Monday, February 18, 2008
Hever Castle
This week we had an offsite meeting with a small team at the Hever Castle in Kent. This beautiful setting is located about an hour outside of London in the English countryside. The Hever Castle is famous because it was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII's 2nd wife who lost her head), as well as the home of the Astor family (future owners of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in NYC). We were able to take a tour of the castle itslef and take pictures in the evening around the grounds. The castle has a moat, a maze, josting grounds and a magnificent lake that was covered with frost the morning I went for an early morning run. What a lovely setting to spend two days!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Weekend in Paris
Last weekend I took the Eurostar Train from London to Paris to visit Cameron Hanson, a family friend of ours studying abroad for the semester. After sleeping through my alram, whoops, i managed to catch the next train thankfully, and arrive safely in Paris. Magnificent weather greated me and we had a glorious day walking through the streets of Paris taking in the true Parisian culture. We ate near the artist area of Mont Marte and sat on the steps leading up to the cathedral. There were people everywhere enjoying the sunshine and relaxing in the spring like temperatures. We made our way through the streets of Paris to the Notre Dame Cathedral, a favorite of mine of course, past the Louvre, along the Seine and in and out of various cafes and stores. Dinner in a great french place in the St Michael area and a view of hte Effiel Tower at night.
Sunday i got up early to do a long marathon training run along hte river and enjoyed the early morning calm with no one around. the city was magnificent and provided a great backdrop for my run. Mass was in French, but i tried to pay attention, and breakfast was a serving of true French Toast at a lovely patesserie. We walked again through the streets on Sunday, met some of Cameron's Sarah Lawerence University friends, and ended the day eating chocolate crepes in the shadow of the Effiel Tower. A big thanks to Cameron for a wonderful, relaxing weekend and for being a great hostess and a big thanks to Paris for giving me a new found appreciation for the atmosphere and culture of that city.
Sunday i got up early to do a long marathon training run along hte river and enjoyed the early morning calm with no one around. the city was magnificent and provided a great backdrop for my run. Mass was in French, but i tried to pay attention, and breakfast was a serving of true French Toast at a lovely patesserie. We walked again through the streets on Sunday, met some of Cameron's Sarah Lawerence University friends, and ended the day eating chocolate crepes in the shadow of the Effiel Tower. A big thanks to Cameron for a wonderful, relaxing weekend and for being a great hostess and a big thanks to Paris for giving me a new found appreciation for the atmosphere and culture of that city.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Innsbruck, Austria
Jason and I spent a weekend in Austria in early February, testing out the European slopes for the first time. The Austrian Alps did not disapoint and we had three amazing days on the mountains. After arrving via train from Munich, we found our hotel in the central Innsbruck area and looked up at the mountains surrounding the city. Saturday was spent skiing through a white out at Axamer Lizum resort. Rocky peaks above could just barely be seen because of all the new snow. We apres skiied in a little hut on the side of the mountain (Dolan's Nest) with a bunch of drunk Dutch ski bums enjoying their weekend away for holiday. After a few beers and german songs with our new friends, we raced down the mountain at sunset on freshly groomed trails , after the entire resort was closed to catch the last bus back into the city.
Sunday was an amazing day - woke up to clear blue skies and lots of fresh snow from the day before. We took a beautiful bus ride through the countryside of Austria up to the Stubeai Glacier. This park was incredible - two gondola rides to the top opened up to an incredible bowl of snow covered slopes in the middle of the resort. Although sunny it was cold and windy on the top of the mountain so we had to bundle up on the lifts. We opted for the gondola after a while because at least we would be inside! The views were awesome
Monday we skied for a 1/2 day at a local resort in Innsbruck. We took the local tram up the side of the mountain to a small park that overlooked the downtown area. The runs were steep and short, looking directly down over the town. At the end of one run you literally skiied out onto a platform before turning around and catching the incoming chairlift. Quite and amazing experience. After lunch we headed back into downtown where we grabbed our bags from the hotel and ventured into the old section of innsbruck. We found a magnificent Christmas shope (which my brother Andrew had visited a few years back) and bought plenty of decorations and souveniers to remember our wonderful experience in Austria.
Delayed trains and flights made the trip home a little frustrating and we did not arrive back in london until after 1am, but the effort was worth it!
Sunday was an amazing day - woke up to clear blue skies and lots of fresh snow from the day before. We took a beautiful bus ride through the countryside of Austria up to the Stubeai Glacier. This park was incredible - two gondola rides to the top opened up to an incredible bowl of snow covered slopes in the middle of the resort. Although sunny it was cold and windy on the top of the mountain so we had to bundle up on the lifts. We opted for the gondola after a while because at least we would be inside! The views were awesome
Monday we skied for a 1/2 day at a local resort in Innsbruck. We took the local tram up the side of the mountain to a small park that overlooked the downtown area. The runs were steep and short, looking directly down over the town. At the end of one run you literally skiied out onto a platform before turning around and catching the incoming chairlift. Quite and amazing experience. After lunch we headed back into downtown where we grabbed our bags from the hotel and ventured into the old section of innsbruck. We found a magnificent Christmas shope (which my brother Andrew had visited a few years back) and bought plenty of decorations and souveniers to remember our wonderful experience in Austria.
Delayed trains and flights made the trip home a little frustrating and we did not arrive back in london until after 1am, but the effort was worth it!
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