After late landing from Bulgaria, we had a very brief night back in London to feed Lord Fred, then set off the following morning for Riga, in Latvia, to see in 2018.
Saturday, 3 March 2018
Saturday, 3 February 2018
Bulgarian ski adventure
December 2017
Continuing our quest to do something different, we decided to spend Christmas 2017 in Bulgaria, learning to ski. So a couple of days before Christmas, we boarded a flight to Sofia in Bulgaria and made our way to the ski resort of Bansko.
Saturday, 20 January 2018
The Ultimate (Unintended) Christmas Market Crawl and the Snowflakes of Nuremburg
December 2017
Christmas markets are hands-down one of the best things about Winter in UK. Just this week as Mike and I sat down to breakfast at 7:00am I remarked that it was so dark we could well be sitting down to dinner. So you see, it doesn't have a lot else going for it.
Friday, 1 December 2017
Stockholm syndrome
October 2017
While Rach was back in New Zealand, I decided to go to Stockholm for a long weekend solo trip.
Friday, 10 November 2017
Amalfi in August
August 2017 
To finish off the summer, we spent our August bank holiday weekend on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
We landed in Napoli late on the Friday night, only with time to get to our hotel and off to sleep. The next morning we took a busy little train to Sorrento, then a busy bus that wound along the tiny, windy roads to Amalfi, then a final bus up the hill to our accommodation.
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Basking Sharks Ahoy!
August 2017
I'm delighted to introduce a guest post from award-winning photographer Tony Burt. Aka, Dad!
In July, Dad came over with Ian Sherwood and took me on the most incredible adventure to Scotland in search of the fascinating and prehistoric-looking basking shark. And haggis. What followed was 11 days of thick, Scottish accents, freezing water, hairy coos and amazing basking shark action that I'll never forget. But I'll let Dad tell you the story...
We sat perched on the side of Shane`s nine meter `Cearban` staring in awe at the meter high dorsal fin closing in on the boat. On the skipper's command we slipped as quietly as possible into the 13 degree water and tried to keep as still as possible. Out of the plankton-filled gloom and heading straight towards us came this enormous swimming mouth. Big enough to slide into and not touch the sides. I could now buy the t-shirt.
Our destination, Scotland's Hebrides and the three billion year old Island of Coll. Once the haunt of Vikings for five hundred years, but now 200 hardy Scots, fifty different ways to prepare haggis, lots of seals, a few `hairy coos` plus Shane and Nicky Wasik of `Basking Sharks Scotland`. Ian Sherwood and I had met up with my daughter Rachel in London and headed up to Glasgow. From here we grabbed the three hour train journey through Scottish highlands to the picturesque fishing village of Oban, had a wee look in the Oban whisky distillery then caught the ferry out to Coll.
In July, Dad came over with Ian Sherwood and took me on the most incredible adventure to Scotland in search of the fascinating and prehistoric-looking basking shark. And haggis. What followed was 11 days of thick, Scottish accents, freezing water, hairy coos and amazing basking shark action that I'll never forget. But I'll let Dad tell you the story...
We sat perched on the side of Shane`s nine meter `Cearban` staring in awe at the meter high dorsal fin closing in on the boat. On the skipper's command we slipped as quietly as possible into the 13 degree water and tried to keep as still as possible. Out of the plankton-filled gloom and heading straight towards us came this enormous swimming mouth. Big enough to slide into and not touch the sides. I could now buy the t-shirt.
Our destination, Scotland's Hebrides and the three billion year old Island of Coll. Once the haunt of Vikings for five hundred years, but now 200 hardy Scots, fifty different ways to prepare haggis, lots of seals, a few `hairy coos` plus Shane and Nicky Wasik of `Basking Sharks Scotland`. Ian Sherwood and I had met up with my daughter Rachel in London and headed up to Glasgow. From here we grabbed the three hour train journey through Scottish highlands to the picturesque fishing village of Oban, had a wee look in the Oban whisky distillery then caught the ferry out to Coll.
Sunday, 20 August 2017
Vienna waits for you
June 2017
I would describe Vienna as a grand old dame; magnificent, gorgeous and dignified. We had a hotel booked about 15 minutes walk from the centre of town which was cheap and lovely. Our first port of call was dinner and our friendly receptionist booked a table for us at one of the best schnitzel restaurants in town. It was to be the first of my wiener schnitzel experiences and I was not disappointed. In fact, I made sure to have schnitzel every day. This seemed to be a fantastic idea at the time, but it had dire consequences later!
After dinner and a round of local wine in a wine cellar we made a beeline for the Konzerthaus for the performance. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1842 and proudly owns many ancient instruments. To become a member you must first demonstrate your capability for a minimum of three years' performing for the ballet and opera. The evenings repertoire was Brahms Symphony Number 4 - one of Mike's favourites. The performance was outstanding.
Saturday we wandered through the city with the plan to visit one of the ornate cafes for breakfast. We hit Cafe Demel to sample some Esterházy Torte. Buttercream spiced with cognac, sandwiched between five layers of almond meringue, iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with a chocolate striped pattern. Next up was Cafe Central; a popular haunt of Freud, Trotsky and even Hitler himself. We felt we were in good company. I couldn't go past the Viennese delicacy, Apple Strudel, while Mike had an egg or something equally mundane.
We couldn't visit Vienna without having a Viennese sausage - a Riesen Hot Dog. I opted for a Käsekreiner and Mike, a Currywurst.
A walking tour is our usual agenda, but on this trip Mike found a cycling tour. Vienna seems to be made for cycling. Over the next two and a half hours we visited the teeniest urban vineyard and the impressive Hundertwasserhaus apartment. I've peed in the toilet in Kawakawa :-D
Vienna is a city of music, where classical music was written and performed by Mozart, Strauss and Schubert to name a few of the greats. Tickets to the famous operas often sell out months in advance and can go for 150 Euro. But, if you queue up about an hour in advance, you can buy standing tickets for 3 Euro instead! We did just that at the Operngasse, the State Opera House to see Rigaletto, an opera by Verdi.
The highlight of the
Opera was certainly hearing "La Done e Mobile" live, although you may be more familiar hearing it re-purposed as The Tile Depot advert back home in NZ. It wasn't entirely Mike's thing, but for 3 Euro I don't think you can go wrong. It was, of course, time for more schnitzel.
Sunday was a day for cake and we were yet to try the famous Sacher Torte. Another Viennese culinary speciality, it's a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, coated in dark chocolate icing.
After a wander around the Palace gardens I was well over-due some more wiener schnitzel.
Auf Wiedersehen, Vienna!
Mike has always had an appreciation for classical music and although I've only dabbled in it, I knew that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was one of the best. We managed to get tickets a few months out, in their home-town in June.
I would describe Vienna as a grand old dame; magnificent, gorgeous and dignified. We had a hotel booked about 15 minutes walk from the centre of town which was cheap and lovely. Our first port of call was dinner and our friendly receptionist booked a table for us at one of the best schnitzel restaurants in town. It was to be the first of my wiener schnitzel experiences and I was not disappointed. In fact, I made sure to have schnitzel every day. This seemed to be a fantastic idea at the time, but it had dire consequences later!
After dinner and a round of local wine in a wine cellar we made a beeline for the Konzerthaus for the performance. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1842 and proudly owns many ancient instruments. To become a member you must first demonstrate your capability for a minimum of three years' performing for the ballet and opera. The evenings repertoire was Brahms Symphony Number 4 - one of Mike's favourites. The performance was outstanding.
 |
| The Vienna Konzerthaus |
Saturday we wandered through the city with the plan to visit one of the ornate cafes for breakfast. We hit Cafe Demel to sample some Esterházy Torte. Buttercream spiced with cognac, sandwiched between five layers of almond meringue, iced with a fondant glaze and decorated with a chocolate striped pattern. Next up was Cafe Central; a popular haunt of Freud, Trotsky and even Hitler himself. We felt we were in good company. I couldn't go past the Viennese delicacy, Apple Strudel, while Mike had an egg or something equally mundane.
We couldn't visit Vienna without having a Viennese sausage - a Riesen Hot Dog. I opted for a Käsekreiner and Mike, a Currywurst.
A walking tour is our usual agenda, but on this trip Mike found a cycling tour. Vienna seems to be made for cycling. Over the next two and a half hours we visited the teeniest urban vineyard and the impressive Hundertwasserhaus apartment. I've peed in the toilet in Kawakawa :-D
 |
| Urban vineyard |
 |
| Hundertwasserhaus |
Vienna is a city of music, where classical music was written and performed by Mozart, Strauss and Schubert to name a few of the greats. Tickets to the famous operas often sell out months in advance and can go for 150 Euro. But, if you queue up about an hour in advance, you can buy standing tickets for 3 Euro instead! We did just that at the Operngasse, the State Opera House to see Rigaletto, an opera by Verdi.
 |
| Operngasse |
The highlight of theOpera was certainly hearing "La Done e Mobile" live, although you may be more familiar hearing it re-purposed as The Tile Depot advert back home in NZ. It wasn't entirely Mike's thing, but for 3 Euro I don't think you can go wrong. It was, of course, time for more schnitzel.
Sunday was a day for cake and we were yet to try the famous Sacher Torte. Another Viennese culinary speciality, it's a dense chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, coated in dark chocolate icing.
 |
| Famous Sacher Torte |
After a wander around the Palace gardens I was well over-due some more wiener schnitzel.
Auf Wiedersehen, Vienna!
 |
| Austria: no kangaroos. |
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