Sunday 27 September 2015

Have you ever tried Luging?

I HAVE!
Not this type of Luging though..
Before our holiday Jacob, Gillie's youngest son,  was telling me all about
the Luge..

(A one- or two-person sled for coasting or racing down a slide , used especially in Europe) 

 He really wanted me to have a go, so I risked it all!!
I was very apprehensive about going down on a sled from a height
and me in control .   Also had to go up in a Bubble lift.
I am not a lover of lifts at the best of times.
I put all my fears to the side.

You start off here , climbing into your Bubble lift to take you 800 metres up ..

  
When you reach the top, you grab your sled and position it at the start of the metal slide
and then you are off !!!


You control it with a gear stick - Forward for fast and back to slow down or Stop..


I wasn't fast but I wasn't slow ,, I actually had FUN!!

 You cannot get off half way through , once on you are committed.
Here is the proof ..Yeah I did it.


To give you a better idea of how it is ,
I found a little video on YouTube..

Hope you watch it.!!

Then you will see what I braved.

The person on the Luge is in the fast lane, I was
in the lane to the right. For beginners and slow people.




It was GREAT!!!

Wednesday 23 September 2015

Did you go anywhere different this year?



I did!

All thanks to Gillie.
My lovely friend
asked if I would like to go on holiday
with her and her sons and two of their friends.
 
( Her sons even decided which room I would have,
and they chose the Balcony room.  Loved it.)
 
Oh my word ....Of course I would.
How lovely of her and her sons.

Gillie has a fabulous  chalet in


View from my bedroom balcony..


View as we sat on the  side veranda ..

Etale is a mountain of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France.
It lies in the Aravis Range of the French Prealps
 and has an elevation of 2,484 metres above sea level.

Every night we sat on the veranda and just took it all in..




 
It is absolutely fabulous. And even though it is well known as
a Ski resort , the Summer season is just as busy. So much
to do.  Plenty of shops (Chocolate shops too)   a super weekly market ,
supermarkets,restaurants and walks. It is not far from
Lake Annecy either. As you can see from the map below.
The nearest airport is Geneva which is about 27 miles.



It is a ski resort in the Alps near the Swiss border. The commune of La Clusaz is part of the Haute-Savoie department  La Clusaz has been hosting winter sports since 1907. It is the birthplace of famous French skiers Guy Périllat and Vincent Vittoz and sailor Philippe Monnet. Based in the Aravis mountain range La Clusaz (originally from the word cluse - meaning a narrow path between two mountains) was once called Clusa Locus Dei meaning God's narrow place.

A walk through the forest..


Getting ready for winter with their log stack..



Mountains all around...so beautiful and invigorating.
The change in air certainly knocks you out , slept so well.


Still went to France but a totally different holiday and area.

Big thank you to my friend and boys.
♥♥♥♥♥

 I actually went to a few different places this year. I was very lucky indeed.
I have been trying to do a blog post continuing with Austria but having problems
exporting my photos from my phone .. I will get it sorted.

Thursday 17 September 2015

Super postcard from Croatia.. - Thank you Esme..

 My fabulous postcard collection is growing week by week
 
and it is all down to YOU.  
 
My wonderful friends around the world. 

A BIG THANK to
 
ESME.
 
 
Esme's blog
 
is
 
 
Fabulous blog and full of interesting posts,
 
Especially if you love Paris and France.
I do know that Esme has been to visit Portugal and Croatia
and loves travel. She is also a lover of books.

 
 
(Info taken from the web)
 
Zagreb is a city with a rich history
 dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement in the urban area of the city is Andautonia, a Roman settlement in the place of today's Ščitarjevo. The name "Zagreb" is mentioned for the first time in 1094 at the founding of the Zagreb diocese of Kaptol, and Zagreb became a free royal town in 1242, whereas the origin of the name still remains a mystery in spite of several theories.
 
The city is divided into three parts: the thousand-year old Gornji grad (Upper Town) which contains the Presidential Palace, the iconic St Mark’s Church, the Croatian parliament (Sabor), and museums and galleries which are all set in cobbled streets lit by gas lamps; the 19th century Donji grad (Lower Town) with its shops, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks; and the modern post-World War II area of Novi Zagreb (‘new Zagreb’) which is full of high-rise buildings and basically has little to offer visitors.

Zagreb is also called a city of museums as there are more of them per square foot than any other city in the world. But this doesn’t mean that there is nothing else for you to do if you aren’t a history buff.

One of the many pleasures that the Zagrebcani (the locals)
 enjoy is sitting in one of the numerous cafes watching the world go by.

 
We all love to sit and people watch ♥
 
 
I think I will have to
SPREAD MY WINGS
and see other fabulous places you
all visit.
 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


Thursday 10 September 2015

Salzburg and The Mirabell Gardens..

In June my lovely friend Linda and I
took a trip to Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix.
 
Before we arrived at our final destination, we had a few
detours. One being Salzburg.
 
I am going to start with Mirabell Gardens.

Several scenes from The Sound of Music were recorded here. Maria and the children sing 'Do-Re-Mi' while dancing around the horse fountain and using the steps as a musical scale.
 
 





 
Beautiful covered walk way and designed gardens.


 
 

 



 

Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Because his uncle, from 1835 the Emperor Ferdinand, was weak-minded, and his father unambitious and retiring, the young Archduke "Franzl" was brought up by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence. Franzl came to idolise his grandfather, der Gute Kaiser Franz, who had died shortly before the former's fifth birthday, as the ideal monarch. At the age of 13, young Archduke Franz started a career as a colonel in the Austrian army. From that point onward, his fashion was dictated by army style and for the rest of his life he normally wore the uniform of a military officer.[3]

 
 
Sorry don't know who this female is , ..
Love the Statue.
 






 
The famous Mirabell Gardens were redesigned around 1690 under Prince-Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf von Thun to plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and completely remodeled around 1730 by Franz Anton Danreiter. The Pegasus Fountain, a work by Kaspar Gras from Innsbruck, was installed in 1913. The four groups of statues around the fountain were sculpted by Ottavio Mosto (1690) and symbolize the 4 elements: fire, air, earth and water. The Mirabell Gardens were opened to the public by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1854. Today they are a horticultural masterpiece and popular backdrop for photographers.
 
We had a lovely walk round these beautiful gardens and then saw more of Salzburg.
It is a fabulous place.