Summer Holiday, Part 3: Milan

A week in Milan was easily the highlight of the summer holiday. We spent the first half in the city, visiting all the famous sites including The Duomo, The Last Supper and The Galleria.

For the second half we were by Lake Maggiore, for the wedding of Kyoko's friends Dario and Cristina. The setting could not have been any better. The food was excellent (the wedding cake must be seen to be believed!), the weather perfectly warm and sunny and the atmosphere was always friendly and peaceful. The difficult part will be going back to work next week!

Some photos are below, the rest are here.


Us outside the Duomo


Us standing by Lake Maggiore on the wedding day


(Almost) everyone outside the church in the woods


"The" cake

Our pan-European tour

Summer Holiday, Part 2: Bournemouth

The final part of the "England" bit of the holiday took us to Bournemouth, where the weather was (relatively) less wet than it was in the Lake District but much more windy. This meant nobody (except us and a few surfer dudes) were on the beach. Still, the salty air was refreshing and it felt great to wake up to a view of the sea each morning. Hopefully the weather in Milan next week will be more inviting...

Me looking cool? More like freezing cold!!

Kyoko enjoying the view from the bedroom balcony

Two OAPs (aka Mum and Dad)

The one pointing to the sea says "Toilet" (??)

Where are all the people in July?!?

The route so far

Summer Holiday, Part 1: Lake District & Woolfest

The first leg of this year's "summer" holiday was spent in a very wet Lake District.

The highlight of the trip was a 2-day event called Woolfest, where 100's of varieties of wool were on sale along with various sheep, alpaca, llama, angora goats and rabbits all standing cutely on display as thousands of passers by (myself included) couldn't resist taking countless photos of the rare animals. The sheep shearing demonstrations were worth the admission ticket alone!

Away from the wool, there were some simply stunning views of the rolling countryside alongside vast lakes that went as far as the eye could see. One of advantages of all the rain was seeing the low clouds mould themselves over the peaks of the hills. As we watched in awe from the car it felt as though we were driving through the sky.

Some memories are below and more are here. Next stop Bournemouth...!

Before... (the farmer informed me it was 12 months of growth!)

... during ...

... After!

Us in front of Lake Windemere (the largest natural lake in England!)