well i thought i'd get in early!

So i thought i'd get that in early, especially as i've been 'absent' for a week or so.

You might recall i was off to Germany with Pater for Christmas when last we exchanged pixels, we set off @ 2am on the 23rd for what turned into a marathon journey to Kamp Bornhofen @ 25km south of Koblenz on the Rhein, arriving at 22.00! As you might guess, nineteen hours travelling, @ seventeen of which sat on a coach ensured we slept solidly when we did get to bed!

Christmas Eve i headed for Koblenz whilst Dad took the included excursion down the Mosel to Bernkastel. I've not been to Koblenz for a few years but it hasn't changed much, of course being Christmas Eve a lot of the shops were closed but i found some nice boots in a sale and got a few bits for the GS before catching the train back down (up?) the river to the hotel.

The 'big' day arrived and after breakfast i headed off to climb the 250m up to the twin castles above the village and then up to the rock outcrop above them before returning to the hotel for a variation of a turkey dinner. It was a valiant attempt but you do kinda miss the extras - pigs, Yorkies, cranberry etc, etc. Of course i needed to walk that off so i went for a second walk, this time to the far end of the village along the river.

Boxing day was a bit grey but it mostly dried up for our excursion to Cochem and Boppard, both of which provided a walk and hot drinks but little else! Both rivers were running close to flood level just weeks after being almost empty! The 27th was our last day in Germany, an excursion to Wiesbaden and then Rudesheim kept us entertained and amazingly i still had some euros left for the return trip!

The return started at a more friendly 7.30am the following morning giving us over 8 hours before our ferry back to England and a quite bumpy crossing, they even deployed a tug to get us into the berth at Dover! It was after 18.00 as we started the wind and rain lashed journey up country, dodging fallen trees and other debris as we went. It was just after one when we got home to Sheffield, another long day but shorter than the outbound journey.

That late return is my excuse for not posting this before today, instead i did a bit of 'kit' shopping and booking of trips for later in the year besides a shop for Dad, my head and body only really catching up after the travelling yesterday afternoon. I will post a couple of pics next year, i'm off for a bit of a ride shortly, i've not ridden in over a week!

You will have noticed i've posted Lincoln, ch36 of Gaby book 1 for you today, i'll continue with book 25 in the New Year.

That's about it for now, i hope you all have a great evening and wish you all the for the coming year.

Bye for now,
Madeline Anafrid