I wouldn't have it any other way...

I had full intentions last night of writing a blog post - probably more for myself than all of you reading along about the year that was...

But, the night didn't go quite according to plan - we ended up in our dressing gowns on the bed chatting to friends and family at home and from home (but travelling in other parts of the globe) for something like 4 hours.  Skype is a wondrous thing!  We hadn't had any more concrete plans than maybe we'd head out to the park near our apartment near midnight and watch the fireworks that we'd been listening to since 4pm go off...  So, no great loss - we stayed in, warm and chatted and chatted and chatted through to the wee hours of the morning - it was a fabulous start to the year!

So, now it's 2011 - I start it sitting in our apartment in Stockholm, Looking out the window at a little snow flurry and lumps of snow falling off the buildings (thanking all that is, that I'm not standing underneath them as they fall!) pondering on the year that was...

We started it running around the plaza in Cusco, Peru - with a bunch of other crazies, all wearing yellow undies on the outside of our clothes (it's a tradition that is supposed to bring luck).  We moved on through Lima, Peru where thankfully I had some fabulous health care help after my left ear completely blocked for a week or so after our flight in.  After a small change to our travel plans we flew out to Quito, Ecuador (about the only South American stop that I wouldn't recommend to people) and on to the Galapagos Islands.  We spent an amazing few weeks there - one of which we were on a cruise of the islands, and getting up close and personal with the wildlife and the next couple (horrible to say) but mostly just counting down the time until we were due to head down to Santiago, Chile and on to home...  While we were there (our last 4 days of 5.5 months in South America) we decided we'd try driving (on the wrong side of the road) which was a great adventure, and we headed off to Val Pariso - a port town in Chile.  Then back to Santiago for a day or so, and then back to Melbourne...

Our Melbourne stint - which started with SO and I moving in together lasted only 3.5 months before we were off for more (very unexpected) travel.  A short holiday of a couple of weeks between England (SO's family and then a friend of mine) and Paris for a few days - then on to Stockholm...  Two weeks I was to be here, to help SO set up and support him through his first couple of working weeks here - and then I was to come home for the remainder of his 3 months here...  Well, for those of you who have been reading along you'll know that after 5 months we're still both here, both working and now moved from the hotel (where we lived longer than our apartment in Melbourne) into a leased apartment...

We still really have no good idea about when we'll be heading home - but for now we're enjoying the experience of living and working in a foreign environment - and the fact that we get to spend the time together.

The year ended with a whirlwind trip around Bavaria - through Munich, Pilsen, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Gyor, Vienna, Salzberg and back to Munich in the space of just 10 days.  It was great to get out and have a bit more of a look around Europe and we had a great time (more on this later).

So, a fairly unexpectedly adventurous year that I look back on and shake my head in amazement at where we are and how we came to be here.  But, I wouldn't have it any other way...

Here are some photos: