Christmas-ness

 

It's still the 20-something of December, so still ok to say MERRY CHRISTMAS I think!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful day.  I've been holding out for some snow so I could pretend it had been a white Christmas, but alas not to be :(  This was my third northern-hemisphere Christmas and still no luck....perhaps it is me that causes the lack of snow? There was one snowy day a week or so before Christmas but silly me thought there was surely more to come so didn't bother with photos!  I did however get a cool movie of the snow falling that night....hard to capture in a photo anyway:

I really enjoyed the build-up to Christmas this year, even all the shoppers rushing around getting last minute gifts.  Perhaps I enjoyed it because for once I was organised and had everything bought by the 5th of December :)  Being soooooo organised, there was plenty of time left for making an epic gingerbread house!  Annie and I spent Christmas eve decorating and chatting....it's such a blessing to have friends to share life with :)



Working hard....

With our Gingerbread ladies......

The finished result....hooray!

 

 

That evening at church we had a watchnight service, starting at 11pm and going until midnight.  It's not something I have heard of before, but it was so special to be together as a group of Christians belting out Christmas carols to welcome in the celebration of Christ's birth.  There are so many aspects of Christmas that are removed from it's true meaning, but what a way to claim it back as a Christian celebration! 

It was up early again Christmas morning to do family skype calls, then back to church for a Christmas day service.  My lovely friends Leah and Ashish had invited me for Christmas so it was back to their place, then together off to a lovely family celebration :)  After stuffing myself with too much food and sweeties we finished the evening by visiting more friends and chatting until I was nearly falling asleep.   It was such a blessing to meet new people and spend time with friends.... a lovely way to celebrate Jesus' birthday! 

 I didn't really take many photos on Christmas day, but here are some other random Christmassy pics.  I hope you have a wonderful new year.....next update: 2013!  God bless :)





Christmas flowers from Dad and Alison...
a lovely surprise!

Pretty staircase :)













 







Finally, my best reindeer impression....with real antlers.....how could I resist??? Tehehe.  I shall never grow up ;)

 

Paris Pics Part 2

Wow, it seems so long ago that i was in Paris!  It's a lovely place, but I'm glad to be back in Inverness again.  Five days was the perfect amount of time :)  So, here are the rest of my holiday pics:

Versailles:

This day I was kind of getting over taking photos, not helped by really dull skies :)  Still, the 40 min trip out to The Palace of Versailes was well worth it.  The palace was the home of French kings since 1630-ish and is now a museum of French history.  I can imagine the gardens are more impressive in summer, but the palace itself screamed over-the-top opulence!



A bit bigger and it would make an ok summer shack (this is only half...couldn't fit it all in the pic!)



A touch more gold leaf and it would meet ones expectations

Paris at Night:

Pictures don't do the Christmas market justice.  It's this whole avenue from the Arc de Triomphe to the ferris wheel of beautifully decorated little white huts selling lots of wonderfully Christmas things.  In the trees there were speakers playing christmassy music and the whole place smelled of mulled wine and crepes.  Everyone took so much care to decorate their stands with lights and figurines, and there was even an ice skating rink!  I also couldn't resist another visit to see the Eiffel Tower :) 




 

Sacre Coeur:

Sacre Coeur is an amazing church on a hill not far from where I was staying.  It was another dull day, so the photos look best black and white!  The church itself is amazing, but what was most wow was walking up the staircase to the dome at the top.  It was such a tourist free day that I had the whole dome to myself...hence the silly selfy photos! 

        

















































So that was my five day holiday!  As my mangled map shows, I have "done" Paris :)  Definite highlights were the lovely hostel, how easy it was to get around and really great buskers on the trains...one night they had the whole train laughing and singing!  The French people I talked to were really friendly and quite willing to speak English, which is something I wasn't expecting.  At the same time, coming back to Inverness feels like coming home....just in time for preparation for the even bigger trip home to Aus.  Bye for now. Hopefully the next post will be some lovely wintery pics!

Paris Pics Part 1

Blogging time it is....I know I should be out exploring but am to worn out and in need of a rest!  What gruelling exercise have I been doing I hear you ask?  Well, on Thurs I walked up and down 669 steps on the Eiffel Tower, Friday wandered around 60,000 square metres of the Lourve, and today walked 5.5 kms from Notre Dame up the Champs-Elysees to Arc de Triomphe.  I know, poor me!  Definitely in need of sympathy...hehe

I'm not really so excited by big cities, but there is something special about being in Paris and seeing so many places that I've known about but never experienced for myself.  On the other hand, taking interesting photos of famous places is quite difficult...every shot looks like just another postcard!  Anyway, here are some pics of the places I've visited so far....

Eiffel Tower

It was really wow to walk around the corner and suddenly see the Eiffel Tower looking oh so typically French (not sure how else it is supposed to look!).  The whole experience was made better by the lack of tourists...can't imagine it in summer!



My bad-hair-day self portrait





 




A proper selfy pic.....

Random photo but I like the effect...






















The Lourve

The Lourve was quite a daunting experience.  It is so huge that it's impossible to see everything...yet how to choose?  Each piece of work is beautiful and deserves more than a 2-second glance..I almost feel guilty that I didn't spend more time.  The building itself is amazing though, and I did explore it as much as I could in a day! 



Hanging out with Mona Me

Statue of a guy trying
to take a selfy photo

BIG!!!

Looking outside at the rainy day...










Photo in the mirror..the sad
reality of travelling solo :)



 

Notre Dame

 It was raining this morning, so not too many outside pictures at  Notre Dame.  For that matter, I didn't take too many inside either because I am one of the few tourists who bothered to follow the rules of no flash photography, remaining silent and taking off hats...seriously not asking much! 




Photos of candles don't need 'flash photography'....take
that you disobedient tourists!



Scary gargoyles...one without a head :(

The best of a whole series of failed selfy pics.....

 











I came across this bridge by accident near Notre Dame.
It's entirely covered in padlocks inscribed with couple's names...
how incredibly lovely-dovey and sweet ;)

Arc de Triomphe

After the Notre Dame, I made my way slowly to the Arc de Triomphe, hoping the sun would come out at some point....and as soon as I went to take the first photo it did...hooray!  The Champs-Elysees is a huge avenue leading up to the Arc de Triomphe and at the moment has a great Christmas market.  I'm hoping to get back and take some night pics too.

Another boot selfy pic...not a bad hair day,
but it was cold and I had a rudolph  nose :(

So now I am planning adventures for the next 2 days before flying home to Inverness.  The hostel I'm staying in is pretty good....comfy beds, hot showers, good heating and quiet..all the things a granny traveller like me needs :)  It's such a blessing to go to bed excited about what the next day brings....good night from Paris xx

There's still more exploring to be done :)

It's starting to get quite cold now, so I'm in need of extra motivation to get out and explore.  Bed, hot cup of tea, or cosy armchair are so tempting when it's minus something outside!  Also, the weeks seem to be busier than expected with a mixture of teaching, church admin and general 'life' stuff.   But this weekend I did find some extra motivation....to celebrate St Andrew's Day, Historic Scotland gave away free tickets to some of the historic sites.  Hooray for freebies! 

First up was a visit to Fort George, an army barracks built in the 18th Century and still used today.  By the time it was finished in 1769 all was peaceful so it's pretty much the same as when it was built.  It's pretty huge and impressive and has amazing views across the Moray Firth.  I took these photos between 2:30 and 3:30...and already the sun is setting! 



Today I took advantage of another freebie and went to Elgin to see the Cathedral. I didn't know
much about it and didn't have high expectations really.  Somehow I find the fact that it's a ruin much more exciting than if it had been preserved.  It's nice to just wander and see it for what it really is, rather than wondering what was added later, and if it really looks how it did back then.  Here are some favourite pics:

At the top!!!

It seems that the adventures don't stop anytime soon....there are only 3 more weeks of school left so I'm taking an early holiday to Paris!  I got some amazingly cheap tickets so am off next Wednesday for 5 days.  After that, it will be a matter of weeks until the big trip back to Aus....but I'm not ready to think about that yet.  Time for one more pic of lovely Inverness with snowy Ben Wyvis in the background.  Until next week, au revoir!