June Holiday: 9 June

I slightly spoke too soon last night, as for some reason, although we had been called for boarding, we sat for about 30 minutes at the top of the ramp, and the Shuttle was very late moving off.  I went to bed, and naughtily stayed there while the Swan Whisperer drove to the car-park. Not doing that again, though, as it was very uncomfortable, especially the jolts over the carriage separators on the train.

It must have been well after 2:00 am local time before we got to sleep, so we didn't exactly hurry in the morning. After a latish breakfast, I did some shopping, forgetting to buy eggs, and also looked for new trainers. Unsuccessfully, but would you believe that two pairs have demised on successive holidays? 

Finally we set off. Our first port of call was the Auchan petrol station, and then a very brief stop somewhere for me to get some extra water out of the fridge - I have been thirsty all day - and then we got past Brussels and stopped in a services for a very long lunch break that included a nap for both of us!  After which, we did not stop again until we got to this motor home park, which is very nice, and, for the first time, I am sitting out on our new chairs to write this.

So it has been breakfast in France, lunch in Belgium and supper in Germany!

June Holiday, 8 June

I am posting this as we wait to board the Shuttle en route, eventually, to Oberstdorf. It has been a long day, taking Boy Two swimming, and then fetching the Boy and his friend from school. Took Boy Two on his scooter for the first time, which ought to have worked but I forgot about bookbags and flutes and coats.... All of which normally pile on the pushchair!  However, when we finally got home, all three children disappeared to play, and half an hour later I was free to go home, load the van, eat supper, and we set off at 8.00 pm. No chance of an earlier crossing, though, and this one is taking forever to load. When it has, I shall get ready for bed and it won't be long before we are snuggled down outside Cité Europe.

Redbridge Central Library and Museum

It being half-term Friday, we were on grandparent duty.  In fact, the Boy had spent the night with us, and so we didn't set off very early, since Granda, who had been going to get up and go to Lidl to buy pains au chocolat for breakfast, got side-tracked by the book of trees that the Boy was looking at, and I was showered and dressed long before either of them were ready to do so.

But we set off eventually, catching the Northern Line to Moorgate, and then the Metropolitan/Hammersmith and City/Circle Line (I think it was a Hammersmith and City train) to Liverpool Street, and then a TfL Rail train to Ilford.  This was great fun, as it was "racing" the longest freight train you ever did see - don't know where that would have been going, but until just before we got to Ilford, it was on the fast lines and we would overtake it between stations, and then it would catch up when we were in the station, and so on....  But it turned off just before we got to Ilford.

When we got out of the station, we weren't too sure where we were, and took some time to orient ourselves; however, eventually we realised that the railway line was going underneath the road, rather than alongside it, so we got ourselves straightened out, and soon found the Central Library and Museum which we had come to see.

The main event was an exhibition - which ended today - of the various Ice Age mammal skeletons and fossils that had been found in the area.  This was not, alas, as interesting as it had been touted, and was, in fact, very small - mostly a rather silly film reconstruction of a lecture given in Victorian times about amateur excavations in the area, and then a few bones.  I rather felt "Is that it?" when I had seen it.   But we then went up another flight of stairs to the main museum, and that was rather more interesting, being set out as a "trip back in time" in the area.  Mostly very good, but an egregious "it's" when they meant "its" set our teeth on edge.  The Boy took more interest in this, and I think he and his Granda went round twice - he had a trail of things to find.  After a bit, though, we decided we had seen it all, and it was time for lunch.  They could always go back up to search for the rest of the things to find on the trail when we had eaten. 

So we descended to the café on the ground floor of the library, which was very good despite purporting to sell "Panini's" (honestly, wouldn't you think a public library would know better?).  The Boy and I both had quiche followed by an ice-cream sundae ("But I can't have that," said the Boy, "It's only Friday!"  I had to explain what a Sundae was and why it was called it, and that it was perfectly all right to have it on any day), and The Swan Whisperer (aka Granda) had a jacket potato with something - chicken and sweetcorn, I think - and a chocolate brownie.  Remarkably good value for money.

Then they went back upstairs to finish the trail, but couldn't find any bison no matter how hard they looked (The Boy wanted to call them "bisson", and I don't know why they aren't, now I come to think of it).  I think the exhibition was being run down as it was the last full day.

And then back to his on the 123 bus - a very quick and easy journey, only about 20 minutes - to find one of the cats had been extremely sick on the floor, but luckily the Swan Whisperer coped! 

I hope the Boy enjoyed it; it's not always easy to know whether he enjoys things or not.....

Fun in the park

... or, you don't need to go far from home to enjoy yourself!

We spent much of today in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow.  The Friends of the park - or some similar body, not sure who - had organised a nature day.  The pond in the park is in the form of a moat going round an artificial island in the middle, and most of the activities were on the island.  There was grass-beating, and you could see what insects and seeds you collected; tree shaking, ditto, and, above all, pond dipping.  The Boy caught several bloodworms and Boy Too caught a water-boatman in their various nets.  This was great fun, and would have been even more fun had the amount of pollen in the air not set my hay fever off big time!  And I had taken loretidine the previous evening, too, but I was streaming from every facial orifice and just longing to go home! 

However, this was not to happen for some time; there was a nature trail, which suggested various activities like listening to see what you could hear (mostly traffic on the North Circular, it has to be said, but there was also a blackbird); identifying trees; seeing if you could jump as far as a squirrel between two trees (this was a rope laid on the ground), etc.  The Boy and his Granda particularly enjoyed trying to identify the trees, but Granda said every tree he couldn't recognise was a beech tree,

which really didn't help.  To the point where I very nearly sent a picture message to my father to ask what the wretched trees were, which I would have done were he not on a cruise!  Great-Ba, you see, "knows everything about trees" (according to The Boy, anyway).  The best thing was that the Boy can now read the instructions for himself, and didn't need anybody to explain them to him. 

After this, we repaired to the park café for a not very nice lunch, although both boys did more than justice to their sandwiches.  Then we decided to set off home as the children had made ice-cream the previous day and were longing to try it.  However, there was a small funfair in the park, and it was just opening and the boys begged to be allowed to visit.  We said they could have one ride each, and they chose - well, the Boy chose, and his brother tagged along - the "Space Train".

They were the only children on it, and the very kind man who ran the attractions let them have a ride that was far longer than normal, so they definitely got their money's worth.  I was a little anxious about letting Boy Two on the ride - he won't be three until September and isn't very good at following instructions yet - but in the event, he behaved simply beautifully. 

And so we went home, with the Boy riding his bike and Boy Too on his scooter while we were in the park and in his pushchair - where he fell asleep and missed out on the ice cream - on the road. 

A Weekend in Wales - conclusion

So Tuesday was, as scheduled, spent with family; we had a lovely time, but nothing to blog about.  We came away on Wednesday morning and drove cross-country back to London, getting a bit lost in Oxfordshire when I thought I'd seen a sign for a picnic area, but must have been mistaken.  However, we got to the motorway soon enough, and I then slept until we were very nearly home!

The motor home was emptied out and cleaned, and has been taken back to its garage in Sussex until the next time.  Meanwhile, the laundry has been done, and the blog posts updated with photographs.

Next stop, probably, Oberstdorf.

A Weekend in Wales, Monday

It is no longer the weekend, and we are no longer in Wales, but parked up outside my sister-in-law's place in Shropshire (so nearly Wales!).

We left Llangollen mid-morning, and out first port of call was the Pontcyllyst aqueduct, which was very impressive, but I bottled it and had to wait for the SW to walk there and back. 

Then we drove to Whitchurch, where we did some shopping, and then down here, stopping for lunch en route.  We are here until Wednesday morning, but I probably won't blog tomorrow unless we do something spectacular....

A Weekend in Wales: Sunday

To summarise: Pentecost with trains!

It was another glorious day. Our kind hosts had offered to take us into Llangollen for the open-air joint Pentecost service, and even brought chairs for us. The service was held in the park above the river, and was also in aid of Christian Aid Week.  The local Silver Band played the hymns, which were mostly in English but a couple in Welsh, and rather dirge-like, but everybody sang with good heart. The liturgy was jointly in English and Welsh, so you could follow what was happening even if you didn't speak Welsh, as we don't.

When it was over, we bade farewell to our hosts, and headed down to the station. We could have caught the next train, but decided we wanted to see a bit of the canal first, so walked up to Llangollen Wharf, and along to the basin where there were plenty of narrow-boats moored.

The timing was wrong for a boat trip, so we went back to the station in time to catch the next train, and enjoyed the ride to Carrog, where we had a sandwich lunch and I had an ice cream which was supposed to be honey and lavender, but really didn't taste of either.

There was a miniature steam train, too, that we had a ride on,

and a rather eclectic bookshop/railway stuff shop. I bought a couple of badges for the boys.

Then we got the train back to Berwyn, and walked back to the van for a Nice Cup of Tea, and then went out again to look at Vale Crucis Abbey, just across the road.came back to the van, and the SW went out for another walk up a steep hill (it takes all sorts!) and he has just come in, so I will get supper.