Return to old Favourites in London and a Chilly Week in Yorkshire

"We must go beyond textbooks,
go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness
and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey." -John Hope Franklin 

The chilly weather we had in Germany continued for our return to the UK. We had arrived at Heathrow expecting a long wait but our bags were waiting for us and there was no queue at all at immigration so we were out and onto to tube before you could say Jack Robinson.

When presented with part of the day in London to do with whatever we wanted, before our train to York at 4:30, the kids had just two places in mind. Firstly as we were at Kings Cross Emma wanted to get in line for a proper photo at Platform 9 3/4. That swallowed up our first hour but was lots of fun. We had such a laugh when Julian was described and applauded by the crowd as being the cutest wicked little Malfoy they had seen for many a day.

 The second request was to feed the squirrels in Hyde Park, and so, whilst completely ignoring the Winter Wonderland and Christmas markets next door ("Mum we've done that before"), the kids were  happy tempting the squirrels with all the wrong food, kicking up leaves and hamming it up for the camera. We all had a brilliant time and Hyde Park would have to be our #1 London attraction.

About this time we remembered that having left Julian's car seat on the bus which takes you from the terminal to the plane at Cologne (hopefully not sparking a security scare) we would have to replace it, at the same store in Oxford Street we bought it from last December. And so we got on the bus...and sat there...and sat there...and half an hour and only one stop further down Park Lane we got off again and ran for the tube station. It was really quite nerve racking as we managed to buy the car seat and run into Kings Cross with twenty minutes to go until our train departed. Luckily the luggage storage had no queue at all and so we could relax and enjoy our trip to York.

I have visited York many years ago and earlier this year when we passed through we all thought it would be a lovely place to spend some more time. And so with two weeks planned in England we decided to head back to visit Yorkshire and relax in the countryside.

Having reached that point in our holiday when relaxing experiences take much higher priority than mad rushing we decided to go with a tried and tested formula and booked a National Trust cottage. It was the perfect choice. Beningbrough Hall in North Yorkshire is Georgian mansion with beautiful gardens and grounds, not to mention a fabulous adventure playground.

Luckily for us the house is only open on the weekends and beyond that we had the place to ourselves. We had a apartment situated above the Victorian laundry, which displays all the mangles and coppers that the servants used to use to do the washing.

Our lovely cosy historical flat, had all the modern conveniences you could hope for with two bedrooms, a big lounge room and dining room and the terrific country kitchen. Best of all it had a huge bath, something I really missed during our time in Europe.We arrived in a taxi in the dark on the Saturday night and had the somewhat surreal experience of pulling our suitcases past the façade of the deserted mansion which is all lit up.

We awoke on Sunday morning to beautiful views from our windows and the sounds of the visitors in the Victorian Laundry below. Without a car until Monday we spent the day visiting the house, which is only open on the weekends over the winter season. The kids loved the dress ups and the interactive displays housed at Beningbrough, in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery. The gardens however were the highlight for us and luckily we had them to ourselves for the rest of the week.

We took  advantage of the National Trust Tea Rooms and had a lovely Sunday roast, which we had been looking forward to for some time. We have been year careful all year about not buying souvenirs and such as we would only have to carry everything with us later. However, I realised that this would probably be our last visit to a National Trust Shop and I must say I love the National Trust Shops and so I picked up tea cups that I have been admiring all year and our luggage grew yet again.

On the estate there is also a farm shop, where we were able to buy wonderful fresh produce, meat, bread and gourmet items as well as a terrific café. It was fabulous to be able to take advantage of the local produce and the wonderful kitchen in our apartment while the kids were running around the adventure playground downstairs and playing in the gardens.

We visited nearby York a couple of time and the Jorvik Centre is an absolute highlight of York with kids. We had discussed the Vikings during our home-school endeavours and so it was fascinating to see a real Viking village below the streets of York.

The kids loved taking the ride through the reconstructed Viking village of Jorvik, the street of Coppergate in York was 1000 years ago. To make the experience more realistic not only are the sights and sounds as authentic as possible but so are the smells. It is fondly remembered as the stinky museum. Luckily your ticket entitles you to return visits and so we held our noses and visited for a second time during the week.

We had another day in York with the only real plan in mind being to walk the walls and visit the York Minster Cathedral. The walls were fun and gave us a great view of the cathedral, the town and a lot of inquisitive squirrels.

Unfortunately we didn't visit the minster as we were just so shocked by the 10pound entry fee per person. We have seen some amazing cathedrals as we travelled, and having visited before I know that this one ranks amongst best, and I do not mind making a contribution to care and maintenance of these treasures but it was just too steep for us, especially as the kids would want to climb the tower and that was another 5pounds on top.

It really didn't matter as we popped in next door to lovely Tudor chapel where we were warmly welcomed and greatly enjoyed looking at this lovely church where we could continue our discussion about the exploits of Henry VIII.

York is a brilliant town for wandering, and so we wandered its beautiful streets, through the Shambles, the old street of butchers with houses dating back the fifteenth century, through street markets with fruit and vegetables and Christmas markets. 

Staying in such a lovely place meant we were never going to get away early and have full days out. Instead the next day we again left in time for lunch on the road, in the lovely town of Ripon, on our way to Fountains Abbey, a lovely ruined Cistercian abbey.

As the sun sets so very early in December in this part of the world our visit was in twilight which made the visit the Abbey quite special. It was one of those great places that combine the opportunity to discuss history with the kids and also run amok somewhere very beautiful. It was a brilliant place to play hide and seek and playing it up for the camera.

We were told that the Abbey closes when it get too dark but the little museum there closes precisely at four. By four it was quite dark and we just popped our heads in to have a look at the historical displays and timelines. When we were inside we were startled to hear the caretaker begin locking up and the rest of our stay was filled with conversations beginning "if we got locked in we would have to..." . It really was quite funny.

On our last visit to York we visited the National Railway Museum which was a hit with the whole family. While initially reluctant to go both kids loved it. Emma particularly enjoyed seeing the display of the "royal trains" which has been used by the various kings and queens of England. Whilst we were there we saw a demonstration of the turntable used to turn the trains, it was a bit like Thomas the Tank Engine but on a huge scale. There was even a nice café for me to sit and put my feet up with a cuppa while the kids explored the massive workshop filled with trains.

Since leaving Croatia we have felt the time just fly by and our six night stay was over before we knew it. We faced a long drive down to the New Forest and decided to break the journey at Harwick Hall, another fantastic National Trust Property. On the way my mother asked us look out for a town in Yorkshire where an ancestor of ours lived before getting a one way ticket to Australia as a convict. Sadly when I found the place she mentioned it was a huge coal fired power station, the only blight on the face of beautiful Yorkshire.

Harwick Hall was decked out from Christmas which was a delight. The top floor was closed which was a blessing as we needed to get back on the road and with wonderful kitchens to explore and kids activities we could have stayed here half the day. After leaving we noticed the traffic was moving a little slowly, soon the traffic came to a complete standstill and we though fondly of the benefits of train travel as it took us seven hours to make our way south.

We certainly have gotten our monies worth out of our National Trust annual membership many times over, I believe we have visited a total of seventeen National Trust properties. Our English Heritage Membership was also good value but we visited only eight properties and so our savings were much less but I'm still glad we invested in both.

Visit to Yorkshire: 29 Nov - 5 Dec 2014

 

A Rambling Tale of Christmas Markets & Castles: Six Days in the Moseltal

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart!" - Meredith Wilson

Since the end of August our adventure has taken on a somewhat rambling quality, with little research and a more "so where should we go now" nature. And here we are still in Europe eleven months after leaving home, with my mother in laws health still looking good, which was our reason for travelling without return tickets or booked plans past August. And so last month I bit the bullet and started making plans and booking accommodation and even bought our flights back to Australia in January.

 With two weeks earmarked for a return to England I found a German Wings flight from Split to Heathrow via Cologne I decided fate was helping us out I booked the flights, with a six night stopover. Last year I received some great advice from the lovely people over at my favourite travel forum (slowtalk.com) and Cochem had been earmarked as a great base to spend a week in summer. But in the final draft it had undergone the axe in favour of shortening our time on the road.

As a lover of all things historical ever since high school school I been keen to visit the castles of Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate state. While I have visited Bavaria's famous landmark Nueschwanstein many years ago, I found it rather more whimsical than historical.

No, what I was after was honest to goodness fortresses lined up along the river ready to defend themselves against attack in an age where life has been best described by Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century philosopher, as "nasty, brutish and short", much like medieval people themselves dare I say. We had really enjoyed our time in the Dordogne in France and imagined the regions to be similar. Seeing castles and understanding the purpose of them I think that Emma has lost some of her fairytale wonder and has gained an understanding of reality when it comes to castles over the past year. Much to Julian's disgust and my amusement her puppet show games have recently taken a turn and starting including violent battles and battlefield hospital scenes rather than chivalrous knights and beautiful princesses.

While I was disappointed to discover that the castles were mostly closed in November or if they were open the tours were in German only, we were all thrilled by the idea that we would be able to visit some of the wonderful German Christmas markets during opening week. And so our week planned around castles suddenly changed in flavour and the kids were happy to spend a couple of hours each day in the car visiting marvellous towns, wonderful markets and at least seeing some picture perfect German Castles.

Cochem

Arriving in Germany we felt a definite drop in the temperature and the sudden arrival of the Christmas season. We found a wonderful home base, an apartment in Ernst (Winneburger Hof) which is a town very close to Cochem but without Cochem's touristy price tag. From here we could easily travel out in the morning on our adventures. Arriving in Cochem in the late afternoon we had the town practically to ourselves though there were a couple of market stalls already set up and a huge slide which Julian just had to try

 Cochem is very pretty, with many half timbered houses and the picturesque Reichsburg castle watching over the town and the pretty Mosel river. There are a number of super touristy restaurants along the Mosel serving every type of schnitzel imaginable. Having eaten out so many times we stuck with our mantra "avoid the chips and order a big salad" and we enjoyed a nice meal.

We returned to Cochem on evening before we left with the intention if visiting their market which was advertised as opening on that day, though I think I was mistaken. When we arrived at six in the evening the town was fairly deserted and even the handful of stalls that had been open earlier in the week were closed. 

Luckily Cochem sets up a great big marquee that acts as a weinstube with a couple of indoor market stalls and this was open. This was a terrific way to visit markets, you are not bothered by the cold air

as you visit the various stands and a glass of bubbly helped warm me nicely.

Bernkastel-Kues

 I was really impressed with the kids ability to cope with long car trips without complaint yet again. It could have had something to do with the fact that we had hired a larger car than normal to take all our luggage and they had given us a bigger one still, a seven seater Ford. The kids insisted on sitting right in the back and so Rob and I enjoyed our scenic journeys up front while the kids listened to audiobooks in the far back of the car.

Our first journey was about an hour to Bernkastel, another pretty town on the Mosel River. Along the journey, mostly wending our way alongside the river, we saw the vines the Mosel region is famous for. We also discovered on hillsides amongst the vines amazing sundials that I was unable to get a good photo of, but we were intrigued that people still use them.

The grapes are grown on the steep hills lining the river and most had rodelbahn style carriages on rails that the farmers must use to help them get up the steep slopes. The kids put in an order with there. Dad to construct a huge hill in our backyard with a rodelbahn when we get home, and here I was thinking our renovating days were over.

With our Tomtom set on the town centre we followed it without thinking, that is until it asked us to turn the car into a narrow lane between buildings that was not a road at all but a set of stairs. After that we turned off the Tomtom and found our way to the town car park by the Mosel River, which is overlooked by the remains of a castle. The car park was fairly full so we thought that boded well for a busy market.

But as we made our way through the town I started to worry. In the main town square we found a few stalls and an enormous advent calendar created using the windows of one of the old buildings. It was really one of the most beautiful town we have seen, but there was no one about and surely this couldn't be it in terms of the market. 

And so we searched the deserted town and my worry grew. I was really enjoying looking at the old buildings but where was the market, I felt a sense of responsibility and I hoped the kids wouldn't be disappointed. And so, defeated, we made our way back to the square and notice a lane off to one side that appeared to have another stall set up there and so off we went and "Eureka" we found the Christmas market, street after street of it in fact.

We found much on the first day which was repeated in all the markets that followed, bratwurst and gluhwein, nutcrackers and mass produced gingerbread, clothing and knitwear from Nepal as well as waffles and pancakes. It was lovely to wander around the stalls, the kids bought nutcrackers and knitted hats but Rob and I found nothing to tempt us except Christmas cards which we picked up at a newsagent to send home to Australia. 

We enjoyed looking at the carved wooden displays that were set up, much like the toys on sale in the market, great big tiered stands with nativity figures turning around like a many layered carousel. We were even treated to a group of kindy kids singing Christmas carols. After hot chocolate and apfelstrudel for afternoon tea we left to make our way back along the river to our home base pleased that our market days had gotten off to a terrific start, once we found it, and we counted our lucky stars we hadn't given up and missed out.

Trier

We had chosen to take the scenic route to Bernkastel so decided on the main road to get to Trier. The autobahns where an interesting novelty, with no speed limit we found the slow lane populated by slow trucks and Sunday drivers going well under 100kmh, the middle lane good for those who wished to drive at about 130kmh and I can't imagine what speed those demons in the fast lane were doing. With road works today we pretty much were limited to a slow and steady pace.

 It didn't take long to get to Trier and I looked up where to park and found our way to the Porta Nigra, the Roman gate to the city and a carpark nearby. While first it seemed strange to find Roman ruins this far north, in Germany's first city, then we remembered Hadrian's wall and reflected on just how far the Romans travelled.

Trier was a lovely day trip, a terrific blend of old and the kids found themselves glued to a shop window which had a fantastic Lego display and we agreed to go and have a look inside to get ideas for Christmas presents.

The highlights of the markets set up on the old town squares was seeing the ice-skating but the kids decided it was much too cold to consider getting close to the ice. They didn't say no to a ride on the carousel however. Our week in Germany was probably our coldest week for our whole holiday with daytime temperatures between four and six degrees. We enjoyed the stalls set up near the Cathedral the most as they seemed to have some artisan timber and craftwork here rather than the mass produced items we had been seeing.

The ancient cathedral was magnificent, with a history stretching back to early Christian Roman times. It reminded me of the early Christian churches we had seen in Istria (Croatia) with stunning simplicity but it lacked the beauty of the basilica in Porec with it Byzantine influence and stunning mosaics. Then again I think this a tough measuring stick that few churches have a chance of standing up against.

The cathedral in Trier was built by Helen, the emperor Constantine's much travelled mother, a fascinating lady who I will spend more time looking up when I get the chance. Over the ages her Roman brick chapel has been expanded, repaired and remodelled in the whatever the popular style of the day appears to have been, so their are romanesque, gothic and baroque elements at play.

After two busy days we spent next day recuperating at our apartment before we head off the next day in search of adventure again.

 

Berg Eltz

My close friend Susanne, a native of Germany who enjoyed many wonderful holidays in the area as a child, recommended we visit Berg Eltz even though it was closed for the season. And trusting in her judgement we head off for the castle the next morning and enjoyed one of those very special adventures amongst the highlights of our visit to Germany.

 We found the carpark in a forested area that was still displaying the last of its autumn splendour. We were the only car in the big car park, though another pulled up as we began our walk. Whoever decided to describe this 1.6km trail as a "ten minute walk" definitely does not have children. 

As we walked thought the glorious forest, stopping to climb leaf strewn slopes, find walking sticks, look at wonderful mushrooms growing on logs, admire the view and make sure we didn't didn't loose anyone off a cliff along the side of the trail and into the river below, we lost track of time in our enthusiasm. We were brought back to earth by a solo traveller barrelling along the trail who asked us if the castle were close by and we had no idea.

We wandered around a corner and saw on a hill above us an old fortification and Julian asked "is that it" but I didn't think so as it looked different in the photos. Rob reached an intersection in the trails first and staged a "I have no idea which way to go now" performance which we all saw straight through the act pushed past him and found one of the worlds most amazing castles.

It didn't matter that we couldn't go inside, though many people will tell you the inside is the best part. In fact after the walk I don't believe I would have been up to touring the castle and understand that summer visitors walk one way and catch a shuttle bus back to the car park. 

We wandered down by the river side to take in the view from different angles before making the return trek to the castle. There were a few other tourists by this stage and most of them were parked on the side of the road and sadly for them they missed the wonderful walk.

Our trip back to the car was much quicker, brought about by the panicked feeling we were going to miss lunch as we had no watch with us. It wasn't as late as we expected it to be and while had planned to visit the Marksburg in the afternoon, a drive of almost an hour, this was voted down in favour of lunch and Christmas markets in Koblenz.

Koblenz

In Koblenz we got our brief view of the Rhine River, which was all that we managed for this holiday. Lunch was our first priority and was enjoyed in a lovely old weinstube. 

The Koblenz markets were fabulous and for the first time we saw artisans at work creating their wonderful offerings. The market was spread out across the city and soon we found ourselves thoroughly and delightfully lost.

At one market area we found St Nicholas deep in conversation with a blacksmith chopping wood for his fire. Nearby we watched a glass blower creating wonderful christmas baubles.

Our nose lead us to another square filled with food offerings and we decided it was time for afternoon tea. Emma had a fabulous apfel pfannkuchen, Julian stuck with the familiar waffles and Rob and I chose the kwarkbollen which look ans taste like Croatian fritole and were delish, especially as they were still warm.

Cologne

Our flight to London on Saturday morning was a early one so we needed to be closer to the airport and so we booked a Holiday Inn Express in Troisdorf, a real bargain through Hotwire and not hard to guess which hotel we would get. And so we decided to leave Cochem early and spend a couple of hours in Köln seeing the wonderful Cathedral and its adjacent markets.

We parked easily at the main train station, the hauptbahnhof, and walked over to the Cathedral, you can't miss it as it towers magistically over the city. There was no queue and so we walked in and Rob, Emma and I said WOW and Julian said "this is nothing I've seen taller ceilings than that" though we were not quiet sure where. Bizarrely enough he was correct as the nave of St Paul's in Rome is actually a little less than six feet higher.

The Christmas Market was hidden around the side of the church, it wasn't hard to hide behind the largest church in Northern Europe, though the market itself was huge. It was also absolutely freezing so we quickly bought some kase spaetzel, yummy cheesy noodles with carmalised onion to keep our hands and tummies warm. I even tried a white gluwein which I found absolutely delicious, so warming and tasty and it reminded me too late that, even though I drink very little, that we have visited the Mosel Valley and we had not sampled any of the wine and it was a shame.

I even tried a white gluwein which I found absolutely delicious, so warming and tasty and it reminded me too late that, even though I drink very little, that we have visited the Mosel Valley and we had not sampled any of the wine and it was a shame.

This market held a hidden danger for us, the danger of buying too much and not fitting it in our luggage allowance. Which led us to thinking about getting all of our things back to Australia in the new year. 

We had planned to post some things back from England once we saw what we had left behind back in June. We planned to post our summer clothes to Sydney to my Mum, who we will visit before returning to Perth, from London and once back in Ringwood  some toys, school books and clothes we could go back to Perth. 

But then I remembered some long ago advice from my friend Susanne about the amazing affordability of the German post office. So on the way to our hotel we popped into the post office and discovered that DHL from Germany is half the price of DHL from London and for €42 we could send home 5kg packages.

And so the next morning we said goodbye to Germany, for now, and 15kg lighter, head off to the airport to make a return to the UK five months after we left. We had enjoyed our fill of Markets and castles while looking forward to more in Austria at Christmas time.