Glacier Express Home

On the Saturday we took a longer route home (via CHUR!) that enabled us to travel on the much vaunted Glacier Express. We got exceptionally lucky in that the previous day's snow combined with a sunny day to provide excellent views en route. The journey in a panoramic carriage is well worth the money and though we missed the really famous viaduct the trip was a fantastic end to the week.

A Trip to Zermatt - Day VII

Our last day (after 5 days of good weather) saw the weather close in and we got a real snowy Friday. We decided that it would be an opportunity to go for a walk in the mountains. The snowy paths were definitely easier to walk up than down!

Us at the Top...

A Trip to Zermatt - Day VI

Another sunny day greeted us today but the temperature was chilly to say the least. At the top of the main 6 man chair it was -24 degs C!!! It was also windy which meant that we couldn't ski from the top of the glacier but we could go on the cable car to the top as foot passengers. With bad weather expected tomorrow we took advantage and went up to the peak of the Klein Matterhorn at just under 3900m. The view was simply stunning.

The Matterhorn at Night

I used one of the many scene options on our new camera to take this shot of the Matterhorn in (nearly) full moonlight. It was wonderful to see the mountain at night like this.

A Trip to Zermatt - Day V

So we had finished our two days of ski school (well private tuition for 2 long 3 hour afternoon sessions) and so we could put it all into practice on another sunny day. We took the train again as the Matterhorn Express had seen excessive queuing on Tuesday morning. However, the queues were non-existent today (& for the rest of the week surprisingly) as the cable cars (above) had been employed as well as the gondolas. We explored the sun covered south facing slopes near Roturn but found little good snow so returned back to Gornergrat.

A Trip to Zermatt - Day IV

As usual my Birthday was spent skiing! Today we had truly glorious weather and a wonderful afternoon of Instruction from Christian. At the end of the day we saw yet another helicopter whisking off some poor sod but I was able to take this rather striking photograph.

A Trip to Zermatt - Day II

Our first day skiing and a chance to experience one small part of the Zermatt experience - the Gornergrat Train.

A Trip to Zermatt - Day I

We've taken a full week off to go skiing in Zermatt and we found ourselves in the very friendly Hotel Hemizeus. The best thing of all was the fact that the view from our window was directly onto the Matterhorn. There was nothing in between us and the wonderful mountain.

2-0 in the San Siro!!!!!!!

As the song once went - Oh What a Night!!!! Just got back from Milan after a wonderful 2 days. A bar that served London Pride was the first of many surprises but we'll just concentrate on the result, the performance and everything else. We may win bugger all but I don't care. I reaslised a dream to watch us play in the San Siro and the game was the biggest amount of icing ever seen on the biggest cake ever made...

1-0 to the Arsenal

Sorry but please indulge me... at 1-0.

A Wonderful time in Milan...

You probably know the score don't you. But since it has been a dream of mine for decades; to actually see Arsenal, not only play but win in the San Siro then it has been a truly awesome couple of days. I spent two days in the city; finding a bar that served London Pride (and no it wasn't your "English Pub" that you so often find in european cities - it's clientele seemed mainly locals); walking around the Duomo, La Scala and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle. However, the tourist stuff was second place to the match itself. Match reports tell you the story but the atmosphere I will remember for a very long time as well as the feeling when young Cesc Fabregas scored!

Celebrations - Bundesliga Style

Oh and here is a celebration of Karlsruhe's first goal in their 3-1 win over Wolfsburg.

A trip to the Bundesliga...

I took the fast ICE train to Karlsruhe today to go and see my first ever Bundesliga game. The small and newly promoted Karlsruhe SC played against Wolfsburg and were trying to get their european ambitions back on track. I bought my ticket online (for a mere €17 plus delivery - you can actually stand at the ground for €10!!!) and arrived in Karlsruhe around lunchtime. Inside the smallish (capacity around 32,000)ground I met some english speaking locals plus an Aussie at the game who were not too enthusiastic about the level of football compared to the premier league. What the game lacked in quality it made up for in price, the atmosphere, the fact terracing still existed and BEER at the seat (see picture)! Karlsruhe won the game 3-1 and deservedly so. Am definitely coming back.