So…
…where have I been? Still here in Dusseldorf, moving from one apartment to another. It’s been an exhausting month. We were in Scotland for Christmas and the start of our happy holiday turned into a nightmare trip. Thanks to the heavy snow here in Germany we had the journey from hell to the airport ( I literally closed my eyes for most of the time while Lee battled through the snow in the Micra) followed by the hideous customer care from Ryanair (yes it rhymes, but it’s still not cute) when our flight was cancelled. We spent the night in the freezing cold airport (given no food, drink, accommodation or help) with baby Lucy and nothing but the good British spirit to keep us going. Thankfully, Lucy thought it was a bundle of laughs and slept happily all night. We travelled back to Dusseldorf the next day and eventually flew home via Birmingham. We nearly didn’t make that either, but someone must have been looking out for us. Needless to say I am NEVER flying Ryanair again.
Christmas was fun, but the usual rush around to see everyone was slightly marred by the awful snow and ice. We were rather trapped in our little street. We also had the less fun task of organising our house for the big permanent move to Dusseldorf. Lucy’s first Christmas was not as relaxing as I dreamed it would be, but most importantly we got to spend time with family, some friends (sorry to those who we never got to see) and each other.
The snow might have been pretty, but it made the holiday rather stressful and caused a lot of inconvenience. Our journey back to Dusseldorf took three days - one trip to Edinburgh airport, two trips to Glasgow airport; in total three days spent at airports with Lucy. Again, she was wonderful, we were just a little sad that she had to spend her six month birthday in a drafty airport lounge. It was quite amazing how happy she was and managed to keep us going through some very stressful moments. Quite a wonder when she says dadadadadadada for the first time in the Flybe waiting area!
All our possessions were shipped over in mid-January and we moved into our new apartment a couple of weeks ago. Once we’ve got all our paintings up I’ll take some photos and let you see the new pad.
I’m looking to get the blog revamped and start afresh. I’m feeling the need to Spring clean. It’s Karneval in Dusseldorf this week, which officially means Winter is over. Judging by the snow outside, it’s far from finished and I think I’ll be needing my thermals for a little while longer. I’ll see you soon with news of Karneval, the apartment and a bit more about life in Germany.
