Russia

We spent a week in Russia in November. St Petersburg was amazing with the winter palace, Khrum Spasa na Krovi - Church on the spilled blood (red/blue/green gingerbread house church) and massive gold domed St Isaac's cathedral. The city was beautiful as everything has been majorly restored in the last 20 years. We spent a day inside the world renowned Hermitage museum and warren bought some Matryoshka stacking dolls. We went to a casino and Warren won 1000 roubles on roulette!! It was the coldest I have ever been with temperatures consistently at -5 degrees. We caught a train from St Petersburg to Moscow and it was wonderful to see the country outside the city - beautiful snow covered forrest's and small clusters of homes.

The red square in Moscow was the highlight, it includes St Basil's Cathedral (colourful domed church), State History Museum, Lenin's Mausoleum, GUM (a Harrods like shopping centre) and the Kremlin - the centre of Russian power and the place from which Lenin and Starlin launched communism. Russia has/had a lot of wealth - we saw the original Faberge eggs. A night at the Bolshoi Ballet was a must and the performance of Giselle was perfect! The Russian people were very friendly but the soldiers were really scary - we got shouted at everyday!!!

Amanda's Birthday

Amanda turned 26 on 14th November. I had a great day with sooo many fab presents (thanks everyone) and Warren took me out to Canary Wharf for Japanese. We went to the church with friends..... hmm how to describe it, its a Sunday drinking session where you get a bag of booze (literally) cheesy songs and surprisingly a very good time!!

Budapest, Hungry

Warrens birthday holiday was 4 days in Budapest, Hungry. Budapest is know as a thermal spa destination and it did not let us down! We went to a different spa everyday from a beautiful mosaic indoor spa to a grand spa in a park! They had whirl pools, waterfalls and of course hot tubs! We relaxed and bathed all day and went to posh restaurants in the evening. The vego goulash was delish! We had a fabulous relaxing time, warrens ideal holiday (well except that it was bloody cold!!)

Warrens Birthday

October 16th was Warrens 24th birthday. He had a big chocolate cake and a new Armani watch from Amanda. We went to Nobu for a posh dinner and to Button down disco @ KOKO's to party with all our friends.

Oxford

One Sunday Warren and I decided to get the train to Oxford to check out the university town. It has a historic feel with many cafes, bars and ofcourse university's. We climbed a 14th century tower to see the famous skyline of the 'city of spires'.We walked down tree lined paths to the river where we watched a few tourists trying their hand at punting. We went into the impressive Magdalen Collage where we came across a field of deer. As a joke i tapped a nut that I found on the ground against the fence and to my delight a stag came over and ate it out of my hand!!! In a mad rush we scurried around finding as many nuts as possible as many hungry deer were heading our way! The grounds of the collage were very grand and in combinaton with the historic buildings made a very impressive city.

Malaga - last stop in Spain

The final stop in Spain was at the

southern port town of Malaga. Malaga was a beautiful town with a long, palm tree lined esplanade that lead to the beach and a vibrant shopping district (however down south siesta lasts from around 11 - 4!!) We visited the Alcazaba - 11 century Islamic palace and traveled to near by Granada to see the impressive Alhambra a 10 century fortress. The lush gardens and many fountains took you a million miles away from the hot and dry sun. We enjoyed exploring the many open plan buildings with beautiful mosaic tileing and carved wooden ceilings. It was hot and sunny and we just enjoyed relaxing on the beach after 3 weeks of travelling.