Right, so essentially this is going to be the quickest round-up EVER of what I've been doing - because it's a good few months overdue...

But where are my manners? HAPPY NEW YEAR!! And Happy Xmas and all that too!! When are you visiting me?

Right, let me get back to my update...

October highlights:
- Getting a job!
- Visiting the workshop of one of Europe's foremost organ makers, Jürgen Ahrend, just outside Leer in northern Germany, with Olga from Barcelona and Roman from Salzburg -fascinating!
- Visiting Bremen with Olga & Roman too, including a crazy huge funfair called Freimarkt, and the statue of the famous Bremer Stadtmusikanten: some animals standing on each others' backs.
- Doing the "Long Night of the Museums" in Munich with Béné and Diane - we hit six museums, including the Potato Museum and the City Observatory, where the guide looked like an extra from Star Trek!
- Heading to a small theatre for some crazy Canadian action with Béné.
- Sinking lots of red wine but still basically behaving myself at my new boss' birthday party.
- Going for a lovely walk up a small mountain just by the Danube, in the Waldviertel, with the extended family of Hans & Martha (and eating my own bodyweight in delicious Austrian food about every two and a half hours for a whole weekend).

November highlights:
- Feasting on poutine, Canada's national dish of lumps of mild cheese curds with a variety of toppings, with Bernhard and Sara.
- Feasting on the Swabian delicacy of sausages and lentils at Uli & Heidrun's place with a whole bunch of people from choir.
- Enjoying some delightful winter sunshine on the terrace of the bar in Landshut castle.
- Having Gareth over to visit for a weekend, which perforce involved a good deal of eating & drinking, including unexpected sausages at an Audi showroom.
- Drinking FAR too much at a Beaujolais party with Béné, Marie-Laure, Corinne and others.
- Making the most of a weekend in Düsseldorf with a whole host of my old Powergen friends who have now left E.ON, so I won't be seeing them again any time soon boo hoo. Christmas markets offered MUCH Glühwein, and the surrounding restaurants offered MUCH food.

December highlights:
- Suffering nine hours on a train that should have taken only six hours to reach Berlin, but then enjoying the rest of the weekend immensely with Bernhard at Ina's, including more Christmas market fun, a rooftop bar near Potsdamer Platz, and brunch in Prenzlauer Berg.
- Almost but not quite embarrassing myself at the Christmas party (I was one of the last three to leave, but since the other two were my bosses I think I got away with it...)
- Hitting Munich's Christmas markets with Michaela, Rosanne & Sarah, and then stuffing our faces at the Haxnbraterei just near the Hofbräuhaus.
- Visiting Matthias & Stefan in Augsburg with Bernhard, with a quick dash round the Christmas market before fleeing the cold and eating delicious Flammkuechen at Matthias' place.
- Spending time with Chris, Kate, Sophie & Livi who were over for the weekend of Livi's birthday, including lots of food, Christmas markets, a variety performance at GOP, and a huge snowball fight walking back to Michaela's.
- Having David over to visit from Australia, and being able to repay some of the kindness I was lucky enough to receive when I was travelling around the world (including crashing at Dave's in Canberra for a while).

Christmas & New Year highlights:
- Doing a fabulous trip to Spain with Bernhard: Madrid (CRAZY bars!), Jerez (squid), Seville (meeting up with James & with Alberto), Carmona (Roman necropolis), Córdoba (gotta love that mosque!), Priego de Córdoba (vertiginous drops), Málaga (surprisingly pretty and great tapas), Ronda (weird chasm in the middle of town), Arcos de la Frontera (elongated old town), Sanlúcar de Barrameda (New Year's party at Javier & Isidoro's), Cádiz (bizarrely huge old town), Tarifa (off the scale amazing tapas at El Feo), Tangiers (a bit naff, but at least I can say I've been to Morocco now), Gibraltar (see Tangiers), Granada (OMG the Alhambra is fabulous - but SO are the tapas!!), Antequera (nice castle), Jerez (amazing Three Kings parade).

So, there you have it! I have to admit, I thought that now I'm working again, I wouldn't have time to do so much travelling. But it seems I'm managing to fit amazing things in around the constraints of a nine-to-five. And the best thing is, I'm STILL really enjoying my job! I can't remember there ever being a time where I could honestly say that!

Much love to you all, until my next blog.