Very beautiful area and Trier is so full of history. 
It has so many old Roman remains right in the city centre and the house where Karl Marx was born and much more. 
Most tourist places here close down for the winter but we did get into Trier and a couple of the other villages 
and also a wolf park at an old castle. 
And did a lot of driving and scenic routes. We went down and back through Luxembourg and stopped at another couple of old castles. 
We also stopped at Vianden in Luxembourg on the way back and I wish I had of known we were going to because I have always wanted to see Victor Hugo’s house there (the author of Les Miserables). Oh well, we will get back there one day. 
Last week I went to the xmas markets in Valkenberg again. They are totally unreal and I go every year. Last year and the year before I went twice each time. Everywhere here they have xmas markets with beautiful embroidered items with xmas themes. Clear glass ornaments handpainted with all kinds of xmas scenes or snowy villages. ETC, ETC. In Germany, the Gluwein flows pretty well too but not so much here and I usually stick to lots of hot chocolates at this time of year. But the xmas markets in Valkenberg are a little different in that they are held in the old underground mining caves. One of them, the bigger of the markets, is under the old castle ruins and the other is just down the street. They cost about 3 euro each to get into. You walk through the caves with all the stalls dotting the way. They even have a sit down café area halfway through. The caves are usually open for tours the rest of the year and there is pretty amazing artwork and carvings on the sides of the caves. The town of Valkenberg itself is very historical and gets a lot of tourists and it just goes beserk at xmas. I just love it! The town is in the extreme southern tip of Holland. Only about 10km or something from 3 land point, where the borders of Germany, Holland and Belgium meet.I just LOVE winter over here sooooooooo much. Last week in Valkenswaard they put up an outdoor ice skating rink in the market place and it is so pretty with xmas trees around it and everything. They also put one up in a town near us. This is definitely my favourite time of the year here. I also hear that they are having the ice sculpture display in Eindhoven again this year. We went last year and got loads of photos. They put up this enormous freezer and you take a winding walk through it and the ice sculptures are out of this world. They also did it in Brugges in Belgium last year and I wouldn’t mind taking a peek if it is there again this year. Really what I am waiting for now though, is the snow. We did get a little a couple of weeks ago but it was melted as soon as it hit the ground. It was still pretty to see it falling though. And on Friday it was awesome here! Everything was totally white but no snow. They call it Rijp but I guess it is just a type of frost. Absolutely everything, trees, ground, house roofs, everything, looked like it was covered with icing sugar and it was gorgeous. I don’t think I had seen it to that extent before and this is my 5th winter here.
I also have a new hobby which has kept me quite busy throught out the year. I create email stationery and signature tags for on the computer. I work with paint shop pro and animation shop and create all kinds of things. I am not too handy or crafty with my hands apart from knitting but on the computer it is different. I put my work up for request for those that cant create and just collect and sooooooo many orders. It is all free, I just enjoy doing it. And it really keeps me busy!
Our new kitten is nearly 5 months old now and the biggest little devil.......lol. He is forever getting into mischief and trouble........lol. And constantly annoying his brothers endlessly......lol.
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