Prague (16th-19th July) We were very lucky with the weather in both Vienna and Prague. The sun continued to shine and it was really quite hot. Walking Tour The walking tour of Prague over a few hours took us through the New Town, Old Town, Jewish Quarter, Lesser Quarter and on to the Prague Castle on the other side of Charles Bridge. Prague is certainly a very beautiful city both during the day and at night. Czech Beer Garden The Czech's are very proud of their beer so it would be an offence not to spend some time in some of [View Full Entry]

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Vienna (13th-15th July, 2006) I met Melinda, Mark and Ang from Melbourne in Vienna. It's always great so see people from home that you haven't seen for a long time. I was a little shocked at Heathrow Airport when I was asked at a cafe if I was from Scotland. I was suddenly paranoid about all the Scottish like things I may have been saying after only having been in Scotland for three and half weeks! When I would ask a patient a question the common response instead of yes was 'aye, aye.' It was also extremely common to hear the [View Full Entry]

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Central Highlands of Scotland (Weekends of 1st/2nd July & 7th-9th July) Quite unexpectedly I moved to Edinburgh for three and a half weeks for a job at the Royal Infirmary Hospital as my job at the Royal Free came to a sudden end due to funding cuts. As did my previous job at Northwick Park. I worked on the Combined Assessment Unit at the Royal Infirmary next to Accident and Emergency. The unit takes patients both from A & E and directly from GP referrals. The idea is that patients are assessed and moved out of the unit within 48 hours [View Full Entry]

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Paddling & Camping at Holy Island - Isle of Anglesey,Wales (16th-19th June) Holy Island is off the coast of the Isle of Anglesey in North West Wales. My first trip to Wales. It was a stunning weekend to start with! I met up with Neil in Buxton (in the Peaks District in Northern England). Neil does loads of kayaking and has his own outdoor business where he takes out clients with an acquired brain injury either walking, kayaking or rock climbing. We camped at Holyhead on Holy Island and had fantastic weather on the Saturday. Lots of kayakers out paddling around [View Full Entry]

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In And Around London (April-June, 2006) There is always something happening in London or something to see that I haven't yet seen. So here's an update. Borough Markets There are some great markets around London. Borough Markets is just one of them. We have been twice now. The first time we made the mistake of having lunch before we went. There is loads of great food to sample including a mountain made of chocolate brownie! Canary Wharf & Stomp Bern, Elizabeth and I had a great afternoon wandering around Canary Wharf, having and drink and then going to see Stomp the [View Full Entry]

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Isle of Wight (2nd-4th May, 2006) Some of you will know Kylie Wallace (now Kylie Kingsford). Kylie and her husband, Steve live in Southampton in Southern England which is on the mainland just across from the Isle of Wight. I spent the weekend with them and it turned out to be the first real hot weekend in England this year. I even had to go and purchase suncreen! A bit of history for you; the Titanic left from Southampton although it was built in Ireland. After a night of cards and catching up we took the ferry across to the Isle [View Full Entry]

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Brussels & Brugge (19th-21st May, 2006) It all still seems to be about the food! Fruit Beer The Grand Place (main square) is where we started our Belgian beer sampling. Cherry, strawberry and apple beers were all very popular. Belgian Chocolate Brussels and Brugge were chocoate heaven! The rules for the weekend were; 'you are not permitted to walk past any chocolate shop under any circumstances.' Brugge A georgous town about 1 hour out of Brussels by train. We enoyed a boat trip along the canals. Lace Work We were facinated by the work of some of the women we watched [View Full Entry]

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A Weekend in Paris (29th April - 1st May 206) It's all about the food! Eiffel Tower What an absolutely stunning city we arrived in on the Eurostar from London Waterloo. As we walked towards the Eiffel Tower we were in awe of the amazing buildings. The queue to climb the tower was almost as long as the tower is tall! So, to keep up our energy levels for the long wait and then the long climb we had our first crepe with banana, chocolate and whipped cream! Some great views of the city including almost a birds eye view of [View Full Entry]

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Coast to Coast Hike (10th-21st April, 2006) Just to give you a bit of background, the coast to coast walk (or C2C - Irish Sea to the North Sea) begins in St. Bees on the west coast of England and finishes in Robin Hood's Bay on the east coast. Covering 192 miles (306km), the walk passes through the Lakes District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. Alfred Wainwright completed the walk in 1972 and published his own route. Although there are maps of the trail there is no set path the entire way. There is scope for variations to [View Full Entry]

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Skiing in Val Thorens, France (1st-8th April, 2006) Bern, Elizabeth, Cath (physio from Manchester) and I had a great week of skiing around Val Thorens and Corcheivel in the French Alps. The snow was brilliant and there was a massive dump while we were there. Had great views of Mont Blanc on a clear day. I was glad to have had a few french lessons over the past few months as there is definitely an expectation to try and speak French. My little French book was also close at hand!! There were many new foods and beverages to sample including escargots [View Full Entry]

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