0838 - The entire hotel is heated by burning wood chips.

0930 - The sun rising over fresh powdery snow.

0935 - Cold beautiful winter.

We then make our way from Elmau into Berchtesgaden, near to Eagle’s Nest.

1300 - At a small village in Berchtesgaden.

1305 - Huijuan enjoying the scenery, as I contemplate a beer across the road.

1320 - At the carpark of the Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden (salt mines).

1325 - This way to the salt mines.

1355 - Above the clouds at the top of Berchtesgaden.

1400 - Huijuan preparing for a shot of the surrounding breathtaking mountains.

1405 - Here's a shot of our trusty Audi A6.

1410 - A snow clearing machine at work.

1430 - The view across from our lunch stop.

1445 - Traditional Bavarian lunch.

Final stop for the day is to Salzburg to stay in the historical Hotel Sacher. 

From now till 31^st Dec 2010, we are offering a special offer on 2011 English Premier League holidays. Tickets are available for 3 high profile matches, and include accommodation, breakfasts and dinners, match tickets and stadium transfers.

Choose from a range of 3 to 5-star accommodations. More details can be found below:

Inclusions

-          3 nights’ of accommodation (check-in one day before the match)

-          Daily breakfasts and dinners

-          Match ticket

-          Return stadium transfers

Notes

-          Excludes international airfare

-          All prices are nett and inclusive of service charges and VAT

-          Prices are per person and based on twin-sharing basis

-          Prices valid till 31 December 2010

Website

http://www.travelplanner.com.sg/PromoDetails/EPLPackages.pdf

30 Nov 2010

Location: London

London’s got a sudden spate of very bad weather and today and tomorrow’s Eurostar services have been canceled or delayed, according to the BBC.  How do I check on my train’s status ?  Hopefully things clear by Sat.

1 Dec 2010

Location: London

Thanks for the update Connie.  We are keeping our fingers crossed – the weather is changing quite quickly –  but unfortunately no real swing to being better

On the bright side, the kids enjoyed playing with snow yesterday.

2 Dec 2010

Location: London

Had a discussion with the family looking at the weather forecasts… We decided to play it safe rather than risk getting stuck with the airline connections to and from Rome if Zurich inadvertently gets delays.  Hence, we decided to skip the Rome leg of the holiday and return to Singapore on the 14th flight from Zurich instead.

We’ll save Rome for next holiday and spend more time next time instead. Could you help us change the car transfer so that they can pick us up earlier from our hotel in Lucerne please?

Also, please cancel the two tours in Rome as well as the car transfer in Rome.  We figured the penalty is better than being stranded if we missed our flight home. 

3 Dec 2010

Location: London

Thanks for the help Connie.  Not to worry, Rome will still be there.  I just checked Eurostar and thankfully the train we are booked on is still running, so I’d like to think this small change is more to make sure we don’t get caught on the last day which would leave a worse memory.  Still we had good fun in London so far.  Looking forward to Paris next.

5 Dec 2010

Location: Paris

Good morning Connie.  Yes, we made it to Paris - the train was not cancelled, and left on time.  Unfortunately, due to the ice on the tracks, and signaling issues in the chunnel, we arrived about 2+ hours late into Paris.  Was raining when we arrived, and rained in the afternoon yesterday too.  Was really cold – hopefully today it’ll dry out a little, but looks like there’ll still be more snow or rain to come the next few days.  On the bright side, Lucerne would likey then have lots of snow!

Angela & Claire having fun with a snowman!

At the Eiffel Tower

At Notre Dame

10 Dec 2010

Location: Lucerne

Hi Connie, we’re in Switzerland. The train ride was longer via Geneva but was quite easy nevertheless. Amazing that the bad weather actually hadn’t reached there - it was cold still but sunny and not snowed in – we had a pretty bad snow storm in Paris on Wednesday which became solid ice on Thursday even though the sun came out.  Suggestion for your future clients – add La Valle Outlet Shopping to your shopping destinations – it’s one stop before Disney along RER-A line at Val D’Europe.  Big mall just outside the train station and good prices. 

We’ll be headed to Engelberg tomorrow to meet our guide for the ski lesson – I recall you said they’ll meet us at the train station? 

Linus & Family in Lucerne

Huei Ching & the kids in Lucerne

11 Dec 2010

Location: Lucerne

The skiing was great !  We had a wonderful time today, and thankfully the weather was actually very good – not too cold, but because of past few days, wonderful snow to learn on.

Monday is forecast to be very cold, if so we may just take the opportunity to look around Lucerne rather than venture very far.

Linus, Huei Ching, Angela & Claire with their ski instructor at Mt Titlis.

12 Dec 2010

Location: Lucerne

Just a few quick points before we return.

The Radisson Blu is a nice choice hotel for stay in Lucern, very convenient from the train station. 

We took the chance today despite snow early in the morning and a forecast of cold weather to pop over to Zurich by train.  Turned out great – the sun came out and whilst there were some cloudy moments, on the whole it was a good unplanned visit to the city.  It was cold though – even the Swiss lady manning a market stall we visited complained about it.

Thanks very much for your help in putting together a good first Europe family trip for us.

The by-invitation only event brought together guests of the various companies who had a wonderful time sharing personal experiences as well as learning more about what each of the companies had to offer in the way of self-actualised luxury.

The evening’s culinary cuisine was prepared by Emmanuel Stroobant of St Pierre, which has the singular honour of being the only restaurant in Singapore to be accorded membership into the world renowned Relais & Chateau association.

With the evening’s theme of “Discovery of the Senses”, guests were treated to a night which stimulated all the five senses, culminating in a discovery of the sixth sense – imagination.

Starting with cocktails and canapés of Home Smoked Cod Fish, Applewood Grilled Organic Chicken Breast, Truffled Forest Mushroom Ragout and Crispy Eel, guests were given the opportunity to mingle with the various company representatives to learn more about their services.

Complementing the theme, guests were given a little task of completing a quiz which revolved around the senses of smell, touch, taste and sight. Those who successfully completed the quiz were given a small token, and doubled their chances of winning one of the four attractive lucky draw prizes for the night.

Throughout the four-course dinner, guests were further entertained with a series of short talks and multimedia presentations, courtesy of the companies hosting.

Here are some of the evening’s highlights. Enjoy!

CEO of Quotient TravelPlanner, Ms Javiny Lim (centre), with Severine Vacherot and Nicolas Chemin from Chapman Freeborn.

Guests getting the opportunity over cocktails to mingle with the various company representatives to learn more about the various services on offer.

Kicking off the first of the evening’s presentations was Richard Ho of Richard Ho Architects, who gave an insightful introduction into his guiding principles of using architecture as an expression of the continuity of the history of civilisation and the memory of our cities.

Marisol Mosquera then took stage via an interesting video, and shared her unrivalled knowledge of travel in the Andean region.

Personally addressing the guests was Chef Emmanuel Stroobant, who introduced his menu for the evening.

This was followed by multimedia presentations by both Silversea and Wild China, which thoroughly whetted the guests’ appetite for luxury travel on the high seas, as well as into exotic China.

Representing Chapman Freeborn was Nicolas Chemin, who introduced the as-yet-uninitiated to the realm of possibilities that air chartering brings.

Stephane Junca from Relais & Châteaux was up next. He shared on the association’s mission of spreading its unique art de vivre across the globe through its exclusive collection of 480 fine hotels and gourmet restaurants.

Quotient TravelPlanner’s Wei Lim, ended the night’s presentations with a sampling of the world’s most exciting destinations segmented by the five senses. In closing his presentation, he challenged guests to use their sixth and most powerful sense to guide them in their travels – imagination!

The captivated audience being entertained with tales of luxury and living.

The moment that everyone had been waiting for: Stephane Junca from Relais & Chateaux picks the first lucky draw winner of the evening.

The lucky winners of the night. From top: Dr Dolly Wee, winner of a 2 night stay at Camp Jubulani, with Relais & Chateaux’s Stephane Junca; His Excellency Giam Chin Toon, Singapore’s Ambassador to Peru with Boris Nordenstrom, winner of 3 nights’ stay at the Galapagos Safari Camp, sponsored by Aracari Travel; Huang Lui, also His Excellency Giam’s wife, winner of 3 nights aboard the luxurious Delfin II Amazon River Cruise; and Susan Hwee, winner of 2 nights’ stay at the Awasi Hotel in the Atacama Desert.

The exquisite four-course dinner. From top: Salmon Confit with Yuzu Scented Hollandaise and Wild Herb Puree, Slow Cooked Foie Gras Terrine with Spanish Artisanal Quince Paste and Champagne Jelly, Low Temperature Braised Lamb Shoulder with Eggplant Caviar, Burnt Bread and Micro Ratatouille, and Valrhona Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Cake.

Three articles have recently been added to our TQ (Travel Quotient) magazine section on our website. The three new articles are “It’s How Deep, not How Far“, a personal commentary on how to get more in-depth experiences while travelling; “Bags, Cars and Bond“, an article about price, value and perfection, and finally, “What Makes a Good Road Trip“, which is pretty self-explanatory.