Jammed into a tiny cabin with six people, I woke at 5am on Boxing Day en route to Venice. The sun was rising somewhere over the Italian countryside. Venice welcomed us with a crisp winter sky. As we walked to our hostel, we barely saw a soul. Crossing the Grand Canal at about 7:30am after […]
Read more "Venice"Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes. That’s what I wanted for my first winter Christmas. The London weather reports indicated a mild winter with no snow until the new year. Determined to see snow on Christmas day, we booked a Christmas trip to Salzburg, followed by a few days in Venice. After a […]
Read more "Snowflakes in Salzburg"It’s my first Christmas on the other side of the world. It doesn’t feel much like Christmas because it’s so cold! I think I’d be able to wrap my head around it if it was snowing… but unfortunately it’s more wet, cold and rainy in London this December. I’ve learned how expensive postage to New […]
Read more "An Antipodean Christmas"Two weeks ago, I asked my Facebook friends to help me decide whether it was worth going to Sheffield (a five hour return high-speed train trip) to see a show. The decision was made swiftly when one of my friends responded to say that not only was he travelling up with some friends on the […]
Read more "Sheffield for a Show"Today I learned that you can’t lie to a Swiss train guard. That they are humourless is no urban myth. I’m ashamed to admit that it was a calculated decision… because everything is so expensive in Switzerland that we brought all our own food from home, and could only afford to sleep in a prison cell. The […]
Read more "Life Lesson #36 – The Swiss Grift"First time in Switzerland. And it feels fantastic! We flew into slick Zurich airport, and are staying an hour away in Lucerne. The Swiss transport system works like clockwork… which figures, I guess! We chose Lucerne because we felt it symbolises ‘real’ Switzerland. Nestled in the Alps, it’s tiny compared with Zurich or Geneva, has […]
Read more "A Weekend in Lucerne"I spent my first night Switzerland in prison. And the second, actually. Lucerne turned its Jail into a hotel about 15 year ago, and given the price of accommodation in this town, we were only too happy to swap a hotel room for a cell! The best part was that we were upgraded to their most […]
Read more "A Night in the Slammer"