Bolivia Last entry for this trip and we are relaxing in our living room with a cup of tea as we write this. We are home in Scotland for a week before we head off once again to the Italian Alps for the winter. Don't know exactly where yet but hopefully somewhere in the Dolomites.....we know more what to expect this year so both very excited and filling the car for the long journey to Italy with exactly what we need this time......more shoes for Aileen, new skis for Graham and an all important duvet for the cold winter nights plus [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Mission........ Trek to Machu Picchu along the Inca Trail and raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care Mission status COMPLETE The history bit......"Machu Picchu ("Old Peak" is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 50 miles northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Peru Arrived in Lima by plane and after so many weeks in the mountains, it was odd to see the sea! Stayed two nights and had a real catch up session, washing, internet and a session in a Peruvian gym....didn't go to see any churches...opps... Headed south to Pisco where the "famous" Pisco wine is produced. Visited the Balleastas islands and saw loads of pelicans, Peruvian boobies! and sealions. The town of Pisco was devasted two years ago from an 8.0 point earthquake, 75% of the town was destroyed and 500 people died. The roads were being rebuilt and many of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ecuador Quito Spent nine days in Quito to learn Spanish, It is the capital of Ecuador and is just a big South American city. Polluted, a bit dangerous and at 2,900 metres extremely high. It's the second higest capital city in the world and lies between a volcano and a set of smaller hills forcing it outwards to 50km in length. The Andean City is located in a valley at the foot of the active volcano Pichincha. Although Quito lies only 13 km south of the equator, it always has a springlike climate so Aileen had to ditch all the thermals [View Full Entry]

---

---

So what did we get up to this summer ??? Graham took part in The Gathering in Edinburgh in July which was supposed to be the largest clan gathering in the world. The Lonach Highlanders which Graham is involved in were invited to attend. He said it was a phenomenal experience to walk up the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle surrounding by masses of people. We walked up Arthur's seat which sits alongside Edinburgh castle and dominates the Edinburgh skyline. We totally appreciated the amazing city we have been lucky enough to live in for the summer. Went to loads of [View Full Entry]

---

---

We said some fond farewells to everyone we worked with in Italy and had a glass....... or two....or three of Prosecco to say Arrivederchi ! After a great drive home from Italy, we arrived back in Aberdeen. My sister Tricia and Christine had kept the house in good order....the grass was in great condition so Graham (the grass obsessive) was happy and we have a new shower too! We spent the next few weeks catching up with pals and family and spent loads of time with baby James, our new nephew. It was tricky coming back for us both in the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Home So........... we are home in Westhill, Aberdeenshire and it seems a long way from the mountains of Italy. We drove from Italy to Val D 'Isere where we had a great final ski of the season with our friends, Andy and Ingrid. We then headed across France and broke our journey up with a night in Reims (Graham ran Reims which was apparently very nice) Next day, we caught the Dover to Calais ferry (thankfully before the blockade) and spent three days with some relatives outside London. So now we are home, what are our plans............. It's not quite time [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi everyone This is what we got up to at the end of our season...... We had very few guests in our last few weeks which was a really odd way to finish the season. Our favourite week was our busiest when there were loads of guests and the slopes were busy and the village felt alive. However, it did allow us to have loads of visitors with whom we had great fun!!!! Steve Smith came to visit and we managed a 2am, 3am and a 4am finish helped by one evening where we were all in bed at 10.10pm. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

So what have we been up to......... Aileen tried snowboarding, she can't turn yet but give her time. We had our end of season jolly with the other reps from the valley in Champoluc. It was great to see so many work colleagues out of uniform, relaxed and having fun. We finished it off by heading to La Thuile for a night out, Graham enjoyed seeing the Man U v Inter game on Sky and Aileen enjoyed seeing a pub full of people which seldom happens in Pila. We topped the visit off by skiing La Thuile and Aileen finally had [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ciao Tutti Gosh, its been a while but we have been busy! We are well and truly in the swing of things now, our week goes something like this........... Sunday - Transfer day...up at 5am ish Graham takes the first bus down to Turin and Aileen follows at about 7.30am. Normally Graham doesn't have to do any smiley doors (making a good first impression on customers) at the airport as he is on the bus again taking guests back to Pila. He gets back in the early afternoon and sorts out all the lift passes. We have targets to meet so [View Full Entry]

---

---