First part- Germany

Lisa and I caught the plane from Barcelona to Frankfurt and had a day in Barcelona to visit the Boqueria (as always- my favourite tourist attraction). Then we went to Figueres, a Basque town near the border of France. The people there are strange. Some of them looked a bit inbred. We visited the Dali museum which was bizarre and a bit grotesque as to be expected. I think my favourite part was the jewels collection. Dali had made this golden heart encrusted with rubies, pearls and diamonds and whenever it sensed anyone near it, it would start beating. Lisa said it was the creepiest thing she'd ever seen but I thought it was cool. He bought Gala, his wife, a castle to demonstrate his love for her. Wish someone would buy me a castle. (Photos: a room and a doorway in the Dali Museum)

Caught the plane to Frankfurt and then our great uncle met us in Giessen. He lives in a beautiful tiny German village near there and we stayed with him for six days. Every day we'd go for walks through the fields and forests or visit a nearby village. It was the most relaxing and great time ever. Except that I had a 5000 word project to write for UTS so I was slaving away madly at that on Christmas eve and Christmas day. (Photos: my great uncle and Lisa. He's actually quite young but apparently his hair went white when he was in his 20's; the completed tree)



But it was such a traditional Christmas. I got to feel the true Christmasness of Christmas for the first time in many years. There weren't any tacky Christmas decorations, no awkwardness between people... it was comforting to know that Christmas isn't always about Santa Claus and presents and eating until you're bloated (although my great aunt did cook excellent food). (Photos: us putting up the Christmas tree; Christmas dinner)

My cousin Jenni's mum, my great aunt's sister and a distant relative of ours were there as well. Despite the fact that I'd never met any of them before, there was no awkwardness or stilted conversation. I would have been so happy to stay there till after New Year, but we'd already booked planes to Dublin and Porto. The thing is our families live so far away from each other it's hard to know whether we'll see each other in the next five years or the next ten years. (Photos: the countryside; Lisa and I)