Part II of Winter Road Trip

We are now back in London and have had 2 days back at work (3 for Nath - I love being a teacher!).  When we last left you we were in Vienna for Christmas.  From there we moved onto Slovakia to a little palce called Liptovsky Mikulas which is situated at the base of the biggest ski field in Slovakia, Jansa. We had two awesome days of skiing for a very reasonable price.  Even at the ski field beers were only 1 euro.  We were unsure how good the snow and facilities would be as Slovakia doens't have a reputation for skiing.  The snow was mostly good, much better than what we get at Ruapehu, and the chair lifts were cool and even had a gondola.  Overall better and cheaper than Ruapehu.

We then drove onto Krakow where we were to celebrate the New Year in the Old Town square.  The square was packed with people and fireworks were set off at midnight.  In previous years there is usually bands and DJs playing but not this year, the atmosphere was still good though.  While in Krakow we visited Wieliczka Salt Mine and the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.   Nath and I got up early on the morning of the 1st and walked up the hill to Wawel Castle, where the Polish Royal Family used to live, and had a wander around the castle grounds. 

The last leg of our journey was a stop over in Wroclaw.  When we walked to the main square we could see a big stage being dismantled so we wonder if New Year celebrations moved from Krakow to Wroclaw and we didn't get the memo!
A fantastic road trip came to an end as we had to resume normal life and head back to work.  I have been eased into it and have 3 teacher only days this week with students starting back on Monday.  To ease the post holiday blues Nath and I have booked some flights and have plenty of travel lined up for 2012.  Bring it on! 

Winter Road Trip

Our Christmas road trip has begun. So far we have visited Berlin, Prague and Vienna, and stopped at some cute wee villages along the way. With the rental car we only have one speeding ticket, one incidence of driving on the wrong side of the road, and one ticket for not purchasing a road toll in Austria! A good start to driving in Europe I'd say. We have mastered the art of packing the boot, it's much like a jig saw puzzle, making sure we put the bags in in the right order.

Currently it is Christmas in NZ and through Skype I was able to watch Mum open her present from me, seems totally bizarre almost like I was there.
In Berlin we did a city walking tour which ended at an awesome pub where you pour your own beers and you pay by the ml. From our table we had a computer where we could order food, and then at the end our bill still had a service charge! Cheeky considering I poured my own beers and ordered my food without a waitress.
In Prague we went to visit the Castle, which is the biggest tourist attraction. After walking up the hill to the Castle we discovered it was closed due to an ex-president dying and lying in state at the castle. For some reason we got up the next morning, hiked up the hill, and yip you guessed it, same result!
We are now in Vienna for Christmas with Naths brother and his wife's family. It is so nice to see our 20 month old niece, last time we saw her she was 6 months old, she is a little sceptical of us, but to avoid going to bed tonight jumped up on the couch for us to read her a book, only problem was the book was in German, so we made up a story to go with the pictures.
Frohe Weihnachten, Merry Christmas!

Sporting Events

We have been to two massive sporting events recently.  #1 ATP Tour tennis finals to watch Djokovic play Ferrer at the O2 arena. #2 Chelsea play Valencia in the last game of pool play in the Champions League.  Chelsea had to win to make it through to the knock out round.  I love all the opportunities to watch big matches in London.  Unfortunately they come at a cost, but are usually worth it.  I really want to get to Wimbledon this coming Summer and of course there are also the Olympics to look forward to.  We have tickets for the Women's Football gold medal match and Mens Beach Volley quarterfinals.
This is our last weekend in London before embarking on our Christmas road trip.  We are planing on visiting Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and I still need to buy some winter woolies to help keep me warm in the Northern Hemisphere winter.

Florence

Well after a cancelled flight, a 3hr delayed flight due to Italian workers air strikes, no train service from Pisa to Florence due to a strike, I somehow managed to arrive in Florence.  Work sent me on professional development training so it was pretty full on from day 1 - 3.  As they all say, I was too busy working to see much of the city, and it was true.  Our course started at 8:30am and finished at 4:30.  I have learnt loads and have a better understanding of the curriculum we are trying to teach here.

In the evenings my colleague and I would head into town to spend an hour looking in shops before they closed at 6!  Everything closed up early as it is 'low season'.  We didn't get to see Michelangelo's David, nor the Duomo Cathedral.  I did manage to buy some leather goods - gloves lined with cashmere to keep my fingers warm in winter, and a new handbag that I really "needed". 
Florence is such a romantic city. We wandered little narrow streets that would open up onto a big piazza with restaurants around the outside and a fountain in the middle.  Many couples were eating outside, despite the cold, snuggled up to each other which added to the air of romance.  The homemade ravioli and steaming hot pizza that I had for dinner were amazing.  The prices were very reasonable too, not that it mattered much as school was paying.  Florence is definately a city I will come back and visit, and I'll bring Nathan along too.  It is a shame I was stuck in a classroom and couldn't be out and about doing my tourist thing.
Less than a month til our epic Christmas road trip where I will be definitely be able to explore new cities.  We are covering 5 countries in 16 days so there will be lots to see!  Until then I have reports to write, how fun.

Blackheath Fireworks and Amy leaving :(

On Saturday Amy had a farewell to London with a few drinks at the pub followed by a fireworks display at Blackheath.  Only a quiet 100,000 at the fireworks!!  The pub where we met was located under the railway arches of Waterloo train station - very cool - and had murals on the ceilings to commemerate the Battle of Waterloo.  Very British.
After the fireworks bonanza we walked through Greenwich where we came across a relatively empty pub.  Turns out it is a student pub with really cheap drinks - £11 for a round hell yeah.
We are meeting up with Amy one last time for dinner on Wednesday night before she heads back to NZ to set up a love nest with Brad.  I will miss Amy loads.  We had an all inclusive girly trip to Spain, an ANZAC trip to Gallipoli, loads of Friday night dinner and drinks when Nath and I lived in West London, and she convinced me to buy my coffee machine  What a good influence Amy is!. 

In amongst the crowd!

Spain - Lloret de Mar, Barcelona and Tossa de Mar

Ola,
My mid term break has been and gone and Im back at work feeling like I just didn't have a week off in Spain! 
Before we departed we lost a 'man' to an ear infection so that just left Amanda, Vic and myself to battle the Brits abroad.  The trip started with the an early Ryan air flight out of Stanstead - how else would a cheap holiday start, its the only way.  We arrived at our resort, which I would call a hotel with a pool, in time to sample the free cocktails and hit the restaurant for lunch.  The food was very ave - french fries were served at breakfast, lunch and dinner so this gives you some idea as to how classy the 'resort' was.  Not to mention the plastic cups our drinks were served in, and this now gives you the full picture of our holiday experience.

Vic and Amanda enjoying the cocktail of the day!

We had two days where we took day trips to explore Barcelona.  It was nice to get away from the tacky Englified tourist town of Lloret de Mar where we were staying.  Barcelona had some crazy looking architecture from Antoine Gaurdi and a lovely built up water front area.

On another day we took a quick bus trip to Tossa de Mar where we wandered quaint little cobble stoned streets and found restaurants tucked into the hill side.  Tossa was less touristy and more Spanish than English.  The weather started pissing down towards the end of the day so we headed back to our resort for cocktails and french fries.

With no plan of attack for our last day we bit the bullet and explored Lloret de Mar.  We managed to find an awesome Dutch restaurant and another place selling cheap gellato.
All in all we got what we paid for with this trip.  £258 - all inclusive food and drinks, flights, transfers and 4 nights accommodation.  It was a shame the weather wasn't a little hotter as we didn't get to relax by the pool or swim in the sea which was my main plan for the holiday.
Next trip is to Florence for 4 days with a work conference.

Adios amigos.   

Spurs vs Rubin Kazan

Nath, Bozzie and I experienced our 1st live premiere team in action.  Our local North |London team, Tottenham Hotspurs, were playing a Russian team in the Europa League.  I was hooked by the realatively cheap price of the tickets - not realising that due to being in the early stages of the tournament Spurs were resting lots of top players, and the stadium was only half full so I didn't get the atmosphere I was expecting either.  Prior to the match students at school were doing some role play scenarios in case I was approached by locals after the game.  You see Tottenham is where the London Riots kicked off, the birthplace of anarchy, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the crowds, but in the end I didn't need to reenact the role plays .