Family Visit in Frankfurt

Several weeks ago we visited Richard's family in Germany. We stayed with Richard's sister Sofie in her apartment in Frankfurt. On Saturday we drove to Neider-Olm to see Margarethe and her family Matthias, Daniel and Julian where we played a lot of fun games with the kids and ate lunch. On Sunday Richard's parents took the train from Freiburg to have lunch with us. They brought a delicious lunch of Rinderrouladen, red beet salad, sauerkraut and Marmorkuchen (marble cake), all made my Richard's mom. 

Sofie and Richard. It was very cold in Frankfurt, about -12 C.

Julian showing us his winning from the game

Playing games with Daniel and Julian

Richard, Julian, Matthias

Julian showing us his Lego catalogue

Julian, Matthias, Sofie, Richard, Daniel, Margarethe

The European Central Bank, where it all happens 

The Old Square

Schnitzel and cheese spaetzle with apple wine, a Frankfurt specialty

Lunch with Kasimir and Alexandra at Sofie's apartment

Amsterdam

A few weekends ago I met Holly and her coworker Lori were in Amsterdam. They were there for a work conference, and Dublin is only an hour flight, so of course I met them there! I had been to Amsterdam before but hadn't seen many of the sights. We walked around the lovely Jordaan district, went to the Rijks Museum, the Anne Frank House, did a canal boat tour, and generally had a really fun time. We also met with friends Joost and Karen but don't have photos from that evening.

On the canal boat

Vermeer at the Rijks

Dutch canal boat and crooked houses

New Year's Trip to Donegal

[Richard] Over New Year's, Sofie came to visit, and we went on a long overdue trip to Donegal, in the far Northwest. It is a fantastic place. We did a mix of indoor and outdoor activities, almost climbing Slieve League, almost going swimming on the many beaches, and visiting almost all the pubs in Ardara on New Year's Eve. Mighty craic, so it was.

St. John's Point. Sofie painted a soon to be sought after landscape of the spot.

Time for a refreshment.

In case you wonder: if you enter 'end of world' into your navigation, this is where it will take you.

Slieve League hike: still the sun shines.

The rays lulling us into a false sense of security.

It's all smiles for now.

And still...

But last shall it not: the mighty wall of cliffs about to face a wall of water. We first struggled on, but when hale started approaching our faces at high speed, we turned around.

Where we celebrated the New Year!

The safety of Nancy's pub.

And the obligatory visit to Trinity College.