Spring in Oxford and London

Over the Easter holidays I travelled to Oxford for an MYP training course. All the course delegates stayed in The Queen's College campus, enjoying a unique Oxford University experience. It was wonderful to be in Oxford in spring and the magnolias were out in full force.

The Queen's College, Oxford

Not a bad view from the conference room

After the course I went to London for a few days to meet up with my best friend from high school, Ani. It was a great reunion and we spoke non-stop from morning to midnight every day! The highlight of this trip was an outing to West End to see Les Miserables. This is my favourite show ever and is actually the world's longest running musical. The production was incredible and the set design, singing, acting, costumes and music were out of this world. We treated ourselves to a lovely dinner at The Criterion beforehand - what a great evening!

Just before curtains up

The weather was glorious during my trip and Ani and I took advantage of the sunshine to spend a day in Richmond Park. We set up a picnic spot and chilled with the deer for the afternoon. The walk back along the Thames was just perfect and we even had an ice cream to celebrate the good weather.

Deer in Richmond Park

Soft serve in Richmond!

It's great to be living in Europe and to find ourselves so central in the world after several years in Alaska and Chile. I caught up with a few old friends in London and enjoyed reconnecting and reminiscing. On my last evening in London, we walked along South Bank past the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament at sunset. What a great way to end my holiday!

Evening stroll along the Thames

Dubai

My brother Gavin and his wife Debby have lived in Dubai since 2012 and I finally got out there to visit them. It was an action-packed trip full of catching up, brunch, desert adventures and overwhelming cityscapes.

I started my Dubai experience with a bottomless champagne brunch at the Ritz Hotel. What a warm welcome!

Brunch at the Ritz

My first real tourist experience was a trip up the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. The views from the viewing deck on the 146th floor were spectacular and I saw the Burg Al Arab, The World islands and kilometers of construction and high rise buildings.

A screenshot of an intersection 20 years ago.

The same intersections today.

Apart from catching up with Gavin and Debs, the highlight of my trip was the desert safari. We joined about 50 other Toyota Land Cruisers to thrash through some sand dunes in the desert. On the way there we saw an oryx and some camels, but I think the convoys scared away all the other animals when we arrived! The tour ended at a Bedouin Camp where guests could enjoy traditional food and dancing, get henna tattoos, go on a camel ride, hold a falcon, go sandboarding and more. It was brilliant!

Getting ready for our desert safari

Camel ride! I'm on the middle camel :)

The Bedouin camp in the desert

Me and my brother! I have the biggest smile in the photo!

Skiing in the Swiss Alps

Skiing is a big deal in Switzerland. In the winter months, the lakeside towns and cities empty as everyone heads to the mountains to enjoy some Alpine snow. We're still finding our snow legs again so we didn't rush headlong onto the slopes. Daniel skipped the ski season because he doesn't want to risk an injury and I did two trips - one a school ski camp, the other a girls' trip to Gstaad.

The school camp was in Champoussin, a rustic Valaisan village across the valley from the famous Dents du Midi Mountains. I joined the beginners' group and I had a great time cruising the blue slopes with my students. On our last two days there was over 2 feet of fresh snow so even the blue slopes felt like off-piste skiing!

The Dents du Midi

Perfectly groomed slopes before the big snowfall

Me at the Snowli Park (for children)!

In February I went to Gstaad with Jane to enjoy the fancy resorts there. It was great to be able to stop at the bar and have a fondue and wine (unlike with the students). I nearly managed to get my skis parallel and I even went down an easy red slope!

Picture perfect views with conveniently placed lamppost and sleds in the foreground :)

Jane, me and Sam

Gorgeous weather for skiing

Taking a well-earned rest in the sun

When I returned my ski pass at the end of the trip, I was offered an exchange of my 5 franc deposit or cheese or chocolate! Only in Switzerland... :-)

Aubonne Christmas Lights

We went for an evening stroll around our village to see the Christmas lights lining the streets and adorning the houses. It's fun to be back in a place with a winter Christmas!

Vineyard Lunch Walk

We are making the most of the glorious Autumn weather in Aubonne and we celebrated the start of November with a picnic among the vines. Daniel led us on one of his training routes which leads to our neighbouring villages of Bougy-Villars and Fechy. It was a warm, peaceful walk and a great way to enjoy lunch!

Exiting the village through the old village gate

Strolling down a country lane alongside the vines

Impressed by the "designer sheds" in the vineyards

Enjoying the sunshine

A perfect spot for lunch!

Beautiful views

And re-entering the village through the same gate

Arboretum

The Arboretum is situated in the Aubonne Valley and is a bit like a botanical garden. It cultivates thousands of trees for scientific research and species protection and provides a beautiful setting for walks and picnics. We had such beautiful Autumn weather over the weekend and on Sunday we went for a lovely walk through the farms and vineyards to the Arboretum.

The grapes have been picked and the vineyards are turning yellow

The ubiquitous cows with their cowbells. These provide a
background ding-a-ling-a-ling meoldy for all country walks!

Our new life in a snapshot: the Alps and Lake Geneva in the
background, Aubonne Tower and village in the middle, and
forests,  vineyards and cows in the foreground.

A country lane running alongside a farm. Many of the cows have
moved to their winter fields, so these fields are empty now.

A leaf-lined path through the forest

The back entrance to the Arboretum over the Aubonne River

A view of the other side of the river

A trail inside the Arboretum

The centre of the Arboretum with beautiful Autumn colours

The walk home with Mont Blanc in the background

Swiss Fondue

Our friend Jane invited us round to her house for our first Swiss Fondue! The first thing to accept is that calories absolutely must not be counted. The ingredients call for around 200g of cheese per person, and when you add the wine, bread and meat, well, it all adds up to an amazing meal!

Our cheese was Alpina from Bulle, a small municipality in the district of Gruyère. We rubbed garlic around the inside of the pot, added the cheese and a generous dollop of wine, and waited for it to melt into gooey sumptuous cheesy goodness. Our meal was accompanied by a delicious local wine from Fechy and freshly baked bread.

The ingredients

Add the cheese

Give it a good stir

Ready to go!

Fondue forks :)

Enjoying our first fondue

Empty plates and very full tummies