Ringing in 2008!

December 31, 2007 into January 1, 2008

Although not quite what we had planned we had an awesome time!

Dan and Rebecca came over after work and we sat around and enjoyed some cheese, crackers, beer, and champagne before heading off to dinner. We had reservations at 8:00 pm at Jamon Jamon in Camden Town. We got there right around 8 and had some Sangria with our Spanish tapas, all of the food was excellent, with the exception of the first batch of croquettes that we got. We ordered Blue Cheese croquettes and instead they brought us Salmon croquettes, not quite the same. Oh well, we got the cheese ones and all was right again. The restaurant was very busy and they basically ended up ushering us out of the restaurant at 9:00 pm so they could refill the table, we figured we would be there hanging out until at least 10 but no luck.

Greg and I at Jamon Jamon:



We were going to go to Primrose Hill to see the fireworks but we really did not want to go there for 3 hours, so instead we went across the street to the "Spread Eagle" (a local pub) to hang out.

The 4 of us at the Spread Eagle:



Greg and I had eaten Sunday roast there the day before and saw that they were having a drag show, sounded like fun. So, we went in, grabbed a table, some champagne and beer and enjoyed the music. We then went into the main room, where the drag show was going on, and danced, laughed, talked, drank, and all until after 11:00 pm. About that time we noticed it was raining outside and at this point knew we were not going to Primrose Hill.

Dan and Greg, such posers:



Around 11:30 we left the pub to head back to our flat, we knew we would be able to see fireworks from there, even if they weren't the big ones at the London Eye.

Rebecca and I at the bus stop waiting for the bus (as you can see we are wet):



We got back with about 10 minutes to spare, opened another bottle of champagne and enjoyed the fireworks and setting off party poppers.

Rebecca and I setting off party poppers:



Happy New Year!

Not a way to end a vacation

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Today was supposed to be a nice, easy return home. It turned out to be anything but that. We woke at 5 am because our bus was to pick us up at 7:00 am. The bus did not arrive until 7:30 am. There were roughly 100 people on our double decker bus, and all of us were on the same flight back to London, which was good. We sat upstairs so we could enjoy the scenery, which was a bad choice, as it was boiling hot and only hot air was blowing out of the vents. It was roughly 15 degrees outside and I was wearing a tank top and still sweating on the bus, to give you a clue.

About an hour into our journey (total 3 hour journey to the airport) the boy right in front of me got sick, and it smelled so bad, I thought I was going to get sick as well. The heat just permeated the smell as well. So, the bus stopped for about 10 minutes so he could change clothes. While stopped the people on the top deck opened up the emergency hatches, we had been repeatedly telling the driver that it was too hot but he still had not done anything so we were all just trying to get any relief that we could. Of course he came up to the top of the bus, and shut them, telling us we could not have them open. Once back on the road, some people opened them back up anyways, we really needed the cool air at this point.

On the way to Saas Fee a week earlier, we made no pit stops in our 3 hour journey, today, when we are running an hour late, the driver decides to stop for 20+ minutes for a break. So, it was now 10:00 am (our check in time for our flight), and we are just getting back on the road, and we still have an hour plus journey left to the Geneva airport. We finally arrived around 11:00 am the airport, our flight is in 1 hour and it is international, not good. The driver dropped all 100 of us off (again about 1/3 of the plane on this bus) and we proceeded to go inside and check in. We could not find our check in terminal, AT ALL!!! Nobody at the airport could help us either. Finally, our tour guide came and found us, we were at the wrong terminal.

We walk to the correct terminal (about a 10 min walk), in which time we see the bus driver parking the bus in from of this terminal, we were not happy campers. We all trudged in to the check in desk, and our flight was CLOSED! Now, since it was a package deal we knew that they were not going to abandon 1/3 of their plane. We waited for them to open up the flight again and began the check in process. So, the Geneva airport has the worst layout I have ever seen. We had to take a shuttle from the check in area, over to the actual gate terminal, where we had to go through security and 2 passport checks. Finally, we had to then wait for a second shuttle that would actually take us to the plane. Our 12:00 departure was now pushed back to 12:45 at which time the captain came on and announced that we were going to have to wait another 40 minutes before we could take off. Greg and I were not even sitting together, so we really were not happy. I had a bratty kid sitting next to me the entire way, he kept staring at me, kicking me, putting his coloring book in my lap, and on and on.

Finally we had taken off, for our 1 hr flight to London, but it was well past lunch time and we didn't have much for breakfast so we were getting a little hungry. Once we took off the captain then announced that their food provider did not show up and therefore the crew had to scrounge around for food from other planes, and they were 40 short, so they needed volunteers to not eat. Greg and I were not willing to miss our lunch, since everything else had gone wrong, but there were enough volunteers and we did get to eat. Whew!

Oh well, all in all it was a GREAT trip that I would take again. We did finally make it home, and our dog sitter had already dropped the dogs off at our flat, so that made things even better for us, to see their wagging tails and all when we walked in.

Saas Fee is a "carless" town and all of the vehicles are small electrical cars:



We slept on Austrian double beds, which is just 2 singles pushed together, not very good:


My knees were completely black and swollen by the end of the week:

Back in the swing of things

Friday, December 21, 2007

Today started out as every other day during our trip to Saas Fee, woke up and had breakfast at the hotel before heading out to the slopes for snowboarding school. I (Tami) actually went back to class and stayed all day. I was very proud of myself for going back after my melt down.

Our instructor, Toast, took videos of us so we could see how our turns looked, we all got to watch each others, which was fun. I finally was able to make it up the ski lift, only fell off once the entire time, even though I still was not going to the top, and only about 1/3 of the way up. Greg on the other hand, was going up to the top and coming all the way down, he was doing great. At the end of class Toast gave each of us a snowboarding class book and marked our progress, Greg got an Excellent!!!, Tami got a Needs Work (duh!).

Greg and Toast at the end of class:



Toast's Snowboard (my two favorite colors):



After class we returned our snowboarding equipment and went to lunch at Zur Muhle (Moulin - a recommendation from Toast) and enjoyed clear broth soup, fondue, and the best Coke we have ever had. We knew we had an early bus to leave in the morning so we stopped in at a bakery (Beck) and picked up some pastries for breakfast. We then rode the sky bucket up Hannig again from some hot chocolate/beer, a banana crepe, and to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hannig mountain.

One of the views of Hannig Mountain:



We had to return our ski lift tickets, so Greg did that while I began to pack, we had some free time before dinner and didn't want to stress about it later in the evening.

When Greg got back it was time for the hot tub, we sure will miss this. Then we got ready and headed to dinner early, we had plans for that evening. Once dinner was over we headed out for our Husky sled ride. We had 4 huskies pulling us: Shay, Duke (the only Alaskan husky), Arco, and Tina. All the dogs were so cute and we had a great time. The ride was short, since Saas Fee is so small, but it was still worth it. Greg even got to drive a little bit, though the dogs weren't nearly as responsive to him as they are to the regular guide.

Tami with the huskies:



Greg driving the dog sled:



Once done with the husky ride, we made our final trek back to the hotel. When we got to our room we enjoyed a bottle of wine before going to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

A day to forget for Tami

Thursday, December 20, 2007

We again woke up for breakfast in the hotel, this time a little slower and with a lot more pain. After breakfast it was the same routine, head down to the slopes for snowboarding class. Greg was doing great at class and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a mental breakdown on the slopes. I went about 1/3 of the way up the slopes (which was my typical spot) only once but it took about 6 or 7 tries to get there, and managed to come down, with a lot of falls on the way and decided that today was NOT my day to be doing this. So, I left class to sit and enjoy some hot chocolate and watch the rest of class.

Some skiiers and boarders on the slopes:



Greg going up the lift:



Christina from our class:


Once class was done I met up with Greg for some lunch at Mistral where we had clear broth soup with cheese toast, spatzli with cream sauce and pomme frites (french fries). If you hadn't noticed yet Germans like their clear broth soup and so do we. Perfect for me, nothing to pick out of it.

I then decided to try to practice some snowboarding, see if I could get over my nerves. Greg did help me a little but I was still a bit on edge so we quit after only about 30 minutes. We walked around town and did a little shopping before heading back to the hotel.

A large snowman that the town makes each year:



A meat house that the locals used originally:



We stopped at a nice clear spot and made snow angels then it was back to the hot tub for more relaxation.

Tami making her snow angel:



Greg making his snow angel:



Tonight was fondue night at our hotel so we enjoyed our salads and fondue along with some ice cream and wine. Then it was back to bed for an early evening.

Happy 9th Anniversary!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007 - Happy Anniversary!

We woke up this morning to get ready for class, again, but started with breakfast at the hotel. Then we headed down toward the slopes but stopped in first at a shop to buy hand and foot warmers. We then got to class but then Greg realized he had lost his ski pass, so he had to trek off for a replacement. He finally found his original one in his pocket.

Today was not a good day for snowboarding, at least for me. We moved to another slope in which I fell off the lift at least 5 times, before I finally gave up on class. I was so frustrated and upset that I had to give up on class about 1 1/2 hours early. Since it was our anniversary Greg left class early as well.

We decided to have a little fun and unwind so we headed up the sky buckets to Hannig Mountain where we did a 6 KM (3.728 miles) tobaggon down the mountain. It was so much fun and very fast, but not like what we had expected. It was really on the side of the mountain, you could fall down the side if you went to far over. We did have a blast.

Part of the tobaggon run:




Greg on his sled:



Tami on her sled:



We then went to Restaurant Tenne and had clear broth soup with croutons and some cheese fondue with our beer and wine. It was excellent.

Our lunch cheese fondue:



We headed back to the hot tub then a full body massage, that was much needed. After I (Tami) finished my massage I headed back to the room to get ready for dinner while Greg enjoyed his massage. Once he was done he got ready for dinner. We had to be at dinner at 6:30 because we had plans later that night. So, after dinner we went for a torch light walk through the forest, it was great. We each got to carry our own torch. We stopped ib the middle of our 1 hr 45 min walk to enjoy some local wine and fairy tales. After that it was back to the hotel for some shut eye and to get ready for the next day of class.

Greg on our torch light walk:



Me and my torch:

November 2007 Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/Greg.Ware/November2007Brussels

Ouch!

Monday, December 17, 2007

We woke up fairly early this morning to have breakfast in the hotel. We then gathered our gear to walk over to the slopes for our first day of Snowboarding school. We met our instructor, his name is Toast, who is from Germany. We learned to put our board, which is not as easy as it seems at first.

First, we learned how to come down the hill straight (board nose first). Next we got to learn how to come down sideways on the front side and the back side of the board. This was my (Tami) favorite way to do it, I am good at this. We also learned how to traverse, sort of. During class we did manage to fall ALOT!

3 hours later, we took off the boots and boards, and headed to lunch, we had worked up quite an appetite. We stopped in to eat at La Ferme, where we ate clear soup (beef flavored) and egg noodles with mushrooms. It definitely hit the spot.

After lunch I had to trade in boots for ones that fit better, then we headed back to the tourist office to book our husky sled ride for Friday. We were exhausted, so we went back to the room and enjoyed tea and a cappuccino. Then, it was off to the hot tub, much needed relaxation and work on the muscles. We headed back up to the room to get ready for dinner and early to bed, we needed the rest for day two of our class.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

We woke up very slowly and very painfully. We didn't have many bruises but we did have lots of achy muscles and pains in places that we didn't even know existed. We had our same routine, breakfast, then headed down to the slopes with our board and boots. However, this time we decided to look into renting a locker for our boots and board, so we would not have to carry them back and forth each day, it was about a 20 minute walk each way and the boards are heavy.

We started class by working more on front and back edge. The we began to learn turns. Once we worked on turns a bit we started to go up the lift. Greg was doing great with his turns and was able to get up the lift very easily, me not so much. I did struggle a lot on the lift, I fell off 4 times today, but I did keep getting up and trying again. I was doing okay with the turns but not nearly as well as Greg.

Greg boarding:




Another boarding move by Greg:



Tami Boarding:




This is how cold it is:


After another long, hard 3 hours we had lunch at Arvo Stuba where we enjoyed a wonderful cheese, tomato, and ham toastette. We then went back to the slopes for a little bit of practice and to take some pictures of us on the boards. After we dropped our boards and boots off at our lockers and decided to stop in at a bar to have a drink.

One of Greg's many bruises:



Next, it was back to the hotel for some time in the hot tub and to get ready for dinner. We had the most fabulous cheese and tomato crepes for dinner, yummy!

Our 9th Anniversary in a Winter Wonderland, day 2

Sunday, December 16 2007

Today was kind of a strange day. We had our snowboarding equipment, but the Snowboarding school didn't start until the next day and we weren't quite brave enough to go and try it ourselves, so we had to find other ways to amuse ourselves. We got up and had breakfast at the hotel we were staying (our accommodations were "half-board" which meant that they provided breakfast and supper every day). It was a nice breakfast, more than you would expect for one that was included. We then wandered around town a little bit to get acclimated... found out where we had to meet for ski school, that type of thing.

Tami in front of Saas Fee


A fire hydrant in town


Eventually we made it over to the Alpin Express which takes you up the Allalin Mountain. We went up two different lifts and an underground tram which takes you up almost to the top, which is 3500 meters (about 11,483 feet). They have a revolving restaurant at the top which is supposed to be the highest in the world. The view were excellent and the food was pretty good too. After lunch, we walked around a bit at the top, but it was very cold so we didn't stay long. It was cold enough at the top that the battery in our camera didn't work properly... we had to hold it in our hands to warm it up to make it work again.

Greg in front of some mountains from Allalin


The view from our restauraunt


The view coming down the lift


We then rode the lift back down (we knew that we wouldn't be skiing down it anytime soon) and walked over to where they had a "bobsleigh" ride. It was essentially a mini roller coaster, but it was a lot of fun. After that, we walked into a few little shops in the town and just killed time until it was time to meet our group for an orientation. The orientation wasn't too terribly helpful, but at least we got to try some mulled wine for free! After that, we went back for supper at our hotel and went to bed early expecting an exhausting day with our first snowboarding lesson starting the next day.

Our 9th Anniversary in a Winter Wonderland, day 1

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Today was to be an exciting day for us. We woke up early (3:30 am) for a car to pick us up and drive us to the airport at 4:00 am. We had to be at the airport at 6:00 am and none of the trains out there would have started running early enough so we had to get a drive, we got a great deal on it though. We got to the airport in plenty of time and ate breakfast before getting on the plane, good thing we did too. The plane was delayed over 45 minutes due to a passenger having a problem with their passport, so the luggage had to be unloaded so they could remove theirs. No big deal at all, finally we were off.

We arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, which looked like most any other city, although the airport layout is awful. We then boarded a bus that would take us to Saas Fee, Switzerland, about a 3 hour bus ride. We did not know that the bus would not have any food for us to buy or that we would not stop for a break on the way, so we were happy that we had eaten on the plane and that I had brought cookies just in case.

Most of the drive was great, lots of little vineyards on the side of the mountains and seeing Lake Geneva was great. It was a clear day and with the mountains behind the Lake it was breathtaking. The last hour of the drive to Saas Fee was the most spectacular drive that I have ever been on. The closer we got to Saas Fee the more amazing it became, more snow, more mountains, more curves, just completely picturesque. There were lots of little villages in the valleys, roofs all covered in snow, just like a Thomas Kinkade painting.

One of the valleys on the mountain near Geneva:



Lake Geneva:



A castle outside of Geneva:



One of the cute snow covered villages near Saas Fee:



One of the last mountains before we got to Saas Fee:


We finally made it to Saas Fee around 3:30 pm, where we had to unload the bus and wait for our hotel electric car to pick us and our luggage up. Saas Fee is a "Car-free" town, mainly the hotels, some restaurants and bars, and a few other places have little electric cars, it is quite nice there. We made it to the hotel, checked-in to our German inspired hotel, Hotel Europa, and immediately took off for the tourist information center where we picked up a few brochures to look at.

After 4:00 pm we were able to get our snowboarding gear, so we got fitted for boots and a board. This proved to be a pain in the rear to carry around, but what else are you going to do. Once done with this we headed to the hotel for our first of 7 5-course dinners. We immediately headed back to our room and crashed, it had been a long day.

By the way, our beds were Austrian doubles, which meant that it was just 2 single beds pushed together, on hard wood floors that is not a very good thing, every time you move while you sleep the beds move too. Oh well.

Merry Christmas from the Ware's

Wishing everyone a happy holiday.

Snowboarding class 101

You fall a lot!!!!

We are doing well, unfortunately only 1 day of class remains but still having a lot of fun, we have the bruises and sore muscles to prove it.

Will write more later.

Winter Wonderland

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Though today started very early at 3:30 am, it was well worth.

We have arrived in Saas Fee, Switzerland, it is so beautiful. The drive here was like nothing I could have imagined, all the snow around, on the trees and mountains, and the little villages hidden in the valley.

Mom, this is definitely where you would like to live.

Saas Fee is a German inspired village, our hotel is even German. So far we have not done much except get our snow boarding equipment but we are at least here and on our way.

Oh yeah, we have 4 * accomodations, which means a nice room with a balcony and good view of the mountains, along with breakfast and a 5 course dinner every night, not sure our waistlines can handle it, guess we need to work it off on the slopes.

Will update you as soon as we can but wanted to let everyone know we were here!!!!

Tami & Greg

Turkey and Penguins

Saturday, December 1st 2007

Our morning started out pretty laid back today. I went to do some Christmas shopping for Tami in the morning while she stayed home. She was able to complete her shopping for me on Friday since she had the day off. After I was done, we headed over to Stacey and Joe's flat for a late Thanksgiving dinner. We had met Stacey and Joe at Bodeans when we watched the UGA - Florida game. We have been meaning to get up with them, but they are heading back to the States soon, so they are really busy. There were quite a few people there, but we were the only other Americans, so we had to help teach everyone about Thanksgiving. That meant that we all went outside and threw an American football around, teaching them how to throw it. After that, we went back in and had a huge Thanksgiving feast... the kind we missed the first time around, followed by football!

Stacey, if you're reading this, thank you so much for the Thanksgiving meal... it was wonderful and we had a great time.


Throwing the ole pigskin around.

After we had digested our food a bit, we had plans to go skating at Somerset House at 10:30, so headed over there. It was really cool, they had a big skating rink out with Torches and other lights to light up the rink. We got there early, so we grabbed a hot chocolate and watched people skating around. Finally it was our time, so we laced up our skates and hit the ice (fortunately, not literally.) We did pretty good since neither one of us fell the entire time we were out there. Compared to a lot of people, we were pretty good. However, we didn't get too fancy, so you won't see pictures of either of us doing any jumps. We skated for about an hour before they closed the rink and we headed home.


The skating was sponsered by Tiffany's, so Tami posed with the Tiffany's boxes under the tree (and no, Tami's Christmas gift is not in one of those boxes)


People skating at Somerset House


Tami taking the penguin around for a skate



Tami and me out on the ice.