22-31 October 2010: Boston, USA

I knew 10 days in Boston visiting my brother and his family would mean early nights, early mornings and busy days! I wasn't disapppointed!

Josh, Sam and Grace (9, 7 and 3 years old) kept me busy with their homework, books, and antics (and Jack their 2-year old labrador needed just as much attention).  With my birthday and Halloween in the same week it meant for an exciting time for all. 

The kids had Halloween school parades - they got to dress up in their costumes and then do a parade in front of the parents - and then they got to trick or treat in 0-degress temperatures. They all looked so cute...and there was so much candy...though saying that, I got hooked on the America Milk Dudds!

Here are some of the photos from during the 10 days I was with them....



Autumn in Boston is a beautiful time of year



My birthday cake!

Lots of fun rolling around on beds!

Face of an angel....as for the rest of the time....

Picasso in the making....

Hiking in North Hampshire

Dressed up and no where to go but school!

Wonderful decorations thanks to Hilary

Guarding the door!

Having lots of fun with the camera!

Not nearly scare enough.

Josh's friends....

My first pumpkin!

Easter 2010: Fowey, Cornwall, UK

Easter is always a great time to get out of London and get some fresh air. So heading down south towards Cornwall was a great suggestion by Al and Jane...just a shame they couldn't guarantee the sunshine for the whole time (but that would be too easy)!!

Fowey is a beautiful wee town....very narrow streets, old houses and a pub on every corner. We hired a cottage for the week which was a great idea (better than staying in a hostel) and we had gorgeous views over the estuary. There were 7 of us (Jane, Al, Tina, Tom, John, Pete) but the cottage had ample space for all of us. A bit of a queue for the shower, but nothing we couldn't sort out as adults!

The night we arrived we all headed out for a recce of the town and then to the nearest pub for some delicious grub. We didn't stay too long as we had all left London by about 6.30am that morning to get away from the traffic.

Saturday: Fowey to Polkerris return (7 miles)

We headed out on our first walk and the weather didn't look too great. That's why we thankfully chose to do a 7 mile walk from Fowey to Polkerris instead of a longer one. It had been raining quite a bit before we started the walk so there was lots of mud...the fact it started drizzling and then raining during the walk meant it got muddier and muddier! By the time we got to a pub in Polkerris we were literally soaked through, dripping, not particularly happy, and our boots were about 5lbs heavier with all the mud! After lunch we decided to walk back to Fowey as the rain had stopped...and by the time we got back the sun was peaking through the clouds a bit. Didn't mean it was any less muddy on the return trip!

Sunday: Polruan to Looe (13 miles)

What a difference the sun makes! It was still muddy in some places but we were actually warm and had our coats on and off all day. Not a hint of rain thankfully! The walk wasn't one of the hardest we had been on (I think the hardest one was in Boscastle), but it was still taxing with some big uphill and downhills! But the scenery was spectacular, the company great, and all in all the great day's walking.

When we got to Looe we headed straight for the nearest cafe for a well earned tea (or coffee). As we didn't intend to walk back to Fowey, we called up a taxi to take us to the ferry in Polruan that would cross the estuary back to Fowey. Low and behold...a black cab turns up! Thankfully he wasn't charging London prices...just £5 each for a 30min ride.

Monday: Eden Project

On the Monday we had a day off walking...some of us headed to the Eden Project whilst others did a bit of shopping (couldn't believe that Fat Face had a shop in Fowey!).

The Eden Project was created to fill in a quarry site...but they pulled it off beautifully with two domes: one had rain forests from around the world, and the other was laid out like the Mediterranean. Great to just wonder about and take in the wonderful smells of each dome.

Unfortunately for Al and myself, we had to head back to London on the Tuesday, but others stayed on during the week to enjoy some more walking.

Fowey is a lovely place to stay, especially if you want to walk some of the South West Coastal Pathway. Just keep in mind a lot of these small towns have very limited mobile reception (as John found out) and in some cases, none at all!

27 Feb-8 Mar 2010: Altenmarkt, Austria

Oh how I love Austria! The snow, food, good company, quaint little town of Altenmarkt, the Klausners...this is my third time back and I would come back again and again.

This time I came with Sera, Alex, Terreis and Nick. We had some mixed weather...starting off sunny (and warm) and then heading towards a blizzard by the end of the week. But we had a great time, and we can't complain about the amount of snow we had (though going down to -14 degrees on the slopes was a tad cold!).

Zauchensee ski slopes were in great shape...lots of good snow, not too much ice, and not a lot of Brits in hearing distance! The ski field is run really well and they even provide free shuttle buses to and from Altenmarkt, all day and for free. With the Euro still strong, this was a bonus as it wasn't cheap buying a 7 day ski pass.

As for the food...lots of delicious things to choose from and for some...it was the highlight of the trip!!

Here are some pics that tell it better than I can....