Only in Zermatt

Living the high life!

Ski nerds

This is official confirmation that Al and I have lost the plot...(but secretly, some of you will be wishing it was you!).  The best skiing is early in the morning so Al and I were on the first train up the mountain at sparrows along with a few other sad soles.

8.30am and the sun is just starting to make its appearance

Awesome... Check 'all' the tracks!

9.30am and still no-one on the slopes

Cold, but very happy campers!

Voila!

FRA Weihnachtsmarkt

Another tradition that we have developed over the years is to meet up with the original group of ECB friends at the Frankfurt Christmas market followed by dinner at Zum Bitburger.  Without fail, it lands up being one hectic evening and this year was no exception....

Abi, Denise, Julia & Andrea

Cheesy grin from Al in the background (with very red teeth!)

Glenn, Pär, Massimo, Andrea, Julia

Abi, Andrew, Al

Weihnachtsmarkt

The reason why we have been posting all these running blogs is to make us feel less guilty when we hit the Christmas markets and undo all the good work! These markets are extra special when there is loads of snow everywhere - even the glüwein (which Al and I normally dislike) tastes really, really good.

Kronberg weihnachtsmarkt

...still going strong long after most people had gone home...

Overnight we had another big snowfall so Koenigstein was especially lovely when we walked into town for our Sunday afternoon stroll.

And then of course, it was the all important event of choosing the Christmas tree.  Alistair disappeared as he didn't want to get involved in such a crucial decision!

Snow, snow and more snow

As most of you know, Al and I dont run together - too much pressure running with an ultra marathon runner...  so as usual, we started out together but soon went our separate ways... 

My route took me past a lovely frozen lake and then past Villa Rothschild.  It was the original family home of the Rothschilds before they left Frankfurt in the 1930's and has now been converted into a hotel.

Proof that I did actually go for a run....

Villa Rothschild

Al's route took him much further up the hill, towards Feldberg and Alt Koenig...

Running tracks

What a difference a month makes...

Great locations for running!

Last month...in the Berg

Today in Königstein

Thanksgiving with a difference...

About 3 years ago Linda decided to celebrate Thanksgiving because usually not many of us are around for Christmas.  She bought a huge turkey and only realised on the day that her oven wasn't big enough so we did it on the braai.  Since then, its become a tradition that is a bit of a novelty with the Europeans because they only associate barbeques with the few sunny days we have each year.  Of course last week we weren't here (doing the real thing in the USA!), the annual get together had to be postponed.

It was so cold that the braai took a while to get going

by the time the meal was ready, it had started to snow

this year Al did a smoked turkey, which turned out a treat.

Vicky, Mark, Betina, Paul, Al, Linda