Cameron has chicken pox.

14 days after Alexander's first spots appeared, Cameron has his first 3 spots! 

He was excited that he could spend the whole week at home with me. But when I told him it also meant not going to the zoo today and seeing his friend Bradley, he was really upset and decided chicken pox wasn't very fun at all! 

We happened to be at Berlin's largest Indoor Play Centre! Many of the kids have had chicken pox over the past 4 weeks at school. there has been a lot of absent kids in all classes.

Hamburg to Berlin

After a long day of walking, it was back on the ICE train to Berlin. 

A quick train ride to our closest station, 5 minute walk to our home, and the boys were in bed fairly soon after a pizza for dinner! A great trip to Hamburg.

Hamburg Men

In Berlin, there are many sculptures of large Bears, painted by different artists, children's groups etc, all used to raise money for children charities. In Hamburg, there are these men. In Berlin, I have taken photos of the boys in front of all the bears that we see. 

So, in Hamburg I decided to take photos of the boys in front of as many Hamburg men that we passed. I think we got about 35 in total. By the 10th, the novelty had worn off, and it was a struggle to get them to stand there for more than 1/2 minute!

Hamburg Botanical Gardens

There are lovely gardens in Hamburg. We walked through a lot of them today. In some areas there are big deck chairs that are scattered over the grassy areas, for anyone to come and sit down, read a newspaper and enjoy the sun. A very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Lots of lovely gardens, water features, and even a rink for rollerblading in the summer, and ice skating in the winter months.

Ferry Ride in Hamburg

What an amazing harbour! So much happening, even on the weekend! There were some really large ships docked in the bays and lots of containers being moved. The boys love the ferry rides, and were amazed that we were on the Elbe River, that we were on in Dresden only a few months previously. 

Model trains galore

Hamburg has the largest model train exhibit in the Northern Hemisphere. It is situated in a large warehouse. We waited for about 1/2 hour in the queue. While we were waiting, a lady from the cafe next door gave all the kids a free icypole, and the adults a drink of juice or water. How kind! 

Once we were inside there was so much to see and do. For the kids there are lots of buttons to press on your way around, to make Ferris wheels go around, a man bungee jump, ski lifts operate and so much more. There is even a UFO that hovers over part of a field. 

There is so much to look at, and amazing attention to details. The fields of sunflowers were incredible. Beside the field, was a river where a man had drowned...the area had been taped off. Police and "CSI" people were investigating, taking photos and lights on cars flashing. 

There were lots of different scenes in the different rooms. Of course there was Hamburg, with terrific attention to detail of the harbour. Also areas of the Alps and also part of the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas. (although I am not sure why they have parts of America in there?)

They are constantly designing new things to add to it,and extend the rooms. You could spend days in there, and still not see everything. There are all sorts of different trains, and the boys thought this was terrific.

The Hamburg Rathaus

This is not a house full of rats! Rathaus is the German word for Town Hall. 

We did a tour of the Rathaus,  recommended to us by Chris and Jana. What an amazing building! It has 6 more rooms than Buckingham Palace. The current government have council chambers etc in there. They have balls and functions 3-4 nights a week in the grand ballroom. The rooms that we saw were magnificent. So much attention to detail.

Here is an example of the leather panels that lined some of the rooms. Each panel is about 40cm square.

The ceiling in one of the rooms

A photo of part of the Ballroom. This is the entrance. Above the black marble pillars is

where an orchestra sits and plays music during the evening!  All the walls are painted, but you can't see much of that, cause I chopped it off...or was that Phil?

In the middle of the Rathaus is a large courtyard, with a large water fountain. The statues in the fountain are lovely. Each person is doing something different, catching a fish, another filling a water jug and another bathing.

The many steps of St Michel

Our city tour was a great way to see the sights of Hamburg. With our daily pass, we were able to hop on and off our bus at any stop. The buses came every 15 minutes. 

We got off at St Michel's church. (pictured here) The church stands 132 metres high. You can get a lift to the top, or walk up the stairs. We decided to walk up the 452 steps! They were steep, and the boys got a bit frightened at some parts. We were lucky we didn't get 1/2 way up on the hour. Each hour the bells chime, and they are loud!! The view from the top was terrific. You can get great views of the harbour and the layout of Hamburg. We decided to get the lift down to the bottom of the church

Double Decker Bus Tour of Hamburg

Up early, breakfast and off to the city to begin a tour at 10.30am. We started in a "Hummelbus" an old form of public transport(pictured here). The tour was in German and followed by the English translation. We were able understand most of the German, then checked the English translation. Some of it was easier that others. Sometimes the tour guide just talked too quickly for us! 

Some of the buildings around Hamburg are beautiful. In former days, if you were wealthy, you painted your home white. There are a lot of large white houses in Hamburg. Hamburg has the second largest working port in Europe (the largest is Rotterdam) 

Hamburg is on the River Elbe, which runs through quite a bit of Germany. We have already had a ferry ride down the Elbe at Dresden. We were able to show the boys the port that our container came off the ship from Sydney, and put on a truck to drive to Berlin! There are many waterways in Hamburg, and it actually has more bridges that Venice! 

A weekend in Hamburg

Off to Hamburg on Friday night. We got on the ICE train (Inter City Express), only a 1 1/2 hour train trip from Berlin. The time went quickly, with the help of Game Boys. 

We managed to find our way out of the train station quickly, and how to get to our hotel without any dramas. We are really getting the hang of public transport in Germany. It is so easy to use, and the kids are great at reading the signs and the timetables, and which platform we need to be on. 

The hotel was a little out of the inner city, but only 1 bus, and the bus stop was right outside the hotel. A good night sleep (except for large trucks turning at the roundabout right outside our hotel window).

Back to school for Alexander on Monday!

Well, looks like we are over the worst of the spots. Alexander can go back to school on Monday! He has a note from the doctor that says he is not contagious. His teacher was terrific and sent some work and readers home for him. She even sent a "special" pen for him to do his work. 

We have watched some movies, played with Lego, and Alexander has been sewing his first quilt. He picked some fabric from my stash and has been sewing strips together. He would love to have it finished before he gets back to school, but I think it will be the following week before he can quilt it and bind it.  

Now Cameron wants to get his chicken pox soon, because he wants to make a quilt too! I am sure we are not far away from that!

First case of Chicken Pox

Oh dear, we have only been back at school for 3 weeks, and already the chicken pox is alive and spreading throughout  the school. Only 3 days into the school year, a boy from Alexander's class got his first spots. 

Last night Alexander had a few spots, today a few more! So, the week off school for him, and I am assuming Cameron will get them in about 2 weeks time. This is Alexander's first day at home, and at 10.30am he tells me "I am bored!"...ohh, it is going to be a long week! 

Thank goodness for UK Sky Cable TV. He watched Cat in The Hat after lunch.  This is a photo of Alexander on Puffing Billy back in August. Since then, he has lost the top 2 teeth! Very gappy indeed. It seemed cruel to take a photo of him when he is not feeling well.

I sent Cameron into school with a note for Alexander's teacher to ask for some work...or some reader books..or anything! Phil managed to get some German equivalent of Calamine lotion, and I have been painting his body with this! Hopefully it will help dry them out and stop the itching.

Change of Hair Colour

Cameron came to the shops with me last week when I was looking for hair dye. 

"Can I pick the colour please Mum?" Cameron asked. 

"Sure, Why Not" said I

Cameron chose a lovely shade of RED. It is very red, especially when you go outside. Lucky it should wash out in 40 washes.....maybe!

Walking in the Grunewald

Phoebe (first on left) organises amazing walks around Berlin for us during the week after the kids are dropped at school. Here are some of us in the Grunewald forest in Berlin. 

In Summer you see many people getting in touch with nature. There is lots of nude sunbaking on the grass and nude swimming in the lake. So you have to watch where you look! Today was a hot day, so lots of people getting in touch with nature, including some of our group!

 From left is Phoebe, Jayne, Libby, Maureen, Sonia, Carol and Ellie

New Bikes

Yesterday, we went to the large bike shop near Kaiserdamm U bahn, and bought the boys new bikes. Alexander was ready to have the training wheels removed from his first bike, and Cameron is not too far behind. The bike shop is huge, and has a big track around the outside. The boys could go for a test ride on the bikes they were measured up for. Cameron went fairly fast and managed to bail up a young girl who was on the track at the time! Oops! 

We had to wait an hour whilst they built the 2 bikes we chose. They have a cafe there, so we were forced to have a Kaffee und Kuchen whilst we waited!

 Once the bikes were done, the boys rode home. Phil had to run to keep up with Alexander, and I was walking at a fairly good pace to keep up with Cameron. After a good 15 minute ride, we were home. We have been up to the large roundabout up the road and the boys are getting better on the bikes. Even learning how to start and stop by themselves, a fairly important skill! 

 The great thing about Berlin is the fantastic bike tracks on almost every footpath! As a pedestrian it took a while for us to make sure not to walk in the bike lane(the red paving) The riders do not slow down, and are very quick on the bell!

Our closest Park

We have a great park 2 blocks away from our apartment. It has the usual swings and slides and wooden castle type house. 

The thing the boys love the most is this terrific water fountain. they pump the water out, and then run down to the end to fill up the buckets and watering cans. Underneath the fountain is an enormous sandpit, and you can make terrific moats and rivers with all that water. 

There are no water restrictions in Berlin!

Schultueten Party

The first day of school for German children is very exciting. 

Many years ago, children from wealthy families were given a schultueten (a cardboard tube) full of things they would need for school. Rulers, pencils, crayons, paper, stickers and some lollies. Now, all children receive them. They have a small party at school, and the child receives their schultueten from their parents. 

At the International school the boys attend, they have their schultueten party at the beginning of Year 1. (29th August 2005). Alexander was put out that he had missed out last year as we didn't get here until January. So I made the boys one each. I put their favourite animals on the front, with their favourite colours as the main tube.

I think it is a really lovely German tradition, and glad we have this photo to remember it.

The Beginning of Our Time in Berlin

Well, here we are.

We decided to create this blog to keep you informed about what we have been up to whilst we are here in Berlin. This will be easier to add photos of trips and things we are doing, instead of sending you really long emails every couple of months. As well as a permanent reminder for us.

The last 8 months have been fairly hectic, and it is only now in September that we are feeling like we are almost settled here. We have had lots of great experiences so far, and lots of fun. So, we hope to share more stuff with you on a more regular basis!

 The boys are settled into school now, Alexander is in Year 2 and Cameron is in Year 1. Both boys have terrific teachers, and most days are happy to go to school. Phil is going well at work, and hasn't been travelling the last few weeks, although he has some trips planned. Nicole has made some friends with the school mums and finding things to keep her occupied. 

 

Cheers 

Nicole, Phil, Alexander and Cameron!

This photo taken in our home in Panania, Sydney December 2004, just before we packed up the house and moved to Berlin.