It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas ...

... especially at the Weihnachtsmarkts in Hamburg! Despite my being at deaths door when we left, FauxSurreyHubby & I had a fine old time (BTW deaths door is now closed as I have discovered - officially - I only have full on laryngitis; doc has just given me 7 days worth of full strength antibiotics and whilst the infection won't kill me the strict orders NOT TO SPEAK for at least 5 days might - yes yes, Christmas has indeed come early...! ).

Rugged up against the cold, damp & fog (oh there's the 3 hour foggy delay at Heathrow when coming home story but I shall park that), we were met by a lovely local friend shortly after we landed & were taken to the new Hafencity development out at the docks where we gazed at beautifully revamped warehouses, plush penthouse flats and (allegedly) the greenest commercial headquarters in the world.

Then we headed for the old red light district, the Reeperbahn, and as with all old red light districts the red had pretty much paled to pink & so we had amazing cake & hot apple juice with cinnammon in a very cool cafe, then our friend bid us adieu & left us to discover alone.

So off we went, back into the main part of the city where we strolled around the stunningly gothic Rathaus and glugged Gluhwein at the (almost open) Christmas markets and then headed into the shopping district where we quaffed pink champers atop a very swish store (think Harvey Nicks). Next day we dutifully visited the art gallery but it was all a bit too avant garde for hubby - imagine vast empty spaces with one "objet" per space - a path made of rubble, thick felt draped & shaped across a wall, a pile of sand with  look out towers peeking out of it and paintings of straight lines called "Untitled 1" ... not quite watercolours of landscapes (hubbys preference ...!)

Moving back into trendyville, we attempted to muscle our way into the small but pretty Scandanavian Christmas markets but we were thwarted - every time we tried to get past the main door we were held at bay by the omnipresent threat of coat ruination by small boys with chocolate ice cream & old ladies waving Weiners smothered in mustard!

Aside from that we slept a lot (gotta love the Marriot - super king, super firm beds, 450 count sheets & a dual aspect room which was an utter joy, especially given my rather precarious state of health) ate well & drank better & just hung out together & enjoyed one of Europes most laid back & beautiful cities.

For the uninitiated Hamburg is fabulous - awash with lakes & canals & a plethora of lovely bridges & small shopping malls alongside huge impressive gothic piles, cobbled streets & fancy department stores and we made sure we experienced it all. My German was good enough to avoid nuts for allergic hubby in a Thai restaurant & meat for me in all other restaurants so all was good. If I hadn't been carrying around my friend 'Larry Gitis' for the 4 days we were there this would rate up there with one of the best breaks ever...!