Browsed by
Author: Claire

England Part 1

England Part 1

Comments 0 Comment

After we arrived at our Airbnb flat in London and dumped our gear, we headed off to my Aunty and Uncle’s for dinner. On the way we realised we’d been without the English language for just 5 days short of 7 months. We could understand what everyone was saying! Even the train and bus announcements!! It was wonderful! We had a lovely evening with them, great food, great company, and the kids were totally spoilt! Thank you Aunty & Uncle.

The following day we had a slow start, BK did some work then headed off to see a friend and the kids and I spent the afternoon back with my Aunt and Uncle and explored the beautiful Kew Gardens together. So BK got a good chunk of work in and the kids and I enjoyed an afternoon out and about.

For our last full day in London we got up early and took the underground to the other side of the city. Actually to the city of London. Did you know London is actually two cities squashed together? One is called London (a tiny banking district), the other is called Westminster (the bigger area everyone knows as London). Then we took a local bus to see the sights rather than pay some horrendous amount for a hop on off off. This is how Team Knowles rolls (and how that budget is going so well). I had got the idea from a blog which described each building and what it was used for so it wasn’t boring just looking at buildings and guessing what they were. Instead I could tell the family what they were or what to look out for. Here is the blog I got the information from if you wanted to do the same.

As the day went on I watched Mum’s flight make its way across the world to London, it was running an hour early at one point so it headed to the airport early to ‘pick her up’ (actually guide her onto a train back to our flat). It had been a long 7 months without her! Once she got there it was lots of chats and sorting my stuff (souvenirs etc) into a big mostly empty suitcase she had brought over. Which was going to be stored at a friend’s till we go home in September. After a good sleep it was time to leave London. We’ll be back again later in the trip for some museums and palace fun.

BK picked up a rental car and we drove out to a friend of Mum’s. She feed us all the most lovely lunch! No dinner was required that day. Mum stayed in Essex and we drove out to Norwich. We decided we’d go for a canal boat trip the next day on the Norfolk broads. We putted around for an hour then had a pub lunch at a brewery BK wanted to visit. Then we went out to the beach and saw a family of seals having a lovely time diving in and out of the water.

After all that moving around recently we had a rest day was in order for the following day. However we did manage to get some fish n chips for tea. We were going to sit in a park and eat them but due to the awful heatwave we sat in the air conditioned car and looked at the very brown grass!! A few days later I saw that our area had recorded the hottest temp of the year that day. 34.7 degrees Celsius I think it was. Hot for England! C also managed to get another sting, a wasp this time!

Then it was off to Dorset. We stayed in a cute village of cobb houses (made of mud, thatched roofs) called Milton Abbas. It had a pub and a post shop. There was a beautiful Abbey with attached private school close by too. We walked there every day. We found their cafe/school tuck shop and enjoyed the cheap drinks and food. Schools out for summer at the moment so we didn’t gate crash the students! The weather finally cooled down and we had some rain. Mum came to join us too.

One of the days we went on a trip to a seaside town called Beer. First we went to a place called Pecorama which had mini steam trains which you can ride on. Bigger than the ones at memorial park but not by much, about the size of the one in Palmerston North if you’ve been to that park. Then we had a walk through the gardens, where Mum got a wasp sting!! What is it about Europe and stings! The kids found a soft play area (think mini chipmunks) so they played and us adults sat outside and ate the lunch we’d brought along.

Mum and I then walked into the little town and Bk fed the kids and saw a little train exhibition where apparently you could control your own model train.

Next it was to Honiton. Apparently my Father’s side of the family lived there before they left for NZ, but I’m 4th or 5th generation kiwi on his side so I couldn’t really connect to the place. We did see a nice lace museum which had a fantastic age appropriate scavenger hunts for the kids. We loved our time in Dorset. Everyone was extra friendly and everything was calm and chill. We also enjoyed our first Sunday carvery lunch. Yum but oh so much food!! Thank you Aunty & Uncle for letting us stay in your cute cottage💗

4 days before we were due to move on we had our first Airbnb fail. Our host cancelled on us for our next stay (which I had booked back in February!!) in Derby. It being the peak season and busiest month of the year, it took me an entire day to sort out somewhere else to stay. We ended up doing a night in a youth hostel family room before moving on to another airbnb for the remainder of the time. I had been waiting all year for something to go wrong with Airbnb but couldn’t quite believe it finally happened.

So then it was then off to Derby (and our new found accommodation), where Mum was born and lived until she was 5 (she then got on a ship with her family and immigrated to NZ). The following 4 days were a mix of hanging out with the extended family, exploring Mum’s old neighborhood, another Sunday carvery lunch, and shopping (new jeans for me, yay!). Bk also bought me a beautiful gold bracelet – been nagging, i mean asking, him for 2-3 years, finally he gave in and purchased it from where my Dad bought my Mum her engagement ring. (Do you remember the name of the store, Dad??)

Then it was time to clean the rental car, downsize our gear and head off to airport, for the first time since March.
Stay tuned for dramas we had going through security!! 😄

Till next time,

Claire

 

Budget update
England : $673 under
Disclaimer – Does not include gold bracelet!

France Part 2

France Part 2

Comments 0 Comment

Leaving the camp we had been staying in we drove only a few hours to an area Brittany, still in France. We splurged a bit on this Airbnb and enjoyed the extra comforts that got us. After unpacking BK took the kids to explore the property, in bare feet and unfortunately C stood on a bee but he was very brave.

The first day we went to see the local area. We had seen a photo of a pretty canal lock so thought we’d get a French pastry and sit and watch to see if it got used and it did! It was fascinating for all of us to watch. Not much else happened that day due to C’s swollen foot.

The following day we drove out to Mont St Michel, which is an old town and church on a hill on an island. Back in the day you could only access it at low tide. Now there’s a bridge, and a bus, so we took that! BK and C sat in a cafe while R and I explored the church further up.

We were so glad we went early as by the time we left at 11.30 the island was choca, there was loooooooong queues of buses coming onto the island (luckily no queue for us either way on the bus!) and it was really hot!!

The next day we shifted another 2 hours drive away into the Normandy region, known for the D-Day landings. BK and I had been to this region of France before on our 2007 trip but had done a tour which follows paratroopers. So we missed the beaches and American cemetery. The day after we arrived it was perfect weather so we got it done! It was a great day. The beaches were amazing with D-Day well remembered. The American cemetery was beautiful but heart breaking as one realises there are 9000+ graves (we later found out there was another American cemetery in Brittany with 4000+ graves – very sobering).

The rest of that week we really did nothing much apart from clean the car. We knew the pace was about to pick up from now until the end of our trip so we took the opportunity to just lie low, rest and eat some great French pastries (yes I have managed to gain back that weight I lost in Asia but I’m not worried about it at all, it’ll come off before I’m home)

Then the bittersweet day came. Time to drive to Paris and say goodbye to Rouge. We had her for 121 days and drove 14,300km. I had arranged to dump our gear at our Airbnb thinking the less times we have to lug that gear around public transport the better, and when we arrived the apartment was ready so I stayed with the kids and BK dropped the car off (with no issues thank goodness – we are still waiting for our two Italian fines to show up). Bye little Rouge! You helped us make so many wonderful memories.

We drove you in all conditions from slow in the -2 degrees and snow on the Swiss Alps to 38 degrees and fast on the German autobahns.

It was time to explore Paris. We had been twice pre kids, and we didn’t love it as much as so many people do so we were hoping this time it would be ‘third time lucky’. We stayed in a lovely little area out of central Paris, we weren’t pushed to ‘do everything’ as we had already but were keen to show the kids the main sights. We checked out the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. One day and I took C to the Musée d’Orsay where he saw some Monet paintings he knew from his Montessori preschool days. A great art education for both of us. The following day BK took the kids to the science museum while I had a few hours of peace and quiet. So while no school work was done in Paris everyone certainly got educated! A really great Paris experience. Third time lucky ✔

Then it was time to down size our stuff as much as possible so we didn’t look like too much of a circus as we made our way to London. We Uber’d to the train station in Paris for €11 (it would have cost us €5 on the train so not that much more for the ease of being taken). Lugged our gear onto the Eurostar train then sped our way across France at 260 km per hour, under the English Channel and into England. A fantastic experience for all. We took the underground tube to our flat in London and was very glad when that travel day was over! United Kingdom here we come!

 

France Budget : a ridiculous 2410 under
There were a lot of days this month that were spent resting (and eating pastries). Disney was sponsored by a grandparent so that wasn’t put into the budget.

Till next time,

Claire

France Part 1

France Part 1

Comments 0 Comment

It was goodbye to the FREE no speed limit autobahns of Germany and back to tolled 130 km speed limit motorways as we arrived in France. We will be here for a month, staying in 5 different places in that time, this blog post is about the first two weeks. These two weeks were meant to be the south of France and Barcelona, Spain but after some long travel days a month or two ago we bailed on that idea due to the length of time it would take to get all the way down there and back.

 

The first week we stayed about an hour north east of Paris in a quiet rural town. BK found a co-working space in the next city over so did 3 days of work there. On one of the days he wasn’t working we headed into Disneyland, Paris. BK and I have been to the one in Los Angeles (pre kids) so we knew what to expect. We also knew a family who went at the end of last year and another one in April this year. So along with their comments, a ton of blog reading and youtube watching, I was pretty clued up on how to do Disneyland with kids. We mastered the FastPass system. I had bought a supermarket load of food the day before so we didn’t have to buy overpriced rubbish there. I made up snack packs to give everyone as we waited in the long lines (we only waited in 2 lines that were 45+ minutes long so that was a plus!) And water and water and water!! We arrived on time for opening at 9.30am and got our FastPasses working straight away. First it was rides, rides and more rides, then R and I took a break and watched a show with a bunch of characters celebrating the park turning 25. Followed by more rides. Then another break for lunch and a ‘character meet’ with Pluto! 🐶 Then more rides and another show for R and I – this time princesses! After that we staked out an excellent place on a curb for the parade. Finally one more ride, our fave, Thunder Mountain and we left at 8.30pm. A visit to McDonald’s to get an ice cream and a salad wrap each, and we rolled in the door at 9.45pm. I purchased one thing all day – a Minnie Mouse soft toy. I got a Mickey Mouse soft toy from California, so I purchased him a French wife 😄 🇫🇷 I did find a Christmas store onsite but I restrained myself!

 

My top tips for Disneyland would be:

🔸Take food in!! I didn’t even look at the prices this time but I know they are horrendous for average food and long wait times. Eating while standing in lines is a great time passer. Keep everyone fuelled, not with heavy stuff that doesn’t suit roller coasters…if you know what I mean 🤮

🔸Master the FastPass system, to the minute. As soon as the time comes up, get another one started, THEN go on the ride you’ve been waiting for. Get time working for you. 🕒

🔸If you’re carrying around drink bottles in the same bag as your electronics, put the electronics in a snap lock bag. I did and was very glad when wee boy tried to be helpful but accidently knocked a drink bottle lid off as he put something back into the bag, next minute, soaked bag, but dry phone/Wi-Fi unit/ power bank/cables. Phew. 📱

 

The rest of the week was rest and laundry and a tiny bit of school. We did pop into the next town over to have a look and a walk. School work is slowly grinding to a halt as I run out of resources. C does have comprehension book he’s working through but R doesn’t. However by the time you’re reading this my Mum should be here to refill the resources, so we should be up and going again soon. I’m not too worried about it. Their school will fix them (haha, jokes, I know you’re reading this Marcus!).

 

The following week we drove south to the coast for some ‘glamping’, like we did in Austria. The most exciting bit for this Mum was the kids club! I love my kids but oh I miss my own space! When we arrived it was 34 degrees, hot! I got the run down on the park, the kids events crew were milling around so we met them and I answered their (bazillion) questions about our trip. Then it was unpack and into the pool! That evening a thunderstorm was forecast and at 1am it showed up, right above us! For the next 2 hours it rumbled and did it’s lightening thing so not much sleep was had! Finally we got back to sleep only to be woken up by little Miss R screaming at full volume at 6am (her daddy moves REAL fast when she screams, it’s quite hilarious…and cute) a huge spider had crawled on her and no way was she staying in her bed anymore. So in with us it was. Sleep.

 

The next few days were a mix of walks and exploring the local area but making sure we were back onsite for kids club sessions! The kids got their faces painted a few times, played on the playground, made friends with other kids and played at their tents.

 

The week was topped off by the Tour de France bike race coming past. We watched the caravan (parade) as a family in the hot sun, then got some lunch, BK and R didn’t want to come back out to see the cyclists so C and I found a nice patch of shade to sit in, till we heard several helicopters, which could only mean one thing and up we jumped! The first 3 riders were 4 or so minutes ahead of the main bunch, I took a photo of them then got video of the rest coming past. An American rider was trailing the big bunch because apparently he’d crashed at the ‘feed zone’ a few kilometres back so he wasn’t happy.

 

Yep so that was the first two weeks in France, onward we go! No budget update, I’ll do one for the whole time in France.

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

Germany Part 2

Germany Part 2

Comments 0 Comment

It was a good drive down from The Netherlands to a lovely place called Osterspai on the Rhine river. On the way we went through Eindhoven and called into a special beer shop to get a smoked beer BK had been looking forward to trying. We came across a car accident on the autobahn and as we sat in traffic we found that very disciplined German drivers would make two lanes on the motorway by pulling to the side of the road which left a wide lane down the middle for emergency services. Once one emergency vehicle had gone past, nobody moved, they knew there would be more emergency vehicles coming, and of course there was! Nobody decided to be disrespectful and use the wide lane themselves either which I was surprised at.

I had put a week of rest by the Rhine in my itinerary at the very beginning of planning and was so glad I did.

The first day we were there our Airbnb hosts gave us their train pass to use for the day so we went into Koblenz, which is about 15-20 minutes north of where we were staying. We went up a gondola to visit a fortress overlooking the city. There was a Family Day on which was celebrating areas of the world. So I had a German say to me “G’day Sheila, we’re learning our colours in English” it was quite funny! I replied I knew English very well thank you. Probably should have said I lived a 3 hour flight south of Australia.

The rest of the week was rest. A bit of school, a few walks, a bit of laundry, and a visit to a castle called Marksburg. BK found a co-working place in Koblenz and did some good work hours. One day I did drive the kids 30 mins south to a town called Bacharach. My parents had loved it when they were here 11 years ago. We had a walk around but it was a sleepy little village. A lot of the shops were closed 12.30pm till 2pm, possibly siesta time?

On our last full day by the Rhine we took the ferry across the river, it was only going across every 30 minutes not on demand as it had been earlier in the week, so that made us miss our train south. Fortunately I had a back up plan, to catch the next train, which we did, but we got off at the wrong station so missed the boat trip we were aiming to do by 5 minutes. However I had another back up plan to do the next boat trip an hour later. Unfortunately it turns out that one wasn’t running at that particular time that day, so it was back to the train station but as I was buying train tickets to go back to the ferry to go home the train came and we missed that by about 30 seconds! By this time I was exhausted! So we collapsed in a heap at a playground and waited for the next train an hour later. Some days you just can’t quite get it right, it was not helped by the fact we’d run out of data on our phones so couldn’t adjust the plans after things started going wrong.

Despite not doing much we loved the week, the Airbnb house and hosts were amazing. The rest was much needed, and watching the boats go up and down the river from the window or on our walks was fascinating.

On a side note about our accommodation. I heard that someone thinks we’re bunking down in people’s houses, with the hosts. This isn’t the case. Each house/apartment/cottage we rent is exclusively ours for the time we’re there. Sometimes the host lives in the same building (e.g. Berlin and Zagreb) but most of the time they live somewhere else. This was the same in Asia also. So no we don’t come back from exploring and have to make small talk. We’re just a normal family in a normal house.

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget : $576 under

The Netherlands aka Holland

The Netherlands aka Holland

Comments 0 Comment

The last long drive of our (continental) Europe trip took us 738km from Billund, Denmark through Germany (where we stopped in a city called Hamburg so of course we had to have a hamburger! Ha!), and into The Netherlands to a place 40 mins north of Amsterdam. We stayed in a cabin which they had described as located in a recreation park. I wouldn’t call it that. I was amused to see a flock of sheep out my bedroom window.

After a big supermarket shop, the first two days were rest, I wasn’t feeling well as I had picked up some bug somewhere. A highlight for the kids was watching BK start up the charcoal BBQ and giving them sticks with marshmallows on the end to roast, YUM!

On Tuesday we got up early and went to the biggest flower market in the world, Flora Holland, Allasmere. They auction flowers off between 7am and 9am. It’s hard to explain but the whole process of the flower market really tickled the logistical lover in me. The flowers came into the market on big trucks then through the auction room, then onto little scooters which towed mini trailers (where all the flowers sat), to be put in to buyer sets ready to be sent out to the buyer/customers. I could have stood and watched them for hours. I took a video on my phone which I’ll post it on Facebook, it’s total organised chaos!

We then went to IKEA for brunch (cheap food in their restaurant!) and to buy BK a thermos as the one he bought in Italy had fallen off a bench and smashed. Once we were tanked up again we went to a place called Zaanse Schans, it’s old time Holland in action. There were lots of clogs and lots of proper working windmills. We also saw a timber mill in action, which was so fascinating.

This was followed by another 2 days of rest and not feeling well, then it was off for a day in Amsterdam. BK did some research and found it would be a whole lot cheaper if we arrived after 10am, so we visited Edam first, and yep we ate Edam cheese in Edam. 😊Then we went into Amsterdam, their Park and Ride system worked well. We arrived just in time for our canal cruise around the city sights. Boats seem to be a recent theme for our sightseeing adventures. The audio guide for this boat was much better than the Berlin one, and they also had a pirate channel for the kids to listen to. After that it was a bite of lunch that we’d brought with us. Once we had people watched for a while we rented bikes, BK and R went on a tandem one made especially for 1 child and 1 adult, C and I had our own bikes. We cycled around the big park in town called Vondel. There were lots of groups of people just hanging out with their bikes around them. With cannabis tolerated for personal use in this country there was a distinct smell wafting around! Then it was back to Rouge and back to our cottage and into bed for me.

So a relaxed week for everyone thanks to me not feeling well. I didn’t manage to pass on whatever I had which was a good thing.

Till next time,

Claire

 

Budget update

The Netherlands : $392 under

Legoland, Billund, Denmark

Legoland, Billund, Denmark

Comments 0 Comment

The next day we were all excited to go to Legoland!

I wrote this blog a bit differently for people wanting to go to there.

 

Legoland was built in 1968 so this year they are celebrating being open 50 years. I had read a few blogs on how to do it best. I wanted to do it quickly with the least amount of walking and waiting in queues! We downloaded their app which had wait times and a map and a bunch of other stuff.

We arrived early, got a good park, pre paid our parking while there was no queue, and went to buy tickets.

We had been very blessed in Slovenia, our Airbnb hosts had let us in on a local hint. There was 50% off vouchers on the back of some cereal boxes that expired on the 30th of June. When we showed our excitement about that on the last morning we were they actually went out and purchased us a box with the voucher on it. So so kind and generous of them, their €3 saved us $160 NZD!! So I proudly handed over my cereal cut out voucher and was stoked to see the price on my receipt.

We lined up for the gates. I explained to our kids that people may run, but WE were NOT running. The gates opened and we were 3rd in! There was no running by anyone either. Lovely. Just as you walk in on the right is a place you can get an armband for your kid. You write the kids name and your phone number on it incase they get lost. We had the ‘if you get lost’ chat and came up with a place.

Then it was into my plan and I’m happy to tell you, my plan was awesome and worked really well!!

We went straight to the back of the park, and onto the popular rides first. We started with Ninjargo and worked our way along the back, around the right hand side to the front. We got in at 10am, by 2pm we’d done ⅔ of the park. The left side of the park is mostly the Lego hotel but there are a few things to visit, so we did these in the early afternoon. Then we went and did our favourite rides again, by now they had wait times but the wait time is clearly shown as you enter the line. We enjoyed the Lego Canoe and the Eagle Roller Coaster the most and went on them several times.

C was tall enough for all rides as he’s over 120cm. R is about 113cm so missed out on 3 rides (over the whole park!) Once we had done all the rides THEN we went to find mini land to have a look. They had done a great job of Copenhagen City, it is open for an hour after the rides close for the day. Then we visited the Lego shop, but if you go, don’t expect a bargain! Then if you’re like us, you’ll be leaving the park as the shut the gates behind you!

 

A day well done ✔️

 

Practical tips :

There are toilets everywhere!

There is a baby centre that looked amazing when I glanced in, my kids are too big so we didn’t use it.

Food is so expensive and many reviews I read talked of it being average so take your own. Lots and lots and lots of picnic tables with shade over them.

On the note of shade, apart from the picnic tables there isn’t a lot.

Take water! I read somewhere there’s drinking fountains all over the park, there isn’t, so I (along with a bunch of other Mums) refilled our drink bottles at a tap I found by the candy shop in the back left of the park.

They’re not kidding when they say you’ll get wet on a couple of rides. Take a spare tshirt or cope with being wet, the drying machines are useless (and cost extra). It was 28 degrees the day we went so having a wet singlet actually wasn’t that bad!

Don’t forget to reapply sunblock!

Denmark & Sweden

Denmark & Sweden

Comments 0 Comment

It was a smooth drive out of Berlin and up to the coast to catch the ferry to Denmark. We arrived early checked in, lined up with everyone else, boarded quickly and early, parked, and went upstairs quite pleased with ourselves and the boat for the efficiency. Within a few minutes of being on board we glanced out the window and saw we were already departing, a whole 30 minutes before our sailing. We panicked slightly that we were on the wrong ferry! Where are we going? But we soon realised that while we were not on the ship that we were meant to be on, (it had a different name to the one on our tickets), but that dock only sends boats one place! So all good and it put us 30 minutes ahead of schedule. It was a quick 45 minute crossing with unloading being as efficient as loading was.

We arrived at our Airbnb which was a cute little cottage by the water about 45 mins north of Copenhagen. It was a very limited information check in which turned out to be too minimal when later we went to leave and realised we had no key to lock up! 😮 I sent a quick message and she came by to tell me it was in the garage on top of a fridge, I was never going to find it there!!!

A rest day of school work and laundry – where I got an electric shock from the machine! Ugh!

The next day it was off to Malmo, Sweden via some time in Copenhagen. I had booked us cheap bus tickets to Sweden a few months ago. We drove into Copenhagen and got a park right opposite where the bus left from and it was free because it was Sunday, score! In Copenhagen we got some snacks and visited the Hans Christian Andersen museum which had scenes from lots of his stories. The kids watched and listened to Thumbellina, The Little Match Girl, The Swinehead, The Emperor With No Clothes, and of course The Little Mermaid.

Soon it was time to get on the bus. The kids were stoked it was a double decker bus and we got on quickly and scored front row seats at the top. The drive to Sweden should have been about 50 minutes long. The bus took us through the Drogden Tunnel, which is 4km long under the water, then we popped up on a man made island and then we went on the most epic bridge, Øresund Bridge. It’s 8km long, very tall and it’s quite the experience to travel on the top deck of a bus on a calm day, I bet a windy day it would be awful! We then got to border control, they got on the bus and checked all our passports. three people got escorted off the bus, one was allowed back on but the bus driver was soon instructed to carry on and had to leave a young couple behind!

We saw some paddle boats as we drove into Malmo so as soon as the bus dropped us off we headed to them for a 30 minute thigh workout..I mean a leisurely paddle on the river! BK also saw a brew bar on the way in so he went to that while I watched the kids play (in their clothes) in a fountain with other kids. Strangely, they managed to stay quite dry!!!?? The 28 degree day helped dry them off as we headed back to the bus via a store to pick up a magnet and Swedish chocolate! It was only a few hours in Sweden but it was lovely. Back over the bridge, through the tunnel, and into Copenhagen and it was fantastic to have Rouge parked where she was as we got in and quickly hoofed it up the motorway back to our cottage.

The following day was another work/school/supermarket day. The weather finally cooled off a bit to 24 degrees. Everyone was glad for the rest.

We were up early the next day and back into Copenhagen for a walking tour. We couldn’t work out why the car parking machine wouldn’t accept our cards. I am carrying three types and it did not like any of them. So we wrote a note to the parking warden – in English – and left it on our dash. True kiwi styles! It turns out it was the Danish National day so parking was free! The tour guide was born and bred in Copenhagen and had a real love for Hans Christian Andersen and the Danish Royal Family. He had so much information in his head and one of our kids said to me “How does he know all this?!” Haha. “It’s his job” I replied. 1.5 hours in the group stopped for a coffee break, we’d seen an ice cream shop selling Copenhagen cones about 2 minutes back so while the rest of the group (which included some girls from Rotorua!) did coffee and sat and chatted, we walked back to get ice cream! $33 NZD later, all of us enjoyed a Copenhagen cone in Copenhagen. 🍦 We continued on the tour and saw HCA’s house, the new harbour, the Opera House (which was paid for by Mastek shipping, apparently a proud Danish company, the owner wrote off the cost of the opera house against his tax bill – smart!!!) and of course we finished at the Royal Palaces.

Little Miss R wanted to see the Little Mermaid statue, so we walked an extra 10 minutes up the harbour to see her. Finally we found the Little Mermaid after a few, “have we walked past her?” moments. We waited our turn for a photo, it was very slippy and the girl in front of us fell in, whoops! By this time it was 2.30pm, 28 degrees and we were done so it was the loooooooong walk back to the car.

Another rest day, (washing, school and work again) we did get out in the middle of the day to explore the northern coastline. Found a famous northern arctic explorers home. Looked right out onto the North Sea. Can imagine it’s quite awful in winter but the day we were there it was a perfect blue sky day.

Then it was a travel day west to the city of Billund! The home of…..LEGO!!!

We dumped our gear and BK at our Airbnb and the kids and I went off to explore the Lego house. It took us a while to move past the Lego shop on the ground floor, we had fun looking at lots of Lego sculptures and then went up to the roof and played on the multiple playgrounds, all in the Lego bright colours. We found out there was a class at 4pm so quickly nipped to the supermarket across the road for drink and ice creams, (at 1/4 of the price they cost IN the Lego house!) While we waited for 4pm I decided we would all make Lego mini figures. I carry a mini figure in my hand bag for THOSE moments when my kids are melting down and I just need them to hold out a bit longer. I’ve also lent him out to other kids on planes etc when I can see other parents at their end of their wick!! He always gets handed back which I’m thankful for. So I made him a wife 😄, the kids made a ninja and a princess – I’m sure you can work out who made who! 😛. When the class started we got given a Lego pack and built a little small fish with a surfboard, then we got to take it home – for free! Whoop! (I paid for the mini figures)

 

The following day was a much awaited for day and will get its own blog post.

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget update.

Denmark : $64 over!!! 😲

Germany Part 1 + Poland!

Germany Part 1 + Poland!

Comments 0 Comment

Dresden + Gorlitz/Zgorzelec and Berlin

 

Because we had driven on the back roads between Austria and Pilsen, driving into Dresden we got our first taste of the German autobahns (highways). We’d been told there’s no speed limit but a bazillion trucks. Wow that sure was correct! We enjoyed the 3 lane highways the most (due to trucks passing trucks) and most of the time we sat between 130km p/h (the normal speed for highways in Europe) and 150km p/h (about as fast as Rouge comfortably goes) and had cars woooosssssh past us.

 

We checked into our apartment in the outskirts of Dresden, and were told not to go into the city as a couple of days earlier some guys on a building site had found a WWII bomb that hadn’t gone off, so specialists had been working on defusing it but had been having issues with the detonator. Apparently it did explode a bit and catch fire, but no one was harmed and they got it sorted within 24 hours of us arriving in Dresden. Phew. So we chose not to go into Dresden the next day while all that was going on and drove to Poland instead. We drove across the border and had a look around before realising they did not use the Euro and we were not changing any money just to get coins for parking! So we went back to Germany to park and then we walked over a bridge into Poland and along the river bank until we found a restaurant for lunch. BK had a Polish dish called borsch which was a sour beetroot soup that he really enjoyed. The rest of us had pancakes. Turns out Polish pancakes are just like the rest of the world’s pancakes! 😝 Then it was back to Germany in a rush as BK had booked hair cuts for him and C.

 

The following day we braved Dresden and were surprised to find that parking was really easy! We had a walk around and could easily see which bits of the city/buildings were original and which had been rebuilt since the carpet bombing/fire of WWII. A stroll along the river was lovely and we even came across the shopping street my Mum got lost 10 years ago when she was in Europe. I reenacted several photos for her just to be funny! 😄😄 We also hit up a cheap clothes store called Primark and spent $83 NZD on replacing clothes, this got added to the daily budget. So that was our express trip to Dresden and Poland!

 

After that it was a quick drive to Berlin, less than 2 hours. A late check out at our place in Dresden meant we could just drive between the two places rather than waste some hours. We don’t leave our car when it’s full with our gear so that restricts what we can do on travel days. Berlin was very hot, 30+ degrees every day. Our hosts were amazing, almost as awesome as our Zagreb (Croatia) ones. Funnily enough it was the same kind of situation, them downstairs, us upstairs. After an incredibly informative check in we tried to go for a swim at a swimming pool but couldn’t find a carpark 🙄 We even played the game, you know, watch for someone to come out the door and head for their car, then slowly and stalker-ishly drive after them and hope to get their parking space. Nope, didn’t work for us. We did a day of sightseeing in Berlin, and again, as this is a city BK and I had been to we didn’t want to do the same walking tour we had done before. So we did it by boat. Unfortunately the English audio guide didn’t work very well and so that was a waste of €4.

We snuck a bakery lunch on board which kept us going in the extreme heat (haha this blog is really showing you our true colours, stalking car parks and sneaking cheap bakery lunches onto boats). After that it was a bus ride to Checkpoint Charlie. It was double decker bus that picked us up and when we got on we could feel the air con wasn’t quite right and then it totally clapped out. So imagine us, on the top level of a mostly full bus, 33 degrees outside. Yep. It was gross! The bus driver stopped in the middle of a traffic jam to come upstairs and unlock the small windows to let some kind of air in which still didn’t help much.

So that was 10 minutes of character building, or something! Gelato helped the situation when we got off.

When were in Berlin 10 years ago Checkpoint Charlie had been quickly covered on our walking tour so this time we got to actually take it all in at a leisurely pace. Then it was back on the train and to our apartment to rest and cool off.

The following day we enjoyed a rest day, you know the drill, laundry, supermarket, school work. We also visited an asparagus and strawberry farm on our hosts recommendation. BK used his best German to get across what we wanted to an older lady but a younger girl had great English and after hearing where we were from exclaimed we were very far from home. Yeah, tell us about it!

The next day we went into Berlin again, this time to our first aquarium of the trip. BK and I have been to aquariums all over the world and we were not disappointed, even seeing fish we’d never seen before.(Google: Leafy Seadragon) It was well set out and the kids were really engaged.
My favorite tank was one where it there was a convex dome. The fish came right up to you. It was amazing and looked so computer generated! In fact I spent a lot of time saying to BK, “Is this real or CGI?”
At the end there was a buzz about an ‘Aqua Dome’ so we were all for it and lined up to enter. We went into a circle shaped lift, then up through the centre of a giant fish tank. it was 25 meters high and took 8 minutes to ascend/descend, it was totally amazing! Apparently it’s the biggest cylindrical tank in the world at holding 1 million litres of water. Wow!

The tank was in a hotel lobby which had rooms facing it. You wouldn’t want to have the curtains open when you forgot to take your clothes to the shower, huh!! I felt the tank should be more heavily stocked with fish but my fish obsessed husband tells me that a) 1 million litres takes a lot of fish and money, and b) you can’t stock a vertical tank as much as a horizontal tank, it’s not good for the fish!

 

And that was Berlin.

 

Now we leave Germany for a couple of weeks, but we’ll be back for another week later on.

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget update :

Germany P1 : $305 under

Total budget : $4137 under

Czech Republic aka Czechia

Czech Republic aka Czechia

Comments 0 Comment

We came out of the Austrian mountains, into Germany for a bit then finally into Pilsen, Czechia. It was an easy check in to the apartment. We ended up loving this Airbnb, from the furniture to the crockery to the internet speed. I took photos of a high back chair and the couch and hope to find similar in NZ for our collection. Next year’s goal is to not to travel the world but to finish renovating our house.

 

First on the to do list was a brewery tour, Pilsner Urquell to be exact. It was a hot day so we went in our singlets but knew they’d take us to the 5 degree cellar so took fleeces and jackets with us. There will be a photo coming on Facebook of me all bundled up. It was a great 90 minute tour finished off with tasting unfiltered beer which BK thought was the best thing ever! I had 2 sips but it was a bit tart for my liking. We purchased two beer glasses, to add to the growing pile of stuff we lug around before we finally take it home to NZ.

 

The following day we drove to Prague, we parked in the suburbs and took the subway into the city. After walking around a bit and seeing some of the main sights such as, the river, the old town, the dancing house and having a turn on a playground, everyone was a bit over it so we headed back to our apartment in Pilsen for an early night. Prague was a nice city and another day there would have been great.

 

After a big sleep and a slow start to the day, BK had a bunch of work to do so the kids and I went to our first science museum, it was very hands on. I tried to explain the science behind everything they were doing, at their level, which sometimes they were interested in but sometimes they just wanted to do the activity to see what happened. A lot of it was high school level physics and went entirely over their heads. There was a part for under 8’s which R particularly enjoyed. Some school groups came through and a couple of the kids weren’t very nice to my kids which tainted the visit a bit but we still had a good time and after 4 hours I dragged the kids out the door! Techmania Science Centre in Pilsen, is definitely worth the visit. First bit of science for the whole trip ✔️

 

So it was a short visit to Czechia but great to finally see the area. One thing that stood out to us was everyone’s courteous driving. A big high ✋🏻 from Team Knowles! Awesome work Czechia 😎

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget update :

Czechia : $339 under

Total budget : $3832 under

Austria

Austria

Comments 0 Comment

It was a long drive up into Austria but we were happy to find much cheaper petrol and our destination, a very cool campground.

 

We had booked through Eurocamp.co.uk and got a 3 bedroom cabin. Though a bit cold at night it was well set up and easy to live in for a week. The camp had an onsite kids club running, which had 2 morning sessions and an afternoon session so for most of the week the kids went there. BK found an onsite library so he got some work in while the kids were at the kids club. I was happy to have some much needed peace and quiet while everyone was out of the cabin. The rain set in for a few days so no one was very motivated to explore further afield than the camp.

 

We celebrated C’s birthday during the week. At the supermarket I found a make you own cake in a box, just add eggs/butter/water, and thought to myself “I can do that”, then proceeded to march myself to the onsite camp restaurant and ask to borrow a cake tin, which they kindly obliged! When he woke up to balloons everywhere, a cake and gifts on the table he was very pleased so that was a winner! He had a great day despite the rain.

 

Little R went to the kids club by herself that day which she never ever would have done a year ago. We are so proud of our wee girl’s personal growth during this trip, it’s been so lovely to watch her spread her wings and take on the world. So much thanks to her teacher last year for working so hard on not only R’s education but also her emotional side too. We love you Mrs B! Forever grateful! 💜

 

By Friday it had fined up so we did the things we were meant to on C’s birthday. We played mini golf and went on an Austrian style luge which they call a toboggan. It was attached to rails (like a roller coaster) as opposed to driving on a track like the type of luge we were familiar with but the fundamentals were the same, drive your self, in a cart, down a mountain…at speed! The boys went together on one cart and the girls in the other. I was instructed plenty of times to slow down by my passenger, she wouldn’t have done well in a cart with her Dad, I was slow compared to him! 😄😄😄

 

The following day we woke up to blue skies. We had come to this area of Austria for one reason, 10 years ago when we were in Europe we did a bit of a WWII stuff, we followed the Band of Brothers TV series and found ourselves in the middle of nowhere several times exploring where they had been (I, to this day, have never seen the series!) Anyway, they were the company to come across Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden after the war ended. The un-researched young us pitched up at the start of winter trying to see an alpine area, only to find it was shut for the season! ☹️ So, take 2 in 2018, we turned up on a great day, took a bus to a very gold elevator and were taken up into the house, which is now a restaurant. We looked around, ate apple cake and enjoyed the views. R found some snow on the ground and formed it into a ball to throw at her brother, except she missed and got a lady! 😲 Fortunately the lady took it well and we all had a laugh together.

 

It’s time to continue the trip north!

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget update:

Austria : $581 under

Total budget : $3493 under

It appears to me I either way over budgeted or I’m awesome at keeping the fam on the straight and narrow after 2017’s efforts of hard core saving! Either way, yay!