Home Sweet Home

We made it home safely, and it sure was good to sleep in our own beds last night!  I'll be posting pictures this week, once we have time to sort through what we have...we've taken lots!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Much love,
Jen and Dave

Last Night In London

We've really taken it easy here in London.  We've had lots of nice walks, seen beautiful architecture, and eaten tasty food.  And now it's our last night before heading home.  We've had a lovely time, but we are ready to be home with family and friends.  Our Christmas Eve dinner got cancelled when we discovered the restaurant we had reservations at decided to close.  Bummer!  So we had to make due at a Thai restaurant, which was very good, but not as Christmassy as we would have liked.  But all this to say, we have had a great time! 

When we get home and can sort through pictures I'll be posting some for everyone to enjoy.  I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas, and we look forward to being back in the good old USA with you!

Love,
Jen and Dave

London

We made it to London today without any trouble.  As a matter of fact, in spite of all the bad weather reports, we've seen no snow on the ground at all!  We have already been to Harrod's and done a little bit of shopping, and then headed to the Texas Embassy for dinner.  It's a Tex-Mex restaurant, and it was delicious!  It was like a taste of home...margaritas, fajitas, and enchiladas...and now full bellies!  We're back in our room and getting ready for bed.  Our room in Paris was as big as a matchbox, and here in London we are staying at the Hilton Trafalgar Square and it feels like a palace!  Since David is a diamond member, we've been upgraded to a VERY nice room and have been treated like royalty.  What a treat!

Tomorrow I think we are just going to walk around.  We have dinner reservations at a Scottish pub (visiting our roots!) and are going to try and have Christmas Eve mass at St. Paul's Cathedral.  I'm looking forward to a lovely day around town.

Here are a few pics from Paris:

Paris Part Deux

Our second full day in Paris, and it was just as wonderful!  We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was cold and windy, but wonderful!  We spent the rest of the day doing a city bus tour where we could get on and off and see the main attractions.  We ate dinner on the Champs-Elysees and then headed to our favorite cafe, Cafe Duplaix, for dessert and wine.  It's been such a wonderful day!  I love this city so much.  I know so many people have such a bad impression of the French, but I continue to have such a lovely impression of them.  Our waiter last night, Phillipe, was so fun and silly and told David to look away while he kissed my hand...he was so fun and made us feel so welcome!

Visiting Notre Dame reminded me so much of my grandmother, and lighting a candle for last time and this time was so important.  It was hard to fight back tears again today.  But they are happy tears...I am so easily overwhelmed by so much beauty, and happy memories comined with that only seem to be expressed through tears for me.  I truly love Paris...I hope that Kim and I can make another trip back together, too.  We had so much fun making Paris our own special place last time!

Tomorrow morning we head out for London, and we are hoping the train station isn't a mess!  With all the stranded people in London, it's likely to be a bit of a challenge, but we will just be patient and work our way there.

Hope all is well with you all!

Much love
Jen and Dave

Paris!

We got to the City of Lights last night, and we not disappointed!  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love this city.  David is getting to know why, too...people have been wonderful to us!  We have had creme brulee that was heavenly, we've strolled (and shopped!) on the Camps-Elysees, and tomorrow we will visit the Eiffel Tower.  Also on my agenda for tomorrow is my long-awaited chocolate hazelnut cream filled crepe!  (Nope..  Not diet friendly at all!) 

We are having a wonderful day!  We went to mass at the Notre Dame cathedral today.  It was special for me for several reasons...last time I was there I lit a candle and prayed for my grandmother, who as many of you may remember, was ill at the time.  Today I lit a candle to remember her.  And being the emotional sap that I am, I fought back tears (unsuccessfully) because it was so moving to be there again.  It was also special to watch David take communion there.  (I can't...I'm not Catholic.)  He told me it was special because he never dreamed he would be there to get to do that, and how special it was that he did.  It's been a great day!

We are getting ready to take turns giving foot rubs, and then it's bedtime!  I hope everyone is well...we are having fun, but it will be good to be home next Monday!

Nuremberg

We were in Regensberg yesterday and probably ate our weight in sausages and sauerkraut!  Today we've been in Nuremberg, and this is a great place!  The Christkindl Market is huge!  We shopped and had spiced wine (Glowein, pronouned "kloo-vine"), and just enjoyed the sights and sounds.  Tomorrow we head out for part 2 of our trip...off to Munich/Paris/London!  We're very excited!  I hear the weather is mild at home...we didn't get fresh snow here in Nuremberg, but ther is plenty on the ground, and we've been snowed on all over Europe so far!  We love it!  I'm ready to not have to bundle up quite so much, and my skin is really dry from the cold.  But it isn't ruining our fun one bit!

Salzberg

While our ship has had some trouble that they are still working on, it hasn't ruined our trip at all!  We spent today in Salzberg, birthplace of Mozart.  We saw where he was born and the baptismal font where he was baptised...I loved seeing these!  We had lunch in the oldest restaurant in Europe, built in the 800s!  (It was absolutely delicious!)  Dave and I walked around for a few hours and enjoyed the Christmas market.  The things there seemed more authentic and artisan, and we bought some ornaments and a few other goodies.  The snow was falling in big, fat, fluffy flakes, and it was wonderful!  I could have easily spent more time there, and one day I hope to return again.

Our ship has has some mechanical issues, so we are running behind schedule, but they have had busses waiting for us to get us to our destinations and bring us back, so we're not really missing anything.  Tomorrow we will be bussed to Passau, and the ship should meet us there in the afternoon and we'll be back on schedule as planned.  It hasn't ruined our trip one bit!  If things had gone smoothly, we would never have seen Weissenkirchen and had such a lovely time there.

We have met some wonderful people, and I think we have some surrogate grandparents (Dick and Nancy).  We've had dinner with this couple the last few nights, and Jake and Diane and Dave and I feel like family with them.  THey hugged us goodnight this evening and told us how much they love visiting with us.  I will miss them when we part ways, but I sure hope to exchange email addresses!

We hope all is well with everyone back home.  We still have more vacation to go after the cruise, so I don't feel that twinge of sadness I get when a vacation is close to being over.  We still have Munich, Paris, and London to conquer!

Love to you all!
Jen