Finally, a few Hong Kong photos ...

And some from Oz too !

A belated happy 2010 everyone :-)

We spent NYE in Cologne (Germany) in what turned out to be a decadent suite instead of just a normal hotel room!

I finished work on NYE at 3.30pm and we drove straight to Cologne, arriving at around 6.00pm. After making our way to the top floor of the Dorint an der Messe Hotel we discovered, much to our surprise, that we had scored a "deluxe suite" - a seperate sitting room, 2 televisions, and THE biggest bed I have ever seen! The wall of glass looking out across the river Rhine, towards the old city and the famous (and extremeley large) cathedral, made for perfect viewing of the midnight fireworks :-)

We didn't really end up doing much apart from eating a yummy dinner in one of the hotel restaurants (Mum - I had "himmel und erde" with bloedwurst !!), walking across the river into the old city to check out the cathedral, popping a bottle of champagne (see photo top - before said bottle was popped!), and making full use of the bathtub (with bubbles) ;-)

It seems to have become a local tradition to hang "love padlocks" from the bridge in Cologne. As you walk across the Hohenzollernbrücke you can see hundreds (probably thousands) of padlocks attached to the bridge railing when couples get married. The locks are a symbol of the couples' commitment to one another. The story goes that they attach the padlock together and then throw the key into the river below!

The dom (cathedral) is definately one of those "wow" buildings - built over a period of 600 years (!!!) it is described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius". It is so amazingly detailed, resplendant with gargoyles and beautiful stone lacework, that I can never imagine that such a construction would be undertaken these days. And for 4 years (1880-84), it was the tallest building in the world! Our first view of it was on thursday night looming up out of the fog as we crossed the bridge towards the old city - very impressive and VERY eerie.

Anyway, hope ya'll had a fun and safe NYE and that 2010 is a great year for everyone.

Alli xxx