Family Travels

Final Blog Bits by Brendan - incl. Mallorca!

morter_family — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:43:00 GMT

The cruise ship was Norwegian, registered in Nassau, managed by Americans for Americans. They must have also played a part in the ship’s design, they had to – everything’s big in the US. Our voyage seemed to attract the ones whom must always come up in those national surveys, which give America the label as having the biggest people in the world. For those that disembarked (marine talk for “got off the boat”) as we stopped along the Italian coast, seemed to spend most of their time at the shops, returning in the form of marionettes, using designer shopping bags as puppets. They all stopped in the arrival area and put on plays for each other before waddling off to their cabins where you could hear them all saying “does my bum look big in this”. Now we all know Italy’s sweet spot is clothing design, but they don’t earn it through master classes with David Copperfield! So as the next few days and nights unfolded women who previously wore track suits and 3-man tents had morphed into victims of inappropriate ill-fitting Italian designer clothing. A sight I simply cannot put into words. And while we’re on the dress code I was surprised to see a very old couple at the French restaurant - him wearing a tux, complete with bow tie and she had a frock, which was so heavily weighed down by sequins and other jewelry, she looked like she’d had a reverse face lift. After that I noticed all the other guests on the boat wore very formal clothing for dinner. So the next day Tracey unpacked all her gear that highlighted her curvy bits, the kids were booked into mini club for the duration of our dinners and all I could do was iron my good shirt every night and brush my teeth. We got knocked back one night (for wearing jeans) and eluded the security on another occasion. But this presented another problem, as I had refused to pay the outrageous prices for the drinks on the boat, which meant I had to return to our cabin to top up our bootleg spirits every 20 minutes. We were staying on level 4 and most of the fun was to be had on level 12, so this required extensive use of the elevator and as you can imagine after 2 nights you start to see the same people a fair bit, all dressed up like the main strip in Vegas. So returning from the cabin throughout these evenings with two full glasses wearing the same clothes caused me some image problems. I was sweating bullets every time I returned to the elevator, where pressing the button became a game of Russian roulette. By the third night I was running out of pathetic excuses and elevator jokes and no one understood my accent anyway – they all just looked at me and no doubt made me the centre of their discussions over dinner. The other problem was their obsession with personal hygiene, automatic alcohol based hand cleaners were placed all over the boat, perhaps 4 or 5 on one level alone. I refused after day one to use these machines and got strange stares from the other compliant Americans who could not understand why having dried up but clean hands was not the foundation of my existence (hence we are all suffering from colds now!) Being an international crowd attracted all sorts, which provided world championship people watching, the most memorable for me was a full tilt cowboy his missus must have convinced him to join us all by the pool as they only did this once, so in he came, complete with pasty white skin except where his t-shirt stopped halfway down his arm, huge black 10 gallon hat, which I assure you never came off and budgie smugglers – What more can I say. Tracey was mesmerized by the group of old, overly tanned, leathery English women, whom all traveled in groups like ducks, all squawking, but listening to each other at the same time, whilst consuming numerous multi-colored cocktails with names like sex on the beach and orgasm and sporting ill fitting bikinis, which presented more cellulite than a Greek Fetta cheese factory. They danced and sang to the band badly, ensuring they all had lounges next to each other by forcibly relocating other innocent voyagers.

Morocco was the polar opposite, where the only thing more persistent than the beggars, whom casually took handfuls of food off our plates as we ate, was the flies. And as the days wore on, the food traveled faster and faster though our bodies, it would have been more convenient for the restaurant to set up 2, 4 and 6 toilet tables to eat at. It’s like everything is back to front or each thing has an immediate exact opposite. The central part of town, where the market is and hygiene isn’t, has people sleeping on the ground in the mud; the stench is just overwhelming as are the people harassing you, and this is right where Club Med is located. Outside this area are suburban Moroccan housing (will explain that later) and the new area, where all the beautiful people live. So it is normal at the traffic lights to see a late model Benz next to a Donkey, all used to transport 5 people at once. At a pedestrian crossing you see a heavily dressed local man with one of his 5 ninja suited wives standing behind him next to a sexy scantily clad mid twenties babe. You could buy a dish of succulent chicken and beef with chips and salad for 5 bucks but a soft drink was 8. The garden at the hotel was simply stunning. It would present well on discovery channel, featuring resorts for the rich and famous, but the food was something equivalent to what may be dropped by the UN into grief stricken Somalia, the kicker was the Chef who stood by this smorgasbord of burnt goat and molasses with his proudest Gordon Ramsay grin and this all cost about 40 bucks a head! That was the last time we ate there. I would have swapped the Executive chef with the Executive gardener. I could discuss the food or masquerade off it for another 2000 words but remember these are the guys who are famous for tangine (hot roasted food) including dates, prunes cous-cous with goat! Which is their national example of how they seem to trying to mix oil and water in the form of a community, which is what makes it all so interesting?

We are in Mallorca now, a Spanish island in the med made famous in Australia by Christopher Skase. And I understand now why he choose Mallorca, as no one would consider looking for him here after his lofty ambitions of grandeur and lavish lifestyle. We got our current lodgings for $400 for 6 nights and when I got to the airport and we rented a car for $250 for 5 days including insurance with no excess, this was when I became suspicious.

Mallorca appears to be frequented by the budget conscious German and English holiday makers and my suspicions were confirmed because they consider a beach strewn with rubbish, low nutritional food and the most out of date environment, better than any other 2-3 hour flight from their home town in Western Europe. The whole place is more worn out than Cliff Young after his marathon run from Sydney to Melbourne. The restaurants all serve English or German food, and everyone speaks three languages. Tracey is now orally confused and still uses merci instead of thank you, gracias or danke! I have given up arguing with the Hotel management about the misrepresentations on their web site, the place was clearly built by the first and second pig - the internet doesn’t work, the TV is an old 12 inch Grundig one and each channel looks like a white cat in the snow or a black cat at night. The gym has its own room with mirrors but consists of one broken abb crunching machine; all the crayons in the kids club are broken and the paper looks like it’s made of dried up papaya stalks. The pool’s downright dangerous and the plumbing in the bathroom’s exposed and makes its way slowly through each of the other 300 rooms (ours included) before it’s pumped into the beach. It’s like Rosebud talking itself up as tantamount to the northern end of the Gold Coast, complete with the latest brands like No Fear, Hypercolor T-shirts and stretch jeans, the main radio station plays music by The Knack, David Essex and the Bay-city Rollers and all the others play continuous ABBA songs. All the blokes walk around in shorts with socks and brown sandals which require them to tuck their socks between their two largest toes. They even have an English beer garden complete with overgrown mini golf, 2 or 3 other broken rides from the 70’s and 2 dollar chicken and chips and they’re busier than the customer service manager at a Wall Street stock broker. If you’re not up for fish fingers with brown sauce you’ll have to settle for battered cod with Mushy peas – OK!! It is therefore void of vegetarians or anyone under a size 14. We have an early check out in 3 days before taking 5 flights and two days to return to our precious country – Australia, which bring us to the end.

Gallery: Marrakech, Morocco

morter_family — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:57:00 GMT

Morrocan Senses Assault

morter_family — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:47:00 GMT

Our Moroccan jaunt started ominously with our luggage being refused due to being too heavy. We then had to pay for an extra piece, once we’d sorted through (at the lovely counter full of people) and found an old canvas bag inside an outside pocket. This bag would not do up though and luckily for us there was a luggage plastic wrapper there, so it ended up looking like a big green blob but safe! B had taken the wine out of the cases due to weight and put the bottles in hand luggage without thinking. This meant we had to throw our lovely wines away at bag screening time much to my chagrin. No amount of “but they’re sealed with corks” would let them through. Then as we’re waiting at the crowded gate we learn that there’s no set seating and we’re at the back of the line. Sienna had suddenly got a bad fever as we waited at the gate to get on (cruise withdrawal).

Carried her crying onto the tarmac to walk for ages to the plane and got on, luckily with 2 seats together and 2 for B and Miki a couple behind. Sienna just slept the whole way in a stupor which was good but we desperately wanted the panadol from luggage. The assault on all our senses started on the tarmac in Marrakech. Very warm and busy. Inside the terminal, the wait for passport control was unbelievable with nowhere to even fit in a line – total disorganization and they were taking so long to do each passport. Sienna was hot and crying constantly and a French woman (they speak French and Arabic only here) asked me what was wrong. When I told her S was sick with fever she went to a guard and arranged for us to move to the front of the line to get her through which was great. However the dirty looks were overwhelming on the way (as if I’d care). Of course the airline had given us the wrong entry cards to fill out, so had to stand and fill 4 new ones out at the start of the line in front of grumpy faces. Then, we hurried to the security guard to get through to luggage and he wouldn’t let us through. Said we had no stamps on our passport from the passport man (who I saw stamp them). Brendan was about to absolutely knock him to the floor, and I could see a night in a Moroccan jail coming up with me coping with sick kids. He got the passport man to come over who yelled and screamed at the security guard and stuck the stamps in his face (they had been stamped on the back page) – he was livid – and we went through. Fun and games! Then once luggage came out we dug through to get panadol and got our little S some medicine (still crying and hot).

People had told us to make sure we get a meter on a taxi and of course when we get outside all taxis had no meters!! B was fuming by now. We just ended up paying what we had to and got in. The Kenzi Semiramis is listed as a 5 star resort. Well, maybe their star system is back to front! It’s probably a tired 3 star. Took about ½ hour to walk to our room and then inside, pubes on the toilet, bed half made and fridge frozen shut and no mini bar inside. Needless to say we complained and went to another room which is fine. This room was actually clean but some areas of the hotel are not good. We were starving and went to the “buffet” for dinner. This was fantastic for me, as it looked so bad that I couldn’t really eat anything and so I will definitely lose weight after the cruise here! I picked thru and ate a few boiled potato bits and beans, Miki, tomato slices and bread and B tried the meat. How could he? We’ve been here 5 days and I am vegetarian. Have only eaten veggies and bread and can’t face animal products. That was the last time we ate at the hotel, apart from breaky which unfortunately is included. Toast and tea is about the limit of what I’ll eat. The girls eat a bit of soft fruit and cereal and bread. We considered leaving immediately but have stuck it through and are quite used to it now. Was such a culture shock after the luxury of the ship.

Everyone in Morocco that even tries to speak to you wants coins “Barkeesh”. We had no change so of course the porter was fuming and once the hotel staff don’t get a coin for just saying hello they ignore you and are grumpy as hell. So we haven’t talked to staff for days now. And what’s worse, we look imploringly at the other guests (all French), as if to say, can you believe this place? And they look past us every time. No recognition at all. It’s as if we’re invisible and the rest of the world is grumpy! I have given up on French now and of course can’t speak Arabic so we’re in a world of our own – the Morter bubble.

We discovered the mini club here and the girls have been for a few hours here and there (the woman is quite nice but only speaks French of course). They quite like it as it has an outdoor playground. We have been around the pool a bit (it’s bloom’n hot) and have had a few swims but the girls think the pool is too cold (after the cruise) and are not happy with it.

Marrakech is in two parts. The old Medina which is situated within the old town walls from 1,000 years ago and the new, where our hotel is, outside the walls. We ventured into the Medina the first day after we put the kids into Mini Club. Everyone probably has a vision in their mind of the Moroccan market. And it didn’t disappoint and was worse than you imagined. We were accosted from all sides with people trying to take us somewhere or show us something and were plagued for coins. In the end B ran out and was adamant he was giving them nothing. We ventured closer to look at the snakes, eg twin cobras sitting up with the music man playing and a few ominous ones lying around. Before you could say “sh*t there’s a snake”, a death adder was placed around my neck by a dirty old Moroccan local. As I love snakes, it wasn’t a problem for me and I patted him and gave him a kiss (the guy had hold of snakie’s jaws the whole time). B was going spastic, as he HATES snakes and was trying to get a picture and watch anyone coming toward him with suspicious long items at the same time. Hence he only got 1 good picture. We hurriedly made our way towards the relative safety of the drinks caravan area where hundreds of caravans selling the same fresh orange juices all yell simultaneously to get your attention. We chose 1 and had the best orange juice ever!

With new fortitude we ventured into the undercover market area and of course were accosted by a new breed of seller. After looking at a few items and fighting the owners off by being as rude as possible, we hurried further into the maze of streets, careful not to look at anything except the filthy ground. We then ventured deeper and deeper into a labyrinth of streets and every step of the way you are accompanied by a swarm of the stickiest flies you could imagine. With the increasing flies, came increasing stench. They were pumping up fresh sewerage from underground around our feet along the way. Retching, we moved on quickly.

We were informed there was a “lovely leather market” just ahead and a man volunteered that he was going that way and would take us along. How kind! The “5 minute” walk took about ½ an hour and the streets got increasingly grungy (if that was possible) and small. Eventually we arrived at an open air LEATHER TANNING factory of all places. My goodness (for want of a swear word). We were handed an organic face mask which took the form of a huge bunch of fresh mint and with me saying to Brendan, “please let’s not do this”, we were ushered through the gate into a huge pit with many small pits containing dead animals and the most poisonous chemicals known to man. Men were scraping gizzards out of dead animals and putting them into pits of chemical and the smell was absolutely horrendous. They can only work l day a week or they would die much faster than is normal. We were allowed to take photos as if it was the Eiffel Tower and the surreal nature of it, coupled with the promise to make you faint smell, was almost too much. When it was over, of course, we had to pay for the privilege! Then we were ushered to the shop which sold the items made from the leather (about the size of your local milk bar only) and forced to view them. Of course we didn’t buy anything and rushed out horrified by the experience with expectant faces, devoid of money, looking after us. We couldn’t believe what we’d just been through and we had to find our way back! We kept saying Souk Souk (market in Arabic) and eventually found it, raced to a cab and the safety of our now, looking wonderful, hotel!

Amazingly, we still decided to return to the market at night with the girls and show them the snakes before escaping for dinner. They had snakes around their necks within 30 seconds of arriving and B stood away taking the photos. The girls are snake lovers like their mum. At night, the market transforms itself into a completely different environment – with Monkeys, snake charmers, Arab spiritualists, hand painting, praying, the whole lot and hundreds of make shift market cafés all appeared. It was mesmerizing. On the way in the cab, Miki suddenly got a fever and we had to pull over and she spewed out the door (had what Sienna had by now). She said she felt better and we kept going, thinking we’d give her some paracetamol at the market, which we did (in the only drink we could find - a glass of their famous fresh orange juice). That was after we had to pay the equivalent of $7 to allow the kids to pat a couple of monkeys. During all of this we are constantly being harassed by restaurant spruikers who present themselves as Gordon Ramsay or Jamie Oliver and try their damndest to push you into their establishments. We finally decided to go to a western looking joint on the fringe instead. After finding our way to the top of the stairs, as we were standing in front of 200 diners Miki said to daddy (who was holding her) “Dad I want to spit’ (which means vomit) and she bought back half a glass of fresh orange juice and assorted bits and pieces all over the restaurant foyer floor and B. Bye the way, there was no running water in the wash rooms and no toilet paper either. We thought it best to leave at that stage and headed home in a cab holding our noses (the driver didn’t know the difference) and very hungry. We noted, that the restaurant never attempted to clean up the vomit either, just kept walking over it!

Both Miki and Sienna have been fine after 1 dose of paracetamol each and successfully fought whatever germs they were getting. However B and I are constantly not 100% and I have a cold (not too bad). We’ve all had a bit of diarreah at times too, but we’re OK. Hopefully we’ll make it through to good medical care in Europe if anything gets worse! Won’t be visiting the “infirmarie” here unless we’re dead!

Things have been looking up the last couple of days. We found an excellent, down to earth cabbie who speaks fab English and he’s our regular transport and guide (making a fortune off us no doubt). We have also found a couple of lovely “western clean type restaurants” near the hotel and have enjoyed some lovely salads and veggies and stuff, so are Ok with the food there.

Today we took our cabbie (Ahmed’s) advice and went to the Atlas Mountains and saw how the Berber’s live. They were here before the Arabs and live on the side of mountains in the valley, 40 miles out. We had a tour of a local house – talk about living simply! It is built over running water so that the kitchen has a hole in the floor where the water runs through where you wash etc and little fires on the floor where you cook. Was very interesting (for a fee!!!!) We ate at a local restaurant too and I had my first “tagine” – I’ve been dying to have one. It was just vegetables cooked in the clay pot. Brendan had something that professed to be meat but was inedible and the girls – fried eggs which they love. We should be getting thinner!

Ahmed stopped at an ice-cream shop on the way home and the girl’s gorged themselves. The ice-cream in Morocco is the best ever. Eg. The vanilla made with real vanilla beans and sooo good. They seem to use original spices and flavors here and it makes a difference.

We love the spice shops with all the mountains of colored spices here but look uneasily at the butcher shops with whole dead animals and flies on carcasses still with their heads on etc.

Last night, since Miki was well, we tried again to go out for dinner at the Souk. First we bought the girls new runners. Sienna chose all gold Pumas (so bright) and Miki pink and white. We then headed through the throng to choose an outside market restaurant. They have all their food on show and trestle tables and benches. We looked longingly at the restaurant serving only braised cow heads which looked delicious, (aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh) but decided upon one serving a bit of everything instead. It turned out to be quite delicious with us trying little fish fillets and calamari, B trying meat skewers and there were delicious homemade tomato sauces and salsas and potato patties. As it was extra cheap and we have woken up this morning with no dramas, we’ll probably eat there again tonight. We are now trying to save every penny as are over budget and the Aussie Dollar is not good.

When we had arrived home, we suddenly heard a scream of “puppy, puppy, puppy” from Mikaela and she went racing in absolute grief and screaming through our room door, down the halls, into the lift (with me chasing her) and out to the taxis outside. She was crying puppy all the way. It seems she thought she lost her little black and white spotted puppy that she has taken everywhere and loves more than anything. She was trying to get to the taxis to take her to the restaurant to find him. I have never seem someone in so much grief in my life, it was scary. Not even at a funeral. She was beside herself with worry and I was starting to panic. Next thing, Sienna was by our side at the front of the hotel with puppy! Dad had put it in the backpack at the restaurant. Thank goodness. I don’t know what we would have done, she would have needed to be sedated. She grabbed him and sobbed for a while and was perfectly OK again in 10 minutes.

We have only 2 days to go and will probably lay low, though Brendan gets bored in about 10 minutes by the pool and talks me into doing something! We’ll probably take a camel ride or something. We’d love to go to the Sahara sand dunes, but they’re 8 hours away!

Next blog update may be from Mallorca (the Spanish island we are going for last 6 days).

Gallery: Cruising

morter_family — Wed, 8 Oct 2008 03:45:00 GMT

Visiting Malta, Italy & Monarco

Luxury at Sea at Last !!

morter_family — Wed, 8 Oct 2008 03:36:00 GMT

We were dying to say goodbye to Barcelona and get on our ship and after a lovely sunny outdoor breaky got a cab to the boat, the Norweigan Gem. It was massive. It was so exciting to get onboard. We were freaked out immediately by its size and glamour. It’s a brand new boat and everthing was new and perfect. We were thrilled with our room with a big porthole, sep toilet and shower and bathroom all so clean and new you could easily eat your dinner off the floor. The shower was the best we’ve had since leaving home and getting Brendan out was a challenge. There was heaps of storage, plasma tv, fridge and all. Heaps of room for all our stuff and we lived in it well for the week. We had a brilliant first day by the pool, the weather was sunny and hot and the girls were straight into the pool on top and down the huge water slide again and again. We waved off from Barcelona all 4 of us really excited. There were so many facilities and we explored for ages and couldn’t believe we kept finding new and exciting things. There were about 12 restaurants, 7 bars, 2 show lounges and a huge tiered theatre that sat 2,000 not to mention, casino, whole shopping mall and outside sports decks, gym, spa and kids club. The girls went into kids club on day 1 and immediately fell in love with 2 of the workers, Jeffie and Alligator (many had code animal names). The absolutely adored going and we suffered nagging and even tantrums if we didn’t put them in all the time through the trip. We had to pay when in ports for their care, so didn’t want to put them in all the time then, and we heard about it! Sometimes a promise of the pool and a swim helped but they were obsessed with going. Every time they went they had their face painted and came home with heaps of things they made. Every session had a theme and they were always kept busy and happy. It was soooo fantastic for them. They said the best holiday ever and when we had to leave on the last day, they cried and cried and held onto their carers only to be pried off them with promises of going to Princess Jasmine and Aladdin’s homes (Morroco). Kid’s club went til 10.30 every night, so by the time they wound down for sleep it was invariably 11.30 or later every night and we were asleep before them! The beds were the coziest, most comfortable havens ever and we loved our beds and pillows, sinking in with the waves splashing and slight movement. We only had to lean up and look out of the porthole for some wave action!

We got up for the early mornings sailing into port nearly every one at 6.30am and it was magic. Brendan was in total awe with the boat and the sailing. Some of the maneuvers into ports were amazing and tight and fun to watch. Our first port, after a full day and night of sailing was Malta. It was such a different looking place to see and we were pumped to get off and have a look. We decided not to pay for any tours (they were ridiculous prices and we might get stuck with some of the many Americans on board). We got 2 busses to Medina, the ancient town near Valetta (the capital). It was great. A walled town with very tight streets and high walls and heaps of history. Naturally we had to visit the old torture dungeons in town and found all the history there. Malta was attacked all the time by Romans, Christians, Arabs and Jews and the African slaves planned constant coups too. Every torture was represented and B and especially I loved it! It’s now the only place on earth that speaks an Arabic sounding language that is spelt in roman characters. There’s a piece of trivia for you. We really loved Malta for its different look and feel and Media and the harbours are beautiful.

I’ll now talk about the food on the ship (I ate enough of it). First night we went to their specialty French restaurant which was very opulent and the food amazing. We were way too underdressed with our limited clothing but didn’t really mind. Perfect scallops to start, melt in the mouth steak and Crepe suzettes to die for. You can eat at one of the 3 great restaurants for free but the specialty restaurants have a cover charge so we were a bit pissed off with the hidden cost but can understand the rationale. We had breaky most days in their posh restaurant that reminded us of old Titanic days. They serve you whatever you want and it was all perfect watching the sea go by. Other days, the buffet inside and on back deck was amazing with everything you can imagine. And as you would gather, we (especially I) ate far too much at every meal and snacks in between! The girls were freaking, they had their own kids restaurant and loved it and the deserts and 12 different icecream flavours every day with every lolly imaginable on them were much appreciated! Most lunches we ate by the pool at the bbq (big Webbers of tandoori chicken, chops, steaks etc) or hamburgers salads, hot dogs for the kids etc. We just could not believe the quality and range of choice of the food and told them so. It was sooooo great, and B the fussiest of all, was amazed. Every meal was fabulous and no complaints at all. And the service! Well, they were mostly Phillipinos and were soooooo gorgeous, accommodating and happy. Such a pleasure all the time and nothing too much trouble. Our room steward, would make animals out of towels and leave them for the girls every night. Even monkeys hanging from our ceiling. They are so clever.

On our trip we had the Miss Europe/World competitors and they had a show to choose the winner on our 2^nd to last night. The girls were 15 to 21 years old and it was funny watching them over the week on the boat. We had our favourite at the end, Miss Venezuala (of course) and she won. The show was so funny and the boat rocking, so they had a bit of trouble with balance and so on. B enjoyed the swimsuit section! Also on board were 2^nd City. They are a famous comedy act of 5 people, in Chicago, and were brilliant. They did improvisation and were great to watch. We really enjoyed them.

Our next port was Naples, where the night before the Mafia war with police had seen 200 people arrested. We saw no evidence of this and got a shifty local to take us to Pompeii. Had a great couple of hours there in the ruins. It’s great to be in a place so full of history and with some imagination, you are able to see life as it was. We loved it. We took the girls for a walk into Naples when we returned and it was taking our lives into our own hands. I remember Rome being bad for traffic manners but it was shocking. They didn’t follow the lights and mopeds were on the pedestrian crossing with us etc. After walking a few blocks, we fled back to the safety and comfort of our wonderful ship. We stayed on board for the next 2 ports in wonderful leisure, overeating and laziness. We had both been to Rome and Florence and didn’t feel like coping with the outside world – especially the frenetic nature of it in Italy.

The swell picked up a bit overnight and we had some great views of waves down the side of the ship which B and I loved and a bit more rocking for a change.

Woke up to a perfect day in the bay of Villefranche and got the tender to shore and then the train 20minutes to spend the day in Monte Carlo. We loved it and walked around the whole town and grand prix track. We studied the wonderful yachts for hours in the marina. My goodness, have never seen so much ridiculous wealth in one spot. It seemed a bit obscene. Yachts with helicopters on the top etc. but fascinating to see. Walked through the wonderful Hotel de Paris and had a G&T at the marina before heading back. The train followed the coast road and the weather was hot and sunny so was a fantastic day with beautiful sights. All of a sudden this trip (our favourite part of the holiday) was coming to a close and the night before Barcelona when we picked up the girls from Kid’s Club was a drama with them clinging to the gate and crying, not wanting to go. We eventually pried off their fingers and dragged them down with them yelling “I love you” to their carers and crying. They were sooooo tired after a week of total stimulation and not much sleep. We knew it would be bad with them being so tired and we we’re right. Crying all the way down the disembarkation tunnels and into the cab. Asking why we have to leave. “I don’t want to go to Morroco, I want to stay on the boat”. And they were right!

Barcelona Plus

morter_family — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:38:00 GMT

Into a new apartment not far from our fab location last time. Unfortunately, our apartment luck has run out. This one is not so good and is actually two apartments, one under the other. So we use one for living and one for sleeping. It’s not nearly as modern or nice but no cockroaches so far and that’s a good thing. We also have a big rooftop garden for dinners at night. The water went off for a whole day and we had to call the agency and were possibly going to move out but it came on again, though pressure is terrible. These are the challenges we face as travelers at the mercy of our surroundings! Poor little us! Ha ha ha ha – we are soooo lucky and loving it!

Today we walked to the beach and had lunch on the sand in a little café which was lovely. Girls were playing in the sand and Sienna grabbed the last of Miki’s drink (she had finished her own). Miki saw her and Sienna ran with Miki chasing. S quickly drank the rest and threw the cup. Miki punched her and pulled her hat off with hat and S punched her back. Was a huge scene at the café and was hilarious but they were soooo mad and enraged. Took us ages to tone it down. Everyone watched and were laughing a lot.

We are having a heap of trouble with Miki at the moment, and her tantrums. She’s soo sensitive and goes down at the drop of a hat screaming and on the floor or throwing things. She’s out of control and we’re worried! We are now ignoring her so she follows us a few paces behind screaming all the way down the Ramblas screaming “be nice to me, be nice to me” and crying at the top of her lungs. This happened the 5 blocks home last night with people staring and then up to the rooftop garden where we ate our takeaway. In the end people’s heads were all popping out of their windows at her and we threatened the police which helped a bit. Maybe she’s super tired or something’s out with her, but we’re soooo over it. She gets so fixated on something that is relatively nothing. Eg. Sienna’s square of chocolate was bigger than hers and she goes for ages. Then it turns into mummy and daddy are not being nice and she’s too sad to stop crying etc. Enough to drive you mental.

We took the Tour around on the double decker bus to all the sights and got off for ages at the Temple Sangrada Familia. This is the most amazing piece of art/architecture that we have ever seen. It’s the huge thing that Gaudi designed and spent 40 years building until he got hit by a tram in 1926. It’s still under construction and will not be finished until 2030ish. We took the tour which was interesting as there are so many intricacies within and without and stories to match. It is truly amazing and I can’t possibly do justice trying to explain anything. Trouble is, it’s a catholic church after all and all the religion and talk of hell etc on the tour ruined it a bit. What a beautiful building though.

Went to Flamenco and it was fantastic. The guys especially I thought were the best. B will have to take classes! The dresses as you would expect were fabulous and the girls watched intently. B was pissed off because our girls wore their flamenco outfits and were the only children there and we walked in just before show ( a bit late). So everyone was seated and waiting for show and turned to the door to see us. Nearly everyone there was ooohing and aaaahing and about 20 people got up to take photos of them. They did look divine, if I do say so myself. But B hates this type of attention. They didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t.

Miki was enraptured with the red and white dress with exceptionally long, ruffled train. I looked at B and said, ‘give Miki 2 minutes to ask for one”. Just then she said “Mummy where did that lady get her dress? I want one” I said you can’t buy these type darling. Answer was “Ganma can get me one, I’ll ask her and she can make one for puppy”. There it is. All sorted in her mind thanks to wonderful Ganma. Look out Ganma and start stressing – just kidding.

We had a wonderful Japanese meal afterwards and fell in love with a huge painting they had on the wall. Took a photo and I’m going to copy it at home and put it on the big wall in front of the stairs. I’ve got so much art to do at home. Mosaics, paintings, ironwork!

Can you believe that yesterday was a public holiday for yet another bloom’n saint in Barcelona. We woke up to the hugest crowds again. Where do all the people fit? The streets are all packed and it’s sea to sea people. We were walking down the street in the Gothic part of town at night, and suddenly there’s a huge multi media presentation going on, onto the building surrounding the square. Mind blowing! There’s fireworks every night and those street performers. The girls are now so used to them, that the scary rasta head in a box is their favourite – they call him Mr. Hola (see photos). They were taunting him yesterday and creeping up to put money in and he said to them, I love you – in Spanish accent and “you are so beautiful”. They love him now but he’s the scariest. And the monkey man that Sienna was sooooo scared of, she used to cross the street and put her fingernails in my hand, has now enticed her up for a photo. They even found a “corpse bride” lady who they looooove. We have to go everyday so say hello to our favourite characters.

Had a bit of a drama today with Sienna and a sore wee wee. She was crying and screaming on the toilet so we decided to take her to the hosp in case of urinary tract infection. She was a bit hot yesterday but seemed OK today. We got in quite easily and they were so quick and good which is a good surprise. She had inflammation but no bugs so got some cream and she’s already much better tonight. Lots of water! The Spanish are soooooo clean. The hospital was lovely and so clean and then onto the Metro which is exquisitely clean – no graffiti etc. Daddy and miki got Sienna a surprise for when she had to do another wee wee that hurt to cheer her up and we had dramas with Miki trying to make Sienna do a wee asap as she wanted to give the surprise and Sienna trying to put off going. So more crying and dramas. Bloom’n heck. Would kill for a babysitter but not long til kids club on the boat. Yippppeeeee. Their sleep pattern is about 11.45pm til 10am so maybe they are a little behind in sleep. Isn’t that ridiculous. I hope we can set it back to normal again soon.

Due to be a bit of rain over our last 2 days so will be ready for the ship on Sunday morning. We may be offline for a week and not update the site for a while, but see how we go. See new photos under Barcleona! xxxx

Brendan's Turn to Talk

morter_family — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

TT’s been responsible for all the blog’s to date, so I thought it was time I put finger to keyboard. I bet Tracey didn’t tell you we’ve been robbed countless times whilst in Europe. First it was the people who rent us the apartments, then each and every café and restaurant we go too and the tour companies! None of this was mentioned in the travel brochures. One place wanted 25 euros for 2 lemonades a beer and a glass of house red, that’s $40 in normal money and the waiter had the audacity to smile at me when he handed over the bill. I almost punched him out! The highlight of Germany was the Porsche drive for me, which was only 1 Euro per kay, but when you’re doing a kilometre every 13 seconds it soon adds up! This has all been written about and the article submitted to Top Gear Magazine. San Sebastian was interesting; the juxtaposition between old and new is extreme. If you walked out on the balcony at 2 in the morning, and I did most nights ready to jump - after CNN described the state of the stock market, anyway, at first I thought it was 30 small diesel engines all idling at once, then realized it was the bones in all the old people rattling as they got up to go to the toilet. The beach looked like an overly decorated chocolate cake as the brown leather chairs matched the greyhound looking women’s skin perfectly and the only discerning variance was their liquid paper white teeth bordered by a necklace that contained more gold than the Reserve Bank. I understand Rio Tinto is planning to take over the beach! On the other hand my morning runs are punctuated by the most distracting female bodies on the planet. My aspirations of a 12 kay run always turned into a 10 kay jog as the blood slowly left my head and its too difficult running with an erection.

I believe San Seb are vying to be the cultural centre of Europe, so I believe all rate payers have been petitioned to oblige the most arrogant approach to any visitor they meet. I had to call on the hospital due to neck and shoulder injuries (a result of the double takes during my morning runs) where it took me 20 minutes to get an audience with three different nurses and after two hours seeing all the sick and injured (whom came in after me) getting attention, I approached the nurses and 2 other doctors, but still got no relief as apparently they didn’t understand me. It wasn’t until I boisterously told them all to “go forth and multiply” that I realized they did understood a bit of English.

I’ve told the kids the most graphical stories of kidnappings, child abuse and the eastern European slave trade. They don’t understand most of it, save for the nightmares, but Sienna gets the picture. This of course does not stop both of them running away a lot of times and does not deter “Princess Mikaela” – also commonly referred to as “Lucy” from choosing the most inappropriate times to have a celebrity moment and it comes with all the trappings. “I’m not staying there unless they have silk sheets? Daddy I don’t understand what they’re saying on the TV! I only want Belgium Ice cream! Don’t wake me up before 11am” the usual stuff. The wife of my life made the strategic decision to let the kids take and be responsible for their own luggage, - “carry on” I said with a smile, well Lucy’s roller suit case has broken on the bottom (a separate story) so every time she pulls it over a variation from carpet to vinyl, a step or groove in the footpath it falls on its side. Can you imagine how many surface cracks there are between Melbourne and Barcelona? Tracey has organized our National Lampoons European vacation with watch-maker like precision, and those that know her will testify that her obsession with punctuality requires counseling, so the slightest variation in train times, a delayed taxi or undercooked steak puts enormous pressure on her, then more importantly Lucy, usually followed by me then Sienna and Sienna and I have stopped laughing as we realize it only makes matters worse. The most memorable was when we were late for a train descending an escalator at central station, Munich, Tracey had dragged Sienna ahead to personally hold the train and as Lucy and I got to the bottom of the escalator the roller case fell over – but this time it wasn’t just the case - but also Spotty dog (Her traveling companion) and her back-pack. The whole lot was sitting at the bottom of the escalator, being continually nudged by the never ending steps and an absolute throng of commuters. I quickly intervened, but she was having none of that, she took spotty dog and the back pack off me and threw it back on the escalator so she could pick it up herself. I ask you! Germans apply the same military precision to their life that Tracey’s has to organizing our holiday and to Lucy’s credit she told them all to leave her alone and it was only her limited vocabulary that precluded her from making more explicit comments all with a level of aggressiveness usually reserved for the Zimbabwean president - or a 5 year old. She then proceeded to re-pack everything right there at the bottom of the escalator.

A reasonable amount of international travel and 10 weeks of Spanish lessons has only resulted in me remembering the swear words of various languages. On the other hand Tracey could speak a little French and lots of German and Spanish in no time. She’s a critical accessory on any European outing. Conversely, she can be quite nonchalant and unaware with other things, like the time she tried to enter the smallest door I have ever seen, wrestling one of our giant suitcases with Lucy in tow, mumbling under her breath “how can the largest train station in Bilbao have such a small doorway”? I just stood on the street with Sienna next to me rolling her eyes. Maybe because the door was the wrong one! We were staying in a 2^nd floor apartment in San Seb and on the last day we went for a walk to get supplies in the late afternoon, this time Tracey was in charge of all the essential items, money and other stuff. We went to the Superamara and got drinks and stuff then on the way back Tracey discovered she had lost the key! Of all things! I was not impressed as my shortcomings on the language side are made up in remembering the important things. I asked her where she put the key and she said “I just put it between the fold of my purse” (which by the way seems to endlessly sprinkle coins all over the road as she never remembers to zip it up), we didn’t have the phone number for rental agency, so we stared to back track the 3 shops, Superamara and half kilometre walk we had just done and all the shops were already closed, bloody siesta’s. So we waited outside until someone came out of the building and we were at least outside our locked door. We knocked on the next door neighbor’s door and she let us in to review the possibility of crawling across from her balcony to ours and that was an easy one, Tracey went first and by the time I get there she informed we had (for once) locked the door. However we had left the girl’s window open, which had no flyscreen and the shutter was up. However it was a good metre between the balcony and the window ledge, my fear of heights is only matched by my fear of people seeing my erection and Tracey was “on a mission” I held her body close to the wall as she made the Spiderman type straddle from one ledge to the other, it’s a moment that still wakes me at night. The girls asked her if she was going to die and stood there with fingers in mouth. Anyway she made it - to the distress of all observers, including the 10 or so people on the street, the next door neighbours and then some.

We are in Barcelona now, where I am reminded of San Sebastian’s aspirations to become the cultural capital of Europe, which would be totally eclipsed by one of Barcelona’s most obscure side streets, I suspect Barcelona would not consider lowering themselves to the level of considering the dizzy heights of “Europe’s Cultural Capital” if only to look up and laugh. There’s more culture at the local quikimart than there is in all of San Sebastian. Barcelona’s back street’s make the Brunswick street festival look like a primary school fete. We all love it and I don’t want to leave, except there’s a giant cruise ship in the harbor with a room booked in our name

Gallery: Barcelona

morter_family — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:40:00 GMT

Shots from Barcelona

Ooooh Baby, Barcelona!

morter_family — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:07:00 GMT

We signed off on San Sebastian at one of the city’s most expensive restaurants on the beach which was just divine (my choice and b’s blood pressure suffered). The set lunch menu suited us, and believe it or not, they have a small playground hidden away. We have to sort this out in Melbourne, it’s so wonderful for adults wanting to drink and dine

The train to Barcelona ended up taking 8 hours instead of 6, due to my miscalculation in time. I always think that 19.00 is 5pm when of course it’s 7pm! B not too happy and didn’t enjoy the rattly old train trip, made worse when I said we were nearly there at 4.30! All girls were fine and I say gratitude every day for the portable dvd player – best invention ever! The last part of trip followed the coast and actually seemed like train was in the mediteranean so that part was great. I hope my wonderful travel planning isn’t going downhill now.

B was in the town for about 2 hours when he said we’re moving here. Best city he’s seen apparently. It is full of life, action and fun. But that may be due to the fact that we’ve accidentally arrived on fri night of Barcelona’s annual 3 day festival. The place is PACKED and there’s a million things happening. We’ve had live bands, fireworks, a variety of street performers and people to dodge like bullets everywhere.

Our apartment is in a fantastic location. 2^nd floor up of old building just off La Rambla which is the famous boulevard in Barcelona which is always packed with people and street performers, restaurants and general action. Our terrace off the back looks into the back of Gaudi’s palace which is an amazing building and into the back of the famous flamenco club, so we even hear flamenco and see dancers on the back terrace practicing and taking a break. Very Spanish and very exciting. First thing we bought were flamenco dresses and flower for hair for the girls. Needless to say they wear them out at night (you can imagine the comments) and want to wear them to bed etc. Have been teaching them the moves and they’re hilarious trying to look dramatic! They call it "Flamango" Bless them. We are booked in for the show Wed night and they can’t wait. Let someone less experienced show them some moves (ha ha ha ha). Have had seafood paella twice now and are loving it for a good, all round reasonably priced meal. Of course the girls pick all the seafood out before it hits my mouth but that’s ok. We did have one funny moment when Sienna picked up my really little water bottle for a drink of water at the table and spat it out. It was full of vodka! We are naughty and take our own drinks to add to mixers like true cheapsters. Woops I hope social services aren’t reading.

This dense living has it’s dramas I have to say. Little cockroaches in the kitchen and sometimes a rotten dirty water smell. I’m loving that. Our apartment has been renovated and has all these new-fangled appliances in it which take us hours to work out which is very frustrating but location is good.

We had planned to only be here 4 nights and go to the beach for 5 nights but have cancelled that idea. We feel time will be better spent here where there is so much to see. We saw the coast towns and resorts on the train and believe that we’ll be better off in town. You could spend 6 months here and not see everything. Luckily there was another apartment available not far away at a late minute discounted price, so we’re not homeless yet.

The girls always have a problem leaving our apartments when we first move in. They like to set up their beds and toys and play using their new space. We had to drag them by their hair, holding their doggies as bait to get them out the first night and their eyes nearly bugged out of their little blonde heads. There were soooo many different street performers doing different and unusual things. Obviously there were all terribly frightening but yet interesting. They decided that I, not their father, was the best protector so for nearly 2 days I had to hold both hands with them clawing me and shrieking if I walked too close to some of the more scary ones. Daddy had a wonderful rambling time looking around, but I was in a constant state of being mauled. They are getting more game now as they have seen many of the performers a few times and mummy and dad have put money in their tin and come out still alive.

There are a couple in particular. Picture a green faced, grim reaper ready to chop off your head. Mummy put money in his tin and he grabbed me and put his sickle/sword around my neck. Of course I played dead and daddy got a photo. Then there is their favourite, the black head with dreadlocks and one hand in a box. If you get close his head shoots out and he screams. They are fascinated by him and I put money into his box and his head nearly bit my leg running away. They were squealing behind daddy’s leg, loving it. I squealed too! He’s scary. Needless to say we’ve spent too much budget paying street performers.

Brendan and I are breaking our necks to go on long uncomplicated walks and take in everything and the girls are starting to complain a bit. We’ve thought about seeing our nearby hotel for some child minding but when we mention doing this, they won’t hear of it and say they love going out. Going out only to playgrounds, restaurants, icecream shops and the street performers though!

Went to Gaudi’s Guell Park today and it was great. 1.5 km walk to get there though and after a couple of hours walking within the park, the girls were touchy. Especially as they think the word “park” means “playground” and they were yet to find it! I am sooo in love with mosaics and Brendan says I can mosaic the front fence at home! How exciting. It would look great, no? Gaudi is the best and I love his weird and intricate architecture which incorporates a lot of mosaic work and iron intricacies. The weather is perfect and blue sky and about 26 degrees but quite humid.

B is sick of Spanish tv and not getting any “English” entertainment, though a very explicit porn channel comes on at midnight automatically apparently (I'm always asleep so the poor thing probably tosses and turns after for a while). He can’t bring himself to pay the $20 for a car mag in English yet and the last book he bought in English in San Seb was a real chore for him. I’m happily reading an English OK magazine and keeping up with all the goss. We’ve been keeping our promise of no shopping so have not bought anything fun yet, just the girl’s flamenco dresses and couple of books. Would not want to buy clothes at this rate as who knows what size. I was up and now down again depending on menu supplied and sightseeing!

It’s official though, the best Spanish food (which is probably actually Basque or French, not traditionally Spanish) is: Croquettas! With Bacalao! (which is shredded cod). Absolutely to die for and I shall be making them when I get back (or trying to copy) for Friday night drinks. I’m sure they’re low fat too ! ha ha ha ha

Oh, and we have the hugest fresh food market about 50m away so when I cook, like tonight we are set (steak and mashed potatoes so not exciting). Prawns still at $14 a kilo and steak about $18. And still, the best peaches and nectarines. We go through about 6 a day!

Was just about to sign off, but the girls in their flamenco dresses are playing the restaurant game. Miki is the waitress and Sienna the entertainment ( flamenco dancer). They are asking me to “book in and give money” and are “speaking Spanish” and talking to me like this “ mi llaamo moocho moocho, adyios, hola”. Obviously they have no idea what the hell they are saying. It is hilarious! Where’s the video when you need it? Or the operator (asleep on the couch – bless him).

Nasty San Sebastian Smackers & Stuff

morter_family — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:14:00 GMT

Oh my goodness. We have now eaten at the 2 Chinese (or Oriental as one is termed) restaurants within 50 metres of our apartment. I think they are the only 2 in town though – this must be Chinatown then!

Outstanding! We loooooved both nights and they came in only 2 euros different in costs, which was an average of 42 euros or $73 which isn’t bad at all. We couldn’t get out of our Vietnamese in Victoria Street for less than $70. However that rotten aussie dollar is letting us down a bit now so things are getting more expensive. Brendan is in his element as you can imagine so I bet we’ll see the inside of at least one of them again before we go. Are staying the extra 2 nights we had free here in our apartment – lazy buggers. So due to weather forecasts being rainy (have you heard about the floods in England?) we are not taking day trips to Biarritz at this stage. Maybe later when we intend to do Provence and Lourdes in the last leg. I’m sure you’re all really interested in that too, while you’re suffering away in sub standard temperates and without little tapas snacks everywhere you go!

As we’ve been really lazy and not doing much other than wandering around, jogging, eating, drinking, window shopping and reading, I haven’t got much to tell. But there are a few interesting things we’ve noticed which I’ll go through and a wild experience with the San Sebastian Smackers as we call them.

Yesterday we walked in to the old town in between rain showers and heard a commotion up ahead. We walked into a strange experience. There were about 10 characters that were basically people dressed up with huge paper machet heads. There were men, ladies, pirates, chefs and all sorts. (see new photos in San Seb folder) They were being taunted by children and chasing them with a plastic half full of air balloon type thing on a rope. When they caught a child, they bashed them really hard with this balloon and it made a hell of a smacking sound. Didn’t seem to hurt the children though, they cringed and kept running and taunting. These characters walked through the crowd smacking everyone in their path. Sienna was fascinated but scared and got daddy to follow from afar watching and Mikeala jumped all the way up to my head, dug her fingernails in me and screamed and wailed as we watched and kept a pheripheral distance. We tried to stay back and circled but there were a lot to keep an eye on in all directions. Some got close but with the sound of her screams I don’t think they would have dared. The older kids absolutely love it and they even smack tiny kids so as much as it’s noisy it doesn’t hurt. One finally caught up with Sienna and dad and asked S for a high five. She was too scared to give one, so the creature smacked her twice. Needless to say she cried and ran away and won’t go back. She keeps asking me a day later whether the smackers go anywhere else and where they live and if they will come out again etc. I told her it was good luck to get smacked and that it must mean she’s due yet another icecream. New nightmare material. There were also some huge (and I mean huge) figures on stilts doing a parade. The city is mental at the moment as today is the final rowing boat race for the year. People everywhere and live bands and food and more and more stuff. Hopefully no smackers as we make our way into the fray later.

Now, some notes on San Sebastian (they don’t like to be called Spanish, as they are Basque up here, which is half French and half Spanish).

1. They are arrogant (see above) and after 5 visits our local barman is only now starting to smile.

2. They ignore you. B has injured his shoulder and they ignored him for the 3 hours he was waiting in hospital emergency dept. He was Soooooo angry when he stormed out, gave up and came home (went to see a chiro/physio and is getting better now).

3. Everyone has a baby. Every young couple, every grandma and granddad. They’re all pushing new babies. And the babies are so dressed up and so are their prams. Over the top! Everyone is cooing and caaing.

4. There are soooooo many identical twin sets here it is spooky. I see at least 3 – 4 new sets per day, every single day. B and I point them out and we’re freaked out. I asked someone and they said, yes in San Sebastian there are so many and they don’t know why. I suppose someone is doing a study as it’s ridiculous.

5. They put sooo much salt on their food. Why do they do it? Kate, you’d love it but it’s just too much. When we forget to say “no salt” we’re OK but we keep forgetting. We went to our favourite waterside port restaurant for clams and fish last night and forgot to say. Aaaaaaahhhhhh. Can’t be good for us.

6. They have the best Chinese restaurants – when you remember to say “no salt”.

7. They look after their old people. B reckons most of the population is old here, bit like a Toorak but there seems lots of youngies to me. They are always wheeling them around in wheelchairs and putting them places to see stuff and people. Good family supportive culture.

8. Their bread sucks.

9. Their fruit is the best. Never a bad peach. They are to die for.

10. Siesta time is enough to drive you mad as all the shops close for too long eg. 1.30pm – 4.30pm. When your lazy family only wakes up at 11.30 and then swans around at home for an hour or two you’re stuffed till the late afternoon.

11. Their rose red wine (Rosado) is sooo cheap and so yummy. Only about $5.00 on average a bottle – yippppeee.

12. Everyone smokes. Everywhere, all the time. Even running along the beach. Shopping, eating, drinking, walking. A cigarette is their 5^th appendage.

13. They have the most amazing cornichons. U have to eat them while breathing out, cause if you breathe in, you’ll be coughing for 5 minutes. They have also added something to make them super duper crunchy. Would love to bring some home for certain people who would appreciate.

OK, that’s about it. No more waffling. You get the picture. Luckily the sun’s just come out and my husband and children will be happy again as they want to go play at the beach. It’s been raining a lot. So time to sign off. Will write again from Barcelona – our next stop. Will be there fri night 19^th September. Adios Amigos. PS. Have added some more photos under the San Sebastian gallery.

Sunny San Sebastian!

morter_family — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 03:39:00 GMT

Our apartment is wonderful. New with 2 bedrooms with en-suites, terrace over the front street and one in the back for the sun. It has all the mod cons and will be wonderful for the next 2 weeks. Just a 5 min walk to the beach and many lovely bars, restaurants and even a gym in 2 blocks for my fitness obsessed husband. Can you believe that there is even a public jumping castle with princesses on it about 3 blocks down? By the time we wandered down last night at about 9.30 after dropping the car, it was closed much to the girls disgust. The girls are trying to get us out this morning and will go see soon. Weather is overcast and about 24 degrees so pleasant enough. Walked the beautiful 20 mins along La Concha (the big beach bay walk) from our beach at Ondarreta to the city centre. Had a few complaints about how long it was taking from Mikaela who would rather stay in our new apartment and play ‘doggie’s birthday party” with Sienna. She’s such a homebody. They close off the door to their “west wing” turn off all the lights and play “witches of terror” with the torch and make invitations to their dog’s party and pass the parcels. They would play forever except coming out to try and scab sweet food “for the party” from Mum and Dad.

Anyway walking along we notice heaps and heaps of tv crews and cameras, journalists etc and when we get to where we’re going which is the Aquarium in the port, there are hundreds of people looking to the sea. We worked out it is the national competition of rowing long boats with about 10 teams and about 10 rowers on each boat. The crowd loved it and was very passionate all wearing team colours etc. Anyway, this Sunday is the semi-final and Sunday after the grand final so will be lots of atmosphere in town. I must say that the quality of rower, in their extra tight white t-shirts was very fine (aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh girls, you’d die!) so there are nice sights to see here at the moment.

Anyway, had fun at the aquarium and had to search to see as many red sea urchins as possible as the girls are obsessed with them at the moment. They have the Surf’s Up movie and the penguin gets poisoned by one. Went to old town to have drinks and nibbles in the big square. Delicious olives on a stick with little marinated fish (taste like roll mops), tuna with chopped salsa and olives and calamari for the girls. They have asked a few times how to say “can I play with you” in Spanish but I haven’t found out yet. So many children were playing in the square so I told Sienna to just go up with a smile and offer a chip so she did with Miki trailing. They approached some bigger girls who were doing running races and thankfully they accepted them immediately and our girls joined in with about 6 other girls. They had an absolute ball playing pram racing and having rides and races. Sienna was almost delirious when we grabbed them to take home at 9pm as she’s not sleeping enough again. But they loved it. the walk home was full of complaints but a lollypop stopped all that and they happily skipped the 30 mins back. We have to do what we have to do!

Day 2

I could say another day in sunny Spain, but it’s cloudy most of the day. This doesn’t worry us as the temp is 24 degrees and it’s so easy to get around in comfort. I got up at 8.15 and did the 5 kilometre walk around the bay to the port and back and then to the supermarket for stocks. The lazy 3 were just awaking as I got back at 10. (the next day they slept til 11.30! this is getting ridiculous. I don’t want the girls to keep this habit of asleep at 11.30 at night and late in the morning. They seem to love it this way). Brendan went for a 6km run after me so we have a roster/schedule happening now every day. We decide to go the beach today as it’s meant to have more chance of rain over the weekend. It was bather weather down there and pleasant though only with a few sunny breaks. The girls happily played with their toys on the beach and we built them “princess sand castles to live in etc.” We had a picnic there and noticed a huge playground in the sand – another one! Needless to say we spent another hour watching them climbing and trying to make friends with the locals. We are laying low and casual with our schedule in the mornings and walks to explore in the afternoon. We walked with the girls all the way round to the port for dinner and sat by the boats and water in an outdoor pescador (fish) restaurant. Sooooo divine. Calamari, clams in the most delicious sauce (these are Sienna’s new favourite so we other plebs only got a couple each), and grilled red mullet with funny little baked potatoes and the staple pan (bread). I’m sick of this bloom’n bread. White baguette style and airy fairy! I have found decent bread for our apartment at the bakery thank goodness. Everything’s more expensive here than in Bilbao for instance and everyone looks richer, is more fit and slimmer etc. It’s sooo beautiful at night too so we walked the whole way home with promise of an icecream. It’s amazing how well this works. They joyously skipped their tired little leggies all the way round the promenade in glee and jumped up and down in front of the icrecream shop ahead of us coming on down the street after them. The people inside didn’t know what they were doing. This was 10pm by then.

The local fruit shops are weird with ladys in white coats serving each person in a line one by one. They don’t let you touch anything and put what you want into bags. It’s annoying as you just want to poke and prod and you always have to wait for a while. The girls love this shop tho as the lady gave them 2 red heart shaped lollypops yesterday. There is no end to the treats available. I asked them if they miss home and want to go back but it was a dramatic NO WAY so they are happy.

We will look at hiring bikes with seats on the back as the bike tracks here are fantastic and I’m sure it’d would be fun for the girls too.

ANOTHER DAY

I can say sunny Spain now! It’s a beautiful sunny day and we’re off to the beach. We figured we should be at the beach near the sand playground too so the kids have the world at their doorstep! The beach is full of blue and white poles which have chairs chained to them and you can order a spot and then an umbrella, flat tent overhead or little tent house. I talked B into a tent house as they were right next to playground and I knew the kids would love it. He wasn’t impressed at the $30 cost but hey for the day that’s an OK sightseeing cost for the comfort. We had a wonderful day and were there from 12.30 – 7.30pm. The girls made heaps of Spanish friends and had them working for them all over the playground, pushing, picking up etc etc. They can be quite demanding and I had to have a word – the rest of the population is not at their beck and call! We had swims in the waves lifting the girls up as they screamed in delight. I power walked back to the apartment for lunch supplies and afternoon drinkies/nibbles and we read, B slept and played all day. I can’t wait to do it again. Great people watching too. All the women here are slim, well dressed (though a bit “shiny”) and very tanned and older than they look I’m sure. Even the grannies are slim and tanning themselves in their fashionable one-pieces. We feel a bit white and conspicuous – but since when did that stop us. We cooked dinner in, for the first time and ate on our balcony which was probably just as enjoyable as eating out – eating out gets to be a bit “same old” after a while. How bloom’n spoilt are we! We’ve been having a bit more tapas as it’s cheaper than a la carte. Am loving the stuffed pimientos with bacalo (minced cod). And the girls eat heaps of the fish fillet on slice of baguette. Found a shop that sells English books and bought a couple. I’ve just finished a great book called Tweak by Nic Sheff and was panicing that I didn’t have another. I’m loving reading so much – just shows you, you don’t need TV after all. Mind you, we watched Australian story on the computer as I hate missing that. Isn’t technology wonderful? B has gone for a long walk to the book shop today as he’s been reading “Harvard Business Magazine” for the last 3 weeks. Don’t know how he does it. We know we have to do some forward planning on our trip as we have some spots with nothing booked so will get round to it. We are being very lazy and laid back, but not lazy in the fact that we’re walking and swimming and jogging etc. Just lazy with our sightseeing. We have a lovely boring routine here and are enjoying that.

Another day at the beach today. 34 degrees and not a cloud in the sky – divine. Sooo many boobs at the beach of all shapes and sizes. Even old ladies have them out. I think it’s great that they seem to have no body issues and are comfortable in their skin. Needless to say, my top is always on! B is extra excited as we’re out tonight to go and eat at a Spanish Chinese restaurant! That should be a whole new story. xxxx

Gallery: San Sebastian

morter_family — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 03:07:00 GMT

Shots from our time here

Gallery: Bilbao, Guggenheim

morter_family — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 23:15:00 GMT

Bilbao, Noja, Guggenheim

Guggenheim and one way streets!

morter_family — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 23:05:00 GMT

Today we’ve hired a car to visit my much loved little seaside town Noja which is only an hour to the west of Bilbao. I spent 7 weeks here in 1990 and 2 weeks in 1991 and was excited to go back and have a look at it. We drove through Santona, a fishing village just before Noja and this was the place I used to go market shopping. It didn’t look anything like the little village it was and we couldn’t see a market to have a look at so went straight on. As you would imagine Noja has changed soooo much in the last 20 years. It’s pretty big now and built up with many more shops but the beach is just the same and we played for a while on there with the girls swimming in rock pools and looking for crabs. We drove around and saw some old haunts. Paulo’s was hardly recognisable Tam as was a flash done up place now and we didn’t go in. Campground is still there and needless to say the bbq fish paddock is gone. I couldn’t even establish where it had been with all the building that has gone on. We had a lovely lunch in a mid town restaurant of calamari, pulpo (for Sienna) and cod stuffed piementos which were divine. After a lovely relaxing day we headed back to Bilbao with all the confidence of seasoned locals and attempted to find our rental car park. Hmmmm. Bilbao is full of one way streets and in the afternoon all the major roads turn into taxi/bus only. Needless to say we made like a taxi as the only roads we knew were the main ones. We had “looks” from everyone we passed and sunk further down into our seats looking madly for street names and by the time seeing them and pronouncing them to the other, was up to the next one. We finally found our street and turned up it only to be greeted by drivers looking at us honking and screaming something. Yes, it was a one way street and we had to 3 point turn in front of everyone. It was one way near the river and we had to get to the car park from the other side. So around we went over the bridges and tried everything coming from the other direction but all the streets are intricate and one way. Around and around we went over the taxi/bus only bridge and back round the other side. You could say that tempers were beginning to unravel ever so slightly so we decided to stop at the railway station where the office was and I got directions. It was a really convoluted way to get back in and eventually we did it. This is hours after 1^st trying. You would have thought that it was never again for a rental car, but unfortunately we have decided to drive ourselves to San Sebastian.

We said a sad goodbye to Bilbao where we have had so much fun and headed for the car rental again with renewed enthusiasm. We decided to drive the car to the Guggenheim museum on route to San Sebastian. Ha ha ha. There were roadworks around the museum and so had to find a park elsewhere. What a farce. We ended up just driving till we saw a underground parking spot and thankfully after wasting an hour finally got one about a kilometer away. We found a lovely little café with a view of the Guggenheim and looked at it in awe while refueling. If you haven’t seen this building you ain’t seen nothing yet. Mindblowing is really too soft a word. It is utterly amazing, inside and out. When you stand inside it and look up there are just so many angles and materials and things going on that you could look for hours and keep seeing new things. Anyway we loved it. Was really good to see all the art inside too. Unfortunately the girls saw it as a playground and loved the huge floor standing sculptures that you could walk in and around like a maze and when I returned from the toilet at one point the art Nazis were on Brendan blabbering at him with hands moving rapidly, while the girls were laughing in glee playing peek a boo around the sculpture and then running wildly to the next one. I had t0 make out I was disgusted with his parenting and round them up. It was hard keeping them in check for the morning but the odd bribe of lolly helped a lot. Some of the art was truly amazing and you could look for hours but there was one room with the standard modern display of a square on the wall one side and a circle on the other etc. Didn’t spend long in there! We both had a weird feeling after coming out like it was a bit of a spiritual experience and we really enjoyed it. And we decided that we probably should be full time artists. With this new inspiration, I’m sure we could forge a career each. Brendan was starting immediately and posing us in weird places around the museum outside and we had to stand looking nonchalant while he created photographic masterpieces! Would have spent much longer if we didn’t have the girls with us. People fly into Bilbao from all around the world just to see this museum.

When we came out, low and behold, the biggest most amazing architectural playground imaginable so obviously we had to let the kids go wild for a while. It’s so great how many playgrounds and kid friendly things there are here. Much better than home. They love their kids these Amigos.

Then it was time to collect the car and actually find where we left it. A little more temper fraying added to yesterday….with 2 people disagreeing on which way to go. In the end we found it and were on our way to San Sebastian for 2 weeks.

As we came into town we were convinced that we knew where our apartment was as we had studied the map at home a thousand times, however we didn’t have it with us did we! Oh boy, here we went again, up and down one way streets, looking for street names and not finding, a headache and hushed terse tones etc. After ringing the landlord 3 times (who basically spoke no English) we finally worked it out and met her an hour late. Luckily the excitement of our wonderful apartment made up for the anxious precursors. Naturally there is no where to park as we are in the city suburb of Ondarreta so had to leave the car double parked and pile our luggage inside and then rush out again – to take the car back – ha ha ha ha.

Well we did have a street name so it couldn’t be that hard could it. The girls were horrified that we had to get back in the yukky car again and they couldn’t explore their new abode – another lolly.

Not to bore you again with directional dramas, we saw the street on the map and in between one ways, the river, a football match, bus/taxi only streets we eventually got there and tempers weren’t too bad as we knew this part of the trip was over. Who was the idiot that had the ridiculous notion that driving ourselves would be fun? I would have to say, that it was ME. OK? HAPPY NOW B? ha ha

Beautiful Bilbao - Paradise!

morter_family — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 22:21:00 GMT

Hola Amigos! I am sooo excited to be on Spanish soil again and Bilbao has not disappointed. Even the smell arriving at 11.30pm was wonderful and the taxi driver super fast to our hotel. They upgraded us to a big suite and we had a huge overnight sleep. Mind you Sienna is not sleeping enough and has not caught up at all. The rest of us are great.

Next morning we moved into our 2 bedroom apartment. We could not believe our luck and were so excited to see it. We are in the middle of the old town where cars can’t go and there are a million little cobblestone alleys with shops, bars and restaurants on ground and apartments above. We are on 1^st floor in the prettiest street with balcony over alley. The girls have a lovely room with window onto central courtyard and locked themselves in immediately and got out all their toys. B and I had a drink and watched the people go by underneath from our balcony pinching ourselves, as we can’t believe how lucky we are. We have metal outside roller blinds down at night to keep out a lot of the noise because as you can imagine it gets really loud with voices from the street.

All of Bilbao is beautiful, clean and modern (but of course the old town’s not modern!!!). It is radically changed for the better since I was here 20 years ago. There are huge plant pots on the main town streets, fountains, squares to sit, and lovely trees lining the roads, not to mention fab shops. In the old town there are heaps of “young new designers” shops and non expensive shoes and clothes. We can’t believe the cheaper cost of food and drinks. We shopped at the fresh food market at the end of our street (which is the 2^nd biggest in Europe apparently). Our shopping of salad, fruit, bread, ham, steak, turkey & sausages cost us $18. And big prawns here are only $17 per kilo. Needless to say we’ve been munching on the balcony with vodka (only $20 per litre). Eggs are only a few cents each and fish from the market is average $6 per kilo – how good is that. Brendan is loving Spain on all fronts as you can imagine. He is already talking about how we could live here for 6 months of year. Today we went on the train 20mins to the nearby fishing village of Santutzi and ate fresh snapper and prawns on the charcoal bbq with salad, bread and wine. Was amazing and done just as I remember the fish on bbq from 20 years ago (remember Tam with a bit of oil and crispy garlic?). Afterwards there was another huge playground for the kids. They sure know how to make kids happy here. So the girls played and we roasted in the sun. It’s about 30 degrees and hot sun today. It’s not 5pm and B is having his siesta and girls playing in their room. I’m too excited to siesta here.

Sienna’s favourite food here is pulpo! (octopus). We ordered it first day and she ate the whole plate nearly – was a bit underdone for us adults. Miki can eat a whole fish in about a minute straight and rips it straight of the bones with her hands – she loves it.

Our only problem at the moment is that Sienna is a bit homesick as she’s very tired and we can’t get her to catch up on sleep properly. She has a Ganma (my mum) obsession and when having a cry says she wants to go home to “Stralia”. We’re hoping tonight will be the night that she catches up and returns to perfect.

Am rambling on in the local lingo and getting better everyday, but it’s all in the pronounciation. Even though you may know the word, a lot of the time they stare blankly until you try different ways to say it – buggers! They make you work!

As much as Brendan is fully in love with Spain, he reckons the women are no where near up to par with the rest of the world. Poor thing – nothing to perv on. And we won’t mention the men will we girls! Am keeping my perving sly.

Thankfully everything is much cheaper here than where we’ve been so we are cruising nicely and should be able to make up a bit on our budget.

We are wondering how our next stop will be as we have 2 weeks in San Sebastian and are hoping we didn’t do the wrong thing by not staying here longer. Oh well, that’s not much of a problem to have hey!

PS. Chrissy and Axel will be pleased to read that the holiday has finally been consummated – ooh la la – ha ha ha !!

Day 2

Girls slept 12 hours straight - Yipppeee. we have our little joyous Sienna back. Had a brilliant day, except for the part when we went into the church's open door (huge really old main church in middle of old town) and girls immediately clomped to the front of the church to where the nun was speaking to the congregation and sat down in the front row in front of her talking!. I had to creep/run down and try and whisper them back to me with daggers looks from the "very loving" catholics who were trying to listen!

Then we decided to get some excersise in and started up some steps. Well it turned into hundreds of steps to the top of town in the clouds and opening up in front of us a huge Circus and sideshow/ride bonanza! We went on one of the medium scary rides which left us screaming and white faced but was fun. It was wierd to be up overlooking the city on a plateau of chaos and lights etc having just come up from the skinny alleyed old town built in the 1600's. Starving by this time of 10.30 when we came down we were too lazy to work out menus with the crowds and noise so just pointed to some stuff on the menu and got potatoes and a huge bacon and egg baguette sandwhich which did the job before exhausted into bed.

Day 3

Very relaxed and slow and too late in the morning to find churros with chocolate much to the girls dismay as they had earned it after their long sleep. Will have to get up earlier tomorrow and find some or I'm dead meat for broken promises. Did a big power walk into the new town alone today which was lovely - the shops are showing great clothes and shoes but i'm just walking on by. Organised a car for the next two days and I'm super excited to visit my old haunts on the way to Santander tomorrow. It'll be very interesting and nostalgic. Not much else to tell, just hanging around and loving it.

Adyos for now Amigos

More on Munich

morter_family — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:39:00 GMT

That bloom’n Glockenspiel (famous clock in Munich’s Marieplatz town square). Got there for the hour strike at 1pm only to be told it only does it’s little dance and special movements at 12 noon each day. What a gip! Had the girls lined up to see with heads forcibly raised and sunglasses on, and then nothing to show for it. They were’nt impressed and quickly moved onto “where’s the icecream shop mummy?”. We ended up having lunch in tourist central opposite the clock. Had our first schnitzel which was huge, crispy and divine, with sauerkraut (not as good as yours mum!). Miki and Sienna had spag bolonnaise which is their restaurant meal of choice at the moment. An old Italian man fell in love with Miki who was feeding herself by hand, noodle by noodle with eyes nearly closed in ecstacy, with orange all over her face from the sauce. He was saying she must be Italian enjoying her pasta so much and took a few photos to take home to Mama! Sienna ate with her fork and serviette wiping mouth after each mouthful as per usual. They are so different and funny! Sufficiently fed and rested we then did the church climb up to the bell tower to look at the view of Munich. It’s about 12 stories of stairs to climb with no room really to pass on the way up or down. The kids and Brendan were up in a flash leaving the rest of us behind with puffing and panting. The minute I reached the top I was greeted by Mikaela holding her crutch and saying wee wee! I made Brendan go back down with them as I hadn’t even seen any of the view yet. Poor bugger. We have to remember to toilet them before any long stretches.

We had a lovely walk around the market in town and bought some beautiful fresh raspberries the size of huge strawberries, apricots and grapes. Then it was home on the underground to rest for an hour. The girls see the underground as wonderful playsites when they’re moving. They dance around the poles and climb them and try balancing without holding etc..

Once our poor working hosts got home from work they collected us all and it was back on the underground to a historical Biergarten called Augustus. It was founded by the Augustus Monks and their invention of a type of beer many moons ago (must have had too many beers when being told the story cause I can’t remember the year????). It was a mind blowing place. There must have been about a thousand tables and benches to sit on and about 2000 people there all outside under the trees. It was probably about an acre big and had a huge playground at one end. Needless to say we got a table near there and the girls played from 7.30 – 10.30 without hardly stopping. The favourite as the round, sit on spinner. They enticed the german children to push them around fast constantly, without using any understandable language. They made friends with a german girl and her brother about aged 12 who couldn’t speak any English and played with them all night cuddling and picking them up totally entraced by the twins. The girl gave them both a beautiful butterfly jeweled hair clip upon leaving. It was definitely the girl’s night – they had sooooo much fun.

They also had their stein of lemonade (could hardly pick it up) and we all ate bbq fish, roast pork leg covered in the crispiest crackling ever, kartoffle salad and bretzels. The boys were quite animated and silly on the way home on the underground. We had to take Tina’s (our hostess) bike with us, so the girls played princesses and were transported on the bike all over the place, back to home. Talk about having people wrapped around their finger. When we got home about 11.20pm we decided to wait up and ring Birttany for her 6^th birthday so the girls both had a huge bubble bath with hostess Tina in her huge 3^rd floor bath under the stars upstairs. You may imagine by now that Tina adores kids and is clucky as all hell. They loved it! The girls are getting used to very late nights and late mornings so they are not too grumpy or tired, yet anyway.

Next day. We drove to the most amazing wildlife park full of bambis, goats, wolves (yes wolves my favourite), peacocks, bunnies, guinea pigs, boars (ooooh), pigs (yummy swines) and goodness knows what else. The first packets of feeding food were gone immediately on the bambis and the refilling was endless. It was in a forest and soooo beautiful. There has not been a breath of wind in Munich at all and it’s so warm and lovely. They had the hugest array of wonderful playground equipment there with huge picnic ground and the girls played for ages. So many things to play on and flying foxes, climbing stuff etc etc. Was fantastic and would love to take them again but time is running out. Brendan spent the morning at BMW museum (yawn) and we all met for lunch at the Chinese Tower in the English Gardens. Beautiful botanical garden 3km square park in central Munich. Yet again, another biergarten and playground. Another lot of thousands of tables, steins of beer, fish on a stick bbq, roast swine leg with crackle – need I go on. Have nothing left to wear and will be doing a shop at “Fabulous Fashion for Larger Ladies” . After stuffing ourselves silly, watching the kids going round the carousel eating fairy floss and getting tendonitis in the right elbow from stein slopping, we went to Avis to rent a lovely Porsche Carrera S 997. Well. I drove it all the way back (20km) through peak hour traffic in my element. There goes my good intentions of leaving no carbon footprint – I have to have one! And I’ll be happy to lay rubber all the way to the carbon trading office – woooohoooo I love it!. Anyway, it’s now off being thrashed by the husband on the autobahn. He’s taken poor Tim as the sucker to get the speedo photos. As you can see I’m not worried. Worry doesn’t get you anywhere. Just be thankful our next travel story is a happy one!

Gallery: Munich in Pictures

morter_family — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:43:00 GMT

Shots from out and about in Munich

Gallery: Paris

morter_family — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:12:00 GMT

Shots from Pris

Munich Sights and Babbling

morter_family — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:05:00 GMT

Guten tag!

Boy it’s hard being a tourist. And you lot think it’s hard work working!. Did a 7 hour stint yesterday with hardly a sit down at Munich’s famous castles. It is absolutely heavenly out there in the countryside. Everything is so lush and green and there are soooo many pretty little houses with flower boxes and murals painted on them and then you see the mountains with low cloud and then 2 of the most beautiful castles – Hohenschwangau and Neuschwantstein (what a bloomn mouthful). They were built by the wonderfully eccentric and gay (but not ‘out’) King Ludwig II (Loui baby). Neuschwanstein is the fairytale castle that I’m sure most of you know overlooking the lake and surrounded by mountains up on a mountain. Breathtakingly beautiful to look up at and inside also. Loui was certified insane after changing religion to Catholic and painting his whole castle inside with religious figures looking down on him from every angle whilst battling his desires which he deemed to be ‘wrong’. Poor bugger. Died before he finished his castle under suspicious circumstances in a Munich lake. Hard to see such extravagance and know the backbreaking work that must have gone into it whilst the world around would have been poor and struggling. We caught the bus up the huge hill to get in and ran all the way down with Miki holding her bum as she needed a poo! And proceeded to tell everyone we passed on the way down. The other castle was divine too. Such elaborate furnishings, paintings and pieces etc. I have a wonderful idea for the lounge room now – I’m going to recreate the mosaic floor I saw in the ballroom. Can’t be that hard for someone that has shown to have some artistic talent recently. The girls were obviously right at home in the castles being the princesses that they are unfortunately. Miki was twirling and whirling around as if she owned the joint. Had delicious bratwurst in brot for lunch at a little stand and B and girls in fight over bits of sausage as they wouldn’t share. B loves them but gets shocking indigestion so tries not to partake but ends up stealing! The girls adore them too.
The supermarket next door to where we are staying is so wonderful. I can’t believe the freshness and deliciousness of the fruits. We have all the stone fruits here in season – YIPEEE. Are all thrilled and eating lots in between processed meats and cheeses to keep up some semblance of an antioxidant.

Went to Axel’s step dad’s for a bbq feast night before last. They went beserk and provided so much delicious food, drinks and presents for the girls, it was crazy. Had everything from campari and juice to start, champagne, wines, grappa, bbq prawns, steak, veggies, potato salade, cheeses, all kinds breads all outside in the beautiful garden and weather. The girls were given glitter textas, a game, clips for their hair and chocolates and lollies. In heaven they were and more so because Axel’s 12 year old step sister was there and looking after them. They idolized her – Ann-Christine. They wouldn’t let go of an arm each and dragged her around all day (poor thing). When time to go, we had tantrums as they wanted a sleep over and though they said they were welcome, we had to pry their fingers off the banisters and bribe with chocolates and promises to sleep with Chrissy and Axel instead. They are driving us nuts at night with legs and arms everwhere and someone always ends up sleeping on the floor to get away. We are taking Ann-Chris out to the biergarten with us today for her birthday so the girls are excited. We are in summer dresses and enjoying the sun – sucked in melbournites! B’s off to Dachau tomorrow without us girls, to enjoy the past sufferings of others. I’ll try and get him to write something about that. And for all those who are nagging for photos, I’ll get to it soon – it’s not as easy as it seems! If you’re bothering to read this blabber, it must mean I luv ya! xxxx

Mother's Homeland - Germany - Munich arrival

morter_family — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:50:00 GMT

We caught a fabulous train from Paris to Munich or Munchen as its called here. Hardly noticed the 6 hour trip with books, colouring in books and portable dvd player to keep us occupied. Seems like weve been away a month but only a week today, as weve fit so much in. Youll have to forgive the lack of punctuation as am using a German keyboard and cant find half the keys. Ive finally committed a travel wrong and made the family get off the train in Munich Pasing which is one stop ahead of the main station Munich HBF. So were stranded for half an hour or so with Chrissy and Axel waiting for us at the next station. bugger. was doing so well so far. Am only human I spose. Have been picked up and looked after so well here. Are staying in a beautiful house in surburban Munich with 3 stories of fun for the girls. Tim and Tina are Axels best friends and a young couple who are lovely. We arrived to a feast last night with every german food possible and gourged on wiener wurstchens, bbq fish and swine, kartoffle, the best bread, fleishsalad, etc etc. needless to say wines too! Have our own bedroom with beautiful views to gardens. Everything so green and lush here. Sun is out and were in the garden reading and girls playing in the grass. They are spoilt and loving it. Off to the famous fairytale castle tomorrow. cannot even begin to try and spell it! B will go to Dachau and hopefully forget the porsche for hire as its about $180 for the day! Am probably up about 3 kilos already so have to do a radical diet change. Too hard here tho, the food is soooo divine. Off to Axels dads house for bbq this arvo so will get fed again. This is all good for the budget with Paris costing us so much! They are so lovely and generous. Well have to stock up their fridges and so on later in the week to make up. I will add some photos when I can figure that out later.

signing out xxxx