Amsterdam & Andorra

Hey All,

Since the last post we've managed to get away on two trips.

Amsterdam was a three day weekend - we took off Friday morning (after Kim almost had to pull the plug with a mystery illness) from Heathrow with Mark and Jo.

The weather was fairly cold still but over the course of the weekend we got to check out the Heineken Brewery, Anne Franks House, a Sex Museum went on a Canal Tour. Other than the organised touristy stuff we managed to check out several pubs and spent some time walking around the streets checking out what is a fairly compact city. For those that haven't been there Amsterdam is a mecca for packs of British and American blokes. Outside that it is a really great place for tourists and getting from the Airport into town must be one of the most pain free experiences ever with a train running regularly from the airport right into the central city in less than 20 minutes - I wish everywhere was a well setup as this...

Next up was a week skiing in Andorra, a little country of covering 468 square kilometres in the Pyrenees between France & Spain. Being late in the season the conditions were fairly similar NZ. This was the first time we have been a part of an organised tour and we quickly realised this is how the Brits travel, that said things were well organised and after getting ourselves to Gatwick early we flew to Toulouse in France before taking a bus through to the resort village of Arinsal. For Kim it was her first real skiing and she signed up for a week of lessons, come Friday she was doing pretty well and was a real advertisement for getting lessons...

Arinsal is setup well for beginners and intermediates with a little steeper terrain, for those seeking a bit more of a challenge it is connected to the area of Pal by Funicular (Cable Car) and there there is plenty of steep terrain and trees. I managed to get over there one day, but with the spring conditions things were a bit 'sketchy' in places. With a coating of fresh show though this place would be amazing and you could easily ski or ride down through the trees to the road between the villages.

We spent the last day checking out the capital Andorra la Vella, which for want of a better description is like a duty free shop with streets running through (Andorra is a tax free country) before returning to the village to watch the final week of the Six Nations, including the all important Wales v Ireland decider.

Overall a great holiday, and we are already looking forward to the next, Paris for Easter...

Take Care,

Dave & Kim