Our little Godbaby!

Saturday night, neither Joshua or Cassio was very well ( both got sick EVERYWHERE) but generally, Cassio is such a chilled baby. He is so much fun to play with and he really is the only baby of our couple friends that we have, so we were super excited and really honoured to be asked to be his Godparents. Sinead and Abel went to Mass while we looked after Cassio in the car. He slept, and then he needed to get up and move to the pram, and I couldn't get him out of the car seat! I guess this was good practice for us in the future! We got the pram

set up, and got him to the church all by ourselves! We felt really quite pleased with ourselves! Haha! The priest made sure the Christening was nice and short, and very personal and done with just the families and us. It was so nice that Abel's parents could come all the way to see it! I really got quite emotional about it - even though Cassio wasn't phased by it at all! He didn't cry at all when he had the water put on his head! It was all done and

over in about 15 minutes, and then we wandered over to this cute tapas place that they had picked out for a little reception kind of thing. It was super sunny and warm, so we sat outside in the garden. It was such a lovely way to end such a lovely weekend - with a celebration of our new Godson!

Another visit to Trinity College

It's so nice to walk around Dublin, and super easy. I find it a super lovely city, full of shops from home, and restaurants and places I remember from each of the times I have been there. The very first time I visited Dublin, I visited Mikaly, who was studying at Trinity College.

I had spent some time around there, seeing the Student Union and such. So when we walked past it again on our way home, I insisted we go in and see it! I love how pretty it is - and how classic and beautiful it is while in the middle of the city, surrounded by all the shops and restaurants! I think it would be a great place to go to Uni!

All aboard a Famine Ship!

Sinead did such a good job finding us all something touristy to do while Abel's parents were with us. They are so lovely and so it was great to spend time with them! We visited the famine ship that they have docked along the river. I know so little about Irish history but I do know that they had a really big problem with famine, and a lot of people left to America to escape it. The tour guide was really good and we got to learn a lot about some of the people that headed to America from Ireland.

Our sunny walk in Dublin

Not so long ago, Abel and Sinead decided that while Abels parents were visiting from America, and their son Cassio was turning one, they would get him Christened, and they asked us to be godparents! It was just so exciting, and that night, right away we booked our tickets! It wasn't too long to wait, and then on a Friday night, we were flying to Dublin! Dublin is one of my favourite places to go - mainly to see Abel and Sinead, but it feels a lot like home, and it is so easy to get there.

The airport is a breeze, and Sinead picked us up. We stayed up really late chatting and having such a good chat. In the morning, it was really relaxed and we hung out at the house, playing with Cassio before heading into town. We walked around the most gigantic Primark I have ever seen in my life, and went and had sushi along the river. Abel's parents stopped at the place next door and then we joined them for some 50's style American milkshakes. It really wasn't too cold and just perfect weather for a lovely walk around the town!

As expected, Luxembourg has Castles!

Steph did a super good job of picking out this castle to go to. I was a bit nervous about the timing of it all, but with exactly one hour at the castle, we managed to make it back to the bus in perfect ( and a little to spare) timing. I used to travel that close to the wire all the time in Japan, but here is feels....a bit wrong! We explored the turret and there was actaully a book fair going on inside the castle which meant we ended up getting in for free!

After grabbing my favourite gelato, macaroons and some Paul bread, we were almost ready to leave Luxembourg. We went back to town, grabbed some photos and also had lunch at this "Chocolate cafe" with all those yummy hot chocolates on a stick. It was super fun - even if we did get stuck on our train coming home! It was such a nice girly weekend!

Lovely Luxembourg

Last year, September had a three day weekend, and we headed to Vienna. After all of our summer travelling, America, England and Spain, Josh was quite ready to hang out at home and chill. But our little visit to Strasbourg with my family really made me want to travel even more!

Steph and I decided we needed to go somewhere, mainly beacuse this is likely going to be our last year in Germany. We himmed and hawwed for three weeks about where to go. Everywhere was expensive to fly, and it seemed that it was just as expensive

if we want to leave Germany. We decided really late to have one last look online, and it turned out Luxembourg was feasible! We booked a train, and a hotel and then Saturday morning ( very early!) off we went! We arrived, and found our hotel with no problem at all! We walked all around the city, up and down the little side streets, across the town squares, and into these really awesome cave maze fortress places. That was definitely the coolest place we visited. It was lots of underground tunnels,

and we got lost in one because the end was padlocked shut! It was interesting that the city is built up on this giant plateau, and there are villages all down below them. We walked down, but there was an elevator to take to the top - much more convenient! We had such a good walk around - Luxembourg was basically like Germany and France merged into one! We visited the pretty cathedral, and just had a really great time getting Laduree and Amarino gelato for lunch!

In the evening, we decided to try a Chinese restaurant. It was obviously in the wrong part of town - because we were super scared by the area! But we survived! It was quite cloudy the first day, so on the second day, after seeing most of the city on Saturday, we decided to go out and see a castle. We took a train, and a bus, and a walk - but we made it to this castle. It just so happened that this castle was open for free that day - and it was so nice! While we were in the castle, the weather cleared up so when we got back to the city, we grabbed some Paul bread and walked around the city once again to get pictures!

Sunny Strasbourg

On Saturday, Daddy arrived in the afternoon, and then in the evening, we headed out to have Thai food for Josh's birthday. It was a really fancy place and it was pretty lucky that we managed to get a spot there for dinner! I had spent the morning

making a pineapple upside down cake for Josh's birthday and it turned out great! ( Maybe I haven't lost my baking skills after all!) Daddy and I went to pick up the car he rented at the airport, and then we headed to Strasbourg, which is just on the border with France. It isn't even two hours away! So once we got there, we ate at this adorable cafe, which served up brunch with sweets, all on this lovely platter,

with a whole bunch of cute little foods to try. It was wonderful, and a good choice by Mummy! After we had lunch, we walked along the river, to the cathedral, and all over town. It really was such a cute little city. I loved it, and it felt so different than Germany! We got some gelato at Amorino - which was super exciting to see it again after Innsbruck, and it was just such a nice end to the day. We had such a great day out - walking all around in the beautiful sunny weather! I so loved my family visiting - they are literally the best visitors!

Beautiful Frankfurt

I was SO excited, but Mummy came to visit! Daddy would be arriving on Saturday morning, but it was nice that Mummy was able to come earlier. We decided to try out a ramen place which we had heard about - and to get there we had to cross the river - and we got this amazing view! I got one of before the sunset, and this one after our yummy dinner! It was just so pretty!