New York, New York - April 2007

There she goes...
New York in bloom - Central Park
Manhattan
Bob in Central Park
Manhattan skyline from Central Park

We're moving to New York! We had a fabulous long weekend - ate bagels, mooched around Soho, hung out in Central Park and walked swiftly and with purpose down Wall St - and decided on our last day that we're going to enter the green card lottery so we can live here. So, watch this space. I have my eye on a nice wee pad on the Upper West Side... In any event, we'll definitely come back.

More NY pics - because you can never see enough!

Ground Zero
King Kong at the Empire State Building
The Chrysler Building from the Empire State
Bob at the top of the Empire State
Just cruising...

Marrakech - April 2007

Peek-a-boo
On the roof terrace with Aloysius
Some moorish architecture
Moroccan market wares

We'd barely unpacked our bags from Melbourne and Dubai when we were back at the airport heading to Marrakech for Easter. After an initial hiccup (when the room we'd booked and paid for suddenly wasn't available) we settled into a lovely Riad in the Medina owned by a charming Frenchman and his equally charming dog, Aloysius. We had a great weekend getting lost in the maze of alleyways, drinking copious amounts of knock-your-socks-off-sweet mint tea and searching for the best tagine in the city (Cafe Arabe by the way). I'd expected us to spend up large on Moroccan homewares, but we found the abundance of goods in the markets a little overwhelming - not to mention the crowds. The trip home was rather chaotic - the airport was absolutely packed and there were no queues, just thousands of people jostling each other with their suitcases trying to figure out where on earth to go. We were still in line to check-in when we heard our final boarding call. Not that it mattered - the rest of our flight was in line behind us!

Dubai - March 2007

Daisy turning on the charm in one of Dubai's enormous malls
Bedouin in the desert
Camels patiently awaiting their passengers
Bob not getting the enormous henna scorpion I think he might have wanted
Hubbly bubbly time

We stopped over in Dubai on our way back to London from the wedding. It was great to see Bec, Andy and Daisy, who were busy settling in to their new homeland. Daisy was adorable and quite the wee charmer - impressive moves for a one-year old! Dubai itself was a fascinating city - it seems to be growing and changing as you watch. It's certainly all about size - the malls are basically small cities and still they keep building them - bigger and more awe-inspiring each time. A highlight though was heading out into the desert for an evening safari. Less than an hour's drive from the city and you're standing on top of a dune with nothing but sand (and a few camels) in every direction.

Kate & Steve's Wedding - March 2007

Bob, Kate and Sandra

The beautiful bride
Just married!
Smiling for the first of many photos Some guests...

We had a lovely time in Melbourne for Kate and Steve's wedding. Both our families were there and it was lovely to catch up with everyone. While it bucketed down the night before the big day and during the morning, the sun came out just in time and it was a beautiful afternoon. Kate was a stunning bride and Steve didn't look too bad either...

Christmas in Russia - 2006

Smolny Cathedral - St Petersburg Saviour on Spilled Blood Cathedral - St Petersburg

Inside the Hermitage - St Petersburg

St Isaacs in the snow

Saviour on Spilled Blood - St Petersburg

We had a fantastic 10 days in Russia - took in most of the major sites in Moscow, Pskov and St Petersburg, so a bit of a whirlwind. And we were travelling with a great group of people which made it even more enjoyable.

We were slightly disappointed not to get a white Christmas...in Russia! What more could we do?! But we did get a couple of days of snow at least. A definite highlight was the Russian banya - involving a traditional sauna, a bit of a spanking with birch leaves, then jumping into a lake through a hole in the ice. Highly recommended...although probably not if you're of weak heart.

The architecture is stunning and the history really fascinating. We could've happily spent a lot longer there - particularly St Petersburg - although we're decidedly over cabbage...especially for breakfast. Russia's certainly not a place to go if you're strenuously opposed to fur-wearing though (by anyone other than the animals to which it's attached). I must admit it is deliciously soft and warm - which I discovered when chased through a market by a man keen to sell me a white mink hat. I don't think his english vocabulary extended much past counting from one to twenty in US$, as he wasn't able to address my concerns about whether the animal had lived well and died without cruelty. I think we parted, me hatless, on quite friendly terms though...

Ness x

More pics from Russia

Christmas tree in Red Square - Moscow

A tube station in Moscow - so similar to Kings Cross!

It's snowing!!

Perfect for the pool room

Wandering around Moscow - Christ the Saviour cathedral in the background

It's Bob!

Cathedral inside the Kremlin

Inside St Isaacs cathedral in St Petersburg


St Basils Cathedral in Red Square - Moscow

Cathedral inside the Kremlin - Moscow

St Basils Cathedral - Moscow

Relaxing at the lake...

We've also uploaded the rest to our web album, so if you're interested you can click on the link to check them out.

Partying at our place...again - New Year's Eve 2006

Some of the pics from our New Year's Eve bash. The usual new year's drunken revelry - with some pretty fancy footwork, not to mention heartfelt enthusiasm (see middle photo), on the dance floor...

Partying at our place - Christmas Party 2006

Before everyone went their separate ways for Christmas we had a bit of a get-together at our place. We even had a tree and an eight foot blow-up Santa. It was a bittersweet celebration this year though as we had to say goodbye to Bec, Andy and Daisy who've left London for the warmer climes of Nelson/Dubai.

Ness x

Did someone say Prada? Tuscany December 2006

We thought we'd tag along on a trip to Tuscany in December with Sarah and some of her friends. After picking up a couple of cars at the airport we drove to our wee cottage amid rolling vineyards and olive groves - bliss! We packed in quite a bit of sight-seeing, shopping, eating and drinking in three days and left suitably stuffed, in both body and bags, and newly in love with all things Italian.

Of course, the wine, food, patchwork vistas and quaint villages were all well and good, but we were really only there to see the Prada factory store. Bob was beside himself. I could only drag him away by promising we'd come back very soon.

Ness x