La Rosiere, France

Since we are basically taking a year or 2 off from careers, or working out our new careers, we decided that a ski season would be good idea, as we probably wouldn't have an opportunity to do anything like it again. Steve had only skiied for 2 days before that but he was not deterred. Also, we had put together the odd dinner party before but catering for up to 15 or even more, for 6 days a week was also slightly outside our experience. However, we thought we could do it, we found an employer who also thought we could do it and on 1 December 2007 we arrived in Geneva airport. It was snowing when we arrived and it continued to snow for the next 2 weeks while we learnt about cleaning (and I mean CLEANING!), looking after the hot tubs, living in the mountains, and practiced 5 course meals by cooking for our colleagues every few days. 

Berlin and Krackow

As a final fling before heading to La Rosiere in France for the ski season, we decied to have a holiday to Berlin and then head to Poland to meet up with Ed and Di for the weekend. After a 3.30am alarm we arrived at our hostel in East Berlin where all the action seems to be. We managed to catch up with the walking tour that day. It was run by an Aussie girl (reminded me of Lizzie) who was doing her masters in German history. It was a fabulous way to start our trip and great to have a run down of the history, see the historical sights (of which there are many) relating to WWII and the impact on the current mindset of the Germans.

The Christmas markets were just starting up at that point and it was lovely and cold - the gluehvein (hot wine) was perfect! The most unusual thing about Berlin for us was the fake buildings - yes, they have erected scaffolding several stories high and have dropped down great sheets around it with pictures of offices and shops! Apparently they are there to fill the spaces on the skyline Berlin has no money to actually build new buildings. Very sad but an ingenious way to deal with it! Spot the fake building in the photos above. The photos also include the memorial to the Jews killed in the WWII (the big concrete boxes), Checkpoint Charlie, and a wall of pictures and information about WWII, the Cold War and what it was like in East Berlin before the wall came down.

We were tired of cheap flights and long airport waits so we decided to get the overnight train from Berlin to Krakow. If you look it up on the internet, this route has a very bad reputation for theives and there are even stories of people being gassed and then robbed so I was a little nervous (Steve tells me not to be ridiculous as people train for years to be anaesthetists and it is a very fine line between people going to sleep with gas and being killed, so if the stories were true many people would have died - he's probably right-ish). One of our companions was asleep but the other (a German who could also speak Polish) cracked a beer so we had found a likeminded friend! After the few beers that had been brought had run out, our friend had a quiet word with the conductor who used all his power and sway to get us a bottle of very good Polish vodka for €10! We followed him up and down the train going through a whole lot of locked doors before he proudly gave it to us. He also found us an empty cabin and some blankets and plastic cups so we wouldn't disturb our room mate. We drank it Polish style (straight up) but it was very good and quite delicious.

Poland was the perfect follow on from Berlin in a historical sense and continued our WWII history lesson with a trip to Auschwitz, which was very moving. It was almost too hard to imagine it functioning. We also visited the Jewish quarter and a Synagogue and learnt a lot more about the Jewish religion. We also had a trip to the Salt Mines which was weird and wonderful.
We also ate a ridiculous amount of great Polish food, including one posh night out (still so cheap!). It was fantastic to spend some time with Ed and Di. We also saw our first snow for the season, and bought some snow boots, which got us ridiculously excited about going to France!

Steve and I stayed on an extra day and made the mission up to Mound Kosiusko (Tadeusza Kosciuski who discovered Australia's highest mountain is Krackow's favouite son - perhaps after J-PII - the former pope).

The final excitement of the trip was missing our flight and hanging about the airport for 7 hours until the next flight. God bless the internet or we would have gone crazy.

The green isle

And top o' the mornin' to yer! We had a week in Ireland In October 2007 and despite dire reports from friends before leaving - it didn't rain once! A hired car made our journey round the green isle very pleasant and easy. We stayed in B&Bs, which were all lovely. In Killarney, there was a huge demand and when we finally found what must have been the last vacancy in Killarney, another lady came up and pushed to the front of the queue. Once the landlord realised what had happened he chucked her out and we got the room. We felt a bit bad but stayed to watch her do a 70 point turn to get out of the carpark to check she didn't bang our car!

It was end of university season in Galway so we joined in with all the gals and lads dressed to the nines.

The scenery was amazing, the spontaneous music making fabulous (particularly enjoyable with a guiness and a cider in hand) and I even took a quick dip in the Atlantic while doing the Ring of Kerry - it was freezing, but I guess that's not a surprise. We knew we were going to France by that stage and struck up a long conversation with the help of a dictionary with a Frenchman in Cork. We went and kissed the Blarney Stone (despite my fear of heights - haven't noticed I'm any more eloquent though). We finished off with a tour of the guiness factory in Dublin.

Manchester

Steve and I went to visit our old housemate Drew in Manchester. We made it in time for the opening night of Pride week so there were big parties in the "Gay Village" (it's real name - it's on the map and everything!). Steve simply had to get in spirit of things. The next day we walked around Manchester while Drew worked and saw this golf car that was made to look like a golf course. Drew came in after work. After a drink we headed to Chinatown for some food before going back to Drew's basement where he had set up as a poker room which showed off his very patriotic tendancies.

Manchester

The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds

The family (Ed, Di, Kath, Ben, Linda, Jo and Steve) hired a "people mover" and did a road trip to the Cotswolds and Norfolk. We bravely headed into an area of England that had been experiencing severe flooding but didn't see much evidence of it other than countryside that was gorgeously lusciously green. We stayed in a castle on the first night and had dinner at a gastropub. The next day we had a conference to determine the route to Norfolk (plenty of backseat drivers willing to give opinions). We stopped for tea in Broadway and to pick up my new car...