Christmas in the UK with Mum and Dad

After their stopover in San Francisco and few weeks in Germany, the UK was next on the hitlist for Mum and Dad. They were in London for a few days at each end of the trip and we all visited Edinburgh, York and Leeds in the middle. The first photo above is in amongst the tourist and pigeon madness at Piccadilly Circus.
Dad and I at Little Bay, the best restaurant Kilburn has to offer I think (yes even better than Woody Grill, Yum Chi and KFC (Kilburn Fried Chicken...)!
Big Ben and the London Eye looking festive with a pretty Christmas tree.
Mum and I at Little Bay.
Mum and Dad went down to Southampton for an afternoon to catch up with some long-lost rellies - Grandma's sister Muriel and her family.
The view of London from the Greenwich Observatory.
Mum and Dad on either side of the Meridian Line at Greenwich.
Pretty and peaceful Greenwich - the old Royal Naval College.
Slightly less attractive surroundings - Mum and I outside our flat in Kilburn.
The New Zealand war memorial in Hyde Park.
Surely this was the highlight of Dad's trip? Leeds v Leicester at Elland Rd on Boxing Day.
Dad at Elland Rd after the game.
The grin is still present so they can't have lost again! The result was a 1-1 draw. Not bad against top of the table Leicester.
More faithful Leeds supporters.
Dad and Billy Bremner.
Mum and Dad outside Elland Rd before the game.
Christmas Day in York.
Our Christmas dinner. Yum!
Goose patrolling the Clifford Tower in York.
Mum and Dad on the Judi Dench (she was born in York) walkway by the river Ouse.
Guy Fawkes was also born in York, apparently. His birthplace is now the Guy Fawkes Pub.
York Minster.
The Minster in the mist.
Mum and I on the quaint Shambles in York.
Mum and Dad under a precarious looking Tudor house in York.
Some more long-lost relatives, in Edinburgh this time - Grandma's brother Robert, his wife Sue and their son, Michael.
Lunch with the Stitts.
Dad at the Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh.
Dad and Greyfriar's Bobby in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Castle.
Palace of Holyrood House, Edinburgh, the Queen's official residence in Scotland.
The courtyard in Holyrood Palace.
The abandoned Abbey at Holyrood Palace.

So that was Mum and Dad's UK trip and a good three weeks off work for me! I am back to the grindstone tomorrow but looking forward to John coming home which should be in three weeks today - if his visa is approved in time that is... I will be doing a little bit of praying to the visa gods over the next few weeks! And will also be keeping an eye on this blog for a few updates from Malaysia, NZ and Vanuatu - hmmmm John???

Happy New Year!

Frohe Weihnachten aus Deutschland

Now that MC is back on her lonesome again in London (Mum and Dad departed for NZ yesterday) she is back on the blog! And maybe should stop referring to herself in the third person...

So I flew to Munich and spent a night there checking out the Munich Christmas market before catching the train to Regensburg to meet up with Mum and Dad. The market in Munich was in front of the town hall in the photo above - very picturesque!
Pretty department store lights in Munich.
Wurst stall housed in a huge advent pyramid in Munich.
Yummy lebkuchen, traditional German Christmas biscuit, similar to soft gingerbread.
Lots of decorations!
And on to Regensburg, on the bridge looking over the river Danube to the old town.
Mum and Dad in Regensburg with the two cathedrals.
We went to a Christmas concert performed by the Regensburger Domspatzen (who are apparently quite famous).
It snowed on the night of the concert so we got a beautiful early white Christmas!
Mum and I in Regensburg, which has a gorgeous fairytale-like medieval town centre.
Mum's favourite pizza shop in Regensburg.
We caught the train to Nuremberg for a day-trip to the famous Christmas markets there, the snow from the night before made for a very scenic train-ride and some pretty photos!
Mum and I in Nuremberg.
Warming up with gluhwein and lebkuchen.

Medieval Nuremberg.
Schokoladenmaus!
The tops of the stalls at the Children's Christmas market in Nuremberg were fun!
The castle on the top of the hill overlooking Nuremberg.
View of the city from the castle.
Pretty snow.
Mum and Dad's "romantic" picture.

More gluhwein and lebkuchen.
Cute handmade biscuits.


After Regensburg and Nuremberg we moved on to the Allgau region to stay with Renate and Han-Peter in a tiny wee village called Blocktach. As Renate is a keen cross-country skiier we borrowed her gear and tried it for ourselves. Lots of fun!
Hans-Peter and Renate.
More cross-country skiing.
On a walk around the village and countryside. Lots of snow!
Beautiful Bavarian countryside.

Check out Dad's awesome purple 80s shellsuit.

Mum and Dad and a friendly neighbourhood cat.
Gorgeous!
The local church.
Renate and Hans-Peter's huge but cosy old house in the middle of nowhere.
In the garden.
More Christmas markets and pretty lights in Kempton.
Kempton, another fairytale town.
I can't remember the name of the village (Mum and Dad?) but we went to an advent concert in this picturesque church.
Sunset in Blocktach.
Dad walking and Mum and Renate in the distance.
Trying to do arty snow pics.


Was so glad I got an early white Christmas - the scenery was beautiful and it was lovely to be out of the mad London lifestyle and in what felt like the middle of nowhere for a relaxing few days. Thanks Renate and Hans-Peter!