Alps

All posts tagged Alps

Turns out these boots were made for walking after all

Published September 22, 2013 by iftheshoefits

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Safely back in Brizzle with a mournful lament at leaving The Alps behind us and an alarming amount of washing it’s back to life as we know it.  Reality hit hard with an 06:40 alarm call for Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits as he headed off to film in some spectacularly unglamorous location.

And, in between loading and unloading the washing machine, I thought I would update you on how well these little beauties did.  They safely jogged across Schipol Airport to meet a rather tight connection; they gazelle-like leapt on and off hop-on-hop-off city bus tours; they were nimbly secure up and down the 700 steps (some of which at a 45 degree angle) of the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves; they were sure footed on the snowy tips of the Grossglockner mountain range; and most of all, they made me smile every time I did something mildly energetic.

I’m not saying that they should replace my hiking boots, but if you’re already used to stomping around the world in impractical footwear you can’t beat these.  They were in my top three holiday in the rainy Alps hero items – the other two included my lightweight cream North Face jacket (I needed both windproof and waterproof) and my large leather Boden bag with built-in iPad pocket and security purse.  If only we’d packed some insect repellant – more of that on a later post…

…28 mosquito bites later

View from hotel, Salzkammergut Region

Published September 17, 2013 by iftheshoefits

Well, Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits and I are half way through our 10 day trip around Austria.
We’ve experienced culture in Vienna; kitschness & lederhosen in Graz; schnapps & stuffed marmosets up Grossglockner; detours & landslides around Innsbruck; coffee, cake and hills alive with the sound of music in Salzburg; and now we’re in the idyllic Salzkammergut region.
We’ve got a few more days exploring to go – ice caves a go go and more alpine villages than you can shake a cow bell at. And that’s without an endless supply of Mozart balls.
It may have been stressful getting here but, boy, are we enjoying ourselves.
Will post again once back in Blighty.

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Counting Down to Summer

Published September 2, 2013 by iftheshoefits

I have 7 working days left before I go on my summer holiday – this is both fabulous and daunting.

I’m really looking forward to 10 days off travelling around with Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits who also needs a break as he’s been working his derriere off. We’re not very good at staying in one place and relaxing, we get cabin fever so we’re flying off to Europe on a 10 day road trip. I love road trips – he drives and I read interesting things out of guide books to him (in between naps). We roam and take photos all the while looking for interesting coffee shops and enticing patisseries. He loves mountains and I love the sea – our last break was to the seaside, therefore this time we’re heading to the Alps.

And so, I’m in countdown mode – frantically crossing items off my work to-do lists and adding more onto the bottom. It’s comforting (kind of) and it relaxes my control freak mentality. But the best part of all is reworking the holiday essentials packing list, tweaking and amending ad infinitum until it’s perfect. The red wedge hi tops are en route to me so here’s hoping that they fit – if not, I’ve found an alternative pair in town so all is not lost. I showed them to the Mr and he was surprised at how nearly practical they were – I’ll take that as approval then. Although my Mum, on hearing that I needed yet more shoes, lamented the loss of my white kicker boots that I’d had since primary school (yes that would make them more than 30 years old) which would have done me just fine ! Ho hum, you can’t win them all.

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