Brighton Beach, New Years Eve

We caught the train to Brighton for the day.

From the local train station we were lucky to get an express train that only stopped at 2 stations. So we were at the beach before lunch. 

Strange seeing a beach with no sand, only pebbles. No wonder everyone hires deck chairs to sit and lay in, I can't see those pebbles being very comfortable under a towel on a hot day! 

We had a lovely walk along the boardwalk. Alexander and Phil went to the end of a small pier, a wave came in and splashed up the side of the pier, drenching both of them. They both came back to the start of the pier, dripping water from their jackets and Phil's face looked like he had just had a shower. We howled with laughter, (Phil and Alexander didn't!)

We went to the Brighton Pier, which has an amusement park at the end, which was quite nice. Mum and Dad got a couple of text messages from Melbourne, wishing them a Happy New Year (it was 12am in Melbourne), so technically they were on a beach for the New Year....just not McCrae, where they would normally spend New Years Eve.  

We wandered around the Brighton area, before getting some take away sandwiches to eat on the train back to London. 

The boys, Phil and I checked out of the hotel in the afternoon and caught a train down to Kylie and Rob's for New Years Eve. We thought it would be easier to stay the night there, than try and get back to the hotel late at night...there was a train/tube strike, and it all looked too hard to get back. Mum and Dad stayed the extra night, and had a cab booked for 5am to get to the hotel where their European Winter Wonderland Bus Tour was beginning from.  They had to be at the hotel by 5.30am, to leave at 5.45am! . 

We had a quiet New Year's Eve, Oliver, 1 year old, was a party animal and stayed awake until after the fireworks. Alexander and Cameron went to bed at about 9pm. 

Happy New Year Everyone! 

Day 3 in London

Friday Mum and Dad wanted to explore more of London. The ticket from the Bus Tour gave us the opportunity to follow the blue tour line for free the next day. Mum and Dad went to Harrods for High Tea and around some of the other highlights of London. 

We got the train and bus to Bluewater Shopping Centre, and  met Kylie, Rob and Oliver there.

It was so nice to see familiar brands, sizes, and be able to ask questions in English and fully understand the answer! :) We bought a few bits and pieces. The boys found a Lego shop, and came out with a few bags. 

After the "interesting" customer service we get so often in Berlin, it was pleasant being served with a smile. 

An example of this...we were in a local Berlin coffee shop mid morning (only customers in the shop) 

This is how it went (translated into English for you) 

Me: Could I please have 3 cappuccinos and 2 Hot Chocolates" 

Staff: "Sorry our cappuccino machine is broken". 

Me "Could I please have 3 normal coffees, and 2 Hot Chocolates please" 

Staff "I can make the coffees, but I do not have time to make Hot Chocolates" 

Me: Stunned silence "mmm, What??" 

Looking around the shop...still no customers.

Staff :(whilst making the coffees) "Are the Hot Chocolates for the children?" 

Me: "Yes" Staff: "I can make one for you....but it will take 2 minutes" 

Me: "OK" (sounding very confused, and not having enough language to argue and tell her she was crazy.)

Hence, we will never go there again.

Anyway back to London

I went into a shop where I had recently had a catalogue sent to me, but prices of postage to Berlinwas expensive to justify the items. I picked up a few things, but couldn't find the item I was really after. 

Staff: Hi There, did you find everything you were after today?" 

Me: "Yes thank you...er...actually no. I was looking for this Xmas Card Tree stand..do you have a catalogue handy?" 

Staff: Sure (hand under the counter, producing catalogue for me to look through) 

Me: (I fliped through the catalogue, until I found the item) "This Xmas Tree Stand, I looked for it, but couldn't find it." 

Staff: "Just a minute, let me check for you" and off she ran to check for me. 2 minutes later she comes back with item in hand 

"You are in luck" she says, " This is 60% off" 

Me: "Fabulous, I will take that as well, Thank you!!!"

Anyway, after drooling over lots of terrific shops, we headed back to our hotel to meet Mum and Dad and have dinner with them.

London Day 2

Bus Tour of London. This morning we headed off to the centre of London to find the Original Bus Tour Buses. Open Aired Double Decker Buses, complete with tour guide to show us some of the highlights of London. Great tours, you learn a little bit about lots of different buildings, gardens monuments etc, and then the bus stops at locations and you can get on and off as you chose. The buses pass every 10-15 minutes so you never have to wait very long. 

There were 3 different routes to take, Mum and Dad decided to take the yellow route. We wanted to take the red route. So we all got our tickets and went our separate ways. (We have already been to London last Easter, and didn't want to get off at the things we had already seen). for an extra 3 pounds each, you got a voucher for fish and chips at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. So we bought those as well! As any tourist does (especially with children), you have to ride on the top of the bus. 

It was just as cold on top of the bus as it was on top of the boat yesterday. We sat up top for the first hour and just listened to the commentary of the different buildings etc. But after 1 1/2 hours we were all frozen. Even though we did the London Eye yesterday, we got off there, as we knew they have an indoor cafe with great hot chocolate and that would warm us up. 

We decided to get back on the bus (inside this time) and keep going around. We rode on the bus for quite awhile and got off near the Sherlock Holmes Pub for a delicious fish and chip meal (have not had any since being in Germany, it's not a German dish!) From there we walked to Trafalgar Square, and up the road to Buckingham Palace. Some beautiful parkland on either side of the road, and there were heaps of grey squirrels all looking for food on the grounds. We watched the changing of the guards (looks like a dreadful job really, all these tourists taking photos of you and staring, and they must have been freezing too!) 

While we waited for the next bus we ducked into the Buckingham Palace Gift Shop. Just inside there was a Xmas tree covered in crown decorations. Cameron found a crown ornament there where someone had stolen one of the jewels! He was very worried. I got the boys to stand under the tree and strategically position a crown on their heads...introducing Prince Alexander and Prince Cameron!

Alexander has been studying The Great Fire of London at school. One of the stops on our bus tour was The Monument for the Great Fire of London that started in Pudding Lane in 1666. He was so excited to see it.  For 2 pounds you could walk up . Alexander was thrilled to climb up, Cameron was not keen at all. Phil and Alexander climbed The Monument. Cameron and I went shopping for cheap DVD's and CD's at a shop around the corner. The Monument was built in 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London. There are 311 steps to climb to reach the top. The Monument was one of the first tourist attractions of London. From the top they had great views of London. 

When they got to the bottom, they were given a certificate for climbing up the stairs. Alexander can't wait to get back to school and tell his teacher! By the way, Cameron and I got some good CD's and DVD's.

Here we are in London!

Day One

London Eye River Cruise and London Eye First we went on the London Eye River Cruise. Naturally, you must sit on the open roof of the boat, otherwise how do you see everything and take great pictures?

 Crikey, it was cold up there, but the staff brought us a glass of warm mulled wine and that hit the spot! Good tourist information about all the different bridges, buildings and monuments along the River Thames.

Next up, was the London Eye, being able to see London from a great height.

 

We caught up with Kylie, Rob and Oliver for lunch, and then did a walking tour around London, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street, Hamleys Toy Store, (The boys were overwhelmed) 6 floors of everything you could possibly find!  

The Xmas sales had begun, so there were heaps of people out and about....all a bit crowded to really have a proper look around!  We were all tired after a long day of touring.

Boxing Day Snow

What a great day! Heaps of snow last night, and all day today! The view from Cameron's window.

We made our first snowman for the year...on the front lawn of the Contemporary Art Gallery of Berlin! That was fun! A lot of snowball fights!

Today we went in to the city, and looked at some of the tourist sites with Mum and Dad. There was no point in going up the Fernsehnturm, visibility would not have been the best! Instead we wandered around Alexanderplatz, through the markets, past the gallery for a bit of snowman making, and then to the Brandenburg Gate! 

We take a lot of pictures of the snow...just like we took lots of photos of Autumn with the leaves falling on the ground.....it is all such a novelty for us!

A great trick for getting someone covered in snow, is to make a snowball and throw it up into the branches of a tree, and for the snow on the branches to fall on top of the person! This is a good way of getting someone totally covered in snow! this game caused a lot of laughter, and was great fun. 

Mum and Dad are surprised that they are not as cold as they thought they would be....highest temperature was about 0 degrees today!

These photos were taken at about 3.30pm...you can see how dark it gets so early! A bit hard to take a photo when the snow is falling. But The Gate looked gorgeous with the lighting and the tree close by. Our photos do not do it justice! Close by was a large Jewish Candelabra, and people beneath it, singing and dancing Jewish songs for Hanukkah.

Mum and Dad can't get used to it getting so dark by 4.30pm. It doesn't do the jet lag much good, your body thinks it is much later than it is. We totally understand, as we arrived in January 2005, and had the same trouble. But to their credit, Mum and Dad seem to have gotten over their jet lag well...and not getting up at 3am ready for the day!

Christmas Lunch

Our first ever time to host Christmas lunch! A nerve racking experience, but Phil is the master of cooking roast dinners in our family. The turkey worked out really well! I was really pleased with how the table looked! I bought these Santa Hat Chair covers from a shop in Berlin and we put out Bonbon's, chocolates and sparklers in the hats. That worked well, as there was not much room on the table after setting it all out! 

A delicious lunch, complete with the usual bits and pieces we are used to (ordered at the English Shop in Cologne). The only thing we really missed was the fresh prawns and crayfish...although Uncle David let us know that they were about to start on theirs after we had called them!!

In the afternoon we settled back and watched Polar Express, one of Cameron's new DVD's. Officially we had snow on Xmas Day, but it didn't happen until about 9pm! But all the same technically a White Christmas, now we hope it keeps going strong!!!!! 

The kids had a terrific time playing their new games with Nana and Pa. Nana and Pa had a great day as well, and I was glad that for once they could sit back and relax, instead of doing all the hard work that is involved with organising lunch!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas! Santa found us!

Phew , we were worried that Santa may have been too tired after delivering presents to New Zealand and Australia.....but he made it to us...and we were very spoilt! 

Those poor reindeer carrying all these presents! We had a great day. 

The boys were up at about 7am, and waited patiently before everyone was up to open presents. Alexander's favourite present was the model of the new Qantas Air Bus A380. Cameron tells me EVERYTHING was his favourite! :)

Nana and Pa gave the boys this sled for Xmas.....We are hoping for a White Christmas..but it is not promising yet!!! The kids got UFO disks too. You sit in the disk and slide down the snow. They are supposed to be really fast, and we are really keen to try these too! Cameron got a yellow one and Alexander got a red one!

Merry Christmas from Us

It is almost a year that we have been in Berlin, and we are really enjoying our time here! We are looking forward to having Santa visit, we hope he is not too tired from delivering presents to all of Australia and New Zealand, before he gets to us!

We found a Christmas Berlin Bear at one of the markets. 

Also a photo of us in front of the Ka De We Christmas tree...this photo of all of us was taken by a fellow Aussie who we bumped into.....a student from Richmond, Vic, Australia....small world!

 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

Our Gingerbread House

A good project for Nana's and grandchildren to do together is make a gingerbread house (well, I thought so anyway!)

After a few attempts at perfecting the icing mixture, the gingerbread house started to be assembled. Cameron had to watch over the lollies that were going on the gingerbread house, because Dad and Pa kept trying to eat them!

Success! Complete with lollies, biscuits and snow....we are still hoping to wake up tomorrow to snow, but it is unlikely!

Next year we might try a Christmas train....or Pa thinks a two story gingerbread house might be a good challenge.

Fun at the Christmas Markets

On Saturday, Cameron had a birthday party (at a paint-your-own crockery shop - fancy taking a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds to a place like this.. sounds like the 'bull in a china shop concept!). He had a wonderful time! 

Nicole and Libby went to a gay and lesbian Christmas market near Nollendorfplatz, hoping to buy some interesting Christmas decorations, sadly none there.

Alexander and I went to the Berliner X-mas market with Libby's husband Ash, and their 2 kids Hanna and Zac. We went there specifically to go on all of the great rides! At the end of our time there, the kids had been on two sets of bumper cars, through the fun house, on the mad mouse, down the giant slide and on the super-swings! Of course, they needed a parent to go with them! The mad-mouse was Alexander's first roller coaster experience and he did really well, although he told me after "I'm not ready for those big ones in America, yet, Daddy!" 

We had a great time. I have never seen 3 kids eat a bag of fairy floss so fast! Later we picked up Cameron from his party then went for a drink and some Christmas cheer!

Nana and Pa arrive

Nana and Pa arrived today after a long flight....minus one bag. So we are waiting for the bag to appear...hopefully about 24 hours! 

Berlin put on a show and we had snow as we left the airport..unfortunately the snow has turned to a bit of rain, but we keep hoping this will change for Christmas Day. Here is Nana, Pa and the boys in front of one of the Christmas trees at Ka De We (one of the big shopping stores here in Berlin)

Jane and Stephen's Ring cushion

I forgot to post a picture of the ring cushion I made for Jane and Stephen's wedding. 

They got married in November! I made it months ago, but couldn't put a picture of it up, because it was a surprise!

Phil's trip to Sofia

Phil had the last of about 25 business trips for the year, to Sofia in Bulgaria. 

Everyone said Sofia is lovely in Summer - a nice thing to say when you turn up in winter! I suppose the leaves on all of the trees would hide a lot of the crumbling soviet architecture and the drab, grey colour. They also kept telling me there was a big, beautiful mountain behind the fog... Although for the first day and a half I could have been in the flat-lands of Holland the number of mountains I saw! 

Finally the fog cleared and there was a very beautiful mountain, with lots of snow. I was advised that it is really cheap skiing and good quality - however it is quite dangerous because it is usually full of English people who don't want to pay big money for their first ski experience and haven't learnt how to ski yet. Apparently there are heaps of accidents! 

 An excellent business trip, and extra happy that it was the last one for the year!!!

Cookie Swap

Busy, busy, busy baking lots of cookies.

 

We are having a Cookie/Xmas baking swap tomorrow at our place with some of the mum's from school. Each mum makes a few batches of their favourite cookies, and we get together to swap cookies and other Xmas baking. 

This way, you have lots of different varieties of cookies, but have only had to make up one mixture, and saves on all the washing up after each different cookie! 

The mums involved had never done a cookie swap before. It was lots of fun , and everyone went home with a terrific selection of cookies for their family. 

After coffee morning today, some of the mums said they would like to do this every couple of months. All the kids think it is terrific to have such a great selection of cookies to choose from after they get back from school each day! Phew...why was I worried it wouldn't work?

2005 Christmas tree

YIPPEE, our Xmas tree has arrived. This is the first year we have had a real tree, it smells great!

We went to one of the Xmas markets on Sunday, and the boys chose 2 special decorations each. Cameron put his reindeer up straight away! Cameron has a cold today, so he stayed home.

Cameron and I waited very patiently until Phil and Alexander came home before we put anymore decorations on!

We got all the decorations out. What fun! Each year the boys choose a couple of Xmas decorations that they like and they have started to get a great collection of decorations over the years. 

This year Alexander chose Santa on an aeroplane, and Santa in a helicopter. Cameron chose Santa and a Snowmen on a shooting star, and a gold reindeer. The boys chose a Santa in a hot air balloon for Phil, and I found a sewing machine Xmas decoration! 

We are not going to follow the German tradition of lighting real candles on the tree, that just sounds too dangerous, although me German friends insists I have to do it that way....Sorry Ingrid!!

Phil's trip to Copenhagen

Phil had a conference in Copenhagen for 4 days.

Copenhagen is a lovely city – a bit grey and foggy when I was there, but it was easy to get around, had real charm and certainly knows how to do Christmas! There is Christmas stuff everywhere, and their main ‘Christmas Markets’ are in the Tivoli Gardens. It costs 10 Euros just to enter! It has lots of Christmas stalls, restaurants and an animatronic Christmas scene that would fill a small warehouse - lots of elves, snowmen, animals etc and quite a few Santas! I saw the little mermaid - the symbol of Copenhagen (and it is a 'little' mermaid). 

Thought I'd stop in and see the only other Australian I know in Copenhagen.. Princess Mary. However, I arrived at the palace at the changing of the guards and thought the timing might be a little inconvenient.... Nice place, but quite expensive.