London Baby

It was so nice to visit my old stomping ground.  Yes we always visit London every year at Christmas and during the summer holidays, but we never venture further than zone one. We had left booking our hotel until the last minute, surprise surprise, and were planning on giving AirBNB a try, hipster wannabes that we are.  I had mentioned it at school and the few people who had heard of it weren't overly enthusiastic about it, so I decided to give it a miss this time.  That left us with nowhere to stay, Tall Girl 1, had offered us some space on her floor, just as I was about to take her up on her offer GO had booked a hotel. It was a travelodge (nothing wrong with cheap and cheerful, especially in London) and it was in the Docklands.  Right around the corner from Custom House where I lived when I first moved to London, all those many moons ago.  See, before I was a North Londoner, I was an Eastender.  

We arrived and almost immediately I took charge (what's new there) I got us onto the tube towards Tower Hill (Hello Babs and Rog) we then changed onto the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) towards Bank and settled in for a relatively pain free journey.  Until we arrived at Custom House which was closed, I was convinced that we had gone a stop too far and made GO get off the train and walk around the EXCEL building towards the hotel.  It was after we had gone down the lift that I decided to just check on the phone.  I have tapped the screen a few times and as if by magic the hotel popped up along with our location. We/I were/was going the wrong way, and we hadn't missed our stop we had gotten off the DLR three stops early.  Anyhow we added a nice big total to our Fitbits that day, a theme for the week that had begun on our Saturday walk.  

As we settled into the hotel we decided that while we both knew London really well, especially the North and West sides,  we'd explore more of the East and South East.  We decided to spend our time in the Docklands, Greenwich, and Canary Wharf.  What fun we had,  more on the later.

Sommerzeit 2016 Woche 2

We have definitely settled into our little routine; Frühstuck, trip, lunch, movie, tea, soaps, bed/chat to GO, read, bed.

We have continued to revisit places of the past and have discovered new, exciting places.

Botanische Garten

During the Weihnachts be such we visited the tier park in Bielefeld, passing a sign for the Botanische Garten, promising that we would return in the summer.  We we have returned.  It was a lovely walk up (uphill) and around the garden.  There were lots of native plants but also some more exotic flavours.  We didn't see the whole garden, both the rents are unaccustomed to that much walking, but we saw enough. Again it was free to visit, what is loved was watching the could walking around planning which plants they wanted.

Mamilein and Papichen wanted to relive last years dramatic summer so they took me to the Kurpark in Bad Oyenhausen, it was lovely, very peaceful.  Everywhere you looked there were little groups of people walking or sitting and conversing.  It was very easy to forget that most of  these individuals were probably recovering from some recent trauma or medical condition.  It is most definitely in the German mindset (at least those of a certain generation) that there is nothing that can't be cured by a nice long walk in the fresh air.  I tend to think I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly.

A Walk On The Wild Side

What to do when the weather is grotty and you are penniless?

Go for a walk, a damp, squishy walk.

We stoppe of at Gorpley woods and went in search of nature.

The initial path from the car park is very sloppy and quite treacherous, as always I'm okay going uphill, it's downhill I struggle with.

It was worth the slipping, sliding and midgies when we got to the first waterfall.

As Dirk said it was very similar to Ricketts Glenn in Pennsylvania.

Getting out in the fresh air

What a lovely day we had today, getting out and about on the seafront. After the trauma of the other day, we borrowed another bike from Finlaw. We headed for the seaside, initially we planned to go to Blackpool but as there was an air show on (and GO had been in touch with a friend who was working) we decided to go to Lytham.

People always remark on how we seem to have such fun when were together.  Just to show the other side, this is how we looked after trying to put the bikes back into the car.

Kind Regards, C xx

Location:Lytham St Annes

Family get together

We spent the day with GO's elder brother and his parents, we went for a meal and a walk around a NT park.

It was so much fun spending time with our little nieces and getting to play and be silly without and responsibility.

I couldn't help making a feel mental notes (aka an EYFS long obs) about the learning and skill I was seeing.

- Kind Regards, C xx

He broke my bike ;-((

GO had an idea, seize the day and all that.  We'd get a bike and go for a ride along the Blackpool sea front.  I had my bike so all we needed was to borrow on from the Finlaw.  First problem, we couldn't get my bike out of the cellar.  GO decided that what we needed to do was just unscrew the handle bars.  Two hours later, after being unable to reattach them I called a local bike repair shop who talked me through how to fix it, it didn't work. My bike is now back in the cellar waiting for someone to come along and fix it, when I can afford it that is.

Pre-Trip-Trip

In preparation for the school trip to Filey next week, I volunteered (SUCKA) to do a pre visit.  In previous years the itinerary has looked quite scant.  I have never worked in a school that requires so much information about a trip before you have even sent the letters out to parents. 

I had initially planned to go on the Wednesday, but after an action packed weekend we needed a bit of a break, and I had sodding reports to complete (2 down, 22 to go....).  So Friday morning we checked the weather app (all sunny and bright) and tootled off up the M62, following the trusty satus navigus.  I had looked on the map and it looked about an hour or so away (you know its not going to be even slightly that close).

Our delightful satus navigus  must have at some point, by me I must admit, been programmed to take the scenic route, because that is all it ever takes.  We have just left the M62 when we hit a spot of congestion.  As GO rightly mumbled from the passenger seat, "bloody weekend traffic, holiday makers all going home".  None of which I had any control over, we also hit road works, road narrowing and a whole shed load of traffic lights.  We both noted that the road leaving Filey/Scarborough was just as congested and made mental notes to go home a different way. By now we had passed, Huddersfield, Halifax, Leeds, York and Scarborough,  but we had made it, the sun was shining and we found a parking space, all be it on the top of the hill behind the grand hotels, at the cost of £5 for 4 hours.

We grabbed our gear and made out way to the seafront for our picnic, as we walked through the park past the playground, boating lake, mini race track and three putting greens, we noticed everybody else was wrapped up in jackets and scarves.  I then started to feel chilly, I had dressed for a day trip to the Northern Riviera in June, I should have dressed for a spring day by the North sea.  It was freezing, we decided against the sea front and took shelter in a pavilion on the putting green.  We/GO wrapped ourselves/himself in the picnic blanket and had our lunch.  As GO was still in recovery he passed on the coffee and just ate his roll, slowly.  I didn't want the whole day to be a bust so I told him to stay put an keep warm and I would go and take some photo for the trip.

As I strolled along the prom (prom, prom, tiddly, om, pom, pom) taking photos, planning activities for the children to do.  I realised that we would be here for about five hours, with 24 5/6 y.o's and all they had brought with them in previous years were some bats and balls.  I am planning on doing some sketching (of the beach huts), take some rubbings of the pavement (lots of shells and rocks), setting up a scavenger hunt, before running along the beach and paddling.

As I turned around making my way back to GO, I got a text message "I'm cold, going back to the car."  Bless him, he had to carry the backpack, cool box and my handbag back to the car all by himself.  just as he got himself comfy cosy I arrived and off we went, after a two and a half hour journey we had spent fifty minutes in Filey.  WE have used all of the fuel that we had put in the car (I will find out about getting that back, or maybe I should just claim expenses for it).  Mindful of the traffic leaving Filey on the way in we decided to go a different way towards Hull via, Bridlington and Beverly.  The satus navigus wasn't happy and kept trying to turn us

around.  Finally after being caught in the rush hour traffic we got home, 7 hours after we left.  This trip better be good, because I am not sure it will be worth all of the agro.  On the plus side it was a day out and I can now say I have been on the world tour of Yorkshire.