jefflisablog
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Off to a Foreign Land

this blog Captures the sights and stories as we
​venture off to saudi arabia

Winter 2019 - New Years in Germany

1/4/2019

0 Comments

 
Happy New Year everyone!  Welcome to 2019.  Hopefully everyone had a great holiday season.

We were in Saudi for most of December, as Jeff was working.  We did manage a few getaways, which will be shown below.

​Enjoy...

Shaggy - December 14th

So, is was Thursday December 13th.  We were having a BBQ and drinks by our pool and the party is just getting cranked up.  About midnight, Shaggy comes on the speaker and our friend Waco says "I'm surprised nobody is going to see him tomorrow in Bahrain!"

Well, it was like the music stopped immediately.  Everyone started googling - where is he playing in Bahrain?  What time?  Are there seats left?  Waco knows the club owner, made a call, and was able to get us in with some pretty amazing tickets.  Just like that, our party was put on hold...until mid afternoon Friday in Bahrain.

We rushed over the next day and had a chance to catch one of our favourites in action...on one island across the world from his home island, Jamaica.

​He did not disappoint!
The crowd is getting ready!
Lisa and Tosh
Mr. Lova Lova in the house
Waco & Tosh
Tosh, Lisa, Christy
Christy & Big H
2 sexy Shaggy fans
Shaggy

Christmas Brunch - December 21

One of the ways we celebrate things in the Middle East is with the crazy brunch atmosphere at most hotels.  With many friends heading away and home to see family, we rounded up the stragglers who didn't go home and ended up at the Crowne Plaza brunch.  Noon-4PM ... all you can eat, all you can drink.
​As you can see, it got a bit wild and turned into an early night.
Pre-brunch drinks at the Radisson Blu
Jeff decided to dress up for this one
Nice stir stick!
Christy, Tosh, Lisa
Tosh and Jeff
Bebbs and Lisa
Tosh and Lisa
Bebbs and Jeff
Big H practicing for T&A in Cancun
Waco & Tosh
Tosh, James, Lisa
Lisa, H, Christy, Tosh, Bebbs

Germany - December 28-January 2

We had a long weekend at the end of December and wanted to get away somewhere.  We looked at a few options and landed on Germany for a few reasons...we hadn't been there together yet, it is a direct flight, and we would probably get the feel of Christmas with some Christmas markets and decorations.  We had a great time there - here are some stories and pics.
​
Frankfurt
We arrived into Frankfurt at 6AM and had all day to venture around this great little city.  We stayed in an area just south of the Main river (which is why it is often called Frankfurt am Main) called Sachsenheusen.  It is loaded with tons of restaurants and bars.  And these Germans know how to party.  Most places in this area only between 6-8PM but stay open until 7AM.  People are partying on the streets.  Quite a scene to see!  We found an incredible Italian restaurant called Borsalino Ristorante right next to our hotel.  The best Italian we've ever had, it is always packed, and also very inexpensive.  Loved it!  Our hotel was quite unique - a boutique hotel called Libertine Lindenberg.  Great rooms, location, and service...and the craziest thing - their restaurant, coffee shop, bar, was all open and you just pay on the honor system - write down what you took.  Pretty cool!

Frankfurt has a large red light district - 2nd largest in Europe.  But nowhere as clean or as good as Amsterdam.  It was fantastic to just walk around, although it was cool - 0 degrees Celsius, -4 degrees with windchill.  We have turned into such wimps over in the Middle East, but it was kind of nice to walk in the brisk air.

There is a beautiful Old Town area in Frankfurt, with shops, bars, restaurants, and a massive friggin' Christmas tree in the square.  Everyone was drinking beer, eating bratwurst or frankenfurters.  The 2 specialties in the cold weather are Glühwein (hot red wine) and Apfelwein (apple wine).  Both were pretty tasty.

Typical Sachsenheusen street
Great Irish pub by our hotel
Haha
Read Lisa's mind - "Why are we not on a beach???"
Church in DT Frankfurt
Along the Main River
These tables were packed into the wee hours of the night with rowdy drinkers
Frankfurt train station - Beautiful!
Hot dog stand outside a bar
Old Town square
Inside the Irish pub
Rothenburg and Neuschwanstein Castle
We did an excursion to Bavaria in the southern part of Germany along the Austria border.  

On the way, we stopped in Rothenburg, which is an amazing little town that looks like everything you'd imagine in a Christmas village.  We're sure that Santa must live here.  Trees, decorations, and Christmas shops here everywhere!!  What do they do in summer??

We then went down to the southern part to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen, Germany.  This is a 19th century castle built for Ludwig II of Bavaria.  Over 1.3 million people visit it every year!  It is the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland.  Quite amazing to see it!

You will also see pics of neighbouring Hohenschwangau Castle, which is the home that Ludwig II grew up in.

This is a place everyone should see!  Stunning!
Map of Germany
Snowing as we enter Rothenburg
Pastry snowballs were everywhere
Rothenburg square
First sighting of Neuschwanstein Castle
Hohenschwangau Castle
Quite a view over the Bavaria valley
Not our photo - this is one from a drone. Incredible!
Heidelberg
On New Years eve, we got up early to hop on a train to Heidelberg.  The day started with a tasty bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard.  Yummy!  One hour later, we were walking the streets of Heidelberg.

We wandered through the squares and past the shops, ending up in a square that was filled with a Christmas market - food, drinks, a skating rink, and then you look up - the amazing Heidelberg Castle!  It was incredible!  Inside the castle, you can also see the world's largest wine barrel - this holds 200,000 litres of wine!  I know some people who would love that!  And to top it off, the clouds were low, so it had the Hollywood look and feel of a castle.  We wandered around the castle grounds, to the bridge, and enjoyed a few cold beers in the market.

​Back to Frankfurt to go celebrate New Years!!!
Breakfast bratwurst in Germany
Our first sight of Heidelberg Castle
Christmas market with a castle in the background...this is Germany!
Whoa! A grill of pork!
???
Nice view from the castle down to Heidelberg
This is the small wine barrel
Lisa is in heaven
The path up to the castle
Desert rose from the Sahara....or?

OK, 3 weeks until we get out of here for our big trip of the year.

We are so excited to visit New Orleans for the first time.  Then we're off to Cancun for the 10th anniversary with the T&A gang - the group is at 15 so far for this year but we have room for more!  Then a few days in Miami and we're back to Saudi.

Thanks for reading and checking out the pics....all the best in 2019 everyone!

​Love, L&J
Picture
View from our apartment in Saudi
Picture
Sunrise in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia
Picture
Palm trees are decorated in Saudi
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    All posts are updated by Jeff & Lisa

    Categories

    All
    Abu Dhabi
    Amsterdam
    Athens
    Bahrain
    Barcelona
    Canada
    Cancun
    Chernobyl
    Crete
    Disneyland
    Dominican Republic
    Dubai
    Dublin
    France
    Germany
    Greece
    Ireland
    Italy
    Jamaica
    Jordan (Petra & Dead Sea)
    Kenya Safari
    Kiev
    Lisbon
    London
    Maldives
    Miami
    Milan
    Monaco
    Montana
    New Orleans
    Oman
    Paris
    Porto
    Portugal
    Prague
    Rwanda
    Saudi Arabia
    Spain
    Sri Lanka
    T&A
    Thailand
    Tribfest
    Uganda
    Ukraine

    Archives

    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact