Flaine (France) - 19th to 28th of December 2008

We were up extremely early on the 19th to get out to Gatwick airport for our flight to Geneva. We spent a rather low key afternoon walking around Geneva's old town and waterfront and Ange climbed the Cathedral's tower (Warren had already done this when he was in Geneva in September).

Saturday the 20th we were picked up from our hostel at 1pm for the hour and a half minvan trip southeast over the French border to Flaine. Flaine is 1600m up the alps and is a "ski in ski out" resort where the chair lifts were within about 50m from our hotel. This is our hotel from the top of the beginner slope:After picking up our snowboards on Sunday morning, we spent the week boarding during the days and partying during the nights. We had lessons for a few hours everyday so by the end of the week Warren was coming down the slopes from the very top (900m above the resort).

Christmas day we had a bit of a sleep in after a pretty big night (the main Christmas celebrations in France are on the 24th), exchanged some secret santa presents and then hit the slopes in the afternoon.

On Saturday the 27th we had a few hours boarding in the morning before we had to drop our boards back, check out, and get back to Geneva. We had a quick walk around Geneva before an early night for our flight back to London early on the 28th. An absolutely amazing experience and we are both looking forward to boarding again soon!

Locarno - 7th to 8th of April 2008

4 hours southeast to pretty much the most southern point of Switzerland, Locarno. Locarno, again lakeside, felt just as much Italian as Swiss. Much warmer climate but still chilly! We stayed at an awesome hotel overlooking the Piazza Grande (the city centre). We even ate lunch and dinner (from the supermarket) on our balcony watching the locals. Another very pretty town which we walked around following the tourist map. The highlight was climbing up to Madonna Del Sasso which had an awesome view of the city and lake. The church was nice also.

On our way to Italy, we had a stopover for a few hours in Lugano (50 minutes from Locarno by train). Again very Italian feeling, with most of the locals seeming to speak Italian rather than Swiss.

Interlaken - 6th to 7th of April 2008

2 hours southwest of Lucerne is Interlaken. The train ride was easily the best train trip we have ever had, going through tiny villages nestled on the side of cool little lakes with snow capped mountains in the background. It snowed the whole trip, we were obvioulsy at high altitude given the depth of the snow. Interlaken is at the base of the Swiss mountain ranges and therefore quite cold! We arrived in the rain and left in the snow! Our seven layers of clothing was almost enough. We wondered around the cute little town although no specific attractions.

We were up early the next day to try and get up to Jungfrau, Europes highest train station, but the weather wasn't looking any good.

Lucerne - 5th to 6th of April 2008

We were told Lucerne is Switzerland's most beautiful city. We would totally agree. It is amazingly beautiful and arguably the best place we have been on our travels to date. Again it is set on the side of a lake with a river through it. We took a 50 minute train west from Zurich and arrived mid afternoon. We followed the city map indicating important places to visit. The place has a lot of history, with the two old bridges across the river and the rampart wall/towers being the highlights. We enjoyed a good pizza sitting in the freezing cold but overlooking the river and mountains - it would have been wrong to sit inside! The following morning we awoke to snow! First time ever, quite exciting, until we had to finish our city walk and visit the dying lion of Lucerne in the snow!

Zurich - 4th to 5th of April 2008

After a 90min plane ride from Heathrow (and a one hour delay at the new terminal 5), we got to Zurich. Our hotel was out by the airport so we had to figure out the trams to make our way into town. Zurich is on the side of a lake with a beautiful river running through it. Very picturesque but still quite cold. Everything is expensive in Zurich (and Switzerland in general) so we ate sausages in bread for dinner (known to the locals at Brotwurst). The next morning was more walking around, seeing the sights, going up one of the towers in a 15th century church, and trying not to spend too many Francs!