Doug & Jodie

December was a pretty busy month for us. Jodie stopped working and began to pack up the flat, to send all our belongings home. I finished work a week later and we headed off to Europe for a 2 week holiday before our reintroduction to the sun.

We spent time in Swizterland, Germany and the week of Chrismas in Austria. We spent plenty of time sightseeing, and taking it easy. We flew into Zurich, and dined in a small local restaurant, which was in the typical european style (before any PC laws or regulations got imposed) with no english speaking staff, and everyone smoking like chimneys.

The next day we drove to Lucerne, where we spent 2 nights. We were suposed to go up the mountains in a cable car, but the weather turned and we decided to spendthe day in the city. About 8 inches of snow had fallen, and our car was parked on a slope, which meant we couldn’t get the car out.

We walked through the old part of town, looking through shops as it was really cold, and we needed to warm up every so often.

After our 2 days in Lucerne, we headed for Munich. It was grey and cold and felt a little depressing. We still had fun, eating in a Mexican restaurant the first night, and then walking the 5kms into town to see the sights. We stood around like idiots waiting for the glockenspiel to play, only I think we had missed the performance, but were standing around looking up at it for ages.

We climbed the church tower to get a better view of the city before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we headed for Schwangau, which is the little town in Bavaria, at the base of the mountains. The area is made famous by the Neuschwanstein Castle, click the link and read all about it. The castle is what the Disneys’ Magic Kingdom castle is modelled after. It was built by the crazy King Ludwig II, who was infatuated with swans, hence the name, which means “new swan stone”. I should add that the hotel was more of a retiree rest and recouperation village than a hotel. We must have been the youngest people there by at least 30 years. We were probably gawked at for not having crutches, a cane or a walker.

The last stop before the long journey home, was 5 nights in St Anton, in Austria. (That’s 2 Chistmas’s in a row in Austria).

I booked in for 3 days of snowboarding school, while Jodie headed up for 3 days of fun in the snow. Next time we go I’ll be able to keep up !

Most evenings were spent trying all the different restaurants, but the highlight was Chrismas eve dinner. We splashed out and went for an 8 course meal at one of the plush hotels. We had a great night, except imade Jodie wait with me downstairs for the taxi, when it was -10 degrees.

On the last day of skiing, we went up the mountain together. We had goulash and strudel on top of the mountain for lunch, before the long decent to the village.

Our last day was an early start. I had to warm the car up, and remove the ice from the INSIDE of the car, as well as the outside. it was -14.

We drove back to Zurich, to fly to London. We spent the night in a hotel at Heathrow, before the usual 24 trip back home. We avoided an 18 hour stopover by checking the flight booking in Singapore and changing it, with just 45 minutes to spare.

We’ve been home for some time now… and loving it !

With a massive hangover, from the previous night out with the boys, my birthday began (not too early) on Friday the 7th. I got some calls calls from friends and family, before Jodie showered me with balloons and gifts. She planned a nice long weekend away up the Cotswolds, in Chipping-Campden. Jodie booked us into a lovely hotel, right in the middle of the quaint high street. We spent most of the weekend hopping from village to village, discovering tea shops, antique stores and beautiful countryside. On the second night, we ate in The Eight Bells, a country pub with a roaring fireplace, and game meat on the menu.

One of the highlights of the weekend, was finding an antique market, which produced some lovely finds. Jodie found a lovely vintage Chanel pendant, and I managed to pick up a gramophone with 10 records from the 1930’s.

This weekend, was my party at Salt Whisky Bar, near Marble Arch. We had arranged for a whisky tasting, for those who don’t regularly drink it. After the tasting, we joined the friends and partners not involved in the tasting downstairs. Jodie had organised a cake from our favourite boutique bakery, Hummingbird. Everyone had a great time sampling from the 8 pages of whisky on offer, me included.

A big thanks to my lovely wife, who has organised everything to help me celebrate my big day !

A collection of photos form the 2 weekends can be found here.

I work with a friend, Neil, who is and Irish lad from Galway. After about a week of him joining TFL, he asked me to be his wedding photographer. The wedding was held on the 18th of October, in Norwich. Both his wife, Blanca, and Neil are supporters of Norwich football team, which lead them to book their reception at Norwich football stadium.

They had around 180 guests attend both the wedding ceremony in the beautiful Norwich cathedral and the reception.

I have attached a few images in a gallery, here.

For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been working really hard at changing my career. I’ve been investing in photographic equipment and have been attending courses. On the first weekend in October, I attended a wedding as a second photographer, down in Hazelmere, not too far from Portsmouth.

It was a long day, I enjoyed being around the wedding atmosphere and being part of someone’s special day.

I have placed a few of the images from the day in a gallery, here.

Two weeks ago, Alicia, Dana and I met at Fortnum and Mason for High Tea at 3pm. Since I have been living in London I have wanted to experience High Tea at one of the top Hotels in London. However, I had been told that the luxurious department store, F&M, was one of the best places to experience this. We weren’t disappointed. Dressed in our finery (the website stipulated for us to ‘lean towards elegance, not beach’!) we were shown to our arm chairs by a small window looking down upon Piccadilly on the top floor of F&M, St. James’ restaurant. Opting for the champagne tea we enjoyed glasses of pink bubbly whilst nibbling on cucumber sandwiches and mini cheese tarts. Then we moved on to our fine teas and started on the scones with clotted cream and jam. Finally finishing with the delicious pastries: chocolate fondants, berry tarts, sponge cake… we chatted away the afternoon sipping from the F&M china then left to have a look around the store which was already dressed for Christmas! It was a lovely afternoon with good friends and as our life in London draws to a close I am truly beginning to appreciate our experiences here and will really miss the old world elegance of this place…

This weekend Doug headed off on Friday for a 3 day wedding photography course where he was shooting a real life wedding as the second photographer! So, I made plans with the girls… Firstly, Friday night I stopped at Selfridges for a quick shop! Then Saturday met Yumi and Laura for lunch at La Bouchee, a lovely, cosy French restaurant in Sth Ken. Then we had coffee in a little side street off Brompton Rd where we came across Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) doing a book signing for her new collection of portraits. Then Yumi and I had manicures and pedicures which was very girly but very fun. Then we walked to Kings Road for some shopping and gossiping. Later I caught a train from Sloane Sq to Putney East and headed to Dana’s place for some pre-drinks with her, Ian, Alicia, Graham and Tam before heading off in the wind and rain to a local pub for Tam’s 30^th B’day party. We had a lovely evening with good food and wine and great friends. Later when we left, Alicia, Graham and I were talking too much we didn’t notice we were on the wrong bus and ended up in Balham – luckily I was able to grab the Nth Line from here to London Bridge (11 stops and zone 3! I fell asleep at one stage). Sunday has been spent cleaning , baking and waiting expectantly for my husband to return – just like a good wife … it was our first time apart since we married, I really have missed him.

Last weekend Doug and I took advantage of what was certainly the last warm sunny weekend this year. We caught a train Sunday morning to Guildford in Surrey, approx. 40 minutes from Waterloo Station. Here we put to use our Time Out ‘Country Walks near London’ guide and set off on a 10km walk to Gomshall via Shere. We first walked through the centre of Guildford, a lovely surrey village then climbed a steep street, stopping off at the pretty gardens and ruins of Guildford Caste. Further up the hill past some huge bungalow homes we entered an open field (Pewley downs) with stunning views across the countryside. From here we walked through paddocks, lanes and bridle trails, all open to the public but part of privately owned land so we were literally walking through people’s farms. Out first stop was the Church of St. Martha-on-the-Hill at the summit of a ridge, this church was formerly a stop on the Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury and was restored in the 19^th Century. Here we ate our M&S picnic lunch sitting on a bench overlooking the valley and watching the many families with young kids and dogs hike by. We marched on past fields of rabbits, deer, horses and sheep, a farm with a ginormous pig as big as a small car and passed through more farms along hedge-rowed paths full of blackberries – it was an idyllic English Spring day. Finally we came to Shere, known as the prettiest village in Surrey.

Here we fed the ducks on the stream and strolled through town past the church of St James – dated from 1190 and a rare example of a church constructed entirely in the Early English Transitional Style. Finally we ended in Gomshall and had to wait an hour for a train back to Guildford then home to London. This one day was definitely worth the price of this Time Out guide – highly recommended, the directions were incredibly precise down to the tiniest detail and we had another magical day away from hectic London life.

This was a wonderful autumn weekend full of sunshine and clear blue skies!! On Friday night Doug and I met along the south bank near Waterloo and has a lovely French meal. Then we walked to The Cut at Waterloo to see ‘Round and Round the Garden’ at the Old Vic Theatre.  This production was 1 play of the 3 Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn that can been seen either individually or altogether. It was hilariously funny and left us wanting to see the other two productions. The Old Vic is an institution in the theatre world and the theatre in the round setting meant every seat was fabulous and the old ornate box seats were beautiful.

The next day Doug and I headed to Hyde Park for a last sunny walk before it gets cold and perhaps our last in a long time as we’ve only 3 mths left in London!!! We hired a paddle boat and paddled around the Serpentine Lake – it was such a lovely relaxing moment and we had a good laugh chasing ducks and watching people. From here we went on to The V&A museum in Sth Kensington which was spectacular. After lunch in an Italian Cafe we grabbed some of the delicious cupcakes at the Hummingbird Bakery before heading home.

Today Doug is out making the most of the weather and sneaking in a last golf game before the weather turns… leaving Jodie to organise his birthday arrangements and our big trip home… (oh and cleaning )

Toulouse

We flew out of London on Friday night, to have an early start in Toulouse. We started Saturday with breakfast in the main square, before walking around the city. We visited an old monastery which has been converted into a museum, it housed some magnificent works of art in the form of sculptures, paintings and statues. We picked up the car in the afternoon, and visited Albi on the way to Francis & Adam’s. Albi has a massive cathedral that is made entirely of red bricks. It is the largest brick cathedral in the world.

Rivecave

Francis and Adam have found an amazing piece of heaven. They own a small hamlet in La Truel which is in the middle of French farming countryside. We spent 4 nights with them, the first 2 of which they cooked up a storm. Starters, mains, cheeses and desserts meant we were completely full at every meal. We sat outside to enjoy the late evening sun. During the day, they helped us with some routes to follow, to see some of the country side, most of it was following the Tarn river and some of the gorgeous villages along it. We visited (and drove over) the highest suspension bridge in the world near Millau (pronounced mee-yo).

Montpelier

Our hotel was located in the old town, which has mostly been pedestrian-ised. We walked around to discover the Arc de Triomphe and old square. The buildings in this part of the town are mostly unchanged since they were build hundreds of years ago. The streets were filled with antiques stores, restaurants and hairdressers.

Carcassonne

We were staying just out of Carcassonne in Aragon. Our hotel had a pool and a really comfortable room, so we took the afternoon off from sightseeing and wine tasting, to lounge around the pool. That evening we visited Domaine de Cabrol, a small winery (couldn’t resist) before heading into Carcassonne to see the old castle and have dinner. The castle was a bit of a let down, as it had been turned into a commercial spectacle, and had lost a lot of charm. There was a Best Western hotel inside the castle, and plastic swords for sale on every corner. Irish and English pubs added to the let down. We walked into the centre of town to find a restaurant was created from an old stable and yard. We sat in the yard, which had pretty tables, filled with flowers and trees. We had our first genuine cassoulet here !

Saint-Émilion

A wine lovers paradise ! The old town consists of restaurants, wine outlets, a church and a few houses… but mostly wine outlets. We walked around the town, negotiating some of the cobbled streets before heading to the “B&B”. This is no ordinary bed and breakfast, but Chateau de Pitray. This wine making family has been here for 6 hundred years. The family were very accommodating and friendly, arranging dinner for us on both evenings in some of their favourite restaurants, which did not disappoint (Frog legs included). We went for walks around the grounds, when not travelling around the countryside, and on one of them stumbled upon a boar hunt, dogs, horses, men in red coats, bugles… the works !

We had a fantastic time in France. Most days were filled with warm sunshine, cheese, baguettes and wine. what more could you want ? The countryside is beautiful, the people are friendly and we really didn’t want to go home. We took our time and tried to avoid the tourist hot spots. This was definitely our best trip to date !

Last weekend Doug and I caught a train out to Peterborough (eventually, we missed the first one). We were off to visit Katie Wilkinson, a good family friend of Glory’s who had spent many years in Australia and a long time at Yagaburne and often goes back to visit. Katie now had 4 boys and runs a riding school at her house, ‘Glapthorn Manor’ in Glapthorn village. Katie and her friend Stephen picked us up and we drove straight to the races at Newmarket (the July track, as opposed to the neighbouring Rowley Mile). Newmarket is the home of British horse racing and driving around the village we noticed the grand houses and horse studs with elaborate gates and signs out the front – it was all very beautiful! At the races the rain poured on us but after a lovely lunch and drink in the member’s tent the sun suddenly appeared and the day turned out to be beautiful! We spent our time between the pre- show arena, the showing arena and the track front. We had only 1 bet and lost, for the horse we were confident about we didn’t make it to the bookie in time. But it was a lovely day in the sun and Katie and Stephen seemed to know a lot of people, the track itself was so green with the old English trees surrounding the pre-show arena and the white painted stands at the track it was just really quaint and pretty, like you would imagine the races in England to be. From the races we went for a drive around the countryside to see the ‘Gallops’, the open fields where riders have free space to take their horses galloping, apparently at 5 in the morning it is a sight to be seen with all the studs riding there.

Later we ended up in Cambridge and were overwhelmed by the beautiful colleges along the river Cam. So much history and beautiful architecture, makes you want to go back to Uni! There was a wedding being held on the grounds of King’s College, we stuck our heads inside the courtyards of Trinity College, took a punt along the river after a drink and went past all the colleges including St. John’s. We learnt a lot about the history of the colleges from our ‘punter’. By this time it was about 8pm and the light was so beautiful along the river, it was so nice to sit back and take it in. Then we headed out for dinner at Browns and finally back to Glapthorn and Katie’s gorgeous 500 year old manor house!

Katie’s house had a gorgeous old kitchen with terracotta tiles and old oak beams in the ceiling, the spare bathroom had a huge wooden door and the rest of the house was full of history. At 5am we were woken by Katie’s son (Michael) coming home from the pub with his mates, they were singing old footy songs and one of them decided to drive home and backed into an old stone wall and split it. It was hilarious listening to Katie trying to whisper loudly at him from the second floor telling him to shut up. That day Doug and I set off for a walk through Glapthorn village then on to Oundle village, we passed lots of thatched cottages and lovely stone churches. Then we returned to the house for a lovely roast lunch with the family, Stephen and Katie’s mother-in-law. After lunch we caught the train back to London. A lovely weekend in the country with lovely people.