Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 9 (Munich to London)

Note: I am writing this a few weeks after the fact, as I only just realised I never did it at the time! Playing catch-up...

Our final day we only had to check out at 12, but we were ready with David around 10:30 so that we could head out to the BMW museum in the outskirts of Munich - via station pastries, of course. It was in two clear parts, the first part being all about electric cars and renewable technology and environmentally friendly stuff. It seemed to be the major focus of the museum but wasn’t what we were after out of our experience. Instead, we really enjoyed the historical side, which included every vehicle that they manufactured with lots you could get up close to and look at (but don’t touch, unlike some of the Russian tourists who were opening doors!).

After looking at all the older cars, we went across the road to the dealership. There you can see all the current cars you can buy and sit in them and touch them and all that cool stuff. Unfortunately we now have a car so are no longer in the market...

We needed to leave just after lunch time to get back to the hotel for our bags and head to the airport on the train, so we ended up getting lunch from a food truck we found just outside the museum. Unfortunately it was probably the worst currywurst of the trip, but at least it was convenient? Then it was back to the hotel, off to the airport. We arrived with what we thought was enough time to spare but all the queues were really long so it took us the entire time to get through and we got to the gate right when they called our flight to start boarding.

Then even arriving into Gatwick was busy, as there were no trains running to Clapham Junction! Instead, with all our luggage, we caught a different train to East Croydon and then caught a really long tram all the way to Wimbledon. We were very glad to get home... although we have to work tomorrow.

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 8 (Munich)

Our last full day in Germany (and together, for now) saw us have a little bit of a sleep in before meeting for our now customary breakfast at the train station. No tour today, but it was very cold so we decided to check out a museum first - the NS-Dokumentationszentrum München, or Documentation if Nationalist Socialism museum. It was all about the rise of Nazis in WW2 but through the documentation and paperwork like ads and propaganda. We arrived just before a guided tour started, so we joined that. However in a four floor museum, having been told the tour would take about 90 minutes, we were still on the top floor (where the museum started) after an hour, so we left the tour ad went ahead on our own. After a couple of hours we had done it all and it was interesting to get a different perspective in both place perspective and the different materials to other places we’d visited.

After that, we headed to another beer hall, only this time for lunch. More pork and potato! Then it was time for a walk before heading back to the hotel. Dinner was a nearby Italian restaurant as we were all too stuffed for more native Munich food at dinner after lunch too. Mum and dad wanted to have an early night as they were being picked up for their transfer to the station at 7am the next morning, so we said goodbye and headed for an early evening. We don’t leave Munich until the evening so have time to do one last thing tomorrow before we have to head to the airport for our flight back to London.

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 7 (Munich)

Today was the biggest day of our whole trip! We met in the hotel lobby at 7:30am and headed to the Hauptbahnhof again for a quick breakfast (although I didn’t eat mine until quite a bit later) and to go back to where the hop on hop off bus picked us up yesterday. Today we were on an 8:30am bus tour to Linderhof Castle, Oberammergau, and Neuschwanstein Castle!

We we on the second bus to leave, but luckily we were at the front of the queue and so got to sit at the front of the top deck of the bus! It took us about 90 minutes to get to Linderhof Castle, which was the only castle Ludwig II built that actually got finished. It was really pretty though rather small for a total residence, and the tour only took 25 minutes! He stayed there alone as he never married and was apparently very reclusive and mostly nocturnal, spending his nights reading and walking in the forest (although that seems dangerous) and slept all day!

Unfortunately the rest of the buildings were closed for the winter, and the fountains all get closed over too to protect them from ice damage. That being said, it would have been lovely to still wander but three was snow on the ground! We also didn't have much extra time before we were back on the bus and headed to Oberammergau. Oberammergau translates to "top of the Ammer district" and is a small town known for wood carvings, and their once-a-decade Passion plays! It was just a short 30 minute stop to do some souvenir shopping and have a wander. We bought a few souvenirs, I looked up close at some expensive traditional dirndls, and Richard even made friends with a shop cat!

Then we were headed out again, this time to the main attraction, Neuschwanstein Castle! It's the castle that inspired Walt Disney in his design of Cinderella's castle as well as the logo, and is also in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (it's the castle the Baron lives in - from the outside, anyway). It took us about 60 minutes to get there. We arrived at 1pm and were leaving at 4:30, so we had 3 and a half hours to see the castle. It was also built by Ludwig II, and is right next door to his parents castle. We didn't have time to go there though, as we had tickets for the 3:05pm castle tour. So we started with a quick lunch, from the snack stand (rostbratwurst and currywurst for all!) and a bathroom break before we headed up the hill. We were warned it would take about 40 minutes, but actually we did it in about 25, which was fortunate as it meant we were up at the castle with about an hour to spare. Richard and I decided that it was plenty of time to walk to Marienbrücke.

So we left the rest of my family behind and walked the extra 15 minutes over to Marienbrück, the bridge which overlooks the castle and happens to be the best spot for taking pictures of it. The walk itself didn't take long, but when we arrived there was a queue! The queue itself was so long that we only had a few minutes on the bridge to grab some snaps before we had to go back to the castle, but it was worth it for the gorgeous view.

Then we had to speed walk back to the castle courtyard to meet the family just in time for our tour of the castle interior. To be honest, it wasn’t super amazing, partly because the castle was never finished (they are actually still finishing it) and even the parts that are finished are constantly being renovated, so there was a lot of stuff we couldn't see. The audio tour itself was interesting, but I just don't think it had quite enough for us. Certainly, I think Richard and I would have rather have had the time to walk around outside and explore the exterior more instead. By the time the tour had finished and we had left the shop, there was only just enough time to get back to the bus for our 4:30 departure!

The drive back to Munich was very restful - it took about 2 hours, but given it was now dark and we were on the autobahn, even I was able to fall asleep and take a small nap on the way back. It was a long tour, but it was totally worth it to see those things and it would have been hard for us to do them without a coach to take us. On our arrival back in Munich we headed straight to dinner, as it was already getting towards com. We went to another beer hall, where I had a vegetarian meal (shock horror!) of mushrooms in a creamy sauce with bread dumplings. It was excellent, and Richard, David and I shared an amazing dessert called Kaiserschmarrn (Emperors Mess), which was a sweet egg pancake, caramelised and served with custard, fruit compote and rum soaked raisins. It may have been the best think I ate all trip so far! We did order too much though (despite ordering for 2 people and having 4 eat it!) so we practically rolled back to the hotel afterwards and went straight to bed.

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 6 (Munich)

Today we had tickets on the Munich hop on hop off bus tour. It had a much smaller loop, in fact there were two of them. We went on the express route, which took us past lots of the lovely galleries and monuments! There are an awful lot of art galleries in Munich. We did half the loop, up to stop 5, which was the Deutsches Museum.

It's a design and technology museum, and it's fantastic! We managed to skip the queue by buying our tickets online, which was very helpful as the queue was very long and it was cold outside. We split up and spent about an hour exploring the first few floors before reuniting at the restaurant for lunch (more sausages!), then splitting up again for another hour. We could have spent another few hours at least, especially if we could actually read the German captions!

After that we got back on the bus and finished the loop, heading back to central station. Then we had a browse for fabric (none found, unfortunately) and picked up Dads shoes which were in to get fixed for the day, before heading back to the hotel to rest up. Then we headed out for another leisurely beer hall dinner - only tonight I had venison bolognese, which was excellent! Then more apple fritters, and back to go to bed.

Tomorrow is the castle tour so is a very long day. It’s a 10hr tour, starting at 8:30!

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 5 (Berlin to Munich)

Up the earliest of all of the days so far today, because we’re headed on to Munich today! So we were up around 8 after only about 6 hours sleep, and were due to get a taxi to the Hauptbahnhof (central station) at 10am. When it got to 10:05 and there was no taxi (especially not a big one that fit all of us), we bailed on that plan and hailed two regular taxis to catch over there. By this time it was 10:10 and our train departed at 10:30, but luckily it was only a 7 minute drive to the station (especially in the taxi we were in, he was keen to get us there fast!) and we are the platform just as the train pulled up! We are unfortunately facing backwards, and it's a 5 and a half hour trip, but at least it's easy travel. Nicer than a plane, anyway.

We ate lunch on the train, and I had my first currywurst which was pretty great (it even had tortilla on it, which turned out to be crushed Doritos!). I worked on my embroidery, Mum caught up on her travel diary, David and I shared a podcast, and most people had naps as well! We arrived at 3pm at another Hauptbahnhof (central station), and it is only a 10 minute walk from there to our accommodation in Munich. This time, we're in a hotel in 3 rooms rather than an apartment and I think it's not quite as good, but I guess we do all have more privacy (and now we aren't all sharing the same bathroom which is a definite logistical plus for the mornings!) I think we must be in the Arab quarter, if they have one, as there are a lot of different cuisines around like Afghani and Turkish. It is a pretty quiet area though.

After settling in briefly, we walked over to the central part of Munich to have a wander. Munich has much more of an "old town" to it than Berlin, for obvious WW2 reasons, and it's lovely to walk around. Today was a good day in Munich with a max of 3 so we didn't last too long before we were looking for somewhere to sit and eat dinner. We have been having such early dinner, as my family are used to eating not long after dark - except that happens at 4:30pm! We found a beerhaus and had a drink, then dinner and dessert as well.

The food in Munich is much more what you think of when you think of "German" food, but really it's more Bavarian. We all had pork with potatoes and sauerkraut for dinner, just different versions: pork knuckle, various sausages, and pork belly (mine)! We also all had dessert for the first time, but mostly because there was apple strudel on the menu! I was the odd one out though in having apple fritters: they were basically apple pieces deep fried in a beer batter and in cinnamon sugar with cream and ice cream. Mmmm...

Now we're back in the hotel chilling and watching a film before its time for bed. Tomorrow we're on the hop on, hop off bus tour!

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 4 (Berlin)

Up earlier again today, but Mum and Dad got some washing done first thing so we were headed out a little later than other days. Our first stop was just about 10 minutes north of our accomodation, but it felt cold today! Yesterday hadn't been as cold as Saturday or Sunday had been (when the max temperature was only 2 degrees!), but today was about 7 again - but it was super windy so felt colder than it was!

We were under the impression that it was just a bit of the wall in a park, but it turned out it was a very organised and much bigger park than we expected, with lot of information and it was also quite busy. So it turned out to be more of an attraction than we expected! It was quite interesting though, as they had preserved a strip between the two walls as it was in the time of the wall.

After that we headed onto the train and over to the East Side Gallery. On the way we stopped in the East Side Mall for bathrooms and lunch, eating in a food court and giving everyone a break from currywurst! Then we were headed off, and this is not a gallery like you would expect. It's literally a strip of wall more than a kilometre long (I think it was 1.3, 1.4km long in total?) which has had lots of artwork painted on it from as early as 1990. It was very busy around and along the whole length of it but there were some really interesting and political artworks along the way.

After that we had walked back a station to Ostbanhof (pretty sure that's literally East Station in English) and got back on the train with the intention of heading back to the DDR museum as our last stop of the day. We were in the queue at 2:45 when the guy from the front desk came around and let us know that not only were they closing at 4, but that entry is at 3pm. And that it was going to take us 15-20 minutes to get to the front of the queue. So we had a quick browse through the shop, then headed out and back towards the apartment.

Along the way we stopped in at the Amplemann shop. The Amplemann are the traffic light men, who were originally from East Berlin but are now dotted about the place and are quite the phenomenon. They are also a good way to buy souvenirs that aren't quite so... Destructive, I guess. We got some cool souvenir bits before heading back to the apartment.

Of course, it is the 31st today and we have a vague plan for trying to get see some fireworks this evening at midnight. Berlin has quite the reputation for just letting off fireworks in the street, but there are organised fireworks around the Brandenburg Gate that we might go and see? I'm not feeling super great though so it might just be the other four going out. We'll see.

In the end I wasn't feeling well enough to go out, but everyone else went out to the main station near our hotel and watched the fireworks in the square. It turns out I got quite the show even from our balcony, as in Berlin literally everyone buys fireworks and just lets them off anywhere in the street. So they were everywhere, and a lot, and for a long time! It was very cool though, I've not seen fireworks like that up close before. Bring on 2020!

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 3 (Berlin)

Got up a little earlier this morning - and we were the last ones again, oops! More pastries from the delicious "Back Factory" for breakfast, before getting on the train to the German Spy Museum. Conveniently, the Berlin public transport system allows for one ticket which covers all day travel for a "small group" of 5! And we are exactly the right size group for that.

The Spy Musem was very cool, with a mix of World War information and including the Cold War and after that as well. There were lots of gadgets on display (fictional and not) as well as information about real spies and double agents, and a whole section on spy movies with a heavy focus on 007! We spent a good few hours there and it was really interesting to read all the information.

After that it was definitely lunch time and it turned out that just down the road was a currywurst stand which had one of the highest ratings we'd seen (5 stars on Google!) so we stopped there for lunch. And it was delicious! Rostbradwurst for me, currywurst for everyone else, and chips to share. Fantastic. We then stopped briefly to look at the Bundesministerium der Finanzen, which is one of the few building still standing from after WW2 on our way to the Topography of Terror.

Topography of Terror is placed where several of the key SS and Nazi buildings once stood and is a look at the war through the lens of the SS and the functions of those buildings. It was very interesting, but in all honesty after reading the main information boards there were so many photos and documents to also look at that it was a bit of information fatigue. Not to mention the obviously sad subject matter. Mum and I wandered together and read the main bits, but at the point we got to the photo exhibition we were feeling a bit overloaded. Then we spotted what looked like a school photo of Jewish children, where on closer inspection only one child managed to avoid a concentration camp and survive the war and all the others died, mostly in Aushwitz. I think that is what made us stop for the exhibition, we then realised how sad everything was and decided to just wait for the boys to finish their reading. We all agreed afterwards that it is an important exhibition and that it is also a bit overwhelming at times.

Our final stop for the day was a very unexciting looking car park with a plaque. I wanted to see the car park where the Führerbunker was. Technically parts of it are still there, as the walls and floor were too expensive to remove and so once they took off the roof they simply filled it in with gravel and sand. Now it is a car park, and remarkably close to (within a block of) the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. So it's probably good that there isn't anything other than one sign of explanation there.

After that we caught the train and a tram to get back to the apartment. We will probably have a nearby dinner again tonight, as Mum has got blisters on her feet and we don't want to walk too far to get dinner. Only one day left in Berlin, so we need to fit as much as possible in tomorrow so we have "done" Berlin properly before we move on to Munich. We ended up at the burger place next door to the apartment, Kreuzburger, which was really delicious as well as close! And another early night, so we can pack in touristy things tomorrow.

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 2 (Berlin)

This morning, I was actually the last one up! I blame the lack of cats - I’m actually able to sleep without being rampaged over and jumped on, which is nice. Although I do miss the fluffy ones...

We headed out not long after 10 this morning and walked to Alexanderplatz to meet the Hop On Hop Off tour bus. We got on at Stop 7 of the A line (Highlights Tour) and headed off! It turns out that this was a good option for a day which was forecast to be maximum 2 degrees, as the bus was very warm and snuggly inside and was double decker but not open top, which was a great option to not freeze to death!

We headed around to Stop 11, which was Brandenburger Tor (the Brandenburg gate). We went to look at the Gate, which was very cool looking but was also being set up for NYE in a few days, so there was lots of temporary buildings, toilets, etc. being erected. We then had to go and walk the long way around to get to just behind it (because of the temporary stuff) to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. While the people weren’t always respectful (there were people who were climbing on the memorial, and others taking smiling selfies) I found it quite somber to see the representation of how many Jews were murdered. We then walked back to the Brandenburg Gate before heading over past the Reichstag building and other official buildings, to Stop 12 at the Hauptbahnhof (the main train station in a Berlin). While we were there, we popped in to the station to pick up the tickets for our train trip to Munich on the 1st, as well as some lunch. Mum, Richard and I had wurst (me plain, the others had curry wurst), while Dad and Bro had Asian food. Then I had the most expensive toilet experience so far, at €1... but we’ll see if that gets topped later in the trip!

Then we got back on the tour bus to head around the circuit some more to Stop 5, which was Checkpoint Charlie! This is a spot where you can look at a US army checkpoint (named C, or Charlie) and see where the Wall was and a place where you could have crossed into East Germany from West, and vice versa. We looked at the pieces of wall which were still mostly intact, and there is a line of bricks in the ground to indicate where the wall used to be and now is just footpath or road. We considered going into the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, but decided with 5 people that at £14.50 a head it was too much to spend. 

We then walked back to the apartment, taking our time and lots of photos along the way on the walk. It was freezing, but it was a good day, and we were back at the apartment around 4:30pm to thaw, to rest, and to update the blog! Tonight’s dinner plan is to go somewhere local after doing 15,000 steps today in walking - we have good looking Asian, burger and sushi near us so plenty of options!

We ended up trying to go to an Italian restaurant, but it was tiny and full, so we ended up at a German place! I had a fish schnitzel and potatoes (basically, Germany's fancy answer to fish and chips) and Richard had Spatzle, which is egg noodle mac and cheese. All delicious, and topped off by cherry flavoured Magnums! A lovely evening.

Christmas Getaway: Germany Day 1 (Berlin)

On this trip, we are reunited with my family! My Mum, Dad and Bro have come to Europe to visit us over New Years/my birthday (which falls in January). Each time they visit, we spend some time in Europe while also spending some time in London. This time, it’s Germany, and we met in Berlin late last night. It is always so fantastic to be back with my family - we haven't seen them in person in about 9 months, so it's super nice to be able to hug them again! 

Having met at their airport, we got our transfer to the place we are staying! Rather than a hotel, we have a three bedroom apartment, which is quite nice. We pretty much fell straight into bed once we had arrived, particularly for my family as they have obviously flown a much longer distance!

That also meant we had a lazy day today, as Bro in particular didn't fly well, so we slept in and had a slow start. Parents went to properly check in and picked up some groceries and pastry for us to start our day, and we headed out not long before 12pm to go for a wander. We headed towards the radio tower, where we found a Christmas market! So we wandered through that for a few laps and started our German food experience with wurst! We all had wurst and really yummy apple cinnamon stuffed donuts, which we actually couldn't finished because they were so big. Mum and I also bought some lace work Christmas decorations which were apparently handmade in Saxony. Then we headed for a wander towards the cathedral, but in the end the others were rather freezing and we decided to return to the apartment. To be fair, the maximum for the next two day is only 2-3 degrees Celsius and that must be a shock after Canberra at 40!

So we've been chilling and catching up since then. At the moment the plan for tonight is to go check out the Christmas lights and market on Kurfürstendamm, but we'll see how that goes... And we did it. Left the apartment again around 5:30pm, walked to the S train station (only a 5 minute walk) and caught the train down to Kurfürstendamm. Actually it was also handy in that we went through the station we need to go to on Wednesday for our train to Munich, so we also know where that is. The lights weren't as impressive as we thought they would be, but the street is the "champs-elysees of Berlin" and I can see why. Full of higher end stops on both sides of a wide road. But not so much food, it turned out, and it was dinner time. We ended up at a German diner type place, which turned out to be exactly what people needed. Mum and Dad are light (soup and nachos, respectively), Bro had a burger, and Richard and I both had a schnitzel. Most of us didn't finish our food though, although it was good, and then we walked back through the Christmas markets on the way back to the train (we didn't buy anything from that market either time though). Back to the apartment, time for a quick tea and a little chocolate, and time for bed! The plan is to get going a little earlier tomorrow!!!

Weekend Escape: Ghent, Belgium #1

This past weekend, we decided to head to a real, European Christmas market! Especially as we recently acquired a car - a bright red (therefore fast) Polo GTI and we wanted to give it a chance to put it through its paces on a road that was faster than 40mph!

It was a very early start, with us getting up at 5am after a long week and piling our stuff into the boot (it's not big, but we were only away one night!) before heading quickly down to Folkestone to get to the Eurotunnel (le Shuttle). In quite quaint news, the terminal going into France is called the Victor Hugo terminal, and the one coming back into England is the Charles Dickens terminal! Very sweet. We arrived just in time to straight away join the queue to get on our train, which was quite the interesting experience. After a lot of queuing, you simply drive on to the train! As we have a small car, we were in the double decker section, on the ground floor on the way over. You literally park the car and stop it on the train, with the windows down, and chill in your car until you have arrived in France!

Once the train has arrived, you drive off the train, on to a sliproad and then you're on the motorway! To drive in Europe you have to have a few extra things: a GB sticker or numberplate (we installed ours on the Friday night before we left), high vis vests, a safety triangle, a pair of breathalyser tubes (you have to have one legally, but if they test you and then you have none left you're instantly illegal, so you carry two), and if you have an older car, you have to have headlight adjusters so that you can tilt your headlights to being on the other side of the road. Because our car is brand new (like, actually), it simply has an option in the settings to change the road settings to 'Europe', and the displays to metric. So we were off!

First we headed to Dunkerque (Dunkirk), to have a look at the famous beach. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for the winter (although just about to reopen for the Christmas period) so we couldn't go there, and the weather was pretty miserable, so we wandered around for a bit and read some information before deciding to head back into the car and on to the next destination.



We drove along the coast towards Ghent, stopping next in Oostende. Unfortunately along the coast road it was mostly closed, so the route was not as scenic as we had hoped. They had cool sculptures along the beach, and we had delicious ham and cheese baguettes in the French style. We did briefly check out the beach, however this backfired once we got exposed into the driving wind. Sand getting in our eyes and into my tights and I bailed on that part of the beach pretty fast! Then we were back on the road, next stop being Ghent. 





On arriving in Ghent, we drove straight to the hotel, checked in and got into our room. We stayed in the Marriott near the city centre as it was conveniently located and had a carpark! After freshening up, we decided to head for a walk into the city centre and find the Christmas markets. Lucky for us, they were super easy to find! The map we were given by the hotel was actually more spread out in real life, with the market being in 3 main parts but actually being only about 10 minutes from one end to the other without stopping. We started with drinks - Richard having beer (duh) and I tried a fantastic jenever (gin) which was waffle flavoured! I ended having a few over the course of the evening. We ended up walking the whole length without buying anything, before deciding it was dinner time. We wanted to sit down, so we went looking for a restaurant to eat at. It did turn out, however, that without a booking we couldn't get in anywhere!



So we went back to the market and had food from there for dinner. Frites, a bradwurst, hot chocolate... Plus we bought a few things - marzipan, coconut biscuits, chocolate truffles. It was a delightful evening, but we were quite cold by the end, and ended up back in the hotel reasonably early, curled up with a cup of tea to watch a little TV before bed.

Half Term Holidays: Majorca Escape

This last week we have been enjoying perhaps the most relaxed holiday I’ve ever had (certainly it has been the most relaxed since I got married) and it has been such a pleasant time. I was going to do a daily blog post, but then I was also too busy relaxing - plus, we haven’t been doing enough stuff to warrant a post every day.

We got up Sunday morning and took the long route to Heathrow (the district line trains weren’t running last weekend, which was a pain). With a lunchtime flight, we didn’t have to get to the airport too early which makes a nice change to previous trips. The flight was fine - we had been warned that it might be bumpy, but that didn’t really eventuate which was good. We landed around 4pm local time and then went straight to the coach for the transfer to the hotel. It took us about an hour to get to the hotel. We were in a 4 star, adults only hotel which I requested after the last half term of business at school! Our room was small but there are lots of communal spaces which we certainly used.

Every day we went to the beach, which is only a few minutes walk away from the hotel. The weather certainly wasn’t great early on in the week, with lots of threatening clouds and rain on and off, but when it was clear we tried to make the best of it. A typical day looked like this: sleep in until 9-9:30, breakfast buffet, the Husband going for a ride and me crafting/relaxing/going for a walk/having lunch, then us going together to the beach, then resting in the room, before a shower and going out for dinner. Then it was time to sleep and do it all over again.

In terms of dinners, most were fine. We had 2 tapas, one italian, but the highlights were the seafood restaurant we went to (Las Sirenas) and the burger place (my personal favourite - called New Cacao). They were great! 

I have to say that was so great. Even when on holidays at home, I feel the pressure to do things - whether it is washing, sewing, or other busy things. Here I only had the things I brought, so I could be much more relaxed. I read a whole book (Carrie Hope Fletcher’s newest novel, In the Time We Lost), finished a cross stitch, and generally had a lovely time.

Now today is Friday and it’s going home day. And the weather is great today! Luckily out flight isn’t until 10:20pm, and our coach pickup is 6:40pm outside the hotel. So we basically get another whole day! The downside is that now we might not get back until 2am from the airport, but at least we don’t have any plans until Saturday afternoon. On the plus side, we are already intending to make this a yearly October half term trip - for the Husband to cycle, and me to relax!!!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell Am See - Day 4/5

It’s race day! While the Husband didn’t start his race until 11am, we headed to the start around 9:30am in order to get prepared and so that I could try and get a good spot to watch the state . This didn’t work at all because I couldn’t see the race start for all the people, not to mention the fact that everyone is wearing black wetsuits, white swim caps (in his age group) and goggles, so it’s virtually impossible to tell who is who!

Either way, I watched the start of the swim and until most of the people in the white caps had at least started the leg back, then I decided to head back to the apartment via a supermarket to get lunch (I felt guilty about yesterday so I had a salad). I had a few hours to eat, chill, do some creative stuff, before I got the notification that Husband had headed through the cycling checkpoint which was the last one before heading back into town. I got ready and headed into town (literally a minute away), but actually I still missed him! He must have been going really fast...

So instead I headed back to the apartment for more chill time, and then headed to a different spot of the race to watch Husband on the run leg. We had looked at the map the night before and worked out a place that I could go to see him in both directions, but once the race had started I couldn’t work out how to get there and picked a different spot. The first time he ran past, he didn’t even see me (even though I thought I was super obvious) because he was so focused on the running and wasn’t expecting me where I was. So then I waited a little bit before he came back past, actually seeing me this time. He made a comment about how hard he was finding the run, although I think by that time he was already recovering a little bit. Then I moved over to the finish, and had a prime spot to cheer and scream as he came running past to the finish line!

I was so so proud of him, and I met him as soon as I could afterwards and we walked (he stumbled) back to the apartment. It took about an hour for recovery and a shower before we were able to get up and walk back to the start to get his stuff. As he was picking it all up (I couldn’t go help as I wasn’t a competitor), the heavens opened and it started to rain. By the time he was done, it was POURING! We ended up walking back in a horrendous rain storm, which mostly lasted until we got back to the apartment but meant we got completely soaked and so did most of the stuff. After that Husband was feeling so tired and ill that he couldn’t even bring himself to go the few minutes out for dinner, so we ordered pizza online and I walked into town (in the rain, best wife here!) to pick it up. We didn’t even stay up that late.

The next day doesn’t even deserve it’s own entry because it was so uneventful. We messaged the owner of our apartment on Sunday to ask about getting a late checkout, which was fine, so the next day we got up late, had a hotel breakfast (walked to a local hotel), and then headed back to chill and pack. We left Zell am See around 1:30 and drove back to Munich for our flight. We didn’t get back to Wimbledon until 10pm, but we were happy to be back in our beds and with the kitties!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 3

On Saturday I got to sleep in while Husband went to the race briefing first thing in the morning. I didn't think that many partners that weren't racing would go so I stayed in the apartment (although apparently a lot did go), so I was just ready to go out when he returned.

Then we had most of the day to do touristy things, so we headed out to a cable car. There are a lot of cable cars in this part of Austria (mostly to double as ski lifts in the winter time) and we planned to head up to 3000m, the highest point you can get to locally, and to see the visitor centre up there as well. So we headed to the Panoramabahn Schaulfelberg and went up as high as we could get, but it wasn’t until we got to the top that we realised our mistake! We got off at only 1200ish metres, and when we got to the top we noticed a map on the wall that we had missed at the lower level. It showed all the cable cars, how to get in between them, and which ones were open. All the ones we wanted were open, but we weren’t on any of them! The cable car we had gotten on didn’t connect to the top and we ended up just having to go straight back down.

Unfortunately, by that time we didn't have enough time to get to the correct one for the 3000m summit, given that would require driving and then a few other cable cars. We did have some more time though, so we headed back into Zell am See to one of the two cable cars that was in the town, the Schmittenhohebahn. This one took us to the summit behind the town itself, on a very large cable car that was designed by Porsche! It was a super view, we explored at the top (there was a lovely chapel up there too) and had lunch at a ski hotel at the very top (I made a very mature choice and ordered chicken nuggets).

Then we headed back to the apartment so that Husband could organise his things for the race. There was a time slot in which participants could go to the swim start and practice/experience swimming in the lake, and also around the same time Husband had to drop his equipment in the transition area for the bike and run legs of the race. I decided to work out how to get to the start on public transport... There was one local train which you could catch one stop for free and then it was a 10 minute walk to the start - but then it turned out that it was also just a 20 minute walk! So that was frustrating, but actually good in that I worked that out for us before race day (especially with only one train every half hour). Husband cycled on ahead to get started. By the time I joined him I was wishing I had brought my swimsuit, given it was super warm and sunny! They had actually closed the pool though as it was too busy, and by the time I got there Husband was finished anyway, so we walked back with ice cream instead.

We got back to the main part of the lake near the town just in time to see the daily display of music and water show, which was lovely. Then Husband decided that pizza was best for dinner, so we found an Italian place for dinner (there were a lot in the town) - although in the end he ordered pasta and I ordered pizza! We had a lovely lake walk as dusk fell and headed to bed nice and early to be ready for race day.

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 2

Friday happened to be more about me than the Husband in the end. I decided that I would also run a race this weekend - the Iron Girl 4. 2km race, which was held on Friday. But first I had to register, so the first thing we did on Friday morning was to go to the conference centre and register me for the race, as well as picking up the Husband's registration pack for his race (on Sunday). Given we were in town then, we picked up pastries for breakfast (I had this delicious pastry that was a combination of a cinnamon roll shape, but with baklava type filling, which was great!)

Then Husband decided he wanted to drive most of his bike course (80km total), to have a look at the climbs and the road conditions. We stopped in a small town called Dienton (about 80% of the way up the climb) so that he could ride down but then mostly so he could ride up the climb and decide how hard it would be on the day. While he did that, I went for a walk through the town, then climbed a hill in the outskirts of the town to visit a lovely little church. It had really cool wrought iron headstones in the graveyard, but the gate was closed so I didn't go in. However, there was a walking trail which went up further and into the forest, which I followed until it got too muddy for my converse. It was a delightful way to spend an hour or two!

After that we drive the rest of the bike course, stopping in a town bakery to pick up some fresh rolls and ham for lunch. We think it was Maishofen, but we didn't make a note of it at the time... Then we headed back to Zell am See for a quick rest before my race!

It was a lovely place to race, running through the cobbled town before heading about 2km out of town along the lakeside path, then turning around and coming back. I actually ran practically all of it, which was a record for me, and I even made it 1.3km before I saw the winner coming back the other way! In the end, I ran the 4.2km in 27:27, which was pretty quick and I was very pleased with the result (about 200 out of 270 ladies). Plus, I have a new finisher shirt and a medal now!

Then I only had time to shower and change, really, before heading back to the conference centre for the pasta party! Basically, it was a huge buffet with lots of types of pasta, and they used it as a welcome dinner, with a few speeches and discussion about the race and the Iron Man organisation. It was pretty delicious and a great reward after my race!

Athletic Adventures: IronMan 70.3 Zell am See - Day 1

The last weekend of the summer, we were headed to Europe for the Husband to compete in the Austrian IronMan 70.3 in the lakeside town of Zell am See

We were up early at 5am for our 9am Heathrow flight, which we made just in time! We were actually flying into Germany, so we landed in Munich, which is a lovely small-ish airport. That made it easy for us to get our car. We even got a free upgrade to a van, when the guy behind the counter saw that we had a bike bag with us. I think we would have been fine without a van, but it certainly made it easier!

Then we made the 2.5hr drive through Germany, to Austria, and over to Zell am See. Just before we entered Austria we stopped at a service station for a special motorway sticker (which I don't think we actually used in the end, but better to be safe than sorry) and some fresh rolls with salami. Then we made it into Zell am See, heading straight to our apartment.

It was a really nice little studio apartment with quite a lot of space, and we were so centrally located, a 2 minute walk from the conference centre, centre of town and the finish line! We decided to have a rest though before heading into town for a walk around and dinner. We ended up at a restaurant where I had the best dinner - fettuccine with mushrooms that had been picked from the local forest that afternoon, and a local gin made with local botanicals and made 10 minutes up the road! So delicious...

Besties in Barcelona: Day 5

Onto our final day! We didn't have to check out of the hotel until 12, so after another late night we got ready and made sure we had everything before checking out, leaving our bags at the hotel and heading out for the day.

We headed to the Museum of Catalonian Art for the day, partly because it had lots to explore, and partly because of the air conditioning! We first explored the Romanesque works, most of which were originally on the walls of churches, and had been painstakingly removed and pasted into the museum. I was fascinated by the process and the conservation work which went into this process!

We had lunch in the museum cafe (sandwiches and French pastries, of all things), and we attempted to go in the art exhibit, which was a giant white bouncy castle! Unfortunately, they had closed it for cleaning so we missed out and we were very disappointed about that!

After eating, we went to check out the modern art. It was more my style, with bits of Gaudi and Picasso thrown in amongst the other names we didn't recognise. We didn't have as much time as we would have liked, because we had to leave to get back to the hotel.

We made it safely to the airport with plenty of time, but unfortunately the flight was delayed and we took off about 40 minutes later than we were supposed to. Once we were in the air we were glad to get home - and now Australians can use the e gates so it was very quick through to the arrivals gate and the train station!

In the end, I got home around 9pm, just in time for dinner and a cuddle before bed. I was hoping for cooler weather in London, but it's having none of it with 39 tomorrow!

Besties in Barcelona: Day 4

For day 4, we had a rather long sleep in, getting up around 10 and getting ready in a leisurely manner. While our aircon had apparently been fixed, I'm not sure it was much better and we haven't been sleeping well in the heat. And with another hot day ahead, we headed up to Park Guell to explore the outdoors.

It was great! We explored more than last time, although slowly, and we still weren't able to see the dragon. It turns out that the main part of the park (that you see in pictures and is actually the main entrance) is ticketed, and not only did we not want to line up to get one they were sold out! So I guess that's still on the list of things to do...

We did, however, go to the Gaudi House Museum, which I didn't do last time. It was really interesting to see the actual house he lived in and how austere his life was, especially compared to the sometimes ostentatious nature of his architecture. They had some of his furniture, and presentations which elaborated on his later life, which I didn't know a huge amount about so far.

By the time we were done, we headed away from the park and back to Las Ramblas. It was time for food! It was approaching 2:30 by this point and we were hungry, so we stopped in a restaurant for a late lunch, where I had a salad because it was so hot. I just couldn't bring myself to eat some hot food...

After lunch we headed over to the Picasso Museum, a totally new Barcelona experience to me. I didn't even know Picasso had lived in Barcelona! It was really interesting, given that what myself (like most people) know about Picasso is about his later more modern art. However, the museum covered his whole life and tracked the evolution of his works through his life, which I found interesting. I also hadn't realised that Picasso had used so many mediums - there were sculptures, photography and film, both by him and of him working, which was so interesting. I guess I hadn't realised quite how recent his life was, and the technologies he had at his disposal.

By the time we had finished there and returned to the hotel, it was 6pm and we were pretty shattered, so after a rest (trying not to melt under the terrible aircon), we decided to head back to Asian Ways for dinner given how yummy it was and how convenient the location was (less than 5 minutes down the road!). This time I had rice paper rolls and tempura prawns, and they were also excellent!

Before bed, we packed a little and I checked to find out that check out was 12pm! So not the rush I thought it would be in the morning.

Besties in Barcelona Day 3

For day 3 of our adventures, we had to get up earlier - well, a bit earlier. We both slept terribly though after a sweltering night in air conditioning that basically didn't work, but we were up and out by just after 9 to make our timed ticket for Sagrada Familia.

Like most of these places, I have been here before, but it never ceases to amaze. I noticed new details and of course, there had been some more work done since I was there just over a year ago. Still, estimated completion for the main building work is 2026 (also the 100th anniversary of the death of Gaudi), and decorative work finishing in 2032. So I'll have to come back again!

The stained glass is what gets me every time. Is so nice and beautifully planned, not to mentioned making the most of the space which they have on the block. And we spent a good several hours here, admiring the architecture and having a lovely time.

We then stopped on the way back to the hotel in order to do my favorite pastime- fabric shopping! I picked up a 3m piece of one lovely viscose for a dress, and another 1m piece for a top for only 3,95 a metre! Very pleased with that and thinking about what I'm going to make already!

We decided we needed a quick lunch, as we had a 3pm tour booked and it was 1:30pm, so we stopped in at a Subway. I even ordered my salad in Spanish and I'm feeling very proud about that indeed.

Then we headed up to Castell Montjuic. We are staying near Paral.lel station which is super convenient, so we got the Funicular up to the park, then the cable car to the top. We had enough time for a quick browse before our tour at 3pm. We saw the prison cells where they had graffiti on the walls, the main features that are open to the public, and even got to climb the watchtower and see the fantastic view!

After the tour, we went to the visitor centre briefly before heading back to the hotel for a rest. For dinner this evening we headed to Barceloneta near the beach. In fact, we found the great tapas place we went to with my family last year, and had dinner there! It was just as awesome as I remembered and I ate all my squids with gusto (and potatas bravas and a Gin Mare g&t!).

We are now enjoying our late evening with snacks from the Supermercat and Mentes Criminales on tv. That would be Criminal Minds in Spanish!

Besties in Barcelona: Day 2

We were able to have a bit of a sleep in this morning, which was much appreciated after the long day yesterday! We got up around 9 and our first stop for the day was Casa Batllo, which is my favourite of the Gaudi houses. It is absolutely gorgeous, inspired by the ocean and filled with warm woods, beautiful stained glass, and a gorgeous internal light well. As always, it's beautifully designed and so clever. I love it!

By the time we finished, it was time for lunch. We found a place along the way which served single sized tapas on slices of bread. I had 2 with calamari, one with salmon tataki, and one with Iberico ham. Delicious, and it was highly air conditioned which also was good. Every day here is around 32 Celsius and very sunny!

We were then on our way to the nearby La Pedrera (or Casa Mila, which is it's real name). It's interesting because it's still got working apartments in it - you can only access a few floors because the rest are actual apartments. It's a little more traditional than Casa Batllo, but still lovely and also has a cool rooftop terrace. Plus, La Pedrera has the best attic!

On our way back to the hotel (we walked both ways), we stopped on La Rambla for icecream to take on the walk home with us. I got delicious passionfruit and blackberry which was great!

We had another siesta in the hotel (very quickly adapting to Spanish customs) for a few hours before deciding that we were too tired to venture far, but that we wanted something other than tapas for dinner. So we went to a nearby noodle bar called Asian Ways. It was amazing! Great gyoza, and chicken teriyaki udon which was lovely as well. A very pleasant surprise and a delicious close by dinner.

Besties in Barcelona: Day 1

To celebrate finding the school year and the stay of the summer, my bestie Jess and I are headed to Barcelona for a few days!

Day 1 started off obscenely early. We were due to fly out of Luton on a 7am flight, so I was up at 2:30am making sure everything was packed and ready to go. Or of the house at 3:15 and onto a night bus to Westminster Tube station... Or not as it turned out. There were 5 of us on the bus when there was a crunching sound, and the bus lurched to a stop. Turns out, our driver had gone up the kerb, hit a bollard, and almost taken out a traffic light! 

Luckily for us, we were only 5 minutes short of Vauxhall station, so I jumped quickly onto the tube and it didn't delay me at all. I caught the tube to Finchley Road then got onto a National Express bus, where Jess was waiting for me (she had gotten on at an earlier stop)! We got to Luton on time, and had no trouble getting onto our flight (of which I have no memory because I was asleep!).

We arrived in Barcelona around 10:30 and headed straight to our hotel to change and drop our bags before heading out to lunch. We stopped on la Rambla (which is very close to our hotel) for rolls and the largest strawberry mojito cocktail, which we split!

After lunch, we headed to our closest Gaudi spot, Palau Guell. Having been before, I really felt like I noticed some different things and learned new details about the house. I have come to the decision, though, that I don't think I'd live in it. It's very dark and medieval and not my style overall.

By the time we finished Palau Guell we could barely keep going, so we went back to the hotel for a nap before dinner. We had talked about something super local, and there was a McDonald's across the road which we thought we might go to, but then we realised how much of a waste that would be and found a good local tapas place instead. I wasn't feeling that well, so just had squid and potatas bravas, but it was delicious!

And then a nice big sleep...