Phil and the Barbeque

After 15 months, we finally have the BBQ working again! 

After getting a German gas bottle, I realised that the connections were all wrong. I then had to find a hardware shop (like a Bunnings) where they had BBQ stuff - but no adaptor existed to fit the German bottle with either the Australian hose, or a German hose to an Aussie BBQ! 

 A friend offered to fix it for me - so I gave him my Aussie hose, a new German hose, and a description of how they should be connected. He had a mate who worked in the industry who could get it done. So at 'mate of a mate' pace, it was converted to fit - but being Germany, there was all sorts of concern about its use, and I nearly had to swear on a stack of bibles that it was for outdoor use only (Question - who BBQs inside?). 

So, after 15 months, I got to fire up the BBQ. Beer in hand, warm spring sunshine.

All seems somehow right in the world. 

This weekend we had Lieven & Tina and Alan & Sonia over to give the BBQ a proper test run. Problem was the weather turned nasty and my breath was steaming as I was trying to cook lunch (about 5 degrees)! 

However the barbeque performed well and we had a super afternoon.

Phil, 4 airports, 4 countries, 3 airlines and a full days work

For a work project, I had to visit Sofia in Bulgaria and Bucharest in Romania. 

My first day consisted of 4 airports, 4 countries and 3 airlines (Tegel, Germany to Sofia, Bulgaria with Bulgarian Air; Sofia to Vienna with Austrian and Vienna to Bucharest with Tarom), as well as a full day's work in Sofia.  It was incredibly hectic, especially when we had to pass through security twice in Vienna!. 

 This was my third trip to Sofia, but my first trip to Bucharest. Although I had no time to look around (except out of car windows on the way to and from the office), Bucharest looks like an interesting and fast growing city. The roads are awful, though! Whilst I was in Sofia/Bucharest, there was a great deal of spring flooding of the Danube, with vast amounts of farmland and countryside affected. The Danube runs between Bulgaria and Romania, and I didn't see any direct impact of the flooding in either of the capitals. 

I stayed overnight in Bucharest and in the evening went out to dinner and to watch the UEFA cup (soccer) semi-final between Bucharesti Steiua and Middlesborough on a big screen. It was a massive event in Bucharest to have a local team get so far in this competition. There was great excitement, they won 1:0. 

It goes to show that no matter what the code, there is a passion for football all over the planet. One of the things that is really different to Australia in Central Europe is the smoking policy. At our table, we had at least 60% smokers (and this is Pharmaceutical industry, with lots of qualified doctors on the staff!). Smoking is allowed everywhere, and there little chance for a non-smoker to avoid it. The thing is the volume of smoking - it is not just one or two cigarettes per person, but I think most on the table had between 5 and 10 cigarettes whilst we were in the restaurant. Left me smelling like an ash-tray.

Anzac Day Memorial Service

My friend Jocelyn, (NZ), rang me yesterday to ask if I was going to the service. I didn't even know that there would be one in Berlin.

This morning we went to the Berlin War Cemetery, not far from the school. Beautifully kept gardens and lawns, with rows and rows of graves, a very moving place. Jocelyn's husband's great grandfather is buried here, and she showed me his headstone. He was a pilot and was gunned down, age 35. (which is quite old compared to the ages of some of the other men in this cemetery, the 2 men either side of him were only 20!) 

The Australian and New Zealand Ambassadors addressed the crowd, as well as a representative from the Turkish Embassy. The service was completed with hymns and the last post, and 1 minute silence. 

Many wreaths of flowers were placed in front of the Stone of Remembrance. 

The flowers in some of these wreaths were spectacular....I would have taken a photo, but I didn't think it was quite the right place to do so! Afterwards we went to the ANZAC function at the New Zealand residence, which was really nice. 

 

Later I made Anzac cookies for afternoon tea when the boys are home from school!

Britzer Garten

We took the kids to Britzer Garten.  It is a beautiful garden with lots of play equipment.

We found a hill that the kids took turns to roll down. 

  

Cameron

Alexander

Emily

Even Libby and Maureen thought they would relive their childhood and give it a go. 

Remember how much fun it was a child? Well, both Libby and Maureen said they felt sick and dizzy afterwards.

Me? No way, I just took the photos!

Animals in Legoland

Of course there were lots of animals in Legoland too.

 

A life size elephant,  that is a lot of grey Lego! 

Cameron was eaten by a lion

 

Alexander was eaten by a shark

There were quite a few giraffes for Cameron (also a few zebras in the safari ride, but not accessible for a photo with Alexander standing beside them!)

There were lots of interesting Lego models scattered everywhere.

 

 

 

Alexander and Cameron with Lego dad.

The kids had such a great time in Legoland. 

We think they may be ready for Disneyland Paris.

Legoland Mini Berlin

In the middle of Legoland were heaps of replicas of cities. 

The boys were quick to identify Berlin. They were able to pick out all the famous buildings of Berlin. They were also pretty good at picking out monuments and buildings from other cities too. 

The Reichstag

The Fernsehnturm

The Brandenburg Tor

  

The Gedaechtnis-Kirche. (The old one was left as a reminder from the war,in the walls of the actual church, you can still see bullet holes)..in the Lego replica, there are bullet holes in it as well. The grey building beside it, is the church that is used now.

The Neuschwanstein Castle which we visited 2 days before.

There was also a mini Munich airport. For Alexander, the most exciting part was seeing this model of the new Airbus A380, and a cut through model on the inside....he cannot wait to take the photos to school to show his teacher!

Legoland, Guenzburg.

Legoland, Germany is 1 1/2 hours by train from Munich. We had a sensible time to be at the station, and we were at Guenzburg by 11.30am. A quick check in at the hotel, and we were at the Legoland gates by noon. 

The boys were beside themselves with excitement as we got closer. There were large Lego blocks in the centre of the roundabout as we turned off the main road. At the Legoland gates music was played through speakers and the kids couldn't wait to get inside. 

The first thing recommended to us was to book the boys into the Lego/Audi driving school. It was only for kids between 7-13. Unfortunately Cameron missed out on this one, but there was a junior driving school for him. Alexander had his photo taken, and sat through a 15 minute video on safe driving (all in German). He then had 15 minutes to do some driving practice on the mini roads. The kids were brilliant, they were all very sensible, all kept on the correct side of the road, and there were no accidents. After their test, they were given their Lego driving license. 

Cameron had a mini track that they went around, he still got a license, but no photo...but both of them were thrilled about it! 

  

Next were lots of rides, boats, cars, trains, horses. There was so much to do, and the kids are just the right age for Legoland. There were a couple of roller coasters, and a mad mouse. Alexander wanted to try them, and was scared on each one, but he had a go, and after the shock of it, was happy he tried it...but once was enough. Cameron surprisingly didn't want to go on those rides...and I thought he would be the one who would want to.

On the boat rides...Cameron is getting better at steering, we only got stuck twice!

We saw 2 4D movies....the 3D glasses, and the 4th dimension was snow falling from the ceiling, streamers, blowing wind etc...the kids were amazed. They kept reaching out to touch the things that were popping out at them.

This log ride, we all went on, and got soaked through (about 6 degrees that day), they had a big hay bale dryer nearby that you could get into and get dry in 3 minutes!

Phil and Alexander in the front seat in a "Mad Mouse" type ride

The mini planes....don't you just love the Lego circles on everything??

One of those spinning rides that go really fast (not Phil's favourite)

Cameron on the horse ride

The world of Crazy King Ludwig II

We took an organised tour and see the famous Neuschwanstein castle - the one that Disneyland castle is based upon. The tour also included a visit to the Winter palace of Ludwig II. 

 The first stop was the Winter Palace, which is quite small but fantastically designed and decorated. 

After a short tour of the palace, it was back on the bus and off to the gift shops, in some remote village in the mountains. As we drove out of the little township, Nicole spied the Christmas shop that we have found at the Christmas markets last year, but it was too late, we were on the way out of the village. 

When we arrived at the base of the castle (at a pre-determined restaurant for lunch, you know how these tours go), we had lunch, then set off up to the castle itself. It was a good 30-40 minute walk up the hill, and quite steep. It was possible to get a horse and cart ride up about 2/3 of the way, but the line was about 100 people deep (and with 8 per wagon, it was going to be a while). It was a nice walk, and we got up to the castle in plenty of time for our designated tour time. 

 

Ludwig was as mad as a hatter. He did, however have a pretty decent castle built. Heavily inspired by the operas of Wagner (by the sounds of it, his only friend), he designed and decorated Neuschwanstein based upon these themes. Although only 30% of the interior was finished. The castle is 150 years old, and hardly lived in (he only lived there for 175 days). Everything is really well preserved. 

The government of the time realised Ludwig was spending too much money, and getting into debt (he had plans for another castle as well, which was never built). The only way the government could stop him building and getting into more debt, was to have him diagnosed as mad. He was declared mad by a doctor, and was removed from the castle. The following day the doctor and Ludwig were found dead in the lake. To this day it is not known how they died...it adds to the mystery of the castles. 

The boys loved the castle - in fact, they were right up the front with the tour guide, looking around whilst Nicole and I were stuck in the middle of the 'herd'. They were off looking at everything having a great time.  It was good to see them being independent, discovering facts, asking the tour guide questions and really listening. As we headed back to the bus. and on the way back to the hotel hey were able to rattle off all sorts of facts about both castles! After our castle tour, we headed back down to the bus and drove back to Munich. A quick dinner and back to the hotel in preparation for the following day's surprise.

Easter Holiday : München

We have done so much touring, where the boys have been fantastic and covered incredible distances.  They have learnt to be really seasoned travellers, so this holiday we had planned something extra special for them. 

We travelled by train to Munich, April in Berlin has been really lovely Spring weather, so we packed the same sort of clothes.  We got off the train in Munich and it was snowing.  So, we wore as many layers of clothes that we could and walked fast to keep warm. 

We had our tour plans pretty well organised when we arrived, after speaking to some friends. We checked into the hotel, we had a massive hotel room (the wheelchair-friendly suite) and the boys had to be instructed NOT to pull the emergency call cord whilst sitting on the loo! It was huge, and comfortable, and perfect for us. After checking into our hotel (close to the train-station, but still far enough to freeze on the way!) and putting on more clothes we ventured out.  

We took a city bus tour to help us get familiar with the city, so we were ready for proper touring the following day. 

The "mascot" of Munich is the Lion. Now that explains the song in Hansel and Gretel, "Lions are roaming the woods of Bavaria".  It was the boys mission to find as many lions as they could! They found heaps, and we took photos of every one we found. 

The hotel proved to be very comfortable and we all had a great night's sleep. The breakfast in the morning was basic, but hearty. Very continental, the only hot things were boiled eggs, coffee and hot chocolate. After that, it was cereal, cold meat, cheese, rolls and the like. Just what you need before heading out into the sleet and snow! 

Alexander was given the job of getting us to the Olympic stadium so we could go up the Olympic tower. After consulting the maps, he took us back to the main railway station,  onto the underground. changing trains once, and straight to the Olympic Park. With the ground covered in snow, we made our way to the tower and went up for a look over the city. There was almost no-one there - only one other family, and it was a bit grey and foggy, so we really didn't see too far (but the kids still loved it!).

 We went to the BMW museum. It is currently in temporary accommodation, due to renovation, and only a small selection is on show. However the boys were really interested in all the cars and motorbikes and afterwards were continuously pointing out BMW's on the streets of Munich (which, by the way, is a lot!).

 We then caught the subway back to the middle of town, where the town-hall has the world's largest glockenspiel that chimes at certain hours. We got there a bit early and looked for cafe for a late 'morning tea'. We found a large cafe opposite the Glockenspiel. It was so full we knew we would not have been served before the Glockenspiel show on the hour. Instead we went to the front of the Town hall and found a tiny cafe that served probably the best coffee that we have had in Germany.  We were served fairly quickly, and we had enough time to wander back to the Glockenspiel for the show.

We had a good spot on Marionplatz - far enough back that we could see the Glockenspiel and at the right angle so the sleet didn't get us in the face... and we waited patiently for the famous Glockenspiel show. The clock struck the hour, the church bells rang, and we waited.  A few minutes past the hour, the glockenspiel  started up. Perhaps it was the weather, but we were underwhelmed.

We headed inside the Town hall to warm up. We climbed the tower and had a look around the city. It was a great view. It was possible to see a lot of the key city sites from a different perspective. 

The Catholic Frauen Church. 

Being outside, and up high in the breeze, this was also cold but certainly worth doing. 

We walked through the markets, where you could buy any type of stein you wanted, then down to one of the 3 remaining city gates. 

Then to the Hofbrauhaus, the famous beer hall in Munich. With long trestle tables, Oom-pah music from guys in lederhosen, and great beer. This was certainly a welcome place to visit on such a cold day. 

We had a afternoon tea here - German Sausages and beer for Phil, Apfelstruedel for Nicole and ice cream for the boys (I don't think it is ever too cold for these guys to eat ice cream!).

 It was  warm, and had a lovely atmosphere. We finished our day with some more touring, finding a nice Italian place for dinner near the hotel, then back for a well earned sleep.