Glühwein enough said

We went to visit Kate in Dusseldorf and enjoyed the Traditional German Christmas Markets. The first stop was the Cologne Market next to the Cathedral. The backdrop was so picturesque with the stalls set up at the foot of the Dom (cathedral in German)

Kate and I getting ready to tackle the market

John and Kate mid market in Cologne. I think we were one mulled wine, one racoulette toast, and a pretzel in at this point :)

This was my favourite type of mulled wine called "Feuerzangenbowle" which is a traditional german drink where a rum-soaked sugarcube is set on fire and drips into mulled wine. They also added an extra shot to make it extra potent...and it was :)

At this stand the mugs had a special holder for the sugar and they lite it on fire in front of us... we were a bit scared to walk around with flaming mugs but the locals had no fear and took theirs right away haha.

An example of a very ornate gluhwein stand in Dusseldorf Old Town

Kate and I enjoying another hot beverage and apple strudel...pay close attention to the wolf lady behind us :) i love drinking and people watching

Picture of Cologne Festival all lit up at night...very pretty and festive with lights over many of the passageways and stands gathered up at central tree.

Luxor... the off strip location

Luxor was much more relaxed compared with Cairo and super hot...100 most days and not a cloud in the sky. They have many of the famous Eygptian sites which we toured in the mornings before it was too hot and leaving us free to lounge at the pool the rest of the day. Here are just some of the pictures from a great holiday :)

This is an old school family portrait...see how they are all lined up and saying CHEESE for the chiseler :)

I couldn'r believe how vivid the ancient wall paintings still were!!

John with the Colossi of Memnon....one was missing a little toe and asked john if he would stand in since he was just about the right size :)

Me outside the Temple of Hatshepsut

The POOL where we spent most days relaxing and playing in the water. They had these awesome lounge chairs which were half emerged inteh water so you could lay out and not get too overheated. Plus since it was not very crowded there were never more than ten other people at the pool!!!!

John playing on his Ipad and enjoying hte beautiful sunset :) They had very comfy sunset chairs at the relaxation pool

Hiking along the Northern Italian Coast

In recent weeks the region of Cinque Terre in Italy has been devastated by massive flooding and mudslides. Seeing the images on the internet I went back to see what I wrote about John and my trip there this past spring and realised I had not posted any pictures. So these are just some of the great pictures we took as we hiked from village to village. I am not sure when the trail will be reopened since it teeters on the edge of the cliffs in many sections but it was an amazing hike and our favorite part of visiting the area.

Hiking down to Manarola

Riomaggiore from the boat cruise. which after seeing all the towns from our hike the previous day was really nice getting a different perspective.

First glimpse through the trees of Vernazza

The towns which are UNESCO world heratige sites do not allow cars and are all made up of winding narrow streets.