The Big Trip - UK, Italy, Switzerland!

We're back!

And I hope you've got an hour or two, cause there's been a lot of blogging going on over the past two days. To start at the beginning, we have spent the last month travelling.

We started out in the UK, where Flynn and I visited my brother and sister in London, and Blake went on a work conference near Cambridge.

In preparation for the trip, Flynn tries shoes for the
first time - and he's not impressed

What he does like is climbing on and in the suitcases
...and unpacking the contents

Early in the plane trip - Flynn wears his flying cape for takeoff

Thank god, he's finally asleep - he was not that happy on
the flight over - it was a long 13-hour trip!

THE UK

My brother, Shaun, met us at Heathrow and whisked us away to his house in Hitchin, where we went straight to bed and got some desperately needed sleep - not for long though as Flynn had us up at 3am (time zone confusion) and we went walking in the dark streets at 5.30 am, so as not to wake the Shaun and Becky with Flynn's raucous play.

Later that day we met Shaun's pet hamster, Henry.
Flynn was totally charmed but Henry was appropriately warey.

Flynn immediately settles in and adjusts the stereo equipment

And the TV

And checks out the alarmingly steep stairs

Blake stayed for two nights and then left for a conference in Cambridge. Unfortunately, three days after we arrived, Flynn became very ill with a stomach bug. There was projectile vomiting and copious diarrhea - it was no fun for anyone (or sleep, for me). In a couple of days he was feeling much better - except for his new cold, which i also caught. To top it all off, he was also teething and broke another two teeth!

When Flynn was feeling better, Shaun took us to a visiting-farm which was great - Flynn saw goats, pigs, cows, sheep, horses and more. There was also a great cafe and some idyllic country lane walks nearby. We also spent time checking out the historic market town of Hitchin (on the outskirts of London), drinking coffee and catching up.



We were stoked that Lisa, my sister, could come to stay at Shaun's for a few days too, so we could all catch up and they could spend time with Flynn. We spent the evenings drinking red wine together and enjoying 'quality family time'.

Becky, Shaun and Lisa

Do you see the family resemblance?

Luckily the extra loving care from aunty
helped Flynn get well faster

Poor Lisa (who prefers to rise at a reasonable hour) was awoken at the crack of dawn everyday by Flynn's chortling, shouting and aggressive play. But she was a good sport and endured the sleep deprivation without complaint.

Kleenex anyone?
( you might want to grab one for yourself Flynn)

FLYNN'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

Flynn celebrated his first birthday in England! Aunty Lisa and Becky made it special for him with balloons, presents, cards and cake! And Blake made a special surprise visit (he wagged a few meetings) so he could be there on this special occasion.

Flynn's first balloons

Aw choice, a musical birthday card!

Aunty Lisa whipped up the birthday cake and
we all wolfed if down

Flynn was pretty stoked with it all

While in England we also visited our relatives in Banbury, Oxfordshire. We visited my great aunt, mother's cousin and wife, and had a family reunion dinner, including my uncle and aunt and their families.

Auntie Floss

Aunty Bridget, Uncle Philip and Alexander (cousin)

After two weeks apart we flew to Italy and met Blake at Pisa airport (word of advice: don't fly Ryan Air with kids or excess baggage). From there we headed to Florence for a week's family holiday, which was fantastic.

We hired an apartment which was perfect for our needs (even coming with a box of toys). From there we walked everywhere in Florence, checking out the key tourist attractions and doing lots of walking to soak up the beautiful Italian atmosphere. We ate lots of pizza, pasta, gelato, ciabatta, panaforte and cheese - and drank lots of chianti.

The weather was cold mostly and ranged from patchy rain to beautiful sun. Florence was much quieter than in summer which was really nice - no queues at the Uffizi gallery! The city is just so beautiful, historic and rustic - we enjoyed just wandering the streets.

Flynn spent a lot of time in the frontpack and he was as happy as a clam

The Pont De Vecchio

At the Uffuzi, checking out some of the most famous paintings in the world - We weren't allowed to take photos of them, hence the windows shot.

The Mercato Centrale food market - a food lover's dream

Outside the Duomo - a beautiful, ornate, domed catherdral
(which was built between the 12th and 14th centuries)

The Boboli gardens at the Pitti Palace
(The most famous gardens in Florence)

Piazzale Michelangiolo - a great lookout over Florence
Amazing views of the entire city, olive groves and the ancient city wall

After Florence, we took a train to Basel, Switzerland - where Blake was attending another conference. The train ride was great, a good scenic tour through Italy and into Switzerland. We sat in the dining car for most of the trip, which was more spacious and less populated than the seated carriages.

Flynn enjoys a sugar sachet in the dining car

We arrived on a Saturday and had the weekend to sight-see, before Blake's conference started on the Monday. The following are various shots from around the town. It's also a very beautiful place - less rustic than Florence - more grand. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas - it was like being on a magical Christmas movie set.

Here we ate sausages, marzipan, roasted chesnuts, delicious crusty breads and drank gluhwein (mulled wine). Everything was noticably more expensive in Basel, but everything seemed top quality so that offset some of the pain.

The ubiquitous frontpack

At last it was time to go home - Flynn and I flew home on Tuesday 9th and Blake will come home on Dec 17. We left the hotel in Basel at 7am, took a train to Zurich and then flew out on Singapore Airlines. It was a 12-hour flight and a 16-hour trip (door to door).

Flynn chuckles away, oblivious to the upcoming 12 hours
of confined torture

Fortunately the plane was half empty which made things much better for us. Flynn was also the model child which also made things a lot easier. We managed to secure ourselves two rows of 3 seats, one of which was our play area - nice. Needless to say I was still exhausted after entertaining Mr hyperactive for 9.5 hours (he had a 45 min nap and a 1.5 hour sleep before the plane landed) but hey, it's over and we're home.

It was great to be back in our own place and Flynn was enchanted when he got in the door - it was like Xmas, seeing all his old toys, remembering the play area - he ran around grabbing things, holding them up and exclaiming in delight.

We are more or less back into the time zone now; it only really took two days and one night of Flynn being hard to settle - not bad for a seven-hour time difference.

Right, so we'd better start getting ready for our NZ trip in 6 weeks!