Visitors

It's not often we get to have visitors stay with us, cause we live so far away!

We have been lucky to have Phil's brother, Stephen and his wife Jane come to visit. They were allowed to visit, as long as they did some shopping for us....oddly, they couldn't find any of this stuff in a health food shop, so they had to go elsewhere for the stash!

We did the first part of the Berlin Wall walk that Nicole had previously done, however we went from the East Side Gallery (the longest stretch of existing Berlin Wall), to Potsdamer Platz...perfect plan, so we could have lunch in town. From there, it was on through Potsdamner Platz to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.

The weather in Berlin is perfect at the moment, sunny days, but not too hot. A great day to take photos!

Here we all are in front of the Reichstag

Spot the Tourist

The Engelcafe infront of the Engelbecken (Angel's Basin)

Brandenburg Gate

We had a great day, and at lunch Jane and Nicole were given a rose each for Mothers Day!

B and B - German style!

B & B's are not too popular in Germany, but Nicole managed to find an internet site that had private B & B's listed.

We stayed in a newly opened B & B, and it was a terrific experience.

The house was a faimly home. Oma lives on the 1st level, the family live on the 2nd level, and the 3rd level has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom for guests.

At breakfast time we sat at the family table and have breakfast with the family and Oma. We chatted about all sorts of things and our plans for the days in Arnsberg. It was like sitting down at a table with friends and we were made to feel very welcome!

Their 6 year old boy was adorable and he was excited to have 2 new playmates to play with his toys. The 3 of them played really well together. He wanted to know why we spoke "funny" German (much to the embarrassment of his mother), but we thought it was quite funny (I guess like Guido and his work).

We felt really comfortable, and left feeling like we had made new friends!

We would stay here again!

Dinosauria and Maxipark

On the advice of our great B&B hostess,(who has a six year old son), we decided on a day trip to Maximillian Park (known as 'Maxi Park') - which was about 30 minutes drive away, just outside of Hamm.

In this big park (kind of like a version of Britzer Gardens, see April post)was a dinosaur exhibition, with large, slightly animatronic dinosaurs, mainly T Rex. The kids had a great time, and Alexander is now puzzling over the question if T-Rex was a hunter or a scavenger....

Help......he's behind us!

After a good look around the exhibition, we headed out into the beautiful sunshine. First stop was the Jungle playground, then onto the woodland playground, and at last to the water park/pirate ship. This was a massive space, with a mini-lake, Pirate ship with water cannon, water towers and pumps, ramps, tunnels, sand....all the things a kid likes! We stayed there for ages, the boys had a great time. It was quite warm, and if they weren't in the shade so much I think they may have even gotten a bit sunburned (when we left Berlin it was cold and cloudy, so we forgot to pack the hats and sunscreen..)

There were underground tunnels, which were fun to explore too!

After ice creams and more play, we finally dragged the kids away late afternoon and headed for the exit. We ran into Katrin, our B&B hostess, buying plants at a market there! Nicole spotted a bottle brush (Callistamon) plant, and because this is an Australian variety, she had to have it. An early Mothers Day Present. We should run a sweep on how long it stays alive, because Nicole is notorious for killing pot plants, and our terrace gets heaps of sun.

These ride on mowers looked like fun, pity the key wasn't in there!

We finally got to the car (The shrub fitted in the back - sort of....), drove back to the old town in Arnsberg. We went for a walk along the riverbank, then sat in a beautiful beergarden overlooking the valley. There was a glider field nearby, and the boys loved watching the gliders circling over the valley whilst we relaxed in the late afternoon sun.

We then went to a local Italian restaurant for dinner - the food was excellent, but the service was sloooooooow. Not so good if you have 2 boys - waiting 45 minutes for their meals is not their idea of 'dinner'.

We dropped Heike off at her car, then returned to the B&B, where the boys joined Johannes in the yard, cooking bread on a stick over the coals in the BBQ. The kids had a great time, and the 'rolls' they made were quite delicious! We sat and had a good chat to Katrin, and also had a wander around her garden.

In the end, a great day with lots of focus on the kids, and a great chance for Nicole and Heike to catch up.

Moehrensee and Soerst

Unfortunatly Guido had to work, but we spent the day with Heike.

We drove to Moehrensee to see the lake and the Dam wall.

For those interested in WW2 history, this was the dam made famous by 'dambusters' and here

The devastation in the area was massive - tragically over 1200 people were killed by the flooding waters, as they raced down the narrow Ruhr Valley. Heike's mum was a child at the time, and still have memories of it. Interestingly, with such devastation, the wall was repaired in the same year and the dam was full not long thereafter. It is now a recreation and nature reserve, and it really is a beautiful place.

We had a great walk along the wall, and then down the other side to see some of the valley.

Then it was on to the boat for a cruise on the other side of dam wall. The lake is huge and such pretty views all around.

The kids enjoyed taking turns to steer the boat. Thankfully these were not attached to the main rudder, because I am not sure where we would have ended up.

We had lunch at the Torhaus, a lovely restaurant/cafe, with an amazing garden. The garden had lots of paths and intersting sculptures to look at along the way.

After lunch we went to a small village called Soerst. You need to park outside the historic walls of the city and walk through. There were some gorgeous buildings in the town, and a lovely small lake and river. Also a great ice cream cafe too!

Pennie showed me how to use Mosaic Maker...it takes a bit of time to upload all the photos, but I love that I can add lots of photos in each post! I hope you like them too!

Heike and family

The reason for visiting Arnsberg for the weekend was to finally meet Nicole's penpal of 17 years, Heike!

I began writing to Heike in 1991, when I was still living in Melbourne. So we have shared a lot over these years.

When we arrived we met Heike and her partner Guido. Then we walked around the corner from their apartment to her parents home. Heike's parents have an amazing garden and her father belongs to the Fushia Club in Germany. He has an amazing collection of so many different varieties of Fushias. We were probably about 3 weeks to early to see them all in flower!

We had Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) at Heike's parents place, where her Opa also lives. It was lovely to get to know them, and finally meet them all in person. We spoke in German, as Guido, Heike's parents and Opa only spoke German, so it was quite good (they were very patient with our mistakes). Phil spoke at length to Opa about his experiences in the war when he was in Russia, and it was fascinating to hear about!

Heike's father has an amazing rock/gem collection, and he has glass shelves full of his collections. The boys thought this was fascinating (as they have looked at rocks and stones in Topic at school in Year 3). Heike's father gave them a few samples to bring home. They now have pride of place on their book shelves!

Heike's mother is a craft person, so I got to look at all the different things that she has made over the years which were lovely!

We went out to a steak house for diner with Heike and Guido, and it was great to get to know them more! Guido works at a paper factory, and he looks after a large machine which makes toilet paper. Much to Phil and my embarrassment, one of the boys (we can't remember which one) says "Every time we go to the toilet we will think of Guido". I don't think I could have gone a deeper shade of red...thankfully Guido thought it was very funny!

It was a really great afternoon to be invited into a 'German family' environment and only speaking German, and it was fabulous to meet up with Heike after all these years!

A weekend away

After so much travel for business it was time to travel again... but this time for a weekend away! Nicole had planned to visit a penfriend in Arnsberg (near Dortmund) on this weekend, when I was supposed to be in New Orleans. However, with some good fortune, the meeting was cancelled and I could stay in Berlin, then join the family for a weekend away.

This was the first chance to take the little car for a blast on the famed German Autobahn. The Autobahn system is great, although it is not all 'free speed' - of the thousands of Km of Autobahn, apparently only a bit over 3000 km are open speed. So, after bobbing through the various speed zones, we finally hit 'open road'. It is 3 lanes wide - the outside lane has cars going up to about 120km/h. The middle lane has cruising speeds of about 150-160 km/h and the inside lane - anything goes!

The little car got up around 200 when pushed (I was watching the road, not the needle, so I didn't see if we actually got there...), and cruised nicely on 180km/h. Thats 3km per minute - it sure makes the journey go quick! This was a bit fast for Nicole, so on the way home we stayed in her comfort zone of 160-170 or less.

Anyway, the car was great, really comfortable and cruised beautifully at good speed.

A German habit which is annoying - when you listen to the traffic reports, the volume automatically increased (doubles) when a traffic report comes on. On the A2, there seemed to be a traffic report every 5 minutes, and this really got on my nerves. If I wanted to have the radio louder for the traffic report, couldn't I choose to turn it up myself?? German rules and control in action! I think I accidentally managed to turn this default function off (not by slamming my fist into it...) and this was much better.

The Germans are also really aggressive in the fast lane. Right up your tail-pipe if you are overtaking and they are flying (try 240km/h plus) and they catch up to you. Best to pay attention, leave lots of space and watch out for the supercars (An Audi R8 literally 'purred' past us, and we were doing 180!)

Anyway, I have that Autobahn thing out of my system (until next time.....)

Home sweet home

Finally home for more than 3 days...
Melbourne, Ireland (Easter Holidays), San Francisco, Bangkok, Athens, Johannesbug...
Athens cityscape

Where did March and April go?

Who are these strange people in my house (oh! they are my family!)

I spent so much time on aeroplanes that I thought I would share with you an unpleasant calculation:
The average person farts 14 times per 24 hours.
There are about 400 people on an intercontinental flight (more for 747s, less for some of the Airbuses).
Per hour of flying, that is 14/24 x 400 = 233 farts.
I flew at least 100 hours in this time (2 x 22 hrs to Oz, 2 x 12 hours to Thailand, 2 x 9 hrs to SF, 2 x 10 hrs to Jo'burg....etc)
I was therefore exposed to at least 23,300 farts in my recent travels. And who said business travel isn't fun?

Anzac Day Memorial Service

Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetary

Heerstrasse 139

Berlin - Charlottenburg

The kids went to school today with lots of these for their classes, and a few extra for the token Aussie and NZ Teacher.

today's successful shopping trek

This week we have had trouble with ants...they have managed to climb up to the 3rd floor of our building into our kitchen...they bypassed both other neighbours and set upon us!

After finding out the right stuff to buy, and where to buy it, I finally found the stuff I needed "Amiesenkoeder" Lay these out, the ants will eat the poison and take the poison back to their nests and that should be that! (just like Aussie Ant Rid).

Next door was an Asian shop that has been recommended to me for different Asian and Indian foods, so I thought I would pop in and see what they had, before I start planning exotic dinners.This Asian shop had EVERYTHING...and I will be there often! Much to my delight they had soft brown sugar....and even better MILO!!!!

We ran out of our year supply of Milo about a month ago, and we all miss it! They are only small tins, and they cost more than I would normally pay for Milo...but we are desparate! This Milo is made in Kenya, so it will be interesting to see if it the same...we don't care....it's MILO!!!

Alexander is a Field Mouse in the school play this year....bugger...I really like it when he is a narrator, and I don't have to worry about making a costume! Off to Idee, and picked up a Burda pattern (lucky for "Carnival" they have a good selection of costumes to chose from.

I found some light grey and pink (pink for inside of ears) fabric. The costume is for a cat, but I can adapt this to a mouse surely....I know my cloth making sewing leads a lot to be desired....but surely it can't be that hard (instructions are in German, French and English).

I am thinking about making a separate pair of pants and a top, stitching the tail into the pants. It gets really hot on that middle school hall stage, so I don't want his to pass out from heat exhaustion! The Burda pattern uses the thick fur (not appropriate for Summer on the stage), so I had to think about how I was going to get the ears to stay upright....then I found these Bra Wires, and see what I can do with these...

stay tuned (you may hear me swearing from there when I begin cutting and sewing).

note....after 3 days of squishing ants in the kitchen, I bring home the Amiesenkoeder, and there is not an ant in sight....unbelievable!

Der Britzer Garten

Way over in the "old East" is this fabulous park, Britzer Garten

We were a little bit early for the tulips in bloom, but some of them were out.
In particular was this yellow type of tulip, from a distance it looked like a bunch of bananas hanging from a small tree!

It is a stunning garden, with lots of walking paths, small lakes, many playground areas, a "scenic train" runs through the grounds, and heaps of cafes scattered over 90 acres of parkland!

The kids had a great time, we found this hill, and they decided it was perfect to roll down, which they did over and over....unfortunately the last week we have had heaps of rain, so there were some very muddy patches down the bottom. So the kids were filthy...thanks good ness for stain remover! Anyway, they didn't care, and they had a great time!

and then you have to wak up the hill again to start again!

See Alexander's knitted socks...he loves them, but it is almost too warm to be wearing them now...he has requested some cotton ones for Summer!

and after the mandatory "sensible" photo, they want to do the madatory "silly" photo...thank goodness for digital cameras....

Lots of different playgrounds to explore. We walked for awhile and then we would stop at a playground for the kids to run around and play. This one, they dug a tunnel under the wooden house, made sand castles together.

See Cameron's glasses? He was having trouble seeing the white board at school, we got his eyes tested, and yes, he needed glasses (that would explain why he continued to get closer and closer to the TV! He is thrilled with them, and amazed at how he can see things now! He spent the 1st couple of days looking through his glasses, then lifting them up to see the difference! Thankfully they make fairly sturdy glasses for kids, and they survived the rolling down hills and jumping off small wooden houses!!

Outside the Garten are some "garden houses"..here is one of the gardens...I don't know what sort of comment I can add to this one, but it must be a real pain in the butt to mow the lawn.

Sue Me

For the past 2 weeks, (and for this week as well I think), some government, environment department is testing our streets around our house for underground movement (or something like that, the letter that came in the mail had lots of big German words that made no sense to me).

These wires and cords are EVERYWHERE!!! Even in the big round park up the street, there are cords just lying all over the park. I took the kids up there the other day to kick the footy, and spent all of 5 minutes there, because it was so easy to trip on them.

This is a good one, the black cord goes right across the footpath

After a few beers on Friday night, you could imagine all sorts of accidents just waiting to happen
2 pieces of yellow tape hold the cord down outside your gate.

Doesn't it just scream LAWSUIT

and last but not least...we found a Leprechaun

We looked everywhere around Ireland for a Leprechaun...and an hour before we were to come back to Berlin, we spotted one in the Dublin airport

We thought he was so cute, we brought him back with us!

Meeting Penpals in Dublin

We met up with Nicole's penpal, Andrea and her daughter Kelly in Dublin. Nicole and Andrea have been writing to each other for about 12 years. So, it was great to finally meet up, put accents to faces and chat.

Nicole will plan a girls weekend to Dublin at some stage soon, do lots of shopping and head out to Temple Bar with Andrea and some of her girlfriends and sister.

Kelly had been very sick with the flu all through Easter. What an awful time to be sick..during school holidays!