blog day afternoon

LES GETS Days

We had a fantastic time at Les Gets in the French Alps !

Lovely snow covered bush.

Me in the gorgeous soft snow on the edge of one of the ski runs.

Joe, John and me with our (slightly flirty and alarmingly hairy-eared) ski instructor Laurent.

Joe and John on a ski lift.

LES GETS Nights

The beers went down a little too easily after skiing !

I think this is the YMCA.

Elaine and Clare having a dance.

Kareoke ! (of sorts)

We found a couple of sleds in the garage at the chalet and much fun was had!
(Joe discovered that attempting to slide down the hill on his belly was less effective than using a sled... and infinitely more painful!)

Seb and David... post sled crash.

LONDON Zoo

I had been dying to visit London Zoo for ages to see this penguin pool...
Irritatingly there weren't any penguins in it. Just two zoo keepers and some mongooses (mongeese?)

There were penguins elsewhere though!

And giraffes. Aren't they cute!

In this photo Nerys and I are supposed to look like giraffes. (Long necks!)
We don't really... shame.

LONDON Holiday fun

Ice skating with John! Such laughs!!

Wheeeeee !

One foot !!!

Me... just moments after completing a triple spin or something equally excellent!

SURREY A walk in the country

This very long, muddy walk in the country was made much more bearable by the fact it finished at a winery!
Alas, Surrey wine isn't really up to much...

Lovely sheep!

The walkers - Emma, Rys, me, Joe and Nick
(minus Renae who took the picture!)

Our muddy feet.

Renae climbing over a stile in style!

Nicko and the muddy path.

LONDON Snow !!!

I took this photo out the window on Thursday morning.

The snow was fantastic and didn't stop falling until about midday!!

LONDON Nat and Nat's pub

Look what we found when we were out walking in Wimbledon!

ITALY Lake Como & Bellagio

In Como.

Approaching Bellagio across the Lake.

Bellagio. Very pretty... but you can see how quiet it is in the Winter.

Climbing the stairs to our hotel. All of the streets in Bellagio were pretty much like this one!

Looking out at the lake on a frosty morning!

LONDON Birthday

It would seem that I only took one picture on my birthday last year...
...and I'm not in it!!!
But it's a nice one of Sal, Nick, Renae and John.

LONDON A night at the Proms!

Nerys and I had a very English day and went to the Proms in the park.
It was excellent fun and we got to see Lional Ritchie!! (not English, but still...)

Us early in the evening...

... and then after a few wines! (singing along to Rule Brittania)

The grand finale!

LONDON Halloween

Halloween at Sascha and Joel's!

We were paying our respects... (love Steve!)
There was a whole graveyard in the backyard!

Good punch!

Renae, too distracted by the punch to notice she is about to be stabbed in the neck! :-)

MOROCCO Atlas Mountains

We took a day trip to the Ourika Valley and the Atlas Mountains...

Rather desolate looking football field!

We hired a guide to take us hiking in the mountains. It was MUCH harder work than we bargained on...

... but this waterfall (which was very high up) was a satisfying reward!

MOROCCO Gardens

It would seem that I am starting to turn into my mother's daugther...
The gardens in Marrakech WERE beautiful!

Roses. There were roses everywhere!

Jardin Majorelle. Once owned by Yves Saint Laurent!
Mostly cactuses and palms, but lovely.

MOROCCO Marrakech

Joe and I on the roof top of an old palace in the Kasbah.

The owner of this spice store convinced Joe to fork out on a snoring remedy.
Don't really know if it worked... we decided not to risk bringing back through customs!

Moroccan Kitty. There were millions of stray kittens in Marrakech but this one was my absolute favourite. She lived at the Palace El Bahia. (nice place!)