Cub Camp

Excited ahead of the event

So after much excitement and apprehension, the day finally came: cub camp day!  750+ cubs from all over North Yorkshire meet at Pateley Bridge for 3 nights of camping and fun.  Tom's been excited about it since he found out about it, and rightly so, who wouldn't be excited to spend 3 nights camping with your friends and having fun?  I'm jealous - would love to go myself.  It was just seconders and leaders that got to go, it is all done on age and Tom is the youngest of all the children - he just made it - phew!

We had spent every available window this week packing and repacking for the camp.  We had a kit list which was huge, and weren't sure how the kids got to camp: did they have to carry it all themselves, could we help?  It was all a little vague.  Anyway, we got him to the point that he could fit everything in his bag himself which was good.

Biking

On Friday, we picked him up from school, brought him home, he had a good shower (no showers on the camp site) got dressed into his cub uniform and then packed the car and headed over to the campsite.  He was excited and nervous all at the same time, I don't blame him.

Home for 3 nights

Sumo with Lucy

We stopped off at a rather good pub, The Clarendon Hotel in Hebden for tea where Tom talked about his butterflies.  He ate well though, he chose tomato pasta, which he scoffed in no-time and then we supplemented it with gammon steak and chips from me and fish and chips from Matt until he complained that he was full.  We then continued on to the camp.  To be fair it was well organised.  We were shown where to park and then after studying a map we found out where Ingleboro' cubs were located and headed over.  There we found the camp already up.  Some had already arrived.  Tom found Charlie and headed straight into his tent (Ingleton cub attendees are 3 boys and 5 girls), he had his roll mat and sleeping bag set up instantly.  He was so so so excited that he was barely able to say goodbye to him.

Unfortunately it was raining, but not too hard, but it meant waterproofs and wellies were out.  Anyway, we left a very excited Tom and Charlie behind, they zipped the door down on us, we figured it was time for us to leave!  They are going to have a fab time!

Photos from the Scout FB page - think they had fun!!!!!

Bradford School Trip

So on Tuesday I got to go on my first school trip.  This is a school trip which all Year 4s do, and ticks the 'diversity' box for the school.  Ingleton has a 'twin' school in Bradford and every year they visit each other, so the city kids get to see life in a rural area and the Ingleton kids get to meet kids from an inner city and therefore a diverse background.

This isn't a popular trip so I finally got asked to go.  On Monday the joint Head, Mrs Barry came up to me to give me a warning on what to wear!  A little insulting, but that's Mrs Barry - didn't occur to her to ask if I had ever visited a Mosque before and if I knew what to wear.  I did tell her that I have lived in the Middle East before but still she went on!

So on Tuesday morning, I made two packed lunches which I packed with my headscarf and got on a mini bus to Bradford with 24 excited children.  Mrs Barry was also with us, along with Mrs Bromley and Anne.  I find Mrs Barry hard work - she's very fluffy, talks to you as if you are 5, doesn't really listen to what you are saying and never voices her opinion directly.  At least with Mrs Colledge you know exactly where you stand as she tells you exactly what she thinks.

Anyway we arrived at the school and were more or less immediately whisked away to the Mosque.  Now you would think that if you are going to visit a mosque with a class full of kids who have probably never been in one before AND this is a trip that the school do each year, you would at least prepare the kids and do some sessions on Islam and what to expect etc.  It didn't seem to be the case.  All the girls had headscarves and put them on - we were accompanied by some class champions from the school - 2 of whom were girls, neither of which put on a headscarf, as I had suspected it isn't required of a 9 year old, but I guess it is a lesson in respectability and anyway it was novel and fun for the girls.

He asked where we were from and one of the kids from St Stephens said St Stephens.  No-one told him that the majority were from Ingleton.  The headteacher was with us so I didn't think it was my place to speak up - but really?!!!  He of course had no idea we were from a rural location - he would have changed his talk I'm sure if he had known!

We then listened to a guy from the Mosque - he asked lots of questions - do you know what special time it is for Muslims at the moment - no-one knew, it is Ramadan!  How many months are there in the Muslim year?  No-one knew.  What number month is Ramadan - no-one knew.  It was obvious there had not been any lessons about Islam.  Luckily Tom knew that a Mosque is somewhere you go to pray (I was very proud) and Rosie knew you had to wash before you pray but that was it.  Then when the guy asked for questions, none were forthcoming.  In the end Mrs Barry, Mrs Bromley, Anne and I asked a question each but the guy said that normally when a school visits they have questions prepared.  It was embarrassing.

One interesting fact: the call to prayer.  It can't be broadcasted in public in this country, instead the Mosque broadcast it into people's houses via a radio transmitter.  They press a button and the call to prayer is broadcasted directly into people's houses.  I never knew that!

However, the kids were well behaved.  Afterwards, once the kids were allowed up we got to chat to the guy and Anne explained who we were, he didn't know.  He was interested.  He was also very very approachable.  He should have known!!!!  Once he found out, he wanted to show us more, so we could get an understanding of what they do in the community.  They have more than the Mosque, they have other buildings, they have safe accommodation for women, they have education programmes for adults, one of the essential parts of Islam is looking after your community and charity which he wanted to show us.  He quickly showed us around but we didn't have time for it all.

The same tattoo!

The ladies were working very hard!

We returned to school for our lunch.  Now Tom has written letters to boys in Year 4 of St Stephens and they have written letters back.  You would think that the schools would match them up so everyone knew who their penpals were.  No!  It was manic, it was busy and there was no attempt on the teaching side to get the kids together.  The idea was for them to eat lunch together.  In my section, the Ingleton girls ate their lunch on one table and then Tom was on his own with Bradford kids on his table and Charlie on his own with Bradford kids.  Well done Tom and Charlie.  I sat with Tom and chatted with the kids, all of whom were lovely.  Then the kids went out to play.  They have a small paved over playground.  But it didn't matter, they played happily and our kids and the Bradford kids intermingled no problem.  Which is how it should be: kids playing with kids.  Anne and I stood in the playground.  Anne tried to match up the penpals so at least everyone knew each other.  We got involved in some playground politics: Miss, so and so said this to my sister etc - of course I have no idea of what to do so told them to see a St Stephens teacher.  I didn't see Mrs Barry or Mrs Bromley - but I guess they were doing their thing.  I was a bit like a rabbit in headlights, I have never been on a school trip as a parent before and didn't really know what I was supposed to do - how involved I should be, what sort of things I could say to the kids etc.  It is really difficult, I'm not a natural teacher.

Twin tattoos

The afternoon was then manic:  20 minutes to try some homemade food (delicious, but most of our kids were not up for it - scared of what it might be). 20 minutes to learn a dance and 20 minutes to have a henna tattoo and dress up.

Get this - Tom and I were in different groups.  There were a good 100 henna designs and we chose the same one!

We then got on the coach to get back to school for 3.30.  Not the most exciting school trip, but the kids seemed to enjoy it.  I don't know if I'm being super critical, but I thought if it was to be educational, then at least educate the kids before hand and be in dialogue with the mosque so they have learning opportunities?!

Royal Wedding and Cricket

So this week was the first week of All Stars Cricket.  Tom has been attending cricket sessions since the beginning of term on the Community Field on a Friday with a couple of others and we have managed to get some newbies involved, but this week was the first official week of the training programme.  Ingleton this year are doing it on two nights a week: Thursdays and Fridays.  You sign up for one but can turn up to either or both!  As soon as Tom found out he could do both days we of course wanted to and because he enjoys it so much and (I'm told) is quite good - especially at bowling, we thought it would be good to get in as much practice as possible because it is such a short season.  So between Matt and Tom cricket is taking over my summer weekends.  Oh hum, no point fighting it!  However, this now means that Tom is doing something every night of the week which means term time life is getting a little manic:

+ Monday he does Box Fit with Tomi Tatham after school
+ Tuesday he either goes to Xanders and then cubs or Xander comes here and they go to cubs together
+ Wednesday - he has a friend home and then swimming lesson at 7.45
+ Thursday - cricket
+ Friday - cricket

Saturday / Sunday - Matt and or Tom have cricket match!

I have been quite busy at work with orders and developing new ideas, so it's all got a bit crazy and out of control.  Looking forward to half term when we can relax a bit, although cricket still happens!

Ingleton Under 11s

So, on Saturday there was no football - hurray.  We decided to have a slow day as with all the weekday activity on top of hay fever, he needed it.  It was another beautiful weekend as well, so no need to go too far.  Plus I have done something to my leg meaning I can't walk far at the moment and was on enforced rest from the doctor.

It was also the Royal Wedding.  Now, I hadn't got caught up in the pre-wedding stuff, but thought that as Tom was 9 (about the same age I was when Charles and Di got married) I should let him see it, experience the pomp and ceremony etc, it is something us British do well.  Quite glad I did.  Matt was against it, but once it started he came in and he got drawn in as well.  It certainly was a lovely event: handsome people, gorgeous sunny day, lots of love - obviously a good match.  As Meghan is American and mixed race, the wedding was much more diverse than previous ones: gospel choir and the best thing was Michael Curry the preacher who was from Chicago and was brilliant.  British CofE ministers are ALWAYS very very dull, too caught up in their own importance to realise that they deliver deadly boring and monotonous sermons.  This preacher had style, energy and a whole new way to talk about God.  There were some great glances between the royals, he stole the show and showed us how to make God interesting - although I still don't believe (I would be more likely to want to with preachers like him around!)


Anyway we managed to watch it until they went to sign the register and then we headed to Inglesport because Matt was starving.  They were watching it at Inglesport too so we didn't miss much.  When we got back Tom wanted to play cricket, so we headed over to the Astro pitch for a bash around and then we headed home for a quite afternoon, another BBQ and early to bed.

Tom batting

Sunday was an exciting day for Tom - it was his debut for the Ingleton Under 11s Cricket Team.  He was so proud to be asked (although it isn't about how good you are, just if you are available and willing)  There was quite a spread of ages and ability in the end.  They play completely different rules: each team starts with 200 runs, then batsmen pair up and face 4 overs each.  They loose 5 runs each time a wicket falls, but remain in until the 4 overs is completed.  This means that you can't get out straight away which is a good thing.  Ingleton batted first and ended up with 150 runs which tells you all you need to know.  Tom did OK - he scored a couple of singles and he didn't get out  (apart from once when he got run out by his partner - not his fault!)  Most lost quite a few times but a couple were brilliant and made loads of runs which was lucky.

Bowling: Tom was on first and didn't do too badly, although he didn't get a wicket.  In fact some people we didn't know behind us remarked on 'the good little bowler' and Bob who was watching was able to shout out that it was his grandchild which was nice.  Anyway it was a really good atmosphere and Tom enjoyed himself, that's what matters.  Took about 2 hours all in all!

We went home for lunch and then Matt headed out for cricket as he was playing for the first team.  We stayed in waiting for Sainsbury's - they never turned up, long story and then we had a visit from the Bickerstaffs which included doing their laundry for them as their washing machine had gone bang, by the time the washing was done and we had returned it to them we had missed Matt bowl.  Typically he bowled really really well.  I then had to make tea so we didn't see him bat either!  Oh well.

So a nice lovely sunny crickety sort of a day!  The first of many to come I think...

Craven Wanderers Awards Night

Craven Wanderers U9 Team 

Another lovely weekend.  It was supposed to rain all day on Sunday but it didn't, how good is this weather we are enjoying?!

Eye on the ball...

So Saturday was the last day of football.  It finished with a tournament at Ingleton.  As it was good weather, everyone was in a good mood and the children played well although, as has become  usual in these events, they started off loosing games and once warmed up started to win.  It was too late though as they didn't get through to the semi finals.  The mums got chatting about the night, it was the Craven Wanderers Awards night and who would get what trophy.  The general consensus was that Tom would get 'Most Improved Player'.  It hadn't crossed my mind, I thought he might get the 'wooden spoon' trophy - think they call it 'Sportsmanship' but it always goes to the weakest player in the team.  Tom has improved but he still isn't at the level of the others, but as the mums said, he has noticeably improved and the others haven't...  It is a pretty boring night as they have to go through 7 teams, acknowledge every player on them and then hand out 4 or so awards.  It takes hours!!!!  The kids run riot because it is too long for them and the parents speak over the coaches handing out the awards and the whole thing is a bit of an effort to get through.  We have discovered the best way to go about it is to get a table near the bar and sit with friends and steadily drink ourselves into a stupor where we don't care anymore.

Most improved player

Now Matt was supposed to be playing cricket in the afternoon in Coniston, however, it had rained in the night over there and the pitch was waterlogged so we had him for the rest of the day which was good because I had visions of having to sit through it on my own.  We headed to the Community Centre got ourselves a table near to the bar and sat with the Mannings and as planned drank ourselves into enjoying it.

Between us we did well, Jack Manning got the Coach's special award and Tom did get most improved player.  Was lovely to see him on stage, think this is the first time he's won anything - he was buzzing!!!!!!  Once they had finished the presentations and drawn the raffle it was after 10pm so we headed home and put the telly on to see the remainder of the Eurovision Song Contest (normally a night of cheese and wine whilst chatting to Chananja).  We got some cheese out and caught up on it.  Needless to say the UK did as badly as usual but it was fun to chat with Chananja.

Our favourite place in Leeds

Sunday both Matt and I were slightly hung over and it was supposed to rain so we decided to head to Leeds on the train - means that the boy is entertained without us trying too hard.  As I said earlier, it didn't rain, but never mind.  We headed to Bundobust for lunch (of course) and then did some shopping, spent quite a while in Waterstones reading before heading home via Wasabi for some sushi.    Then home to watch the sumo - yep the next sumo tournament has started so it is 2 weeks of teas infront of the telly watching our favourites fight each other.  We all want Tochinoshin to win this time...

Feizor, Steak and a Night Walk

Me and my boy

A beautiful weekend - this sunshine is a good thing.

Tom had football practise in the morning and instead of shivering on the touchline it was lovely to stand and watch them play and enjoy the feeling of sunshine on the skin.  Was nice not to have to wear wellies and jump up and down to stay warm!

After football we decided to go for a walk as it was so nice and headed up to Feizor. First stop was lunch and we had it outside which was a joy.  Everyone is so much happier and smilier in the sunshine.  Instead of doing the usual Oxenber Woods walk, we went in the opposite direction and did a full circuit around some hills, almost taking in Knights Stainforth.  It was a good walk with lovely views and nice to go and do something different for a change.  On arriving back in Feizor we went back to the tearooms for a cold drink (me and Matt) and an ice-cream - Tom.

The 3 amigos

Just as we were leaving we bumped into Rebecca and Xander who were doing the usual Oxenber Woods walk.  So lots of excited jumping up and down for a while and we left them to get on with it.  We headed home and had a BBQ for tea.  It was too nice not to!

Sunday and another wonderful sunny day.  Today we headed up to Pabold and Miller and Carter where we met up with Jude and Craig as they didn't want to send me my birthday present in the post. It was a glorious day, the roads were empty so we even managed to enjoy the trip over.  We all ended up having 3 courses for lunch including steak - they do do a good steak so we were feeling pretty heavy for the rest of the day.

After the handing over of presents and a bag of rhubarb (lovely) we headed on the back roads to Settle where we dropped Tom off with his Grannie and Grandpa: they wanted him on Sunday night so that he could stay up late and watch the snooker final (they have got him into snooker - it naturally appeals to him as it has a lot to do with numbers etc)  We left him there and headed home.

Lambulance

As we were home alone, we thought we would do a night time walk, so we had a small tea (still stuffed from lunch) and then headed up to Ribblehead and did a new walk over towards Katie's bunk house through the nature reserve, back to the Station Inn (stopped for a quick drink), down to Katie's farm, then back up the long way to the road where we had left the car.  It was a little longer than we expected so it got quite dark, however, the stars didn't come out as much as we were hoping for but we did see lots of sheep and got a good long stretch.  Don't think we got home until after 10pm - what dirty stop outs we are!

Monday was a quiet day.  Matt went for a bike ride in the morning to Leyburn.  Tom got delivered back to us just after lunch.  We didn't really do that much in the afternoon, Tom was tired and hayfevery and the sun was out so we just pottered around and enjoyed having the day off together.

Run of the Mill Weekend

So we didn't set the world on fire this weekend, but managed to enjoy ourselves never the less.  Saturday started with Craven Wanderers training, so Tom went along and we caught up with him at the end (although I popped to see Janine so missed most of it!).  We chucked Tom in the shower when we got home and then headed out to Settle to Lay of the Land for lunch with Pat and Bob before heading to the Victoria Theatre to watch Roald Dahl Revolting Rhymes.  This was  a show put on by the juniors of Settle Operatic Society and we knew a few children in it. It was supposed to be raining this afternoon so thought it would be a good way to spend the afternoon.  It didn't actually rain in the end but we enjoyed ourselves.  Think we were the only ones there who didn't have family in the production, but it didn't matter - there were some great performances, a lovely atmosphere and a bar selling interesting beer - what else is needed?  We popped in to Pat and Bob's afterwards, for a quick inspection of their new room before heading home.

Cubbing

Sunday was St George's Day parade with Cubs.  Instead of the usual Church parade we walked through the village to Storr's Common where the leaders did a play and the children renewed their promises and played a game.  We then headed back to the Scout hut to watch another performance from the leaders and be fed with hot dogs (Tom had 3 the gannet!)  It was 1pm before we left, it was a gloomy day and we had just found out that it is the Scout's jumble sale next weekend, so we spent the day baking: Tom made his lemon drizzle cake, I made banana cupcakes and we both made some flapjacks - that should keep them going.  Then mushroom pasta in front of the Dukes of Hazzard (Matt was playing cricket) before bed.

Clouds

Sunday we woke to grey clouds and it was cold!  Poo!

We were all a bit tired from yesterday - didn't even manage to get down to breakfast until after 9.30.   Tom was full of hay fever, it looked like he was coming down with it last night, so I got his tablets out and the pollen filter, but we are too late, he is full of snot, watery eyes and can hardly breathe poor thing.  Today is going to be a slow day.

First thing was to finish off his Victorian invention.  Tom was given homework over Easter of coming up with either a working model or blue print of an invention using Victorian engineering.  True to form, he didn't tell us about it at all, I found out on the playground on Monday and went to see the teacher on Tuesday to find out more, along with a long queue of other parents.  Not only did they have to do that but also have to dress up as a Victorian - oh joy!

Tom has come up with a clockwork trampoline, where you use cogs and gears to adjust the tension of the canvas to choose how high you want to jump.  I love it, no way would an adult come up with something like that.  Obviously we aren't doing a working model, just a blue print - most of which has come from google.

Matt is playing his first game of cricket today, so he had an early lunch whilst they watched the snooker, then Tom and I had a small lunch and went quickly round the village to buy some mushrooms, we are back to mushroom dinners whilst Matt plays cricket - yay!

Then a game of Rummikub (Tom won) and Uno (Tom won) before watching Lion King 3.  Then a hot bath before mushroom pasta tea.  Not an interesting day, but one which was needed.  I'm zonked and can't wait for bed.

Oh - Ingleton lost at cricket, but was first game of the season and freezing!

Sunshine

So, we've had an interesting week this week.  Tom, getting older is getting more aware of the big wide world we live in and that it might not be as nice has he previously thought.  He had four crying wake ups this week:

1) He was worried he was going to get shot - we had watched Dukes of Hazzard and there had been a shoot out!  I think one baddie got shot in the knee.  So we had to explain gun laws in the UK and the fact the Dukes of Hazard is fiction to him.  He went to sleep OK.

2) After watching an episode of Paddington 24/7 this week, where a person with a rucksack climbed up on the roof, he got worried that there was someone on our roof.  We had to explain the story to him - the person with the rucksack was a homeless guy trying to find somewhere warm and dry to sleep by himself, he wasn't wanting to do anything bad.  He went to sleep OK.

3) Thursday - a beautiful sunny day, brought out lots of jets in the sky overhead.  He was worried that world war 3 was going to start.  We explained that as it was a lovely sunny day, pilots would want to fly jets in the lovely conditions as they don't get many chances to fly their planes in such sunny conditions.  He went to sleep OK

4) He woke up in the middle of the night worried we were going to get burgled.  We explained all the doors and windows were locked and that we live in an area of low crime.  He went back to sleep OK.

Crummackdale from Norber Erratics

Oh my, the world is a horrible place isn't it.  Much nicer when you aren't aware of all the dangers in it!

Batting - eye on the ball nicely

So this week summer arrived, we had sunshine all day on Thursday, Friday from lunchtime and all day Saturday.

For one reason or another we didn't quite manage to get out on Thursday, although we did manage a BBQ in the evening (just in case it was the only day of summer!).

Friday we did manage to get out - it didn't look good to start with as we had rain, cloud, mist and dampness in the morning, it was cold as well.  However, we were determined to go out, so we did.  We had an early lunch and then headed to Clapham to do a walk we've been meaning to do for a while: the Norber Erratics.  It was spitting as we left Clapham so we took our cagools knowing it would probably clear up and we would end up carrying them around.  We were right, we walked from Clapham to Austwick in the grey, decided to go for a cheeky half at The Game Cock, came out of the Game Cock 15 mins later to bright sunshine and deep blue sky?!

Bowling - excellent action

The rest of the walk was gorgeous, a lovely route half way up the hills amongst the debris of the ice age - huge boulders scattered around.  Just about the length that my poor leg can cope with (I strained a muscle in my groin 3 weeks ago so have been having trouble walking and certainly can't run at the moment).  Anyway, it was lovely and one we will return to.

The evening saw us across the road at the Community field with Tom playing cricket.  It was a gorgeous evening so the parents were all happy to be out and taking part, a nice atmosphere. A good day.

Saturday was a lovely lovely sunny day.  It was an early start for us as Tom had a football tournament in Skipton - we had to be there for 9.00 so we were up earlier than for school!  It didn't matter so much with it being so sunny.  I was in shorts, we had to run around the house looking for sun cream, managed to find 1 bottle.  For once all the football mums and dads were happily watching on in the sunshine, makes it so much more pleasurable in sunshine.  They played 6 matches in all, each 10 minutes long.  They lost the first 3 matches - all by one goal, they were pretty unlucky to do so.  The last 3 matches they won 1-0, 4-0, 4-0 meaning they came third over all.

Up the Wanderers!

The tournament finished at 12, but we had to hang around till 4 as Tom had a party at the pool in Skipton - it is Fred's birthday and since he has moved school, I'm guessing a number of his new classmates live over Skipton way.  It didn't make sense to go home to come back again so we decided to hang around in Skipton.  We had Finn with us, so we went for lunch at the Cake'ole an interesting and eclectic cafe in Skipton, did a tiny bit of shopping but the  town was rammed, so we headed back to the park next to the swimming pool and played cricket, football and Frisbee in the sunshine.  The boys certainly had a good amount of exercise and I think were pleased to get into the water for a cool down and swim.

Some well-earned calories

It was very much an 'us' and 'them' birthday party: parents of the two schools didn't mix and children of the two schools didn't mix - there was no reason why we or they should though, why talk to complete strangers when you have friends there.  Didn't think it was ever going to happen.  I wonder if that will be the last time our children get invited.  Caroline didn't spend any time with 'us'.

On the way home we popped to the Craven Arms for tea with Pat and Bob - not up to its usual standards, and then we stopped by the Manning/Hughes to wish John happy birthday and ended up there until after 10pm.  A long but happy day, think we will take it easy on Sunday.

Easter Holidays Part 7: Brussels to Ingleton

Healthy breakfast

So an OK night's sleep, we got up at 8 and then walked to The Grand Place, hoping to find breakfast on the way.  We didn't but we followed a sign to Manneken Pis was we knew where that was in the relation to the Grand Place and there we found a waffle shop open, so we all had a waffle each for breakfast: one with Nutella on it for Tom, one with strawberry syrup on it for Matt and one with bananas and melted chocolate for me.  We were all very happy with our choices.

As we were eating our waffles, the Manneken Pis was getting an outfit for the day - a middle aged man was on top of a ladder with a bag of clothes which he put on him - took him a good 15 minutes to sort him out.  Not 100% sure what he was dressed as - but it was to commemorate 125 years of something.

We then went chocolate shopping - the shops in Brussels sell chocolates at reasonable prices, so we took advantage - put it this way, we won't be needing to buy birthday pressies / gifts for dinner etc for a while now.

Next stop was a bakery for Matt to have his morning coffee (otherwise he gets grumpy!) and then Carrefour for some more shopping: cheese and beer.  We then got the tram back to the hotel and packed up our goodies and had a bit of downtime before heading across the road to the station.

Manneken Pis, all dressed up

First job was to buy lunch for the train.  Tom went for sushi, Matt for a pasta pot and I went for a salad and a bread roll so I could make a salad sandwich.  Then through check in and security - much more civilised than in London, nice and calm.  Question: why do you have to go through security and passport control when going from Brussels to London but you don't when going from Brussels to Germany?  Why have we always had different rules to the rest of Europe?


The Eurostar back to London was uneventful: on time, fast and comfortable.  We arrived to sunshine in London and happily walked the back way to London Euston and got the Pendolino back to Lancaster - once again without any hiccups and the sun was shining in Lancaster. Hurray.  However, our train to Wennington left 15 mins before we arrived and the next one wasn't for another 2.5 hours. We decided to see how much a taxi would cost, if it was under £20 we would go for it, it was £21, we went for it.  Our car was patiently waiting for us so we hoped in and returned home.  It was nice not to have to wait 2.5 hours!

Architectural bling, Brussels style

As it was so nice, as we arrived, we headed out to the Wheatsheaf for a last pint.  Tom made some friends in the garden and played hide and seek, which was great.  Then back home for a cupboard tea and early to bed.

A great holiday, think we will do something similar again next year...

Easter Holidays Part 6: Hamburg to Brussels

Our ICE at Hamburg Hbf

So last night we had a fab night's sleep which meant we were ready for starting our long trip home.  We had showers, packed up and pushed our suitcases down to the bakery at the end of the street for breakfast (Tom: chocolate donut, Matt: cinnamon pastry, me: hard boiled egg on bread) Oh we are going to miss German bakeries, although our waistlines will probably be thankful.  We then got the U3 to the station before the Hamburg Hbf as we had loads of time and Hamburg Hbf is busy and confusing - it is easier to navigate it from outside than inside.

We got ourselves to the food court and bought our lunch and drinks for the journey and then we got our first train, an ICE to Hanover.  We were in a compartment coach again, and shared our compartment with a lovely lady who spoke really good English - think she must have been late 60s, early 70s.  Anyway, she wanted to chat and she was lovely.  We talked about trains, travel, language, family etc - she was heading to Basel to see her son as her grandson was having his first communion on Sunday.  We even talked English health service as she was a doctor and has friends who go to the UK at weekends to work as they are desperate for staff.  She was lovely, a German Hiromi, we were sad to say goodbye and get off in Hanover.

Boys and a train!

In Hanover we got the IC to Cologne.  Not quite as nice as the IC we got to Hamburg - no central table and no friendly travel companions.  Oh well, we ate our lunches (all of us were made up with our choices - cheese and ham roll in cheesy bread for Tom, cheese roll in a pumpkin seed and raisin bread for me and a HUGE salami pizza for Matt), then Matt did some work whilst Tom and I played many many many games of UNO.  The German countryside whizzed past.  We did get away from the flat lands for a while, even saw some nice scenery and Tom managed to spot a hanging monorail - Matt did some research and found it was the oldest one in the world.  The nice scenery gradually left us as industry took over and before we knew it we were back in Cologne.

Porte de Hal

We had a quick stop in Cologne (managed to pick up beer and pretzel to put us on) and then back on an ICE to Brussels.  This train was full.  We were in a compartment coach with business folk, one of whom liked to think he was more important and spoke loudly on the phone, said 'shit' quite a few times very loudly (Tom was sat next to him) and the only time he spoke to us was to correct me when I said that Aachen was very close to the Dutch border - he said no, the Belgium border, so I looked it up on the map and found that it was as close to the Dutch border as the Belgium border and showed Tom in full view of him - funny he didn't say anything after that - humph, I made my point!

We arrived in Brussels on time and headed straight to the hotel (the same one as last time, so we knew exactly where to go).  We checked in, had showers and then decided to try out a restaurant which was nearby and rated number 3 in Brussels on trip advisor.

Le Bistro - superb meal

Wow!  What a find.  It was probably only 10 minutes walk away, located directly opposite a castle which was impressive in itself.  The Bistro was lovely and there was room for us - yahoo!  The building had a lovely atmosphere - olde worlde, staffed by the most attentive staff ever!  We settled in straight away.  Beers were ordered, and then meals: Belgium beef in beer for me, steak kebab for Matt and Lasagna for Tom.  The food was delicious, Tom got served a HUGE hunk of lasagna and dived straight into it.  Now, for the last week or so we have been trying to explain to Tom that if he feels tired / weak / grumpy he is to let us know as he probably needs a snack / drink etc to perk him up.  However, he doesn't and if he goes beyond a point he thinks he isn't hungry or thirsty and just refuses everything and becomes really grumpy (we think this stems from school where they have been doing healthy eating, so he thinks he shouldn't have snacks during the day as they are bad for you - we have been trying to drum into him that as he is skinny he really doesn't need to worry, in fact he needs snacks to keep going as he doesn't have any fat reserves)  We had a blank faced Tom in the restaurant, not that hungry etc.  The lasagna arrived bubbling it was so hot, normally he wouldn't eat something so hot, but once he started he couldn't stop!  He was starving!!!!!!  Arggggghhhhh!  He perked right up and became happy Tom again.

Top notch food and drink

My stew was to die for and Matt was a happy boy with his steak.  We then ordered one chocolate mousse between us, and were very glad as it was very big and very very rich.  It's always nice to end the holiday with the best food.  The service was amazing as well, the waiters (all at least trilingual - ours didn't even have an accent when he spoke in English!) were very attentive and quick to make a joke and make you feel at home.  In short we loved the place.  When we left we all got hand shakes and Tom got a massive hug. Even better, we got chased down the road by the uber-friendly waiter because Tom left his colouring book and felt tips in the restaurant. Probably the best dining experience of the whole trip!

We walked home, popped into the station to get a bed time beer and then went back to the hotel to rest.

A very enjoyable holiday and we have really enjoyed travelling by train.  It might take longer, but you get to see the scenery better, get to meet people who are mostly really lovely.  We are thinking of making this an annual event, and maybe even get a sleeper train somewhere further away next time.   Only wish is that we, well I, have more language ability, I really struggled in Germany, I found it difficult to remember anything: French or Dutch would come out rather than German!

Anyway a good holiday.  Just the small matter of chocolate and beer shopping to do tomorrow before we get the Eurostar and Pendolino home tomorrow...

Easter Holidays Part 5: Sightseeing in Hamburg

Breakfast choices

We had a rubbish night's sleep last night.  The bed in the apartment is a double bed, squashed up against a wall with a tiny quilt.  This doesn't lead to good sleep, we try not to steal the quilt from each other but it is really hard, so then we cuddle up, but of course then we get too hot and have to break apart and so it goes on.  We thought that after a bad first night's sleep we would sleep well the second night.  It wasn't the case unfortunately.

Tunnel under the Elbe

We got up and headed to a nearby bakery we found yesterday for breakfast.  Now German bakeries are a thing of wonder, it's what I remember the most from our trip to Berlin.  You get rows and rows of wonderful bread products to choose from.  Obviously we aren't all that sure what we are ordering, but that's part of the fun.  Never had a bad cake in Germany.  We did well: a two tone shortbread biscuit sandwiched with jam for Tom, an iced pain au raisin for Matt (he's so predictable) and a mystery something for me (it was a bread type product with bits of apple and strusel topping) freshly squeezed orange juice for me and Tom and a coffee for Matt and it all came to €6,50 an absolute bargain - we will be there again tomorrow.

Funky building

We purchased a travel pass which gave us unlimited access to ferries, U and S bahns for the day (all 3 of us for only €12) and buses got the Hochbahn to Landungsbrucken where we had to search high and low for the pedestrian tunnel under the Elbe.  There is a very very ornate entry building to it, but no signage on it, we very nearly didn't find it as we thought it couldn't be right.  Anyhow it was, and we walked through to the port side of the city.  The idea was to walk through the tunnel and get a ferry back.  We found the ferry landing only to discover that the next trip was at 2.30, oh hum, we decided to walk back!  It wasn't a trauma as it wasn't that far and the tiles on the walls were interesting.  Cars can go down there too, but they have to come down in huge lifts, 2 did so when we were there, wouldn't want anymore as the fumes would build up.

Matt and boy

When we got back to Landungsbrucken we were going to walk to St Michael's Church, but we discovered the 62 ferry just about to leave - this is the one which has the longest route taking in the dock yards so we hopped on board, as we did the gangplanks heaved up and it set on its way.  It was a lovely day we had all left our coats in the apartment and were braving just jumpers - when in the sun it was fine, although when the wind picked up it was a little cold.

Boy, shorts and beach

The docks looked very busy: huge container ship in dry dock as well as a big passenger ferry, plenty of containers being off loaded from a boat with big cranes,  opposite was obviously the nice bit of Hamburg - huge huge houses, green parkland and a proper beach at the shoreline full of yellow sand, and plenty of people on it, enjoying the sunshine.

Colour overload

We got to the end of the route but stayed on the ferry to come straight back - plenty of people were doing the same.  It was a very pleasant way to spend an hour.  We then decided to go to St Michael's Church to climb up the tower for a view of the city.  However, we got there at 12.15 and it is closed between 12 and 12.30 for prayers (think we could have joined them if we wanted...).  There was a cafe opposite (Gibbon Cafe) so we decided to go there for lunch to pass the time.  Posh ham panini for me (I have noticed, every sandwich I have has pesto in it - almost instead of butter or mayo.  I really like it and think I will do similar once back home) the boys had a fried fish sandwich each (basically a posh fish finger sandwich) by the time we had finished the church was open again so we headed in.  We walked off our lunch by going up the stairs to the top of the tower from which we had a great view of the city.  The lay of the land is flat, very flat so you don't have to be that high to see a lot.  It almost felt like we were in Miniatur Wunderland again - with trains whizzing around in the distance.  It was a bit hazy so we couldn't see for ever and ever, at the horizon it was still flat - we couldn't see even a semblance of a hill, we couldn't see the sea either.

Proper German Beer - Proust!

We got the lift back down and then walked over to the Elbphilharmonie, a rather stunning building sat perched on top of some red brick warehouses (which we saw in splendid miniature yesterday).  We were able to get some free tickets to go up to the viewing platform via a very very long escalator which Tom enjoyed.  The view from the Elbphilharmonie was good, but the view of Hamburg is better when you can see it, rather than when in it.

Next stop was a return to Kaffeerosterei for refreshments (more cake - yumsk - lemon tart for the boy and an apple sponge thingy for me and Matt) and cold drinks but more importantly a chance to rest our aching feet.  We were able to watch the roasting of coffee beans again and Matt was able to purchase the coffee he had been recommended.

Our apartment - look at the top floor

Once rested we headed out and got a bendy bus to the Chocolate Museum I had been wanting to visit, Chocoversum.  They do tours and show the whole chocolate making process from beginning to end, you even get to make yourself a chocolate bar.  However, there were only two tours a day in English and the last one had been and gone.  Considering we were tired and had very very achy feet, it was never going to be a good idea to do the German one, so, instead we settled with looking in the shop.  They had some great chocolate cooking books - but alas, only in German so nothing that would help me with my emerging chocolate business.  They also had some moulds but nothing I haven't got or seen or can get much cheaper from China.  Oh well, next time...

Looking up

We were really flagging by now so we got 2 x trains back to the apartment and had an hour or two to relax, so we all had baths and lounged around reading books before dragging ourselves back over the road to Kartoffel Keller for tea (we couldn't face going any further).  BBQ ribs with 2 x baked potatoes for me, pork medallions and sauted potatoes for Tom and a potato bolognaise pie for Matt, all washed down with deliciously cold beer (and sprite).  We all ate up, we were hungrier than we realised.   Tom's portion was an adult portion (there are no children's menus in Germany - not that we have found anyway) and although he said he wasn't that hungry, he pretty much demolished it - it was a big portion!  Well done Tom!

We then came back to the apartment, struggled up the long winding, leaning staircase for the last time and flopped.

Warehouses by night

Note to selves for next time:
+ UK exhibit at Miniatur Wunderland due to be finished in 2021
+ Book English language tour of Chocoversum well in advance.
+ Zoo is supposed to be great
+ Look into bike tours

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