Saturday, July 09, 2011

Travelblog 28 June - July 30

29 June - London

We arrived in the UK and the entire nation immediately went on strike. Thousands of civil servants including immigration officers went off home. We were processed quickly but apparently by the end of the day the queue at Heathrow stretched back to the planes.
We went to the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. And read all about the reasons why Greece isn't going to get them back.

We visited Trafalgar Square and finished the day with fish and chips at the pub around the corner from our Earl's Court hotel.

30 June - Brighton

Having recently seen the movie 'Brighton Rock' we were keen to see the place for ourselves. We toured the Royal Pavilion, checked out the delights of the pier (so cheesey, so corny), scoffed at the pebble beach,

tried out the deck chairs and resisted the Brighton Rock which you could buy in any shape you liked, including babies dummies.
back in London, we chose Chinatown for our evening meal hoping to catch a glimpse of a green vegetable.

July 1 - Dublin

The day started badly when a customs officer, no longer on strike, confiscated my Vegemite. No vegemite allowed in Ireland. How I have missed it!
I was directed to my seat on the plane. Right Foot was behind me. 'Just follow herself', said the Aer Lingus flight attendant.
Things looked up when we saw our hotel. It was in a great location and was a zillion times better than the Sardine Tin in London.
Our second Son-Out-Law had asked us to look out for any stuff with the Beamish logo. It's his surname and a brand of beer in Ireland. Late in the day I noticed a pub called 'The Flowing Tide' advertising Beamish. In we went and came out much, much later with a pile of free Beamish-logoed paraphenalia and a few beers under our belts.


July 2 - Dublin

There's lots of green in Ireland but none of it edible. No bok choy, no broccoli, just incredibly starchy mooshy peas.
We visted Trinity, saw the Book of Kells, the sculpture of Molly Malone and St Patrick's Cathedral. Guiness has taken over the town so we decided seeing the brewery from the outside was enough. We were barracking for Beamish anyway.
In the museum a young American girl asked me for directions to the 'barg bardies' but I had to hurry off, or so I thought, to catch the bus.
That's when I did my first dummy spit of the trip. I was over the hop-on hop-off bus and the turn-on turn-off Irish charm. We'd been promised there'd be no more than a 15 minute wait at any bus stop. But the Hop On company rented out their busses for a Right to Life demo which meant we waited for 45. I would have had time to see the bog bodies myself. When a bus eventually turned up I let the driver have it.
We ate at a Spanish restaurant. In Spain they've heard of vegetables other than Murphys.

July 3 - Kilkenny - Tipperary - Cashel

We picked up our hire car and left Dublin to begin our ancestor hunt. First stop was Kilkenny which is a beautiful place but without conspicuous Meaneys, the family RF has links with.
Onto Galbally, the tiny village in a beautiful valley near the Tipperary/Limerick border where my mum's mum came from. I found 4 graves in the old cemetery and one in the new with my great grandmother's maiden name on the headstone. I cannot be sure they were related to me but I'm claiming them anyway.

We stayed at a B & B in Cashel where we were overwhelmed with hospitality by the propietor Peggy O'Neill. She made us a coffee which in colour and quantity rivalled the Yarra.
We ate at a 1709 pub where we ordered fish and were served the whole school.

4 July - Tipperary - Clare
We visited the Rock of Cashel in Tipperary which is very impressive but where the lady -in-charge was having a very bad day.
Then onto to Clare where mum's father's family came from. We stayed in the county town, Ennis, at the most anonymous large hotel we could find, to contrast with the overwhelming hospitality of Peggy O'Neill and her oh so charming but oh so insincere husband.
We visited the stunning Cliffs of Mohrer and its wonderful visitor centre, then the disappointing ClareCastle.
Had a great night at the local with a bunch of tourists listening to the dreaded Irish music we'd been trying to avoid.

July 5 - Trim

We explored The Burren and stayed overnight at Trim in County Meath.

July 6 - Donore
A very full day which included Bective Abbey where we saw an archeological dig in progress. Onto Tara to see the ancient kingy stuff then it was on to the site of the Battle of the Boyne. Our pub was on the site of king James's camp the night before the battle. We toured the cave tombs at Newgrange which was a mystical, magical experience.

July 7 - Dublin

Major stress day. Had to get the car back to Hertz before it turned into a pumpkin then had a couple of hours in the National Gallery before another airport bum recital. Flew to Paris very late and had a difficult time getting to our hotel. I was nearly hysterical by the time we did. Paris was really rocking and I calmed down after a drink at a bar near our hotel. Families with young children were dining though it was nearly midnight.

July 8 - Paris

A lovely low-key day in the Paris sunshine to recuperate from the traumas of the previous day.



Had a glace-au-chocolait for dejeuner and for dinner, Foot had a supreme de volaille.



This dish has been a standing joke in our family for many years but this was the first time we'd actually seen it on a menu. The waiter smirked - he obviously thought it a joke dish too. I expect they place bets on how many tourists order it in a day.


The palid vin blanc looked innocuous but packed a punch. I was soon comotose.

July 9 - Amiens
After more adventures with the French transport system we arrived in Amiens. We could not get into a Battlefields tour until Monday so had a day and a half to fill. Had another Crepe Suzette, lit candles for Caspie and Mads then waited for the late night sound and light show outside Notre Dame Cathedral which showed the orginal colours of the statuary. This removed the subtle, sombre feel of the cathedral and made it more accessible. It became a totally different experience seeing it like this.
Here's a media kit which tells you all about it.
Inside they have John the Baptist's head on display. He wasn't looking his best but you could tell it was him. The resemblance to his famous cousin was astonishing.

July 10 - Amiens

We took a very picturesque boat trip through the floating gardens,
saw the fabulous collection at Jules Verne's four story house, visited the so-so Picardie museum, took another canal ride through the old town and finally had dinner in the old quarters of St Leu

July 11 - Battlefields Tour
We waited in the wrong place but the excellent Lea found us anyway. Our first stop was the memorial where RF's uncle David is remembered on the wall and in the register.
He was killed at Mouquet Farm which we visited later. Lea had done her research and could pinpoint the area where David died.
Next stop was Victoria school where every classroom has the sign, "N'oublions pas les Australiens"

We spent the day touring a number of cemeteries, battlefields and memorials. We found a number of errors in the descriptions, notably a reference to a sculpture carved by someone at the 'University of Daylesford'
It was warm and sunny and, just like at Gallipoli a couple of years ago, I was struck by the contrast between the beauty of the area and the ghastly stuff that happened there.

July 12 - Paris to Berlin
Our last day in Paris and raining quite hard. A million feral tourists crowded onto the buses and we got the news that Mads has tonsillitis. I now had 2 sick grandchildren on opposite sides of the world.

The dreaded hop-on-hop-off bus broke down and we had to walk for miles. This was our second bad experience with this company within a few days. Clearly they are flakes.

July 13 - 16 - Berlin

It's time for one last crepe before heading to Orly which turned out to rival CDG for the stress factor. RF finally had his Swiss army knife confiscated after successfully parlaying it through airports all over the globe.

But it was OK: my stress point came down to its resting level because we were flying Air Berlin and not Air France. Order and organisation supplanted chaos and crowds.
The flight was short, a taxi awaited and we were soon at the hotel, sitting on the end of Madeleine's bed (it was nearly midnight)having a beer. Mere had done us proud. It was a five star in a great location. It cost her a fortune and it meant all our Christmases had come at once.

Our shower reminded me of those psychological experiments designed to test whether monkeys prefer surrogate wire mothers that feed them or cloth mothers that don't.



Wonderfully relaxing 4 days: frustuch and flat white (at last!), picnic lunch in a park, Brandenburg Gate, pizza and wine for dinner. No-one worries about the legal 120 ml limit in Europe, they fill the glass up. Dinosaur museum, Asian restaurant (coriander!), Pergamon Museum, Gates of Babylon , shopping, Checkpoint Charlie, bits of the wall, bullet holes eveywhere, Berlin Zoo and Legoland.

I had a great time shopping at Nivea Haus. Nivea is a product dear to the hearts of many in my extended family and here was a whole shop full of Nivea stuff.

My favourite memory will be Ampelmann. Apparently when the Wall fell and Berlin was reunited the authorites tried to abolish symbols of the East. But the people fought hard to retain their extremely cute 'walk' and 'don't walk' traffic man, Ampelmann.

Unique to Berlin, Appelmann is now an icon and is seen on tee shirts, coffee mugs and a million other souvenirs.





Finally, we relucantly checked out of the Eurostars Hotel and took the intercity to Frankfurt. We had our own clean, comfortable compartment, met some nice people to share a wine with and had dinner in the diner. Great fun.

In Germany any time a train is running late someone appears and gives you a freebie of some sort. We now have two playmobile figures and endless packs of gummy bears.


July 17 - Frankfurt

Sunday is very quiet in Frankfurt and it's cold and wet but at last RF gets to the Zeppelin museum.

July 18 - Frankfurt
Booked our tickets for the Chunnel. Bought bananas for 1,49 instead of $14.00. Cherries are 4 Euro.
My turn to cook dinner.
Prost!

July 19 - Rudesheim
Acting on the recommendation of Mads's other granny, Right Foot and I take the train to Rudesheim, a very picturesque old town on the Rhine. The day comprised stunning views from the chair lift, a long leisurely lunch featuring generous serves of streusel and a visit to a museum of mechanical musical instruments which was fantastic.

July 20 - Frankfurt
Another rainy day and we worked hard to entertain Mads. She pronounced the Children's Museum boring but we had better luck at the outdoor school holiday activities near the opera. She met a New Zealand family and played with them

July 21 - Saalburg
We visited the Roman town at Saalberg.. It was cold and wet so I took most interest in the indoor sights.

There were guests for dinner - one of Mads's best friends, her sister and mum. They are German speaking Irish / Americans. It was a fun night.

July 22 - Munich
Mere, Foot, Mads and I headed to Munich and it scarely stopped raining for 3 days. The wet weather gear I bought for Ireland but didn't need finally got a workout. Munich's the first German town I've been to where drivers honk their horns in anger. The shopping was the same globalised crapola as every other place. Well done, Esprit, Benneton and Zara. There's nothing unique anywhere any more.
What is different though is the escalators that don't start moving until you get close to them. They can smell you coming and try to run away.


Mads was desperate for some kid company and we spent 3 and 1/2 hours in a play park followed by a very nice dinner in a genuine beer hall, not another tourist in sight.
There's lots of bucks' nights and hens' nights in Munich and the streets throng with brides and grooms in veils, trains, lederhosen and various other tasteless garments.

July 23 - Munich
Mads was sick so we took it in turns to stay by the sick bed and to visit the sights. The palace is rather like Versailles but thankfully without the crowds. We visited the toy museum and the dom. Mads rallied for some Thai takeaway.
We heard the bad news about Norway and Amy Winehouse and the good news about Cadel Evans. Locally, no-one is interested in a non-European winning Le Tour.

July 24 - Munich to Frankfurt
I find these long train trips very relaxing and am always sorry to arrive, totally unlike a plane trip.
We had a cider dinner at the Textorhouse.

July 25 - Frankfurt

Mads still not well but we managed to get her to the family schiebel garden where we picked blackberries and tried not to be stung by nettles.


Tomorrow's our last day here and I'm not looking forward to another farewell. I'm also dreading my email in-box and some impending dental work. Looking forward to seeing Hil, Rob and Caspie though.

July 26 - Frankfurt

The day turned out to be very pleasant. Foot and I went to the modern art gallery which is fabulous - a terrific building and some very interesting works. We met Mere for lunch and a great coffee in the market.
A bit of shopping in some groovy homeware places and then home to prepare a traditional Hesse dinner of eggs and potatoes with green sauce. We added broccoli and sausages and served it with apfelwine. It was our last supper together for who knows how long

July 27 - Frankfurt to London via the chunnel


Today we passed through four countries: Germany, Belgium, France and England. First, Frankfurt to Brussels on the intercity to pick up the Eurostar. Then to Lille just before entering the chunnel. Following Matt's advice I kept a torch ready just in case the worst happened. You have to really work at conjuring up the undersea feeling though.
We share our journey with a very bright, volatile, trilingual 2 and a half year old. By the end of the trip she is monkey-barring it around the carriage on the luggage rack.
July 28 - London
We started the day in our Earl's Court dungeon and found it was sunny and warm outside. We had a very pleasant day shopping, sight-seeing and strolling through the beautiful parks.
It is wonderful being in the linguistic majority group again. After 2 weeks of feeling like a dummy, I talk and listen and talk some more.
Then it's the dreaded flight home via Singapore. But first, one more banana. At this price why not have two. Or three.

July 29th - Friday
The day that disappeared.

July 30th - Melbourne
Arrived at the crack of dawn on Saturday.