Becoming Orange...

If it's orange...it's perfect. After trawling through our wardrobes looking for anything that's orange or close enough, and not too ugly, we managed to scrape together an outfit for Queens Day. Shortly after arriving in Amsterdam, we picked up some orange clompen (clogs) which was a nice finishing touch to our orangeness. We marched onward (clip clopping away in our new clogs) through the crowded streets of Amsterdam and ended up at a friend's place for a party which was in her stunning canalhouse in the heart of all the action. There was also a meat pie stall outside the apartment....a delicious taste of home. The atmosphere was buzzing throughout all of Amsterdam with live bands, street stalls, people partying on the streets and canals, and we had a blast hanging out with friends and soaking it all in.

Easter in Norway

We spent the recent Easter break with Stuart, Kamilla, their gorgeous son Elliott and Ebba (their lovable dog with googly eyes) in Oslo. It was our first time in Norway. We had a great time catching up with Stu and Kamilla as well as seeing the sights around Oslo. We climbed up to the rooftop of the impressive Opera House, walked around the harbour and streets of Oslo, and spent a day in the seaside village of Drobak. Stuey cooked up a storm every day as well which was a real treat!

Streets of Oslo

Christian and Yasmine

Photos of our niece and nephew from our recent trip to Melbourne. Still gorgeous as ever!

Back again....

It's been a while since we have updated the blog. I'm trying to recall what we've been up to since our Christmas and New Year trip in France.....here's a quick wrap-up:

* Final ski sessions - we both had separate work ski trips with our colleagues to make the most of the exceptionally cold winter and great snowfall.

* Iceskating - I skated on a frozen natural lake for the first time which is a very popular Dutch activity. It's been about 10 years since Holland has had a winter cold enough to skate!

* Sick - cough, fever and the works for both of us - unfortunately it was during Carnival weekend which meant whilst everyone else was partying we were pitifully sick.

* Moved apartments - only one floor up in same building but loving the extra space.

* Oz - managed to get some sun and spent a couple of weeks back home to thaw ourselves after the European chills.

* Outsourcing domestic duties - finally got a cleaner...money well spent! Still on a high about this one.

* Easter in Oslo - fun times visiting friends in Norway.

Will put some photos up in due course....
Last but not least, the weather over here is finally improving and spring is in the air.

Images of Reims

The bottom photo is outside the former headquarters of General Eisenhower where he signed the surrender of WWII on behalf of the Allies.

Lots of bubbles

A lot of the large champagne houses were closed over the festive season but we managed to get guided visits at Moet et Chandon and G.H. Mumm. It was amazing to see the underground network of champange cellars that lie beneath these champagne houses. Each had about 25km of underground cellars. It was also interesting to visit a smaller champagne producer and learn about the production process. It was slightly bizarre because to visit the smaller champagne makers, you go to their front door, ring the doorbell and ask if you can sample/purchase their wines. We felt a bit like intruders but that's just the way it works over there.

Images of Beaune

Hotel Dieu (the Hospice de Beaune) is an incredibly impressive place to visit. We don't normally include nursing homes on our 'must-see' list when we visit a place but this one was an exception. And we don't normally spend so much time gazing at roof tiling, but once again, this one was an exception!

Wine trail in Burgundy

Burgundy lies about 2 hours south of Champagne. We based ourselves in Beaune and did day trips on the various wine trails in the area. We don't really know much about French wines, the regions, the grapes, etc. but had a massive (and incredibly heavy) book called World Atlas of Wine, and read about the places we visited along the way...Chassagne-Montrachet, Meursault, Pommard, Nuits Saint George, Vougeout, Dijon (vive la moutarde!) and a block of land/ vineyards that boasted to have the grapes that produced the most expensive wine in the world. It was dead quiet on the roads and there were hardly any other tourists around, but it was nice not competing with hoardes of others and the winter landscape and bare vines were starkly beauty. My colleague recommended some smaller winemakers to visit and we also visited several caves (cellars) where you can pay for a selection of tastings. The car was definitely heavier by the time we left Beaune.

White New Year

It didn't snow on Christmas Day so I'm still dreaming of a white Christmas...but we got plenty of snow for NYE. We booked a restaurant in the ski village of La Bresse. We didn't realise when we booked it from the Netherlands, that the altitude of the restaurant was 1000m, and we pretty much had to drive up a mountain to get there, and the restaurant was on an unsealed road covered in ice and snow!! Yikes. So what goes up must come down. It snowed during the evening, making us even more nervous about the descent. We slowly and carefully made our way down at a pace no faster than 20km/hr and we very grateful for the winter tyres that we had put onto the car a few weeks earlier. The meal itself was delicious but next time we book something in a ski resort, we'll be checking on the altitude.

A delicious start to the new year

Here are some snaps of the divine desserts that we enjoyed on Christmas Day and New Years Eve. As we didn't have family to celebrate Christmas with, we consoled ourselves by eating a lot just the two of us.