a photography exhibition on Norwegian and Russian relations. Friday night we treated ourselves to a fantastic meal of reindeer, served with potato and mushrooms. Funnily enough, is tasted a bit like venison, but a bit more rich and more substantial a cut - like steak. Very, very nice - sorry Rudolph!

Saturday we did a bit more looking around the town. Fiona went for a walk slightly above the town while I did some retail therapy. We also visited "Blast" the northern most glass blowing open workshop in the world, and Mack brewery (which was the world's northern most, but some one build one somewhere else a few degrees further north). We also visited the Polaria, a polar centre on the water front, home to some native bearded seals, which we watched being trained.

Saturday night was the "main event" so to speak. We were picked up from our hotel by coach and went about an hour inland to the husky farm. Provided with thermal overalls, boots, hats, gloves etc were were given our own sled and team of huskys to follow the trail. Fiona sat on the front of the sled and I stood on the back, pretending to look like I knew what I was doing, with foot firmly planted on the break. By the time we all got organised all the dogs were howling, more than ready to go. So with no steering and just a break, we were on our way in about -10 degrees.

Our team of five were fantastic, incredibly strong dogs. It was a bit of a learning curve and after about 5 minutes of sledding we went a little too fast, tipped the sled a little too far one way and I fell off. I held onto the back for a few seconds being dragged along in the snow before letting go while the sled with Fiona on board kept going without me! Thankfully the leader in front calmly grabbed the dogs by their harnesses, who happily stopped. Quite a few people fell off at some stage, so I didn't feel too bad, or look too stupid. After that, it was all plain sledding, up and down the hills, gliding along over the knee-high snow along the valleys in amongst the towering snow covered mountains. Although it was dark, the sceenery was spectacular and eerily quiet, with a beatuiful clear sky.

After a little while, we saw the northern lights - which drifted across the sky for the rest of the 2 and a half hours we were out sledding. They were mostly white, sometimes green and a little bit pink at one stage. They were truly amazing, spread across the entire sky making beautiful shapes and patterns, many koru-like. At one stage, when it was just our sled with no others within sight in front or behind, sledding across the snow beneath the northern lights, it felt like the best place in the world.

On the way back, we stopped at a camp and had a meal of soup and bread. Sledding was actually quite hard work, as you sometimes had to help by taking your weight off pushing along like a skate board, or getting off completely and running behind - jumping back on before the huskys took off without you. And then, that was that. After about 3 hours with the dogs we were back on the bus and back in Tromso after midnight, and back in London by Sunday evening. It was everything I expected, and 10 times more.

Since Tromso we've been doing our usual things, shopping at the market, watching sport and other usual weekend stuff. On valentines day we went to a show at the O2 (aka the Millenium Dome) to see the UK version of Dancing with the Stars, which was pretty cool.

Next stop, off to France (Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley) for the week prior to Easter

Wedding Anniversary

Last Thursday was my and Fiona's 4th wedding anniversary. We went out for a really nice dinner at Rivington's restaurant in Greenwich. Fiona has scallops and I had fish pie, which included smoked haddock, salmon and monk fish. We both had dessert (sticky toffee pudding, chocolate mousse), which neither of us could finish. It was a really lovely evening and a great way to mark 4 very special years. Next year is a special one, 5 years, and Fiona and I are off to the Caribbean!

Wednesday night was my Xmas present - I went to the Emirates to watch Arsenal v Spurs with two good friends of mine. It was a god night, but Arsenal played like rubbish for much of the game and with transports issues and a few empty seats, it was at times a bit flat. But late in the second half, the crowd really got behind the home team, who equalised at 1-1 (the final score). Spurs haven't beaten Arsenal since 1999 and we sure let them know. It was great to see another game, let alone being a semi-final as well as thee local derby in London. Got my fingers crossed I'll get to one more game this season at least.

We had Natalie and Deano (Fiona's sister and her boyfriend) stay with us over a few nights last week. Friday night we had a few drinks at the pub and went out together with Natalie's friend Julia and her boyfriend Hamish. Saturday we did our fruit and vege shopping at Borough Market, before braving Oxford St for a spot of shopping. They both did loads of shopping the last few days, a great way to finish any holiday to London.

Less than 4 weeks until we're off to the Arctic circle to see the Northern Lights and huskies!