http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Neddy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Neddy en-us Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:43:57 +0000 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:43:57 +0000 All that snow was getting us down well not really but the season had drawn to a close so for the first May bank holiday weekend plus a couple of extra days we decided to head to the warmth of the Caribbean for a few days in the sun.So what is there to know about Barbados No one heads there for 'just a few days'. Some people are there for 'only a week' but the majority for 12 14 days http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Barbados/Holetown/blog-399925.html Our second ski trip of 2009 was a week in Meribel with N's brother sisterinlaw and their 4 kids aged 3 11. Meribel is part of the Three Valleys Courchevel Meribel and Val Thorens apparently the largest linked ski resort in the world. However the 600km of piste was not enough for us I know greedy greedy so we organised two offpiste days. The first was well planned or lucky... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Courchevel/blog-373654.html As the ski season drew to a close we spotted a great deal at a chalet in St Anton and couldn't resist the lure of Easter at the snow finally some good comes out of the credit crunch.Our chalet was fabulous with an indoor swimming pool jacuzzi and sauna. We had a 5 course dinner cooked every night and the food was amazing thanks Craig. As if that was not enough there were champagne http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Tyrol/Sankt-Anton-am-Arlberg/blog-378894.html It is cold and dark in London it is snowing in Europe ... that can only mean one thing it is time to go on another ski holiday. To celebrate the start of 2009 I headed to Zurs in Austria. Zurs is billed as a 'quiet exclusive haven' in the Alberg Mountain range. Quiet it certainly is there is only a tiny corner store no pubs only hotel bars three ski shops and said hotels. Interestin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Tyrol/Sankt-Anton-am-Arlberg/blog-367448.html And figuring it was about time I followed one there I convinced Neil it was time for a weekend in Rome you know doing what the Romans do luckily they no longer dress in skirts and silly hats. So if what the Romans do is eat pizza and pasta drink lots of coffee wander around marveling at 'old stuff' and fail miserably at speaking Italian although I kind of doubt it we managed it.We love http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-365176.html We love Wales So when we had another free weekend we decided to head back to the Brecon Becons for another weekend of walking this time with Prehn and Rich for company. This time we headed to the west Brecon Becons an area sometimes overlooked by walkers so much so that the guide the tourist office gave us said We'd like to thank you for coming to the area an region of the Brecon Becons n http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Brecon/blog-346820.html In August in the UK it is traditional to go on a summer holiday. Who am I to buck a trend You know how I like to be doing what all the kids are doing. Accordingly I took a WHOLE WEEK off work and N and I headed to the north of Spain for a lsquocompromise holidayrsquo consisting of walking and relaxation. Actually it was not that much of a compromise as I love walking and am quite hopel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Principality-of-Asturias/blog-340819.html On my birthday weekend we headed to Budapest. It is true it is beautiful. It's also fascinating having been a communist country until 1990.Budapest is actually made up of three cities Buda Obuda and to make things easy Pest joined by the bridges across the Danube which merged in 1873. The city was largely destroyed in the Second World War in the aptly named 'Battle of Budapest' all o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Buda/blog-332033.html When I heard that my mate Rachel was going to be in New York during the US Open the decision to travel over to meet her for a 4 day weekend was a nobrainer. It was fabulous to see her after 15 months and the trip was worth it for that alone but NY NY had so much more to offer. Day 1 we headed to the Open at Flushing Meadows seeing the 'Bryans' win the menrsquos doubles as well as both th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-332024.html A weekend walking in the Peak District comes highly recommended so it was time for me to give it a go. We headed to Castleton a small town in the Vale of Hope aww lovely.We chose the Kinder Scout climb first making our way up a dryish river bed to the peaks plateau the highest in the Peak District. There were lots of people following the same route although apparently nothing like the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Derbyshire/Castleton/blog-331982.html Almost exactly two years since my arrival in the UK I was once again off to the Big Chill this time with two festival virgins. They acquitted themselves admirably and I think each of them might even be prepared to try another festival. I am sure the presence of the lsquochampagne garden barrsquo assisted in this regardApart from the first night there was little rain thank goodness a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Gloucestershire/blog-332004.html Although the weather in London has stayed closer to an Australian winter ie I was still wearing jeans and long sleeves than summer I am finally starting to feel a bit summery thanks to a couple of days of nice weather. I then had a truly inspired idea if I do say so myself. Why not adopt the Australian tradition of Christmas in July whereby you have the full on cooked roast dinner and w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Clapham/blog-305951.html Almost a year to the day since my last trip to Ibiza I was back again ... and for another bux do..... I think this could be my third bux ... is there some kind of rule that I should be aware of like 'Three time on a bux do never a bride' Oh well it's done now. This time it was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Terry and Jai. Brigid and I arrived on the 'party plane'1 from London at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Balearic-Islands/Ibiza/blog-310846.html What do you get when you mix 18 mates Pimms picnic food sun more champers than you can drink ... oh and some rowing A bloody good time. Henley Regatta was first held in 1839 and has been held annually ever since except during the two World Wars. It was originally staged by the Mayor and people of Henley as a one day public attraction with a fair and other amusements but now it is all abo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Henley-on-Thames/blog-308392.html My first English wedding took place this weekend in Stratford uponAvon Shakespearersquos country. OK OK I admit it it's only half English Terry is an Aussie but Jai is definitely an English rose who once got asked out by Russell Brand. It was lovely and I got to wear a hat which was fun. although there was a disappointing number of hats among the 'English' half of the guests. http://www.travelblog.org//blog-308290.html The Javea netball tournament has become an annual event so April found me there again playing netball under the Spanish sun. This time spent some time checking out Valencia as well. Had a great time we came third I did NOT lose my passport there is not much else to say but here are some pictures. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/J-vea/blog-264831.html It's Adam's birthday again so that must mean it is time for another weekend in WalesThis time we headed off for a canoewalking adventure in the Brecon Beacon National Park. Saturday was canoe day and we hired Canadian canoes except for Pete who was on the 'rescue' surf ski and canoed from Wales back into England along the River Wye. The canoe adventure was a very sedate one those of you http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Brecon/blog-285419.html A land of fjords waterfalls seafood and mountains seems like my kind of place. So I headed to Norway for an extra long weekend at the end of May. We flew into Oslo on Friday morning and checked out the sights although we took it pretty easy knowing we had a big couple of days ahead. A highlight was the Munch museum where we saw the famous 'Scream' painting which had only just been retur http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Ostlandet/Oslo/blog-287697.html It seems you just cant keep me away from the place..... I enjoyed my 11 days in Chamonix at Christmasnew year so much I could not pass up the opportunity to return in February. Actually that is not quite true I would have quite liked to check out another resort it is just that Chamonix is so easy to get to only just over an hour drive from Geneva airport.This time my travel companion w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Chamonix/blog-260309.html It is March it's been cold and the snow is falling in Europe again seems like a good excuse to organise another ski trip. Being reluctant to head away from the convenience of 'an hour from Geneva' but wanting to try somewhere new we headed to Flaine well actually we stayed in Les Carroz but we skied Flaine. Apparently Flaine is known as the 'white desert' for its excellent ski cover long http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Flaine/blog-263970.html