Long weekend to Portugal

In ealry Feb Nadia and I popped over to Lisbon in Portugal for 4 days. Lisbon is great as there is lots to see, the weather is much mildier than London , transport is a breeze and the time zone is also the same as London.




Above- The Lisbon Experience. Nadia and I took the lift up to the top and had great views of the city.

Nadia posing!

Above- one of the many statues plotted around the city.

Clark posing!

Above- Torre De Belem

Above- a popular spot in downtown Lisbon. Would have been even better if we hadn't been asked whether we wanted to buy 'good smoke' a number of times.

Above- Lisbon

Above just down from the hotel we were staying.

Alfama is in the old part of Lisbon, it houses some narrow streets and some interesting characters.

A fisherman tries his luck with the Jesus statue as backdrop. Jesus was no help to him on this day as he walked away empty handed.

Christmas Cheer in Chaminox

For Christmas this year we headed to Chaminox in France. Chaminox itself is a big ski town and could be described as the Queenstown of France with its numberous tourists, beautiful surrounds and extravagant prices. Chaminox is about a 2 hour drive from Geneva in Switzerland south into France.

We stayed in a chalet with 9 others for 7 days and during this time had some great sunny days, the only issue was that the temperature was a chilly -10 degrees!

Above- Snow as far as the eye could see. We were lucky that we had as much snow as we did as I was told by the locals that it was rare to have so much snow as early before Xmas.

Above- We had 2 days on the slopes. For me that was one day skiing and one day snowboarding for Nadia that meant 2 days of R&R in the warmth of the chalet. The picture above shows me at the top of one of the highest peaks just before we attempted to ski down the rather treterous black trail.

Above- Not a great idea for those with a fear of heights, this Gondola took us up to one of the highest peak that we could possible ski down, with moderate success.

Olly & Toby at the top of the Gondola with some stunning views in behind.

Nadia outside the Catholic Cathedral Church in Chaminox. We went to Christmas Eve Mass. Unfortunately though, my skills in the French language are not so flash so apart from the very little was understood!

Picture above shows the valley that Chaminox sits in glistening in snow.

Nadia's care package from home consistting of an Ice breaker, Possum fur hat and goves and numerous thermals really paid divedends.

One day we hired snow shoes and poles (not as glamerous as the movies). The locals thought it was a great joke as we walked the equivalent of footpaths around Chaminox in search for more challenging terrain.

From left- Julia, Laura, Mel, Toby, Olly, Janine, Clark

One off our days off involved a roadie to Evian which is the town most famous for producing bottled water. This was a bizare little town which I guess is more popular in summer & who could blame people wanting to go there, what with there mocked up wodden villages and giant pot plants!