Münster

 Last week, while Dad was here, we visited Münster.  It's been a long time since I've visited a new city and it's definitely a different experience with children!  We decided to drive there which takes just under two hours.  We were ready to stretch our legs when we arrived.

 We had lunch and then headed further into the centre to visit the cathedral.  I found the surroundings of the cathedral a bit strange - not pedestrianised and busy as in many other cities but the cathedral itself was lovely.

 We had a look around inside.  The alter looked beautiful as it was all set up for the harvest festival.  There are some special features in the cathedral - an astronomical clock and a St.Christopher statue.  Unfortunately, children and quiet spaces don't mix well so I didn't see these features but Nico manage to find them for me.

 There is a second large church, pictured at the top of this post, which is famous for the three cages in which the corpses of criminals were displayed (as a warning to others) many years ago.

 We also visited the town hall.  For the children, the main highlights were chasing pigeons and being kitted out with new clothes in Primark.

 We sat outside for a drink before driving home.  We were very lucky with the weather.

 I can see why Münster is twinned with York.  Apart from the cathedral, which strongly resembles York Minster, the cities are around the same age, both have universities and lots of cyclists.  It is a really beautiful city and I would love to go again.

Liverpool

As I mentioned, we celebrated my sister's hen do in Liverpool at the weekend.  I had never been to the city itself before and I really loved it.  The glorious weather helped and the seagulls also gave it a seaside feeling.

On Saturday we had a wander to the docks, searching for a boat trip.  We didn't find one but there was so much to do and see.  Here's the bride posing on the docks.

Here we both are posing with Liverpool's most famous export.  We had also visited the Cavern Club the night before which was a lot of fun and we met a lot of lovely, fun people there.

It was Armed Forces Day and we passed through the recruitment drive on the docks.  They were also very good sports with so many hen dos on tour there.

Here, an example of some crazy sculptures from when Liverpool was City of Culture.

The Liver Building down on the front where we got a drink.  I can't wait to explore this city more with Nico in a few years.

Here's a photo of my sister and me in our gorgeous apartment.  Can't wait to see her get married at the end of the month.  (P.S. I'm starting to understand why my Gran cut her legs off all her photos!)

Holy Island

After the wedding - a beautiful day and fun reunion with the amazing ladies above, we drove up to Bamburgh and Holy Island. I'd been last summer but it was exciting to go back with friends.

Bamburg Castle

My road trip buddies enjoying the view

Beautiful scenery

The abbey on Lindesfarne

St Mary's Church on Holy Island

An interesting wooden sculpture

Hexham

On our way to my friend's wedding this week, we stopped off for a bit of sightseeing in Hexham.

We arrived at 4pm and looked around the priory including the creepy crypt.

Here are some photos:

Hen Weekend

My train picnic

 Last weekend I flew to England for my friend's hen do. It was my first time away from Joshua which was hard but having some girly giggles was good for me too.

Outside Newcastle station

 I arrived at midnight on Friday night and caught up with another school friend, my roomie for the weekend - Charlotte.

Dressed up with Charlotte

 On Saturday we went to It's a Knockout and competed against another hen do and two stag dos.

Action shot of the bride to be

 It was actually more fun than I expected in the wind and mud.

The whole team

 We came third out of four groups! Then it was back to the hotel for a swim.

The bride to be and her sister on the town

 In the evening we went to Cozy Joe's for karaoke and then a few bars.

The crazy cat ladies

 On Sunday we went to a cat cafe - Mog on the Tyne. The bride-to-be, Rachel, is a vet and cat lover.

Kitten (baby Pete)

 They have ten cats including two kittens. One looks just like Pete and I would have loved to sneak either of them out in my bag.

Kitten number 2

 I had a gluten free panini and juice. We had the place to ourselves for an hour which was lovely. The cats are so relaxed!

Stan after some hot chocolate

 After the cat cafe I headed back to Leeds with Charlotte to see family and friends before my flight on Monday. What a fab weekend.

Fun Wedding

 This weekend we drove four hours to Arnstadt in Thuringen to celebrate our lovely friends' wedding. If I'm honest, I was dreading it - four hour drive, hotel with two little kids, a full on wedding day with said kids. I couldn't have been more wrong.

 These two put a lot of pressure on themselves to provide their guests with a fun day of activities.

After a beautiful ceremony, in which they were married by the same registrar who married the groom's parents, there was a group photo and a delicious lunch.

 After lunch we broke into two groups for a guided tour of the town. One group had a Russian translator for the bride's family and friends.

Arnstadt is actually the hometown of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. He worked as an organist in the above church. There are also links to Martin Luther. The tour was really interesting.

After a chance to change we drove up a mountain for a treasure hunt. We were split into groups and we were with another young family with an easy route.

When we found our treasure, we let Isabella 'dig' it up; she was over the moon. It was fun and the weather was glorious all day.

After another quick change, we drove to the reception for some traditional fun, food and dancing.

It was a wonderful day for a wonderful couple.

Stockholm!

 We've just got back from a lovely week in Stockholm.  We wanted to try a new place and my Dad and I like to visit capital cities.  As he could fly from London and we could fly from Bremen, we decided to give Stockholm a go and we weren't disappointed.

 We had three full days there.  On the first day it snowed, which was very atmospheric.  We visited the Vasa Museum dedicated to a ship that lay under the waters of Stockholm harbour for 333 years after sinking on its maiden voyage.  It was really interesting.

 On the second day we stayed in Gamla Stan - the old part of the city where our hostel was.  We visited the royal palace and saw the changing of the guard.  The palace is still used by the royal family.  There are several museum section including the underground area which is dedicated to the original castle which burned down in the 17th century.

 On the final day we wandered around Södermalm before heading into the centre to visit the history museum to learn more about Sweden.  This museum was especially good for Isabella.

 We had a good time and enjoyed some of the local cuisine.  Although prices are a little high, I didn't find them too bad compared to capitals like London. The people were friendly and everybody spoke English.  The hostel was basic but clean and the other guests were generally friendly.  This was another highlight of the trip for Isabella.

London Planning

After our trip to Stockholm, I will be accompanying 70 year eights and six colleagues to London.

This week, I've been putting the programme together. So far we will be seeing, visiting, doing:

The London Eye - a great way to see the city.

Hyde Park - weather permitting...

The Tower of London - I already used this in lessons to get them into some British history with Henry VIII and his wives, the crown jewels etc. They also have an educational package I'm hoping will keep them busy.

A Thames Ferry - Greenwich to Westminster. Another great way to see a different side of London.

Camden Market - my favourite for shopping and lunch stalls.

Museum Corner - The Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert, The Science Museum. I did the V&A last time and I'm hoping to see the Natural History Museum this year.

Oxford Street - shopping...did I mention we're taking seventy adolescents, some of whom have been saving for this trip since they were born.

Brighton! - our day trip. I've never been and I'm really looking forward to it.

Let it snow!

Half of England is under water and we missed out on a white Christmas so we weren't expecting snow any time soon. When Nico discovered that Bremen had had a white coating in our absence, I wasn't too worried, last time snow hit Germany hard Bremen was the last airport standing.

Yesterday, we poled up at Manchester airport in plenty of time, cleared check in and security in record time with an eighteen month old and enjoyed a last English breakfast before heading to the gate.

And then came the delays. Our boarding time kept jumping by fifteen minutes with no explanation. Luckily, the gate was fairly empty and we were flying at a decent time for a toddler. After two and a half hours, we were given refreshment vouchers although they were only available for those with seats (so technically the under twos can fend for themselves - good job Isabella is so friendly!).

With the vouchers, we were given the information that the plane hadn't even left Bremen yet due to bad weather.

A short time later we were informed that the plane was indeed on the way and we should be on board with a four hour delay. What a relief! We boarded with a sleeping kiddo who didn't stay that way long.

After a long game of musical seats (mummy, papa, mummy, papa, etc) we reached Bremen. They were still behind schedule and we were forced to circle...

...Not long after this announcement, the weather turned again and Bremen airport closed. We were diverted to Munster, a good two hour drive away. Joy.

On arrival in Munster we discovered that we had been sharing a flight with one of the rudest men I have ever met. Going through passport control, he proceeded to blame Germany, as a nation, for all his problems including the weather, the fact that he had to go through passport control and the fact that his continued journey would be by bus with the rest of the plebs. This was all communicated with excessive use of the f-word in front of several children. The only consolation was the broad northern accent who responded to his taxi instead of bus request with a 'there'll be a bike for you if you don't shut up mate'.

Just under an hour at Munster and a bus arrived. After some cheeky behaviour, we managed to secure two seats for the two hour drive. There was barely any snow until we reached the outskirts of Bremen and Isabella slept so it was relaxing.

Arriving at Bremen airport, I headed straight for the shuttle and hit the day's fitness requirement by de-icing the car. There was some very careful driving before we arrived home around 11pm (it was planned at 3pm). I have never been so happy to be home! Of course we were wide awake and up until two so a long lie in this morning. And so endeth the saga.

Moral of the story - there's always a hiccup or two with Ryanair and we have the best daughter in the world.

A tourist again

As I mentioned, Dad is visiting this week and seeing as we have seen most of the Bremen sights with him and wenow have the car at our disposal we are going exploring.

Today we are visiting Schneverdingen to see Nico's family.

Tomorrow we will be popping into Bremen for lunch and a wander.

The highlight (hopefully) will be heading to Munster on Friday. It's a new German city for me, which hasn't happened for a long time so I've cracked out the old Lonely Planet guide from my student days and we'll be planning a bit of sightseeing - more on that over the weekend.