Easter Holidays Part 4: Miniatur Wunderland

Watching the beans go round

So, today was the day we had all been looking forward to, and the reason for our journey here.  Miniatur Wunderland.  We had pre-booked tickets, but they weren't valid until 1pm, so we had the morning to kill.  First job of the day was to find a bank - we came home from Malaysia with loads of Ringits which we hadn't changed, so though we would bring it with us - we saw it as free money as we had already paid for it last year.  Could we find a bank - no.  So, back to Hamburg Hbf we went with the last of our Euros (think we got down to about 2 Euros!) to search one out.  We found one in the station and successfully changed the Ringits, we didn't get a good exchange rate, but hey, we had no money so were in no position to argue and anyway, it was 'free' money.

Hamburg Rathaus

First job was to get breakfast.  We wondered into the food court and found a great looking bakery, so queued up.  The boys had an iced pain au raisin each and I had an apple puffy pastry thingy.  We were all happy with our lot.

It was good to have full bellies and money in our wallets again, so we decided we were up for checking out the main shopping street in Hamburg which took us more or less back to our apartment.  We came across a C&As and managed to get some good T-shirts for Tom - we always do when we come across a C&As, and also free toilets which are always good.  We then stopped to admire the Rathaus which was gilded and rather splendid looking and then went looking for mammoths in Mammut before heading home to dump our shopping and head out again towards Speichstadt (the warehouse district) where Miniatur Wunderland is located.  The plan was to have lunch at the cafe outside the museum, but we noticed a coffee roasters just next door and Matt being Matt couldn't resist a quick snoop.  Wow, it was amazing and massive and had a cafe serving good looking sandwiches and apple juice alongside the coffee.  We were having lunch here!

Italian Coast

The boys found themselves a table right next to the big coffee roaster, so they were up and down watching the beans turn from green to brown, them being sieved, sent up a duct and packed.  All very exciting stuff.  Tom managed to find himself a smoked salmon bagel for lunch as well so he was very pleased (the girl serving us was surprised - telling us: "it includes fish, is that ok?"

After a good look around the shop we headed to Miniatur Wunderland.  We bypassed all the queues as we had pre-paid tickets and went in.  The place was very full, but everyone was in a good mood, so we headed up to where the signs said start.  Wow!

WOW!

Switzerland

We were expecting good things, it being the biggest model railway in the world, but this was beyond all expectations.  So much so that I can't begin to describe it to you.  It was a full on hit on the senses.  There were trains of all shapes and sizes buzzing here and there, trucks, cars etc doing the same, moving along on roads and bridges, indicating as they turned, getting caught up in traffic jams but then sorting themselves out.  Lots of scenery to admire and to find things in.  My favourite thing to was to find the strange things:
+ A camel in a sorting office in Norway
+ Penguins on a beach in Germany
+ A world domination area under a mountain in Switzerland where they were faking the moon landings, all the terrorist organisations were together plotting, and a whole load of other things going on that we can't remember now.  There were a number of naked lovers enjoying themselves in various places
+ A crab who had caught a diver and wouldn't let him go
AND a whole lot more.  It was a sensory overload, and might take a while for us to compute them all.

Hamburg

Anyway you walk in and are confronted with the Wild West, American trains heading round mining towns and old frontier towns.  You have Mt Rushmore looking down on you, then this gradually gets more and more built on until you come to Las Vegas.

Every 15 minutes day turns to night via a sunset and then back to daylight via a sunrise.  During the night time, the Las Vegas area lights up just as it would in the real town.  There are hundreds of buttons strategically dotted around the barriers for everyone to press - to get a ropeway working, a hot air ballon to take off, someone to bungee jump, a bank raid, an attempted prison escape, you name it you could do it.  Oh and there was a wooden ledge all the way round so children could step on it and see properly.  They positively encourage you to take photos and video too.

The best thing about the place was that it was open - there was no screen anywhere, meaning you could lean over and touch it if you wanted to.  You could trash it also if you wanted to, pick up the trains etc, but NO ONE did, maybe everyone was well behaved because of the numbers of people around, but I think I only saw one (adult) touching the display for the whole 5.5 hours we were there.

Once we were done with America we headed over to Scandinavia.  We started in the Artic Circle in Sweden, with a mineral mine - one of the buttons set off a big explosion, there were icebergs (with a pirate ship sailing between them!) an ice hotel, I found a snow sculpture of an elephant here.  We were then taken into Norway and Denmark into the mountains and the ports where there was a huge cruise liner and a big container ship that was navigating its way through fjords into the port.  Some of the places were real, some of them fictional.  It didn't matter, it was amazing regardless.

Bavaria

The next diorama was Hamburg (of course) Here we got to see all the interesting parts of the city (very useful for our day sightseeing tomorrow) including the new Elbphilharmonie building which is as stunning in model form as it is in real life.  In fact it was more stunning in model form because (of course) there was a button that opened it, it opened up and you could see the concert hall full, a orchestra playing (yes they were all moving) and audience enjoying it.  Then you could see inside all the side rooms as well, some were apartments, others store rooms, practise rooms etc, it was a real representation of how the building is.

That's what I really liked about the place - the attention to detail.  All the trains had people on board (don't think that happens in Japanese model railways) and all the buildings had people in them going about their business - so if you looked inside a catering building at the airport, you could see people stood at conveyors putting food into trays, a bank of ovens, with one on fire - there were a lot of catastrophes happening in Miniatur Wunderland with loads of emergency services out and about sorting them out.  It wasn't obvious it was there, but if you looked hard you found the attention to detail was phenomenal.

The Alps

Half way through Homburg we all started to wilt, so we headed down to the restaurant for a drink and snack.  Get this: the seating was sets of 4 x train seats around a table, with pretend train windows looking over a German scene or a scene from Miniatur Wunderland.  Once refreshed we headed back to Hamburg.  After Hamburg came Middle Germany - the pretty rural bit with castles, lots of sheep, cows, agriculture and trains (of course).  There were fairgrounds, picnics, forests, outdoor concerts, picturesque houses, cable cars, oh, so much that now (of course) I can't think of anything!

Next came a fictional place called Knuffingen, a city where the modellers were able to use their imagination for every building, doing what they wanted to do.  So, loads of cars, loads of trains, loads of buildings, all great stuff.  The next bit though was the most amazing thing: Knuffingen Airport - a proper airport with all the buildings, terminals and planes and vehicles.  All the vehicles moved, as did the planes which took off and landed.  YES TOOK OFF AND LANDED.  WITH THE APPROPRIATE SOUND EFFECTS!  WOW!  WOW!  We were all stunned and amazed and transfixed.  They had all kinds of planes: passenger planes, freight planes, Concorde (which had afterburners on when it took off and was very noisy), small planes, old planes, even the Millennium Flacon came in to land (a bit wobbly it was!) and once a bumble bee arrived.  There was even an elephant vehicle going round (not sure what that was for).  Once landed, the planes taxied to their gate, vehicles and steps arrived to meet them, fuel vehicles arrived to fill them up, passenger buses arrived to take the passengers to the terminal if they weren't at a terminal gate, oh, so so so much was going on.  We could happily have stayed there watching just this all day.

However, we had to get on...next stop was Switzerland, where there was a to scale Matterhorn, pretty awesome on its own but then of course there was loads more: cable cars, ski lifts, rotating restaurants, chalets, etc etc.  The best bit though was a chocolate factory.  You pressed a button and watched chocolate being made in a production line, and guess what: a mini chocolate arrived for you to eat at no extra cost, just the press of a button.  Wow!!!!!!!

Italy

Next stop was Italy - but we were flagging again - so back downstairs we went to the restuarant to have a ice-cream each.  Happily revived we headed back to enjoy Vesuvius erupting, a diorama of Venice (no trains or cars here), all the important buildings from Rome including the Sistine Chapel where a monk was messing about shooting up and down on a rope, of course there was the Colosseum, St Peters (where the Popemobil was getting sorted ready for an outing) and everything else.

Last but not least was Austria where there was a raging storm above the mountains, a rack railway, plenty of cable cars, ski lifts and the such.

Wow.

Sorry for the wows but don't know what else to say!

We were there for 5.5 hours and shattered at the end, but very very happy and even though we had high expectations entering it, we were blown away.  It was ridiculously cheap too.

To give you an idea of scale, here are some statistics:

Didn't see much of Tom just his back!

+ Over 15,000m of track
+ 1,040 trains
+ 10,000 carriages
+ Longest train 14.51m
+ Signals: 1,380
+ Points: 3,454
+ Lights: over 385,000
+ Figures: over 260,000
+ Trees: 130,000
+ Construction Time: 760,000 hours
+ Construction Costs: 20 million Euro

How it isn't better known is beyond me!

They haven't finished either, next is Monaco, then France and then England.  We need to come back after 2021 when they have finished them.

AND you can see into the workshops and watch people making the scenery, mending trains, a huge bank of screens with all the points on etc etc and you can arrange a behind the scenes tour as well if you have time.

Mission Control

Every now and again we saw someone pop up in the scenery sorting out a derailed train, problem car etc.  It all added to the fun.

We didn't leave until after 6pm, we were all exhausted, so we dragged ourselves back to our apartment, had a shower and then headed out for tea across the road at a Breton creperie where we each had a galette and a crepe washed down with French cidre (me and Matt) and Orangina (Tom) - we were all starving!

A brilliant brilliant day, well worth the trip here. 14 minutes of video highlights can be found here: https://youtu.be/cQ_-zyF7oj8

Easter Holidays Part 3: Brussels to Hamburg

In our cosy compartment

Today was a train day.  Anybody know where Hamburg is?  Answer: 604km from Brussels, so it was a much longer journey than yesterday and we got a new country to take in - hurray!

First things first - breakfast, so as our hotel was just across the road from Brussels Midi Station, we went there for breakfast.  We found a place call Le Croissanterie - I thought we might be able to find one of those delicious ham and cheese croissants there - the ones with béchamel sauce inside and cheese shavings on the outside.  Alas, it wasn't to be, but we did find regular ham and cheese croissants, so Matt and I had one each and Tom had a sausage roll - well we are on holiday and whilst on holiday, anything goes!

Our ICE, with Cologne Cathedral behind

We then did a spot of trainspotting as we had an hour before our train left.  Whilst on the Eurostar we read up on onward connections from Brussels, it said that you had to check in for ICE journeys to Germany and to make sure you allow a good half hour for security etc.  We got there, asked at the ICE desk and were told you just walk on the platform and get on the train.  Great - we had time to kill...what do you do with a little boy who likes trains when you are in a massive train station with trains from all over Europe arriving and departing - oh yes, that's right, train spotting!  He was more than happy.





We got the ICE from Brussels to Cologne, very nice it was too.  We had a first class compartment - it seats 6, the 3 of us and another man got in.  We started speaking in basic English to him to find out he was from Milton Keynes!!!!!  We chatted the rest of the way, he has a little girl, 9, was on business, prefers the train to the plane etc etc.  The journey went very quickly, first class wasn't that different to standard class, wider leather seats, but no food or drink like you get in English trains, although we did get a fun size Mars bar which made Tom's day.

A light snack for the journey

We arrived in Cologne dead on time, the station was right next door to the cathedral which was very handy - I remembered it from a school exchange trip.  We didn't get to see it properly though as we had  lunch to get which was much more important.  We are in Germany, so what should we have - sausages of course!  We found a sausage stall almost immediately: bratwurst for Tom and 2 x currywursts for Matt and I - my first currywurst (I think).  Very nice, the curry sauce catches up with you so it got quite spicy towards the end.

There were loads of bakeries around as well, so I got us a very nice looking pretzel (can't remember trying one in the past) for the next train ride, whilst Matt went looking for drinks.  We then got the IC to Hamburg - this one took much longer over 4 hours.

Pretzel exhaustion

We were 1st class again in an compartment again.  When we got to it, there was a feisty old woman in one of our window seats!  Although she only spoke German and us only English, it was clear she wasn't going to budge even though we had proof of our seats.  Luckily she pulled out her ticket and we found she was in the right seat but in the wrong carriage - she had no comeback and although she didn't leave the compartment she allowed us to sit in our seats!

The train trundled through the industrial cities of the Ruhr Valley: Dusseldorf, Essen, Osnabruck (remember learning about these in history lessons), not pretty but functional and necessary.  We finally got out to the countryside around Munster which was really quite lovely, if very very very flat.  It was a gorgeous day so the countryside looked very inviting.  The feisty old woman slowly warmed towards us (I think because we were playing so nicely with Tom) in the end we were talking to each other quite happily: her in German and us in very very broken German.  She helped us with the colours (we couldn't remember yellow: gelb) and chatted to us about her grand children.  She thought Tom was about 11!!!!  She got off at Essen and a young man got on.

The Hamburg Philharmonie

Believe it or not the train wasn't great.  Our carriage had no electricity and I mean NO electricity, even the emergency lights weren't working, so we had no air conditioning meaning it got hotter and hotter as the sun heated up the train, the doors didn't work, WC didn't work, well, basically nothing worked.  Can you believe it? In Germany!!!!!!!  I was just commenting to Matt that the WCs on the train were as good as in the UK (i.e. smelly and dirty) when the young man in the carriage decided to join us in conversation - he couldn't believe I meant the toilets were good!  I explained, and then we were chatting for the rest of the trip.  Tom had by this time fallen asleep, spread out on the seats (early morning and late night yesterday).  I think it took him about 3 sentences to ask us what we thought of Brexit - it is embarrassing trying to explain to a European why people voted to leave.  He was really interested in how the vote came about and why people voted to leave and if people understood what they were voting for etc.  It got a bit political, but in a good way, he had a sense of humour.  We were stunned when he revealed he was still at school - we took him for 20 something, but he must have been 17 or 18, wow!  A very self assured young man who was able to communicate in his second language very effectively - we were stunned.

Happy boy in cool restaurant

The rest of the trip went very quickly, mainly because we were chatting away with our companion (we never asked him his name!)  We arrived in Hamburg at 5.20 - a bit late!  We headed straight to the underground to get to our Airbnb.  We are on the top floor of an old Merchant's building (1689) lots of flights of stairs to get to it and sloping floors and ceilings.  The owner is also obviously resident here when he isn't letting it out.  He is a 'cool' guy in his 20s, almost a stereotypically cool guy - complete with John Lennon glasses hanging round his neck, a cool hat worn on a jaunty angle etc etc.  He was happy enough and showed us around - it is a bachelor's pad - but will do just fine.  It is also directly opposite a restaurant we were recommended by Karen and Adam who visited earlier in the year so that was good luck.

We dumped our stuff and then headed to the end of the road where we could see old warehouses so we got lost amongst them for a while - mainly to stretch our legs, we then headed back to the restaurant that Karen and Adam recommended Kartoffel Keller - which was great.  Very moody place, tables in a cellar lit up by candlelight.  Every menu item included potatoes of some sort.  Matt had Wiener schnitzel with sauted potatoes (with loads of bacon bits which he loved), I had baked potatoes with mushroom sauce and Tom had potato pancakes with apple and cranberry compote.  We were all very happy.

Tom sort of died at the end of the meal so we headed back across the street to our apartment.  He headed straight to bed but couldn't sleep as he is so excited about visiting the model railway tomorrow...

Easter Holidays Part 2: Ingleton to Brussels

Rubbish train

Hurray, our 'proper' Easter holiday has arrived.  This year we thought we would like to visit Germany.  Then Matt had the idea of going to Hamburg as the world's biggest model railway is in Germany, I didn't mind as long as I got some sausages, beer and apple strudel.  THEN, Matt had the idea of going to see the model railway by railway, and our holiday was born: a European Train Odyssey, Wennington to Hamburg and back, all so a little (and big) boy could see a model railway. There is a chocolate museum next door, so I was swayed.

It all started this morning, so we woke up to our 5.30am alarms, got changed, finished the packing and headed out.  We drove to Wennington, mainly because parking there is free (in Lancaster it costs £12 a day) and got the 'rubbish train' which apparently is called a 'Pacer' to Lancaster, then a quick breakfast at Costa before getting the Pendolino "Virgin Crusader" to Euston.  We felt quite smug on the way as the carriage was full of men in suits with their lap tops, reminds us of corporate days of the past which we are now happily rid of.

Not rubbish train

We got to London at 10.09, dead on time (how often does that happen?)  it was colder than Lancaster and raining - yuck!  Who says it is grim up North, grim down South more like!  Anyway we braved the rain and walked to Kings Cross where we went to Wasabi to get our lunch sushi.  We then headed to St Pancras for tea and a bun - which for me was the most amazing jam doughnut in the world.  We then headed into Eurostar departures - had to go through security which was as busy and manic as it always is at departure points.  Then into the departures area which was full to bursting because the previous Paris train had been cancelled, it was a case of standing room only, very glad we weren't going to Paris, when it boarded the area emptied, I dread to think how crowded the train would have been.

Grand Place

A minute early we departed London and headed towards the coast.  Once past Ebbsfleet we were 'allowed' to open our sushi and eat our lunch - phew - I was starving!  It was a novel experience to travel so quickly in the UK - we really did move very fast.  The route out of London was basically 2 big tunnels: one from St Pancras to Stratford and one from Stratford to some green fields then it wasn't too long before we were in the tunnel.  It really didn't take long before we arrived in Calais, then another stop in Lille before arriving in Brussels dead on time.  It was a nice smooth journey, but not as smooth as a shinkansen - I had trouble writing without wobbling which never happens on a Shinkansen, and leg room is minimal, on a Shinkansen, you can't touch the seat in front of you - so sorry, Shinkansens still win.  However, you can't move from one country to another on a Shinkansen, so the Eurostar wins when it comes to international interest.

The countryside wasn't the most scenic:  very flat fields, tumble down farm houses in the distance, but different from home, so I guess it was interesting to a point.

When in Brussels...

Our hotel was directly outside the station in Brussels, we walked through the station and there it was, right in front of us, couldn't have been easier to find.  We checked in and had showers before heading out.  Now the receptionist at the hotel was very very helpful and told us how to get to the Grand Place via tram.  Matt couldn't compute this - he thought she had made a mistake as she described the tram as being underground - surely you don't get underground trams, she must have meant the Metro!  When I looked on the map she gave me, it clearly marked the line she suggested as being a tram.  I then Googled it - yes Brussels has one of the most extensive tramways in the world, including underground trams.

On returning to the train station, we found the tram line and yes it was underground.  We got the tram to Bourse, then followed our noses to The Grand Place, it helps that Matt has been here many times, so knew where to go to find it.  The Grand Place really is Grand, lots of amazing buildings from the 1600s and 1700s covered in ornate statues and gilded in gold.  Certainly worthy of the title Grand Place.  Oh on the way we came across  a number of chocolate shops and beer shops and tacky souvenir shops, WOW!  I'm in chocolate heaven.  I've got lots of new ideas already, what I need to find is a chocolate mould shop, rather than a chocolate shop.  Matt couldn't believe his eyes with the beer shops and we were all impressed with the waffle shops.  Oh my, how come the people of Brussels aren't all obese - on a diet of chocolate, beer, waffles and frites, how do they not all become fat?!

Boys settling in well (iced tea for the small one)

We walked down various streets, taking in the various shops and came across the Mannekin Pis, so Matt took the obligatory picture and then we departed the area, knowing that everywhere nearby would be overpriced.  We got ourselves a couple of blocks away from the Grand Place and looked for a restaurant.  I wanted moules, Matt wanted steak & frites and we both wanted beer.  Where would we be able to find these?  Initially we had trouble, but then a small voice piped up "I need a wee", so we had to find somewhere quick - just as we were beginning to get  annoyed with all the waiters touting for business, we noticed one restaurant with a €18 menu which included moules and steak so we headed there.  We had a pretty decent meal - 3 courses: croquettes to start with, moules for me, steak for Matt and Tom had chicken and chips - of course his was the biggest meal.  All washed down with Leffe Blonde and finished off with a small chocolate mousse, which was all we could fit in.  A lovely meal which satisfied us all - Tom went hyper afterwards!!!  Just as well we didn't look at the reviews for it as they were awful!  The service to be fair wasn't great, but the food was just what we wanted.

Big meal for a small boy (he ate most of it too!)

Afterwards we headed to a Carrefour we saw in the City Centre and were wowed by all the beer on show.  Our suitcases are very empty at the moment, I have a feeling they will be full and clinking when we return!!!!

Moules and beer for me.

We got the tram back, got confused how to use the ticket barriers back into the station and returned to the hotel.  Tom was still hyper and is now twisting and turning in his bed, not sure he's going to switch off until we turn the lights off.  He is excited about tomorrow: ICE to Germany in 1st Class - now there's a reason to be excited!

 Oh before I forget we measured the speed of the trains:
+ Pacer 72 mph
+ Pendolino 125mph
+ Eurostar 184 mph

Eurostar was significantly quicker and it felt it.

Easter Holidays - Part 1

Tuesday
Tuesday we had a great day.  We picked up Luca and Julie in the morning and headed over to Lancaster and Salt Ayre sports centre which we have never been to before.   It was inflatable session in the swimming pool and although Settle do run them from time to time, they are always over subscribed and that is all you can do, there is no space for swimming, messing about etc.  At Lancaster you can book in advance and they had it all including a curly wurly slide.  Luca is in the class above Tom, but they have very similar characters so they get on really really well.  They got in and Julie and I had a natter.  The session went very well, I had heard on the grapevine that it can get boisterous (Salt Ayre is on the border of Lancaster and Morecambe, and Morecambe has a reputation shall we say), however everyone was beautifully behaved - didn't see any incidents at all.  In fact the only thing of note to happen was that whilst play fighting in the pool, Tom took a kick to the chest from Luca and cried.  It was the end of 2 hours of play so I think it was more that he was tired and hungry than upset, by the time I got him to calm down the children had been called out of the pool for the end of the session, so that was that.  Oh hum.

It was 1.30 by the time they got dressed etc, so we went looking for lunch, Julie suggested Halton - where there is a big Community Centre with a cafe and big playground, so we went there.  The boys went playing whilst we ordered lunch - very very very cheap and decent.  The boys came up and demolished their food (Tom had a jp with beans and cheese - it was inhaled before I finished my beans on toast which is very rare).  They then went for a play in the woods before we realised that really it was getting late and we headed back.

A very good day out - the kids were exhausted and I hadn't chatted for so long in ages!

Wednesday

Tom, Rebecca and Hornet at Barrow

Wednesday was my catch up day.  Tom and Matt had a day out whilst I stayed at home to sort out the kitchen and start my paperwork.  I had a list the length of A4 of things I needed to do.  I didn't get them all done, but I did reclaim the kitchen which was good.

Now over to Matt to talk about their day out...


For once, it was a boys' AND girls' train day. It turns out that one of the Year 5 girls at Ingleton Primary is a train nut, and we got talking to her mum recently. We decided a day out on the trains would be a good way to get to known each other better, and to get Tom and Rebecca talking, which they hadn't up to now.
So, we all bought Cumbria Round Robin tickets, and caught the morning locomotive-hauled service from Lancaster to beautiful Barrow. Until recently, this was always hauled by one of Tom's favourite engines (a vintage class 37), but today it was pulled (and pushed) by modern class 68s, which don't sound as good, but go like stink. Mind you, 7600 hp to propel 3 coaches is serious overkill.

Us with Avro Vulcan at Carlisle

We got to Barrow early, so easily made our connection to the other loco-hauled service, which was pulled by an old class 37, much to Tom's delight. He and Rebecca spent much of the 3 hour journey to Carlisle playing Top Trumps, pausing only to inhale a packed lunch. Sadly, the views weren't great thanks to the ghastly weather, but they yakked away like old friends, which was lovely to see - she's a thoroughly nice girl. No awkward silences between Katie (Rebecca's mum) and me either - very easy company.
Carlisle was freezing cold and blowing a gale, so we didn't linger, deciding to catch the first Pendolino south. Our tickets allowed us a return trip up the Windermere branch, so we went, and were unimpressed. For a line that goes to such a famous holiday destination, there's very little to see en route, mostly newborn lambs freezing in waterlogged fields.
That just left the quick sprint back to Lancaster on another Virgin train, after which I drove us all back to Ingleton, where Tom and Rebecca disappeared upstairs for a good hour, while we adults yakked away in the kitchen.
All in all, a nice day out, and a good way to pass a day of horrible weather. I'm sure we'll be meeting up again.

Thursday

Lady Branch of Bowland

Thursday morning dawned beautiful.  Clear blue skies and not a breath of a breeze.  We had to get out for the morning, so we decided to do the Ingleton Easter Egg Hunt.  I quickly contacted Susan to see if Harrison was free for the morning - he was, and we were off on our way, checking all the eggs to work out the word.  We also took in the playground and went skimming pebbles in the river.  Think we managed to enjoy 3 hours together in the village - ending up with cake at Inglesport, very strange, after the cake, Harrison lost all energy and I had to literally drag him all the way home.  Oh hum, it was a good day until then.

We got home, had lunch and then Tom was picked up by Grandpa for an overnight stay.


Matt and I thought we should take advantage of the good weather and headed over to the Forest of Bowland for a walk.  It was a little boggy - yuck, but it was lovely and a new area we haven't begun to explore yet.  The walk was a little harder than we were expecting and as a result we had to abandon plans for a full on circular walk, but we enjoyed what we did (about 5km) and felt like we had done enough to warrant an ice cream so stopped off at Slaidburn on the way home for one which we ate outside (first of the year!).  Then a quick spruce up and we were out again to Kirkby Lonsdale to the Sun Inn for posh nosh.  We were hoping for the tasting menu which is 4 small courses of lovely food, however, they have stopped doing this so we just had the one course.  Duck for me and Steak for Matt - all lovely, but the 4 courses would have been better.  Then home to a quiet house.

Whernside and Ingleborough from Bowland Knotts

Friday
Tom was returned to us at 11am.  The plan was to have lunch and then head over to Luca's as was planned on Tuesday, but Julie had double booked us, so as we had already spent time with them, we bowed out.  Instead we went to Bernies for lunch and then had a slow afternoon, which consisted of sorting out our spice cupboard, playing snakes and ladders and watching nature documentaries.  After tea, we headed to Kirkby Lonsdale as Tom had cricket at QES.  Wow he has certainly improved since last year - bowling and catching particularly.

Saturday
We woke up to a horrible, grey and rainy day.  Tom had footie first thing, he went along happily enough and played really really well for the second time in a row - Matt came home all proud about him which was lovely.  He was rewarded with a hot shower and then we headed to Goat Gap for lunch - the cafe has improved considerably so that it is now on our local hot list of places that are reliable.  (When it opened it was terrible - over priced and a strange selection on the menu)  We both had a cheese scone with a mug of white onion and celeriac soup which was delicious.  Tom had sausage, chips and beans - 3 - yes 3 sausages came his way!!!

In the afternoon, Tom and I went over to the Bickerstaffs whilst Craig visited Matt with his tools (our ground source heat pump has been showing an error and Craig has lots of tools and is very methodically minded when it comes to DIY).  They couldn't find anything wrong but Tom had a good play with the boys and I had a good catch up with Janine and Fiona.

Friendly robin

In the evening we went to the Old Post Office for a quickie and then La Tavernetta for pizza and pasta.  All very nice, it's been a while since we've managed a drink at the Old Post Office - shows we must have been ill.

Egret

Sunday
A grey, cloudy day.  Weren't sure what to do, and ended up heading over to the RSPB place at Leighton Moss.  Had a good day, we aren't bird watchers by any stretch of the imagination, and we can't spot birds as such but can tell a bird of prey when we see one and twitchers by nature seem to be friendly in that they are happy to share their knowledge, so will tell you what is where.  We did a family trail and then went to the hides.  We saw a couple of Marsh Harriers, lots of tits, a Nuthatch (not sure what that one looked like, but found lots of people very excited by it and looked in the general direction)  In fact we spent much longer there than we expected.  Oh Mum - this is one to put on your to do list when you next come as it is completely flat.  We headed to Arnside afterwards for lunch to find our favourite lunch spot closed - NOOOOO!.  The other cafe as a result was full, but we found space in the pub, where they did a deli plate which we ate between the 3 of us.  Didn't take long and was just the right amount of food - phew!

Marsh harrier

Came home, finished off tea (slow cooked ham hock - yumsk) and packed ready for tomorrow...

Easter

Smardalegill Viaduct

Easter is early this year, so the children didn't break up until the Thursday before Good Friday.

Good Friday
Desparate to get out walking again, but with the weather not at its best and our legs not the fittest they have been (especially me as I've managed to pull a groin muscle - no idea how - but it hurts a lot!) we decided to explore a new part of the Dales, along an old train line, so we knew it would be flat.  It is a walk we saw on the telly - Tony Robinson did it: Smardalegill, it near Kirkby Stephen, quite a drive in fact, but well well worth it.

Smardale Bridge

We parked up, and luckily two ladies passed by who told us where to go (just as well as there was no signage anywhere!)  It was a beautiful walk and flat which was great and even had the odd pile of snow left over from last weekend meaning I could chase Tom with a snowball.  It took us past old quarries, into the Dales full of sheep and abandoned buildings to a lovely huge brick built viaduct from the 1860s spanning a tiny river and which we could walk along - hurray!  If only we could do the same with the viaduct in Ingleton, oh hum!!!

Anyway it was a lovely walk, and we managed to turn it into a circular as we could see a track on the other side of the river to follow back.  Lovely 15th century pack horse bridge to walk over, shame the 15th century pub wasn't still there too!  We got back around 1pm, with rumbly tummies, however, we met a lovely man on the way back who told us of 3 nearby eateries, so we jumped into the car and headed to one of his recommendations - The King's Head in Ravenstonedale.  Wow, there is some money round here - this was the 'poorer' of his recommendations, and it was very posh.  Tom had macaroni cheese which was made with smoked cheddar (yuck! I HATE smoked cheese), he was very happy with it, Matt had a full chicken dinner with haggis and whisky sauce so he was in seventh heaven.  I chose unwisely: wild mushroom risotto which had sooooo much cheese in it it was basically cheesy rice and therefore very greasy - oh hum, the boys were very happy with their choices, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.


We got back, had showers etc and then headed out to the Wheatsheaf as it was Sheafstock (basically Ingleton music festival) this weekend and Matt was on the bar.  Tom and I joined him, so burgers for tea with a healthy smattering of some great live music (Thr33 in particular were a great band - played Pink Floyd, Beatles, Peter Gabriel - stuff that all 3 of us enjoy so we were very happy).  Didn't get home till late.

Easter Saturday

Biker's lunch

Tom had requested a Bike Ride, so we put on the bike carrier and headed to Bull Beck car park.  Tom had requested the Lancaster canal and Morecambe prom ride with lunch at the Shore Cafe so that is what we did.  Of course last time we did it, Tom had a much smaller bike, with his new bike his wheels are on par with ours and with added gears too, there were some places where I couldn't keep up with him.  Yep, it has happened, poor Mum is at the back struggling to keep up.  Pants!  Luckily Tom is still nervous overtaking others which slows him down, giving me the opportunity to catch up with him.  We got to the Shore Cafe in no time at all so had an early lunch.  Tom opted for carb loading - having potato and broccoli cheese bake with chips.  Enough for all 3 of us to eat, just as well Matt and I ordered much smaller meals so we could help him.

At Sheafstock

We continued on to the stone jetty, then through Morecambe and along the old railway line back to the river, across the bridge and back under the aqueduct to the track we started on.  Tom did start to tire here, so we stopped at Crook o Lune for a drink and snack before finishing off at Bull Beck.  It was a 20 mile ride all together, albeit mostly flat, but my legs were screaming at the end and ached for the rest of the day.  Oh hum, we got home, had a quick tea and headed back to Sheafstock were we managed to get a table in the music tent so sat down for the night, made new friends and enjoyed the music.

Easter Sunday

New engine at Millerbeck

We thought we would have a slow day today and found out that Millerbeck was open, so we headed over.  It was a lovely day, blue skies but freezing cold.  We got there just after it opened and were shocked to find the car park almost full and the place heaving, we think word has got out now, we have never seen it so full.  Never mind - we joined the queue and waited patiently for our turn on a train.  We all managed a trip on Alf (a diesel), then Tom and I had a ride on a rather lovely looking Canadian Pacific train (a diesel) and then Matt and Tom had a ride on Geoff (yet another diesel).  We bumped into Rebecca and her family whilst there as well - Rebecca is in the year above Tom but an avid train fan, and although they know of each other, they haven't spoken at school at all which is a little silly.  We have arranged something with both of them later in the week in the hope that they make friends and be train geeks together.

Atop Gummer's How

After Millerbeck we headed to the car museum cafe for lunch, it was rammed, but didn't take that long for the food to come out which was as good as ever.  Then we decided to head to Gummer's How for a mini walk to the top to take in the splendid view of Windermere.  It was as lovely as we remembered.  Always a good walk, not much effort required for huge reward.


We headed home, had another quick tea and then headed over to Sheafstock again for the last night.  Wow, the place was rammed, with all the families from school - there were children everywhere.  We thought it would be great for Tom, loads of children for him to play with, but no, I think there were just too many children, and he clung to me and got teary?! Oh hum, he had had lots of late nights, so I think they were catching up on him.  The families did seem to leave after an hour or so, then Tom started to play with those left and relaxed.  We came home a little earlier, and vowed a slow day for Monday.

Easter Monday
Easter Monday was a horrible day: windy, rainy and cold.  There was no incentive to leave the house so we didn't!  We snuggled up on the sofa and watched netflicks - Tom chose Free Willy which we all really enjoyed (although it did get Tom going on a number of occasions).  We then headed to Ireby for lunch, before returning home.  We had a game of Ticket to Ride (Daddy won again - one day we will beat him!), then an episode of Planet Earth before tucking into a full roast dinner.  Very satisfying, and what else to do on a horrible day?

Man of the Match and Squirrels

Man of the match

So, we were feeling 'normal' again and decided to get going again with doing things, especially walking to get some fitness back.

Saturday we were back to football, this week they had a match against Settle at home thankfully, the first time they have played at home for ages due to flooding / snow etc.  We all wrapped up warmly and headed down.  It was warm, we all had to strip off - no wind, which was blissful.  One of the regular first team players wasn't available today so Tom got to start the match in mid field.  Wow!  Today he actually played really good football - he was in it from beginning to end, switched on, he tackled, he defended and he almost scored a couple of goals.  It was a joy to watch (we normally get really frustrated with him as he switches off and refuses to tackle), he looked like he belonged in the team and he even got pats from his team mates.  Parents on the line were even commenting on him.  Wow!  He stayed on for the whole of the first match.  He then get subbed off for the first half of the second match, but got subbed back on for the second half of the second match.  Here it went wrong, he obviously put his all into the first match he was lack lustre and didn't really know what to do and then when a tackle went wrong he burst into tears!  Oh dear, we couldn't placate him!  He got subbed off.

Tufty

He was still miserable when the match ended, but he got called over for the end of match chat and then got made 'Man of the Match', this helped to cheer him up.  As part of Man of the Match he got a chocolate bar, he said he wasn't hungry and didn't want to eat it, we told him to eat it, he ate it, he cheered up immediately!  Ooops - his sugar levels were obviously low.  Need to remember that for next time if he plays a whole first match take chocolate to boost his sugar levels.  Also, of course, because we haven't been active that much at weekends, his fitness levels aren't quite as good as they normally are.



We got him home, put him in the shower, and took him to a cafe for lunch which sorted him out.  We then headed over to Settle as it was Scoutrail - a model railway exhibition run by the scouts at Settle Junior School.  I went shopping in Booths!  We then headed to Grannie and Grandpa's as it is Bob's birthday next week and we were going out for tea, so we hung out for a while and then went to the Talbot Arms for tea.  It was bustling, but we managed to get a table and had a nice dinner.

Rusty

Nik's best piccy!

Sunday morning Tom wanted to head to the pump track so off we went.  He was the only one there and after a couple of circuits was happy to head home.  Matt suggested we head to Snaizeholme to go and hunt for red squirrels, an excellent suggestion, so off we went. We parked the car down the bottom of the track and walked up, where we met with some visitors from Liverpool who were heading in the wrong direction, so we turned them around and then sort of hung out with each other.  We saw some squirrels in the first set of trees, so were happy.  We then saw some in the viewing area scampering along the assault course that has been put up for them, so we were very happy.  Then we headed to the open area by the holiday cottage to see if there were any in the garden.  Oh my, not only were they in the garden but they were very tame.  The Liverpudlian couple had some monkey nuts with them and the squirrels were hand feeding!  Fantastic.  There were 2 in particular who were out playing, we named them Rusty and Tufty and they played and played and played.  It was a joy to watch (although very difficult to photograph as they are so scatty and very very fast!)

Think we stayed a good hour or so just delighting in watching them.  We then headed back to the car (tummies rumbling) and went to Hawes for a very late lunch.  A very good day out.

Then when we got home, we had the Mannings over for roast: horrible gammon.  Had a lovely evening with them all, the kids all get on beautifully so the adults can relax - yay!

It was the flu

So, it was the flu!  Matt went down with it really badly, I got a lesser form of it.  The next couple of weeks were spent surviving rather than thriving.  We got thorough each day but only just.  The downside to running your own business is that you have to carry on regardless as you can't phone in sick!  Matt would do a couple of WOSAs and then lie down to recover and I slogged through my cakes trying not to make any silly mistakes and we were all in bed for 9pm every night.

Poor Tom!  Both parents ill and grumpy.  Weekends were spent literally lying on the sofa watching films and going to bed early - we didn't do anything interesting at all.

It took until the beginning of March before either of us was feeling any better.  Luckily we both had light work weeks that week, and Tom had a long school trip to Beamish, so we both took the day off and I booked us a day in a local spa.  We spent the day in saunas, steam rooms, jacuzzis and in an outdoor hot bath, ate healthy food and had an hour's massage.  It did us wonders - from that day on we felt much much better.

Hot tubbing

That weekend was Mother's Day and we were invited to Liz and Dave's to pod, and we actually felt up to it which was great - we got the newest pod which was wonderful and we spent Mother's Day morning in their hot tub under blue skies in wonderful scenery which did us all good.

So that was February and the beginning of March - we didn't do any fun things at all.  We all lost our fitness as well.  I haven't done a run for months, get out of breath at the most ridiculous things and Matt is pretty much the same, so we spent the end of March trying to get fit again.

The weather hasn't been particularly good to us - we've had lots of snow, Tom had a day off school, which is apparently unheard of in Ingleton.  We lost a couple of ridge tiles off the house during the 'Beast from the East Storm' which was pretty wild.  Very few houses in Ingleton were unscathed.  Friday was actually the worst day, luckily the school re-opened and Tom couldn't wait to go as he was worried the house was going to blow away.  We took him in the car as there was so much debris in the air we were worried he might get hit by something.  Loads of kids didn't turn up as parents deemed it too unsafe to leave the house because of the wind.

When it hasn't snowed, it has rained.  So we would have been pretty much stuck inside anyway.

I've also had the busiest Jan, Feb and March ever - normally a good thing, but this year with bad weather and illnesses it would probably have been better for it to be quiet!

Anyway, enough tales of woe, I will start the blog again when things were on the up...

Bad cold or the flu?

So we all woke up late this morning.  Unfortunately Matt seems to have gone backwards and was looking quite bad on Sunday morning, he was aching all over as well which is a bad sign and could mean he now has the flu?  I was feeling quite ill as well - but with a cold not the flu!  Oh joy!

We didn't get up in a rush, and decided to head to new Bernies for brunch as we had no food in the house.  New Bernie's opened up on Thursday so we thought we should give it a go.  It was ok - but the breakfast was a lot more expensive than before and there wasn't as much choice.  However, saying that, I sound like a grumpy Ingletonian, obviously they are finding their feet and we will carry on trying them out to see how they are doing.  They are now essentially a caving cafe so are making fair for caving customers - i.e. hot stews etc.  They seem to have a lot of mushrooms on the menu which obviously is good for me and Tom, not so for Matt.  Inglesport is now the only proper greasy spoon in town and Bernie's a half way house.

Anyway, we all had an appetite so that was a good sign.  We went to the Co-op and I bought food for a proper roast tea in an attempt to get some good nourishment into us.

The rest of the day was a bit bland.  Tom washed the car, Matt had a long bath, we watched The Lion King 2, Matt and Tom made a Lego bridge together (Science homework from school) and then I made roast dinner.  We all went to bed early:  Tom at 7 and us at 8.30.

The longest day

Our herd at Point of Ayre

So today was another clear and sunny day and much less windy than yesterday which was ace. It was always going to be a long day today.  There are only 2 ferries a day between the Isle of Man and the mainland.  They both leave at 8.15.  The morning one went to Liverpool so really the only choice we had was to get the 8.15pm to Heysham.  We didn't rush to get up and then we cleared up and packed the car.

We had decided that today we would explore the North of the Isle.  First stop - Point of Ayre - the very top of the island, which has 2 lighthouses and a big set of fog horns.  The island flattens out up here and the beach was 100% pebbles, all small, flat and rounded.  We had a good walk around, threw plenty of stones into the sea, watched fishing boats and ferries skirting around the Isle and generally enjoyed being out in the open air away in the sunshine and not being blown apart.

After we had got our fill, we headed back to the car and headed back to Ramsey.  We had a little wander around the town, much nicer than the evening before as it was light and we could see the lay of the land, AND it was much warmer.  As we were walking around, I saw a van pull up which said Connor Cummins on it.  Connor is a very well known local TT racer and sort of related to Great Great Uncle Bob - Bob did suggest a number of years ago that we should try to meet up with him next time we were on the island as he comes from a small family and apparently would welcome any tenuous family members - but I thought it a bit weird to go up to someone who is a complete stranger and ask him if he knows of a 80+ year old Bob Cubbon in Southport?  We are certainly 2 non blood relations away, how tenuous can you get?  And then what?!  Anyway, we were satisfied to have caught a glimpse of him.  He was made even more famous a couple of years ago when he had a spectacular accident during the TT from which he was lucky to recover.

Lady Isabella - biggest water wheel in the world

We found the sea front and went for a wonder along the harbour walls in the sunshine to boat spot again.  We then went for lunch.  Now, after almost a week on the island we hadn't come across a restaurant that served Queenies which was disappointing as I do like them.  Anyway, we found a place in Ramsey that served them so that's where we went.  Matt ordered himself a calzone and Tom pasta bolognaise, we were all happy with our choices and the food was good.  The restaurant itself was fine as were the staff, but the clientele - well put it this way, we all felt very very young.  Matt and I were a good 40 years younger than anyone else, Tom obviously helped to bring down the average age, but it was essentially where old ladies had their weekend gossips.



Next stop after the restaurant was Maughold on the North Eastern side of the Isle.  We had discovered in one of the museums that there were old Celtic sites here so we thought we would explore.  We parked in the village in front of a church that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Wild West, walked through the huge graveyard (all graveyards are huge on the island, so much so that I did wonder if there was a crematorium on the island.  There is, but only in Douglas, so I'm guessing that if you don't live in Douglas you probably end up buried in a graveyard).  We walked to a headland, and discovered another lighthouse but no Celtic remains, however, we saw something in a field that looked like Celtic burial mounds so we went to investigate, unfortunately we couldn't get in to the field to investigate properly.  Oh hum...

Next stop was Laxey this is where you can find the largest working water wheel in the world.  Well, between Easter and October.  It is still there now but you can't go up to it and it isn't working.  Matt was a little naughty and legged it over the railings so he could take a photo "I haven't come all this way not to take a photo..."  They hadn't made it that difficult to get in - anyone who wasn't a fatty could squeeze through the locked gate, I'm guess they may have done that on purpose?

Wild West Church

We went for a wonder in Laxey and ended up in a pub which had a bar which had been made to look like a railway carriage.  That is because the electric railway comes here (in season). We had a much needed sit down and drink before heading back to the car.  Before we knew it we were in Douglas, it was only 3pm so much to early.  We headed out again to Fairy Bridge, then back to Douglas head where we went for another ramble and found another lighthouse and tried to spot the ferry on its way in.

Believe it or not petrol isn't that expensive on the island, so we filled up (we have no petrol station in Ingleton at the moment as they have demolished it and the Co-op to build a bigger and better one).  I took advice on where best to have tea and was directed to a pub on the Prom.  It was a nice pub with a good looking menu - but they didn't start serving until 6pm which was too late for us - we had to be at the ferry port for 7pm.  We then tried to find somewhere else, but failed.  The Isle of Man doesn't seem to be part of the food revolution that has hit the mainland.  Pub food tends to be poor to OK - but nothing more than OK, there doesn't seem to be many types of restaurants other than pubs or fish and chips except for the odd Chinese take away.  We only saw Indians in Douglas.  Certainly no bistro pubs and nothing modern.  Considering it costs more to eat out here than at home, it didn't really feel worth it.  In the end we cut our losses and decided to wait until we were on the ferry as the food on the ferry is actually not too bad.

Our cabin on the Ben-my-Chree

We checked in and headed to Costa in the port for a sit down and drink.  It was then I hit upon the idea of seeing if we could get a cabin on the way back.  We were all tired from a long day out and the thought of being able to lie down for a couple of hours on cabin beds rather than sit in uncomfortable seats in the bar was too good not to investigate.  Matt went to the ticket desk to ask and was told that there were cabins free we could book them on board from the shop for £53.  Sounded good to us.  We grabbed ourselves some sandwiches and drinks for tea to give us maximum time in the cabin.

We got called back to the car, lined up for the ferry and then waited and waited and waited.  Apparently they were doing a drill on board.  It took a while, so long that we didn't board until after 8pm, so we were late leaving.  We went to the shop and got a cabin.  Very comfy it was.  Tom took a top bunk, Matt and I a bottom one each.  Tom was asleep within the hour and Matt and I snoozed.  The ferry made up time meaning we got to Heysham early (so early that I was in the shower when they announced for passengers to go back to their cars, just as well I can get ready quickly!)

We then proceeded out of Heysham, down the link road home.  It took about 30 mins which was fab. We all went straight to bed.

Bus Odyssey

This morning dawned blue skies and much less windy than yesterday - hurray.  Today we had decided to buy some Bus Rover tickets and go for a wonder. The bus stop is literally outside our front door, so we got the 9.47 towards Douglas.  We had packed our swimming stuff as we discovered the National Sports Centre in Douglas on the Internet: it has 2 x 25 meter pools and 2 flumes, a jacuzzi, fountains etc etc.  Right down a certain young man's street!  He was very happy with us and to be fair it was a really good set up, very reasonably priced so we were happy too.  We did some runs on the slides, some messing about in the junior pool, then some lengths in the adult pool before playing on the slides again.

One boy and his cow.

We spent a good hour or so messing about and only got out because we were all getting quite hungry. We found a cafe in the reception area which was doing very cheap yet lovely homemade food.  Result, we tucked right in.  The facility really is very good, they had huge indoor halls, a running track, squash courts, hard outside courts etc etc.  Way better than anything we have nearby and considering their population is roughly the same as Craven, it makes you wonder how they do it?  Also they have Post Offices in pretty much EVERY little settlement here.  How?  What have they got that we don't?

We got a bus from the Sports Centre into Douglas, did a little souvenir shopping (well the boys did - I didn't find anything!) and then we went to the Manx museum to finish off the Lego trail that we started in Peel on Wednesday.  Another very good and very large museum.  Not as child friendly as the House of Manannan but good non the less and free.  As we were tired from the swimming we didn't really take in much from the displays but we found the Lego figures, so Tom is entered in the competition - if he wins he will have to come back for a photo shoot!

We then went for a walk along the prom.  It was earlier than we thought, so instead of hanging around Douglas which seemed quite boring - one shopping street full of the usual stores, nothing different, nothing new, no obviously interesting restaurants, so we decided that as we had a Rover ticket on the buses to get a bus to Ramsey and see what restaurants we could find there, that way we would do a full lap of the island by bus.

We had to chop and change buses to be able to do so, but we were successful and got the bus up to Ramsey.  The place was dead, it is Friday night?  Oh hum, we found a chippy in the end and had fish and chips.  I still haven't managed to get any queenies, so tomorrow will be all about that!

We got our last bus back to Ballaugh, had our nightly game of Rummikub (Tom won today for the first time ever!!!!) and slobbed.  Unfortunately Matt has been ill for most of the holiday (today is the first night he has had a beer in the evening) and now I'm coming down with something.  Seems to be the theme for February holidays as we had similar last year albeit much worse!