England

Yes folks, we are still alive!!  Made it Frankfurt airport in time (luckily early cause they shifted our flight time) and then a quick flight to Heathrow.  (Just) managed to fit all our luggage in the hire car and then on to Wilby.

Have been visiting various relatives and doing some sightseeing along the way so the following photos are a mix of both.

Something we don't see in Oz....and by the 10kg bag too

 Xmas cards for the royal inclined

 Went to Winchester on the way to Plymouth for their xmas markets.  Not a patch on the German ones but they do have barbers you would probably steer clear of...

 Plymouth have some interesting food choices

 The view from the Plymouth Hoe to the harbour.  First fine day we were there and you can already see the clouds closing in for what was another few days of rain and high winds.  Luckily we were leaving!!

 Stopped in at Marsten Meysey's Old Spotted Cow pub where our nephew works as the chef and had some lunch.

Went to London to see the xmas lights and soak up some atmosphere.  The girls got sidetracked by the Liberty store.  Lovely old building but nothing took their fancy inside.

 The lifts have wood panelling! (and don't go to floor 3 for some reason)

 Aunty Jan wanted to go to the the London Chockywokkydoodah (?) store so checked that out.

 and had some ridiculously chocolately cake and drinks in the ridiculously undersized cafe.  Had to take some of the cake home in a doggy bag as it was too rich.

 Went to Selfridges store for their window displays which were very disappointing (we were spoilt by those in Munich perhaps) and then caught a bus to Trafalgar Square.  Xmas lights on the tree, choir singing I almost got into a xmas mood.....almost.

 Carnaby St itself was lit up with giant robins...very pretty

 and Oxford and Regent St were lit up with reindeer antlers and globes.  A little disappointing as none were animated and they were all white lights but still nice.

 Back to the hotel for some undersized cod and chips....should have asked for the large size.

Off to Liverpool to visit some rellies and take in some local light displays

 Went to watch Nanna's cousin perform at a club in Wales which was great then Sunday went to a local beach to see an "installation" by some artist.  About 200 650kg cast iron statues of himself nude scattered down about 3 km of beach.  Some are further into the water than others and if you go at low tide you can check them out.  Interesting but strange.

They also had some great kites flying

 and lots of the locals, sensing some sun, drive down to the beach to soak it up.  Only problem is it is about 3C and blowing a gale so they stay in their cars and read newspapers or books!!

Ahhhh   England in winter.  Still that is what we signed up for.

So we had a great xmas with the obligatory trip to the local pub for xmas eve and then 2 hours on xmas day before heading back home for a late lunch with all the traditional xmas food.  New Years eve at the same club then a day of recovery and the girls trying to fit all their stuff in the available bags and we are heading home stopping only for a couple of days in Dubai.