The A Team

With the ski season right in the thick of things, we were finally heading off to try our hand at skiing. Eight of us had committed to a week of skiing and snowboarding in the French and Swiss Alps. For most of us this was our first attempts at the sport - given all of us were Aussies or Kiwi's I guess that's not too much of a stretch. We flew into Geneva, Switzerland and picked up our cars and headed towards the Portes Du Soleil region a couple of hours away. This region is dubbed 'the Gates of the Sun' - a massive ski area (apparently the worlds largest) which is formed from a chain of villages strung along the French-Swiss border. It has some 650km of downhill slopes (catering for all skill levels) and ... read more

Ange's birthday had rolled round again, so we saw this as an opportunity to visit Paris for the weekend. We decided since we didn't get much of a chance to enjoy Paris last time we were there (Ange had the flu), we saw this as a great chance to visit again. But of course we were lucky enough to see most of the tourist sites last time - so we hoped we could just enjoy Paris for being Paris. And of course finally get up the Eiffel Tower. We arrived early on the Saturday morning to cold and wet weather - not a great start - but still this was Paris. We were staying in the Latin Quarter again - this time in one of the bigger hotels there. And I have to say the staff ... read more

It was the lead up to Christmas and we were gearing up for our Switzerland trip (entry to follow), when I was asked to duck to Munich for a few days for work. So on the spur of the moment, Ange decided she would fly down to join me at the end of the work week to enjoy a weekend in Munich. We always had Munich on our destination wishlist, and this offered us to opportunities - one to go there (of course), and secondly a chance to experience the rather famous Xmas markets that Germany has to offer. So I had spent a few days working in Germany with our local office - and got to experience some of the that winter wonder - snowfalls. But as it drew on to the end of the ... read more

In had been a long time coming, but Ange and I finally found time to take ourselves on a honeymoon. Our plan was to spend ten days split across Rome and Paris. And of course having only been back in London for 2 weeks after our last trip to Italy, it was time for another break. And I did feel like I needed one after all the celebrations and hangovers surrounding my 30th birthday in that period. We flew out of London on the Friday night after work and of course after some delays with flights, we arrived in Rome at about midnight and had to find our apartment. Unfortunately Ange had been starting to feel sick during Friday and by the time we had arrived and settled into our apartment, she was not feeling well ... read more

After leaving Venice, we caught a train through to Florence where we based ourselves for the next three days to explore Florence itself and the surrounding Tuscan region. And anyone who knows us knows we were pretty excited about the opportunity to experience the Tuscan cuisine and wines the region is reknowned for. SIENA After a good nights sleep we ventured out for our first day in the region. We started this with a day trip to Siena. Siena itself is about an hour and a half south of Florence by train, and provides a great chance to take in the countryside as you wizz through the region. I imagine Siena to now be like what Florence used to be like back in the day. It was this cute little medieval town in the middle of ... read more