Hampton Court Palace

Set in sixty acres of world famous gardens the Palace is a living tapestry of history from Henry VIII to George II. We had been planning to make a visit for a long time but finally got round to it. The place is huge and we wandered around the gardens for free since its in off season, we are going to have to come back in Summer so we can see the gardens at their best. It was a nice quiet relaxing Sunday, afterwards we went to Richmond for some wine and cheese in the park. We are going to have to be pretty quiet for the next few months so we can travel again once the summer arrives.

New Years Eve - Roller Disco London

Mel wanted to do something different this year for NYE so we decided to head to Roller Disco which is something we had been wanted to do for a while. It was a great night out, and since we had been partying so hard in Bulgaria it was a nice change. There was two rinks, one playing soul and funk and the other more dance music. It was a great night and we only crashed once!

Fun in the snow - Bulgaria

They apparently had over a metre of snow the day before we arrived so there was plenty to play around in. Mel hadn't really seen proper snow since she was five so we had plenty to make up for. We also did a lot of tobogganing in our spare time, my legs are still hurting from climbing up the ski slopes.

Bulgarian Village and Night out

One of the best nights by far was the trip to the Bulgarian Village. We had a small group since we couldn't fit in the night before so it was a bit more personal which was great. The night started off by us getting dropped off at a locals house in the nearest village which was only 10 min's away. You were greeted with bread and spices at the door and then taken to your seat inside. There was an unlimited amount of hot brandy, home made wine, beer and food. The wine was easily the best I have tried in the country. There was also three courses of traditional meals, which included a lot of potato's, lamb and vegetables. The food was great and we got to listen to some local folk singing, watch some dancing and even get dressed up in drag. The whole night was only around £14 each and was well worth it.

After the village we were both pretty tanked and Mel had the great idea to go to the Karaoke bar where it was two for one cocktails. It didn't take Mel too much to convince me to get up on the stage and sing some Red Hot Chili Peppers Under the Bridge, since I knew I would never see these people again. Mel also did a great version of the time warp! As you could imagine another 10/10 hangover resulted. Lucky once you got out in the snow and sub zero temperatures it seemed to be bearable.

Bulgarian Pubcrawl - Borovets Ski Resort

We started off the holiday with a massive night out with a pubcrawl organised by our tour group. It was a small group so we got to know everyone who were mostly Australian, Kiwi and a lone Danish guy. We had a free drink at each pub and the prices were great, only a pound or so for a beer and not much more for spirits. The night went on till late and lucky for us we weren't skiing like the others in the morning. The hangover rating was 10/10. BTW the black eye was still there from Rugby the week before not from that night!