So i'll start by sending you all the relevant greetings to mark the passing of another year!

I've had quite an eventful ten days since my last post, i'll try to keep it brief - well ish!

So lets go back to the Friday before Christmas and start the saga. It was a damp and breezy day but the trip up to see #1 daughter and the GS went well, okay so i did a little more walking due to a missing tram and a missed bus but otherwise it was a great afternoon. It was nearly eight when i got back to my Fathers gaff, there really was no point in going to bed as our trip to Germany was to start at midnight. I'll spare you the details, its a long journey, as the crow flies a bit over 715km, as the chosen road route it was closer to 1000km! Anyhow, we were all quite tired when we arrived at the hotel at 21.30!

Quick bit of background to put some of the following in context. Since pater broke his arm in the summer, getting him about has become quite difficult, not helped by the effort (or should i say lack of effort) by the physios, as far as they are concerned, as long as he can hold a cup and shuffle to the bathroom that's their work done. So the bungalow is stuffed with walking frames, sitting frames and any other sort of frame you can think of. The result is that from being at least mobile, now the old man struggles to walk more than ten steps and until Saturday, hadn't climbed more than one step since before the accident. An electric scooter was purchased which helps some but...

Anyhow, the hotel is old, its on many different levels, most of which are not served by the lifts. A big issue when you can barely shuffle along but Sunday morning we worked out a route of least issue to and from the dining facility, up ten steps, down a dozen to eat then down another dozen and a circuitous circuit to get to the lift which got us back to the room - a minimum of twice a day but it was doable. Yes we knew about the steps before but it was booked before they became such an issue.

Christmas Eve was a trip down the Mosel to Bernkastel where we were able to score a mug of gluhwein, the scooter allowed us to do a short spin around the (closed) town before starting the return. Our driver had had a lightbulb moment so we drove down the very high river to Cochem for another short stop before returning for dinner. It wasn't an extra rather it moved the visit forward from Boxing day.

Christmas Day was of course excursion free so we'd get fed three times rather than two, which meant i had to make an early start post breakfast for my hike to get back for a noon lunch. I hiked to the next village via the hilly route and back along a Rhein that was flowing maybe a metre over the top of the banks, almost 12km in all. After eating i dragged the old man out for a scooter ride along the river before retiring for a rest before dinner. The evening was spent being entertained, drinking cola and eating petit fors!

Boxing Day we would have an afternoon excursion to Boppard, just across the river but 50km+ by road away. That left me a free morning so i did another hike, this time up the hillside behind the hotel. From the villages 69m altitude my route took me, over just 1000m, up to 340m, 270m which had me puffing a bit once or twice! Then it was a slight detour to visit Schloss Sterrenberg on the downward leg, the views along the Rhein are extensive, even on a grey December morning.

The excursion on the fourth day in Germany looked a bit of a wash for Pater and to be honest, neither Rudesheim nor Weisbaden do much for me. Instead i'd devised our own excursion, by train to Koblenz, better for the scooter and a portion of the Weihnachtsmarkt was to reopen until the first weekend of January. So that's what we did, a bit of 'fun' getting on and off the train but we got bratwurst and gluhwein, did a bit of shopping and generally had a good day.

Thursday was always going to be a long one again as we set off to return to GOC. We made reasonable time, cleared immigration and reached the dockside with about an hour to spare for our crossing - in theory we'd be home by midnight. Then it all went mammaries skyward, the departure was put back an hour then a further thirty minutes, all we could do was sit on the bus as it was buffeted by the strong winds howling across the Channel. It was closer to two hours late when we finally departed Calais for a choppy crossing - you didn't want to attempt too much walking! Then half way across the Captain announced that we'd be delayed a further 45 minutes as our birth was still occupied, joy.

When we eventually landed it was already 21.00, any chance of getting home by midnight long out of the window. Without the drop off deviations we might have reached Sheffield by one but it was after four when we finally got off the bus and another twenty before we were indoors. My head hit the pillow and i was gone until 9.00am!

Our late return put the kybosh on my plans for a hike on Friday, i ended up fetching some shopping before trying to catch up with a week of almost non existent web access! Saturday however, i was off out early to collect the Ebike that i've been gifted. Its strange going to the house without Big John there, things are still very raw of course but it was easier to talk about him, to remember some good times. I had thought of doing a bit of a ride on the way back across the city but it was damp and cold so i scrubbed that, returning fairly directly on my 'new' steed. The rest of the day was frittered away, tbh i was still a bit hungover from all the travelling.

And so to today, New Years Eve, how can it be a year since the last one? The forecast was cold but essentially dry so, as is my custom, i took the bike out for a short, 50km, spin through the hills of South Yorkshire. The bike is a bit of a beast, a farm tractor compared to my more usual sports cars, but by the end of the ride i was quite confident with the handling and quirks (its a sort of MTB as opposed to my usual road bikes), a few more rides and i'll be fully dialled in. The only real issue is dismounting, did i mention its huge? It sits a long way off the ground which puts the saddle at some altitude, normal methods won't work as it stands, i have to pretty much lay it on the ground and climb off! Not an issue 99% of the time, i'll be looking for high verges/kerbs when i want to get off.

Which brings us to this afternoon. Yep, i've put up the next Gaby chapter, Lazing on a sunny afternoon might fill a few minutes before you get into tonights festivities!

So that pretty much wraps up 2023, i hope 2024 brings you all good times, i'll be back again on Wednesday by which time i'll (hopefully) be back in Brizzle.

For now though its Wiedersehn from me, see you in 2024.
Madeline Anafrid