Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Our Christmas holidays were marked by extremes, meteorologically speaking. We boarded a plane in Melbourne in mid-December on a day where the temperature hit 39C (102F). We then travelled for 24 hours and landed in Hamburg, Germany where the temperature was -5C (23F).

We spent our first few nights in Hamburg in Winterhudeas guests of Pia, where we recovered from our jetlag and caught up with various Hamburg friends of old (e.g., Torbin and the Tanyas). Malia was fitted for some cold weather gear (of which Uta and I were quite jealous), which allowed us to venture out for strolls in Eppendorf , for dinner at Landhaus Walter in the Hamburger Stadtpark, and of course for visits to the Weinachtsmaerkte.
From Hamburg, we headed north to settle in with Buebi and Karin in St. Peter-Ording, just in time for Christmas, dropping in on Wacken to introduce Malia to her Urgrosseltern. St. Peter-Ording was cold, windy and snowy - perfect conditions for a cozy Christmas, something we've missed for the past several years (it's hard to get into a Christmas mood while grilling shrimps outside on the barbie).

Christmas isn't Christmas without plenty of friends and family. Fortunately, during our stay we were joined at various times by Oma & Opa; Katrin & Matthias; Tim, Merit and Nico; Bjoern, Nella, and Finn; Manni and his 'Liebling'; Halli & Kirsten; and Juergen (the insurance dude). We ventured out daily in Dorf, Ording and Bad, although the cool weather kept strolls to a minimum. We also made a day trip to Husum, for a bit of shopping, although Schmidt proved to be a rather difficult department store to navigate, particularly with a stroller. New Years was spent nestled comfortably into the Dittmer homestead eating tasty morsels and watching the spectacle at the Brandenburg Gate unfold on television (everyone there looked realy, really cold).

The return trip was a test of patience and a battle against the elements. Our flight from Hamburg to London was delayed for an hour, and our subsequent flight out of London was delayed by several hours while we waited on board for the plane to be de-iced not once, but twice. Fortunately, we managed to make our connection in Singapore, but or luggage didn't. Nevertheless, we were happy to be back in the land of warmth and blue skies, although we arrived back just in time for a classic Melbourne heat wave, with temperatures heading into the upper 30s (upper 90s F) to low 40s (100+F). As such, our trip ended much like it began.

Overall, it was an extremely relaxing and rewarding holiday season. The Preston family was treated like royalty, although Malia was, of course, the real star.