Happy Christmas from the Harrisons

This year we've decided to publish our Christmas letter online as we can include more pics. This was the year of 70. Mike’s birthday usually gets ignored being on 10th January but this year we made up for it.

The action started in Iceland with a short break organised by Roz in January.

There was something surreal about walking between the European tectonic plate (left) and the North American plate (right) at Thingvellir close to the site of the world's oldest parliament. Where did that mean we were?

The half-frozen waterfall at Gullfoss was awe inspiring

No visit to Iceland is complete without a visit to Geysir

We had a surprise (for Mike) gathering of family and friends in Hampton-in-Arden in February.

April brought a study/pilgrimage visit to Egypt where we observed the tremendous challenges that Christians face on a daily basis with every church having armed guards and sometimes whole streets having protective barriers. We had police escorts wherever we went. However, we enjoyed our visits to a desert retreat, the extraordinary rock carvings of the cave church in Cairo and the third century monastery of St. Anthony.

It seemed the whole police force had turned out for our visit to the Anglican Hospital at Menouf.

Fortified entrance to St. Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria.

Anafora Desert Retreat

St. Anthony's Monastery

We were inspired by the range of social projects for refugees, the unemployed, children with special needs and the disabled being carried out by the Anglican Diocese of Egypt.We had a special performance at the Special Needs School sponsored by the Diocese of Egypt

Rock carving outside the Cave Church  of Zabbaleen in Cairo

In June, we decided to do the Grand Tour in our motorhome before the Brexiteers pull up the drawbridge. We visited Belgium, France, Italy, Croatia and Slovenia in a month.

We were treated to a stunning view of the Grand Paradiso National Park from our campsite in the Aosta Valley but had some worries about the campsite water.

We did the sights in Pisa, where we celebrated Roz's birthday. Florence and Venice but we most enjoyed our weekend with Viviana and Luigi in the Tuscan Hills.

Roz's birthday

Roz causes the fall of an angel in Pisa

We enjoyed a new friendship and a wonderful Sunday lunch with Viviana and Luigi in their eco-retreat in the Tuscan Hills and were rewarded with this beautiful view of the countryside around.

We sampled the delights of the Croatian coast at Njivice where were rewarded with a warm Adriatic - even Mike swum - and stunning sunsets.

We had a wonderful time in Slovenia, a land of fairytale castles, hot summers alpine scenery, almost traffic free cycling, crystal clear water and the wonderful pletna boats on Lake Bled.

Our return journey took us via Lake Garda in Northern Italy and a brief excursion near Geneva with wonderful views of Mont Blanc.

We finished our idyll with a visit to Cormatin in East Central France.  Cormatin has a wonderful street restaurant, is close to the Taize Community for Sunday Service, has a farmers' wine co-operative close by, a castle with a who intact medieval village a short cycle ride away and miles of first class cycle path.

The mediaeval village of Brancion

In August, we spent a fortnight in wet and windy West Wales at Newquay with grandson Lucas where we found beautiful beaches and dolphins playing at the end of the pier. Ellie joined us for a week.

and in the autumn, we entertained family and friends and walked around the local beauties of Bodnant Gardens.

A very good year. Thanks to all our friends we met and we hope we catch up with others next time around.

Happy Christmas to you all.