Boxing Day to Hogmanay!

Boxing Day

A beautiful, clear day in Saas-Fee. We had three goals for the day.

1. Successfully negotiate the many winding paths through the village to find the beautiful stone bridge over a running stream we had seen from the gondola yesterday.

2. Go for a snow walk in the mountains.

3. Build a snowman.

We managed to do all three.

Even though it was absolutely freezing we enjoyed a lovely walk through the town (typically taking short-cuts through knee-deep snow to find our little bridge). It was as beautiful as it looked from up high.

A little further on we found a perfect place to build our snowman. The snow was so beautiful and powdery, it was hard to get it to stick - but get it to stick we did!

Meet Hugo

He's not huge - but he's the best we could do with non-waterproof gloves (Phil donated his gloves, hat and scarf to 'Hugo' anyway!).

Spent the afternoon taking a wonderful, long walk through the mountains on one of the snow-walking paths. It was lovely to have the time to actually take in the beauty of our surroundings.

Completed our day with a night-time stroll through the village.

Saas-Fee is another one that definitely goes on the 'must return' list.

Saturday 27th

Said good-bye to Saas-Fee and got back into our little car for our journey into France. Did some more driving through the magnificent alps before crossing the border and heading to the Mont Blanc ski town of Chamonix.

There is a tunnel right through Mont Blanc from France to Italy. Couldn't resist 'popping in' to Italy for a pizza! Drove through the tunnel (an experience in itself) and then for about an hour beyond to the lovely town of Aosta.

The drive from France to Italy

Once again, found ourselves driving through the middle of the old town square (much to the astonishment of the locals - don't think we were meant to do that!) and eventually found a lovely pizzeria.

The town square of Aosta - Italy

Headed back into France and continued on our way to our destination for the evening - Annecy - 'the Venice of the Alps'. What a beautiful town. Annecy sits on the shore of what is apparently the purest lake in Europe. A river flows from the lake in canal-like fashion through the old town and the buildings are literally built on the river - Venice style. Took a stroll along the river and to the lake and marvelled at how perfectly clear the water was. We've never seen anything like it. You can see straight to the bottom. Ducks can be seen perfectly clearly as they dive to the bottom of the lake for a feed.

Annecy


Louise at Lake Annecy

We really knew we were in France. Shuttered windows. Little balconies. Dozens and dozens of restaurants and cafes. We ended up in a fabulous piano bar listening to a four-piece jazz band (just locals jamming - very talented!), enjoying French wine and cheese. Louise is in heaven!!

Sunday 28th

Our morning exploration of Annecy was made all the more fun by the fact that the local produce market comes to town on a Sunday morning. Every second stall sold cheese(hooray!!!). Every other stall sold sausage. It was bustling. Stayed and wandered for quite some time.

Reluctantly left and continued on our way to our next French destination - Riquewihr in the Alsace region. After a fairly big driving day, we arrived by nightfall.

Riquewihr is a small town with a positively ancient old town centre surrounded by an intact old city wall. We're pretty clever and catch on quickly - so we decided not to drive through this old town centre!! Instead, we parked the car and walked to our hotel (pretty fast learners, hey!!?? Shame we're leaving Europe in a couple of days...!) On checking in we discovered that this is one town square you actually can drive through if you're staying inside the walls (groan!!).


Riquewihr

Spent a lovely evening exploring the old town - beautiful half-timbered buildings mostly dating from the 1500s - quite unlike anything we've seen. There were quite a few other people enjoying the sights which added to the atmosphere. Had a lovely dinner of food and wine from the local Alsace region to complete the day.

Monday 29th

Spent the morning exploring Riquewihr by daylight - beautiful. Continued on our way north towards Frankfurt where we're spending tonight in readiness for our morning flight to Edinburgh tomorrow. The drive took us through some beautiful Alsace region vineyards - quite spectacular scenery.

The Alsace region (above and below)



As we had the whole day at our disposal, we decided to take a detour through the Black Forest. At this time of the year it's more like the white forest, really beautiful under snow.

Arrived at the Frankfurt airport hotel in the evening - feeling very proud of the fact that we were so well organised and could get up in the morning and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before driving 10 minutes to the airport. We were just congratulating ourselves on the success of our European journey and the fact we'd made it without a hitch (what's driving through a few town squares between friends?). Well - we obviously should have touched wood at that point...

We're not sure why, but it was at about that minute that we both had a sudden urge to check how many airports there are in Frankfurt - call it a 'feeling' - are we staying at the right one? A quick bit of detective work (thanks, Google) and... guess what?? There's more than one airport at Frankfurt and we were staying near the wrong one!! The one we needed is about 100km away! So much for a leisurely breakfast. Had to get up an hour earlier and skip breakfast to make the flight. Oh well - we nearly made it without a hitch and our waistlines could certainly do without another continental breakfast - but it was our last one!

Tuesday 30th

Made the flight in plenty of time and arrived in Edinburgh around lunchtime. Spent the afternoon wandering along the Royal Mile - it's nice to be back! Edinburgh is very different at this time of year - all geared up for Hogmanay. The gardens are turned into a bit of a fair ground (including an outdoor ice-skating rink) and there are people everywhere - a great atmosphere!

Visited a beautiful old pub on the Royal Mile for dinner and met a great couple - Barbie and Graham from Newcastle. Had a fun couple of hours chatting - lots of laughs.

With Barbie and Graham at 'The Mitre' on the Royal Mile (go Newcastle!)

Ventured on to our next activity for the evening - a stand-up comedy venue. Can't remember when we've laughed so much! Three spectacular comediens and a very funny compere - all had us in stitches. Had a brilliant time and met another great couple - Danny and Rachael. All the best for continued succes with 'Mrs Bucket' (it's Bouquet!!) Rachael - sounds like the business is going brilliantly! Congratulations.

Getting excited - it's Hogmanay tomorrow!!

Wednesday 31st - Hogmanay

Spent the morning exploring Edinburgh Castle. There's so much to see! Museums, fabulous architecure, exhibitions, a war memorial, a beautiful chapel... we spent hours here.

Phil at Edinburgh Castle

Enjoyed an afternoon visit to the Scottish National Gallery - a really impressive collection of art from a whole range of periods (including Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt, Van Gough, Monet, etc).

And now for the purpose of our visit to Edinburgh - Hogmanay!!

We had an absolutely brilliant time! Wandered through the street party on our way to the Ceilidh in the Gardens. There was a really great atmosphere. The ceilidh was a separate ticketed event and the number of people there was perfect. The dance floor was actually the open air ice-skating rink covered with a rubber floor - a great idea. While people were packed into the area, there was still enough room to dance - and dance we did! Strip the Willow, the Dashing White Sergeant, the Gay Gordons - didn't even feel the below zero temperature (not sure if those wearing kilts would agree)! By the end of the night, we had become 'experts' and were actually teaching the steps to others! We had a really fun time and met lots of great people. At midnight there was a brilliant firework display from Edinburgh Castle - it was a real show-stopper. Had another few dances before making our way home. The ceilidh at Edinburgh's Hogmanay was certainly a great way to see in the new year.

Fireworks from the castle


Happy Hogmanay!

1st January 2009

Happy New Year!

Spent our last few hours in Edinburgh walking up the very steep hill (at the foot of the Royal Mile near Holyrood Palace) to Arthur's Seat which affords a spectacular view over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth. Well worth the climb.

View from the walk to Arthur's Seat - Edinburgh Castle in the background

Back in London now for a couple of days - preparing for our next adventure - two weeks in Russia!

Wishing you all a very safe and happy 2009!

A White Christmas Day

Hi everyone - hope you all had a great Christmas day - ours is just coming to an end!

What a day - it was just what you would dream of in the iconic white Christmas sense.

From Phil's perspective, this post is coming courtesy of an individual you was born and raised in Queensland with all those white Christmas images invading me for close to 50yrs while enduring sweltering hot Christmas days - but never to experience it and always wondering if it could ever live up to the hype.

Well I feel as though I can now comment from today's experience of a truly white Christmas.

The verdict - do it!

We woke this morning to look out from our hotel window to see the most wonderful scenery of magestic swiss mountains covered in snow with the most beautifull village of Sass-Fee snugly cradled within the valley of mountains - we were truly content on Christmas morning in such a setting - although in just a little way without saying a word we were just a little disappointed about one thing that was missing from this almost perfect setting.

Well - just about five minutes after we woke Louise cried out loudly with great anticipation - "I think it is snowing!!" Within another five minutes heavy snow was falling before our eyes completing a perfect Chistmas morning scene - we were indeed starting a most perfect white Chistmas day.

It is commonly stated that a picture is worth a thousand words - so perhaps the following pictures can best describe our day - we will of course provide some commentary to complete the picture (Well I will because Louise is now sleeping after a very big day!!).

Christmas morning our very own Christmas tree outside our window


Look ever so carefully - it's snowing!


Off we go for the day - lots of snow for this early in the season - even for the alps! But first we had to go shopping for some new snow boots for Louise to stop her slipping down the icy paths


Very old wooden animal shelters in the middle of the village - still in use as evidenced by the aroma


Our Christmas village


Lower end of the village


Decided to go up in a gondola to one of the lower altitude restaurants for lunch


Up and up to 2500 metres


We met some very nice people at lunch - Kate, Jamie, Mandy and Shaun (L to R)


All of us - love the one piece, Jamie

Thanks to the encouragement of our new friends we were off to the other side of the village for another gondola ride to experience something new - we are going tobogganing - apparently!!!

Before Louise knew it - we were on our way!


The mandatory group photo before setting down the mountain on those little wooden sleds- getting more nervous now!!


Not really - we can do it!!!


This about sums it up!!

This completes the picture - such great fun - we absolutley had a ball thanks to the encouragement of our new friends


So we had to have a hot wine to celebrate at an outdoor rest stop almost at the bottom of the slopes - thanks so much guys - would not have done it without your encouragement, support, lessons on the way down - the great thing about travel is meeting great new people from all over the world


I did it!! Sunset at the bottom of the toboggan run - before we went to enjoy a 5 course Christmas dinner thanks to Mum Judy who gave us some travel money as our Christmas present to make sure we had a great Christmas meal - we sure did to complete a fantastic day.


Louise emailing her mum tonight before she fell asleep after a very very big day - wearing her new snow hat - noice!!

Thinking of you all at the end of our Christmas day.

We have another full day in Saas-Fee tomorrow (26th) before we head to France and back to Germany (Frankfurt) to catch a flight to Edinburgh for New Years Eve (Hogmanay festival).

PS - because the teacher fell asleep I take all responsibility for the content of this posting - red pen is still in her pocket. I feel like a naughty boy sneaking into the kitchen to steal a biscuit!!

Regards and keep safe.

Merry Christmas!

Hello everybody - Merry Christmas!



It's Christmas Eve here in Saas-Fee (as you can tell from the unopened pressies!) - our home for the next three nights. We're in the most idyllic village surrounded by the Swiss alps. Have updated the blog (sorry - another writing marathon) to include our Austrian adventures and the journey to here. Will post again after we've had our Christmas day.

Saturday 20th

Had another quick look around Sopron and took some daylight photos. It was a real treat to be in this town – we didn’t see any other tourists and felt like we were mixing with the locals.

As Sopron is in the far west of Hungary, it wasn’t long before we crossed the border into Austria. We had a lot of distance to cover today so stuck mostly to the motorways.

We did make time, though, for a visit to beautiful Vienna. Saw the Opera House (had a mental picture of you, Mum Judy – camping out to see Pavarotti!!), the Rathaus (Town Hall), St Stephen’s Cathedral and the Schonbrunn Palace. Did some window shopping (all we could afford to do!) and had a coffee in a coffee house (the thing to do).


Louise enjoying the sights of Vienna



Phil outside St Stephen's Cathedral - Vienna

Off again – bound for our home for the next three nights – Salzburg. Phil did a sterling job of negotiating the roads in quite heavy rain. Arrived safely just after dark and, after checking in to our hotel, set off on foot to explore Salzburg. Our hotel is in the new town – about a ten minute walk across the river from the old town where most of the main attractions are located. Had a bit of a look around before finding a restaurant and enjoying some great local food. (We’re sure we don’t need to tell you - of course we also checked out one of the many Christmas markets!).

Sunday 21st

Not to be deterred by the rain, we donned our wet weather gear and had a brilliant day in Salzburg. Our first stop was Mozart’s birthplace – a beautiful house down one of the cobbled laneways. Next we visited the Residenzplatz where we discovered the work of contemporary local artist – Johanna Kopp (check out her website http://www.johanna-kopp.at/). Were particularly taken by her impressions of Salzburg. Checked out the Cathedral and then the beautiful St Peterskirche. The cemetery behind St Peterskirche (the inspiration for the scene in the Sound of Music where the Von Trapps hid - you remember... that scene with Rolf!) leads to the Catacombs – literally dug into the side of the cliff face – accessed via a very steep, carved set of stairs.


The churchyard behind St Peterskirche - catacombs to the right and Fortress on the hill behind

From there we climbed the massive hill (more stairs!!) to reach the Fortress – the beautiful hilltop castle that dominates the town – where the many archbishop-princes who have ruled Salzburg have lived over the years. Parts of it date as far back as 1077. Spent a couple of hours thoroughly enjoying all this structure has to offer – fabulous architecture from throughout the ages, a museum housing a vast collection of items salvaged from the region, state rooms – even a marionette museum (you can guess which Sound of Music song Louise started singing when she saw the puppets - you didn't know she could yodel, did you? (that's because she can't!!).


Phil discovered a hidden talent - puppeteering!


View over Salzburg from the Fortress - see how high we climbed?

Made our way back down the hill to find the Nonnberg Abbey where the Sound of Music first finds Maria and where Maria and Georg were married in real life – more singing by Louise!!

In the evening, we caught the funicular back up the hill to the Fortress (no need to do the stairs twice in one day!) for a fabulous concert featuring Mozart, Schubert and Vivaldi. Beautiful chamber music – strings (including harp) and flute - in an awesome setting – a lovely way to end the day.

Louise just after the concert in the Fortress

Monday 22nd

Decided to take a drive in the country to admire the beautiful scenery of the Austrian lakes district.

We weren’t too far out of Salzburg before we were into picturesque alpine villages covered by thick snow. Stopped and explored a few to sample the local coffee and hot chocolate!















Louise couldn’t resist a play in the snow by the roadside – then endured wet pants for the rest of the day!! (Thank goodness for heated seats in the car!).

Something magic about Christmas time in the snow - Louise only got me once with a snowball!!


Of course I had to retaliate!

Were absolutely taken by Hallstatt – a beautiful village that clings to the side of a mountain and overlooks a massive lake. Lingered for a while here. The scenery around this village is breathtaking.

The lakeside village of Hallstatt

Made our way back to Salzburg for a last evening wander – this time exploring the new town. Discovered hidden laneways, churches, and walked through the Schloss Mirabell gardens (to the relief of the residents of Salzburg, Louise resisted singing Sound of Music songs on this occasion...). Climbed a hill to a deserted churchyard to be rewarded with a magnificent view over the rooftops of Salzburg. While we were up there, church bells throughout the town started ringing – adding to the atmosphere (or heralding our departure??). A lovely end to our time in this beautiful city.

Tuesday 23rd

Today we made our way across Austria – heading in the direction of our Christmas destination – Switzerland. Our aim was to reach Feldkirch – on the far western border of Austria (almost in Liechtenstein) by nightfall – allowing time for a few stops on the way.

Our first stop was the beautiful village of Rattenberg. We spotted the ruined castle and church spires from the road and couldn’t resist taking a closer look. Really glad we stopped.

Christmas tree in the town square at Rattenberg

Next stop – Innsbruck. This beautiful city in the Tirol region (everything you expect Austrian scenery to be) is nestled at the foot of the surrounding snow-covered alps. Spent a couple of hours wandering the medieval section of the town and finished our Christmas shopping.

Phil captures the magic of the River Inn flowing from the alps past the Old Town of Innsbruck



Phil - Innsbruck

Back in the car for the final leg of our trek across Austria. The scenery was absolutely amazing – one main road through the centre of the alps – massive snow-covered mountains on either side – and heaps of tunnels (one was 10km long!). Arrived in Feldkirch as planned – our last stop in Austria. Tomorrow – through Liechtenstein to Saas-Fee in Switzerland for a three day Christmas break!!

Phil the publisher - organising the blog in Feldkirch

Wednesday 24th

Left Feldkirch reasonably early for us (9am - well... it's hard to get up before 8 when it's dark and cold!!). First stop - Liechtenstein's capital - Vaduz, which is dominated by a Gothic castle where the monarch lives. Had a bit of a look around before setting off again in the direction of Saas-Fee.

As Liechtenstein is only 25km long and 6km wide, it wasn't long before we crossed the border into Switzerland. Climbed and climbed and climbed the alps bound for our destination. Some of those roads are amazingly winding - hairpin bend after hairpin bend.


You can just see the winding roads in this photo

We were almost at the top of a very high peak - sailing along quite nicely - when our sat nav - in her polite robotic fashion said... 'in 30 meters turn left and board the ferry'(!!). In unision - we both replied ever so eloquently... 'What????'

Obedient as ever, we continued and found ourselves in a queue to board a car train which ferries all vehicular traffic through a 15.4 kilometer long tunnel. We now know that this is the Furka Base Tunnel which links two towns at approximately 1500m above sea level. This was quite an experience!!


In the queue for the car train

Once through the peak we descended to the town of Brig and then climbed up and up again to the village of Saas-Fee. The scenery was absolutely awesome. Thick, thick snow each side of the road and on all roof-tops.

As Saas-Fee is a car free village, all cars must be parked in the parking station and the rest of the journey from there to the village and one's accommodation can be undertaken by walking, by electric taxi, or by a courtesy electric car generally offered by each individual hotel (including ours). As we'd been in the car for most of the day and have become quite addicted to exercise, we elected to walk. This was very silly - repeat... very silly! No map - a maze of chalets and hotels connected by icy windy paths... our wheelie suitcases becoming bogged at every turn. At one stage we contemplated using them as toboggans! To our relief (it was getting dark and a tad cool!!), we eventually found our way to our hotel.

Recovered from our ordeal and tackled the pathways again to explore a little. We're going to love it here! It's got a great atmosphere - skiers, snowboarders, people like us just wanting to enjoy the location. Shops were open until 6:30ish tonight - restaurants are open and everything opens again tomorrow afternoon (Christmas Day). We've booked Christmas dinner in our hotel restaurant, which looks great.

Mum Judy - we returned from our walk to find your Christmas card on the door of our room - what a brilliant surprise!! Thank you so much for that - it's a really special thing to do. Louise shed a tear or two... It's displayed in our room - reminding us of home. And as promised Christmas dinner is on you - thanks. Love you!

Mel, the fizz is - quite literally - on ice (or rather snow). No self-respecting Hawk would contemplate Christmas without it!

So - stay tuned for our Christmas Day post. Thank you for following our journey and for your comments - it's great to have that contact and we really look forward to reading them.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas day. Thinking of you all. With lots of love...