August 2012

August 31, 2012

Woke to a drizzly, gray sort of day… We’d optimistically travelled without our raincoats, and fortunately today’s outing was a visit to the Schonbrunn Palace. Although it is Vienna’s top tourist attraction, it was somewhere Nova and I hadn’t managed to visit. It is described as the Hapsburg’s summer retreat, and I was imagining something along the lines of the journey to Windsor Castle. Four short metro stops taking all of ten minutes, and we were there…The palace is painted buttercup yellow (or actually schonbrunn yellow) and is pretty impressive, with an enormous courtyard and miles of garden stretching behind. It may have been a summer retreat at one time, but it’s the Vienna suburbs now…

There were masses of people, but it’s a big enough space to absorb them. We were issued audio guides, and set off to explore. Lyra really got into her audioguide, and mastered the controls in no time. You are able to see 40 rooms of the 1500 that make up the palace, which was more than plenty for me. It was the family home of little Marie Antoinette, Mozart played his first royal concert here at the age of six, and Napoleon’s only legitimate heir lived out his short life in exile with his mother.

Moved on to the gardens, and ate our packed lunch sheltering from the drizzle under some trees. Visited the crazy garden with its distorting mirrors, and climbing frames, and mazes, before catching the metro back to the centre of town for coffee and sachertorte and the Sacher Hotel. I was happy enough to try it, but don’t see myself eating sachertorte again any time soon…

Walked back to our flat to work off some of the cake, and decided to pop into the Secession building to see Klimt’s Beethoven frieze. I’m so glad we did — in honour of the 150th anniversary, they have erected a special viewing platform that allows you to examine the artwork at eye level.

Ate dinner at a local biesl called Ubl: three schnitzels and a tafelspitz, the Austrian specialty of boiled beef that turned out to be delicious. The girls shared a dessert, Adam had cheese, and I had a schnapps, to aid the digestion…;-)

August 30, 2012

Ate breakfast in the flat again, before striking out in a different direction. Headed for the Museumquarter, which is a great public space. They had long stretches of catwalk arranged for some reason, and the girls had good fun strutting their stuff. I love how unself-conscious they both are — I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing that at Nova’s age…

Carried on to the Volkspark, where we ate lunch in the park cafe. My open-face sandwich had finely grated fresh horseradish on it, which added an interesting zip to the ham and cheese.

After a walk in the rose garden, which was in full bloom — so different to my last visit in late October — we made our way through the centre of town, and stopped again at Cafe Hawelka for a drink and cakes for the girls.

Our ultimate destination was the Prater amusement park. We started things off with a ride on the Reisenrad, then allowed the girls to choose four rides each. We all did a log waterslide, I took Lyra on the ghost train, Adam and the girls did a raft ride, then Nova opted for some mad thing, called the Destroyer or something, that Sophie had recommended.

Nova was the only person on it, and did some self-conscious fake screaming as it got going. Unfortunately, that was just the warm-up… The machine went faster and faster, hurling Nova in great arcs, and spinning her end to end. The screaming abruptly stopped — I think she was too terrified, judging from the look on her frozen white face as it whipped past. She teetered off when it finally stopped, claiming it was amazing, but I don’t think she’d be in a hurry to do that one again…;-)

Nova and I finished off with a ride on the big swing. Lyra (who was mightily pissed off at being too small for it) settled for a pony ride instead. Next stop, the beer garden… En route, we passed a stall that was doing those dress-up Victorian photos. Nova was keen to get one, but they cost 25 euros, which seemed a bit steep to me.

We secured a table under the linden trees, and ordered a round of beer, and the house specialty, roasted pig’s knuckle. It arrived swiftly, accompanied by sauerkraut, cucumber salad, horseradish and caraway bread. Everything was so delicious I could hardly believe it…

When her mouth wasn’t full of roast pork, Nova continued her angling for the Victorian family photograph. I continued to say it was too expensive, that it would be difficult to get home uncrumpled, and so on, but she was relentless.

We settled up and started heading to the metro station. “That was fun, wasn’t it?” I said. “I feel really depressed that we didn’t get that photograph,” Nova groused. “Well, we better get it then!” I said, turning on my heel, and marching back towards the booth. “No! No! I don’t want it anymore!” Nova cried, tugging on my arm. She kept that up all the way back to the booth, until Lyra finally said, “Nova, you’ve got what you wanted. Just shut up about it!”

The woman doing the photos seemed to really know what she was about. She got us changed into costume, chose appropriate accessories, and arranged us in position. She was unable to get Lyra to smile and look at the camera, but that’s pretty much an impossible ask.

Nova was still banging on about it at bedtime… I asked her what she had hoped to achieve with all that nagging. “I was hoping you’d say, ‘OK, I’ve changed my mind!” and we’d do it.” “But I did change my mind…” I said. “You didn’t do it in a happy way though,” she said. I pointed out that if she wanted to change my mind, she should have come up with some convincing arguments, and we spent some time trying to think of some.

After that, we replayed the scene with both of us behaving better, and me agreeing to the photo when Nova offers to pay for half of it from her pocket money. Not my finest parenting moment, but we got there in the end. Funny thing is, I actually quite like our Victorian family photo…

August 29, 2012

Ate breakfast in the flat before embarking on the day’s adventures. I’d had a word with Lyra last night about what to expect from our time in Vienna. Each time I said we were walking somewhere, she was to say, “Walking, yay!”

Walked over to the Belvedere, where there was a terrific exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s birth. Had a quick look at the rest of the collection, then ate a picnic lunch in the palace garden.

Walked (yay!)back to Karlsplatz and caught the metro to Heiligenstadt, for our meeting with Birgit and the girls. She’d instructed us to take a five-minute bus ride from the station to where we were starting the walk. We’d imagined that the bus would stop regularly (as buses generally do), but this one made one quick stop then started belting down the highway.

We were just wondering what we should do, when Adam’s phone rang. Birgit had actually seen us as the bus went whizzing by, and told us to get off. We rang the bell and were dumped off at a service station. Birgit picked us up in her car a few minutes later, and drove us back to where we were meant to meet…

She chosen a walk (yay!) that began with a stiff climb up Leopoldsberg. It was roasting hot, and we didn’t have enough water, but the views from the top made it worthwhile.

Carrying along across the top of the ridge, we came across an outdoor climbing centre, one of those places with tree-top walks, ziplines etc. The girls were keen to have a go, even little Lyra who was just a smidge above the minimum height requirement. It was quite hands-off. Everyone had to harness themselves up — though there was someone to check you’d done it properly. After one practice at hooking yourself on, walking across a short rope and a mini-zip, you were good to go.

Nova, Sophie and Bea went off together to the intermediate area, while Adam and Lyra stuck to the beginner’s course. Adam would generally go first, then Lyra would unholster her ropes, stretch on tippy toes to click herself on, then make her way across some rope strung fifteen feet above the ground. I was dead impressed with her. She had one wobbly moment when she got panicky and tearful, but she worked her way through it and got a big round of applause from the all parents watching their kids from the ground. She’s some five-year-old…

We were meant to meet Birgit’s parents at a local heurigen (winery), but got somewhat lost and ended up back where we’d parked the car. Drove there instead, and spent a lovely evening sipping wine and eating from the Viennese buffet, while admiring the lights of Vienna twinkling in the distance.

August 28, 2012

Needed an early start to catch our train to Vienna. Veronika had breakfast on the table when we came downstair with our bags packed, and had sandwich fixing ready for me to pack a lunch for the train.She drove us the 2km to the station, and waited with us until our train arrived. It was a few minutes late, and lost five more on the one hour journey to Nuremburg. Not a problem, except we had only twelve minutes (now four) to change platforms at Nuremburg station. Fortunately the train to Vienna was also twenty minutes late. So much for the fabled efficiency of the German rail network…

We travelled first class,as it added only £10 to our £80 family ticket. The equivalent trip in the UK — taking the family first-class from London to Edinburgh, say — would be closer to £900 to £90.

The four hour journey was pretty enough, much of it along the river, some tributary of the Danube, and the landscape became noticably hillier once we crossed the Austrian border. It’s always interesting to see if you can detect the presence of a border through changes in the houses, streets and so on, and believe you generally can…

We arrived at West Bahnhof in the mid-afternoon and went in search of a taxi. Ended up going with a complete renegade wielding a crumbled TAXI sign. He led us away from the taxi rank and round the corner to where his battered green car was parked. He wasn’t sure where our street was, and was also a pretty crap driver, but he kept up a cheerful banter and got us there eventually. He optimistically wrote down his number for us in case we might want a private driver during our stay, but I don’t see that happening…

The flat we’ve hired is comfortable and bright, and even has a little patio. It’s also right next to the Naschmarkt, Vienna’s main food market, where we headed first for a drink and something to eat.

Wandered down to Karlskirche aftwards, then wended our way back to the flat. I’d thought we might stop for something else to eat, but Lyra’s whinging prevented that. Instead, we settled them in their beds then popped out again for a drink and snack at a local café. I got into drinking spritzers with Veronika and Basil and have carried on in Vienna. Great for this hot weather and the indifferent Austrian wine…

August 27, 2012

Our last full day in the German countryside… Adam and Nova got up at 7am to walk the ridge bath into Solnhofen for fresh bread. I would have liked to go as well, but didn’t want Lyra to wake and find us all gone…

Basil was up early as well, to fire his ceramics in the hole he’d dug, which will take twelve hours. Firest, he lined the hold with sawdust, then arranged his pieces before filling the rest with sawdust and setting it alight. Once it was smoldering away nicely, he covered it with a piece of sheetmetal and left it to cook and cool.

He and Adam both passed on today’s swimming outing, so all seven of us girls squeezed into the car for the 10km trip to Pappenheim. Basil had dinner well in hand when we returned — grilled chicken and jacket potatoes cooked in the “kiln”.

A final rummy marathon to bookend our stay. I can’t say I’ll miss all this card playing, but I definitely improved my game, which was satisfying. Have also enjoyed listening each night to Radio Bavaria, which has played an endless stream of song from the likes of Eddy Rabbit; America; Earth, Wind and Fire; and Dr. Hook that I haven’t heard in decades….

August 26, 2012

Went for the quarry walk with Adam after breakfast. Followed the path all the way to the top this time, encountering some interesting wildlife onthe way — an enormous, bendy-eared hare; a deer; and an enormous land snail…

The weather wasn’t really suitable for swimming today — too windy, and by late afternoon, rain was imminent. So we mostly hung around the house. I did some weeding, poached the windfall pears I’d gathered, and finished my novel, “When God Was a Rabbit.” I’d heard good things about this book, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea…

After a short group walk to the ridge behind the house, I pulled together a meal from what I could find in the fridge and cupboards — meatballs with gravy, basmati rice and a “snozzcumber” salad. (The frau across the street presented us with a sack of the strange, bulbous, yellow cucumbers she grows. They are seedy and bitter, but the kids seem to like them…

Tonight’s rummy session was fuelled by the bottle of vodka we’d picked up at the petrol station this afternoon. The choice of mixers was quite limited — campari, fresh lime juice, ginger… We tried them all…;-)

August 25, 2012

The weather has lifted a bit, but it is still cloudy and cool. Mooched around the house in the morning, doing bits and pieces. One very pleasant thing to do is sit on the front stoop with a cup of coffee and watch what little action there is pass by…

Adam and Basil worked more on the bikes, cleaning and oiling them and adjusting the brakes and gears. I did some laundry, tackled some weeding, trained the sweet peas up the chain link fence, and gathered the windfall pears that had dropped from the largest pear tree I have ever seen.

Veronika made the girls a big pot of pesto pasta for lunch, then we left them with the menfolk and went for a walk. Esslingen is in a valley with wooded slopes on either side. We crossed the little bridge and climbed up into the forest onone of the many walking paths. The one we chose led to a limestone quarry, but we didn’t follow it that far…

Another outing to the swimming pool this afternoon. Again, Veronika took the kids in the car while Adam and I cycled, my bottom protesting mightily all the way. I’ve never understood why your bottom toughens up after a few days on a bicycle seat. What is it that gets tough, exactly?

Basil joined us later, having stayed behind to dig the hole for his earth kiln, and when it was time for the return journey Veronika joined Adam and I on the bikes. Stopped off at a lovely beer garden for a drink and some dinner overlooking the river.

It was dusk by the time we left, and I had the only working bike light, but we made it all right. At one point, a little deer broke out of the brush and bounded across the path just in front of me, which was pretty neat.

No cards this evening, just good conversation. Suits me fine — I’m really not a card player. I just don’t care enough… Any time someone discards, Adam will say something like, “that’s the second ten you’ve thrown away.” “Do you really pay attention to what other people discard?” I said. “Of course!” both Veronika and Adam exclaimed. “How else do you figure out what cards they need?” I just don’t bother…

August 24, 2012

Much cooler and overcast today — it rained in the night, which the parched earth will have appreciated.After we gave the five girls their cereal (both Adam and Basil were still asleep), Veronika was keen to tackle the thicken of nettles in the garden. Her brother had told her that if you cut nettles when they are wet, they don’t grow back. “Enjoy your nettle-free garden until they do,” the farmer next door said when he heard that bit of wisdom. But the scythe couldn’t be found, and the opportunity passed…

Instead, we unearthed three bikes from the woodshed and tried to make the roadworthy. We cleaned them up, pumped up the flat tires and tested the brakes, and they were good to go… Veronika drove the girls to Solnhofen (the next village), and Adam, Basil and I cycled the 2km.

I think I lucked out in the bike sweepstakes — Basil’s tires went flat again almost immediately, and Adam could only use the 4th and 5th gears. At least the route was pretty flat…

Regrouped at the Kloister Backerei, a reknown, centuries-old bakery, for coffee and pretzels. Also tried their delicious plum cake, and a kind of flat bread smeared with sour cream, ham and chives.

Although it was starting to rain, we followed through with the swimming plan. Again, Veronika drove the five girls, and we three cycled the 8km. This route was a bit more challenging, but really pretty, winding through forests and along the river.

The open air pool is set in a clearing surrounded by trees. There was a large playpool with waterslides, a separate 50m pool for laps, and even a little baby pool. Makes you realise how high the starndard of living is in Germany, that a little town like Pappenheim enjoys such a facility. It must also help that land isn’t at such a premium…

Spent a few hours at the pool, then moved on to the medieval fort that overlooks the town, where Veronika and I left the bikes, dads and girls and roared off to buy some groceries at Aldi.

It was raining pretty hard by the time we returned, but there was nothing for it but to hop on those bokes and pedal the 10km home. My brakes were pretty much useless in the rain, which was a bit hair-raising on the steep descent from the fort, but not a problem after that. The rain eased up too, and it was such a pleasure to be riding along like that on a country lane. I rode my bike loads when I was Nova’s age (and younger) and would think nothing of hopping on my bike and cycling the 10km to Brenda Nielsen’s house in Westwood, by the golf course. Now that I think of it, that’s where I used to play ping-pong as well… I rode a lot in Vancouver too — back and forth through the Endowment Lands to UBC, once I lived off campus, and later in the West End…

Grilled meat, corn on the cob and salad for dinner, then a solid hour of entertainment courtesy of the girls before we bundled them off to bed at about 10pm.

Broke out the new bottle of Amaretto (Aldi’s generic version) and the cards and played a couple of rounds of rummy. I did better this evening, having got the hang of the rules last night. My main failing is a lack of attention — I fail to notice when I should pick up a discard, or when someone else is collecting queens. This is connected to my failing to give a shit…;-) Basil is similar to me, while the other two are a right pair of card sharks. Still, I managed to come 2nd in both rounds, instead of the two 4ths I pulled last night…

August 23, 2012

4am start… Set the alarms, but the girls ended up waking us. They were little troupers actually, showering and dressing cheerfully. We had a cab booked for 5am to take us to St Pancras, and after a minor snag purchasing tickets, we boarded the train to Gatwick.We’re taking five bags with us on this trip — two shared clothes bags, two little day bags and my handbag. Pretty modest for ten days. There was a considerable queue for the Air Berlin flight, and lots of people were carrying what looked like rifle cases. Turned out they were snooker players — there must be a big tournament in Nuremberg this weekend.

It certainly played havoc with the check-in process — the two languid, middle-aged ladies at the terminals took over an hour to get to us. At least security went smoothly, though both girls were flagged for random security checks. There’s something about Lyra’s cheeky face that seems to attract them…

I thought the plane would be hopelessly off schedule, but with famed German efficiency we got away only forty minutes late. It wasn’t a long flight, but it was a rattley one — crosswinds, I guess — which I found quite unpleasant. I think I need a top-up session with my self-hypnosis tape…

We were on the ground by 11am German time, and after a prolonged wrestling match with the automatic ticket machine, we caught the S-bahn into Nuremberg. Left our bags in a luggage locker (surprised they still exist in this age of terrorism), and set off to explore the town.

Nuremberg is a charming mix of medieval and modern, with a river lazing through it, and a castle keeping a watchful eye on things. It was the home of Albrecht Durer, and we encountered several statues and fountains inspired by his work.

Stopped for lunch in a traditional bratwurst house. Baskets of pretzels on the tables, pints of wheat beer, bratwursts grilled over an open fire and served with sauerkraut and potato salad. Delicious…

The girls went off to the loo while we waited to pay the bill. A few minutes later, Lyra returned to report that Nova was feeling sick. I found her in the loo, green as an avocado, next to a sink full of vomit, surrounded by unsympathetic German women. The drain had a grill across it that stopped the vomit from going down, so in the end I scooped up handfuls using toilet tissue and deposited it in a nearby toilet, watched over by the same disapproving crowd. The things you do for love…

Ten minutes later, Nova was right as rain. She’s over sick during or after travel, and I can recall similar incidents in Vancouver, Helsinki, Palermo, not to mention all the cars and trains she’s ralphed up in…

Finished our walking tour, then caught the train to Pappenheim where our friend Veronika was waiting for us. We drove ten minutes to their farm house in Esslingen, a tiny hamlet where she and her two brothers have inherited a 16th century farmhouse. Her father left it to them when he died last year, and it full of the random and wonderful objects he collected.

Veronika’s house is the yellow one at the end of the road

The little girls were delighted to see one another and dove straight into play. After a cool drink (it’s well over 30° here), we climbed the little ridge behind the house, so Adam could get the phone reception he needed for his conference call to California. It is a small world after all…

Basil cooked a delicious dinner of pork chops, roast potatoes and cucumber salad. Once the kids were in bed, we set up the ping-pong table and played for a bit. I have no memory of ever playing ping-pong as a child, but I seem to be pretty good, so I suppose I must have. Ended the evening playing rummy and drinking Amaretto…

August 22, 2012

Another getting ready day… How did I ever manage to get ready for our vacations when I was a working mum?…;-) Did some last jobs in the garden before entrusting it to Pete for watering while we’re away. One of my cucumber vines is just days from yielding a great crop. A bit frustrating to miss it, but that’s the story of my gardening life. I put in all the early work, and then leave before I can reap the benefits…Nova spent the afternoon with Jessica, the girl who’s starting at the same secondary school with her. I popped round to visit the Stillman’s with Lyra. Anne informs me that they have arranged some additional help on week day mornings. Actually, I’m amazed at how well they manage on their own — Anne will be 97 in a few weeks time, and John isn’t far behind her…

August 21, 2012

Had a full-on getting ready day, as we’re heading off on a ten-day trip to Germany and Austria on Thursday. Adam was out working, but the girls did a pretty good job of keeping themselves amused.Broke off at one point to play “spy club”, where we took turns trying to creep up the stairs undetected, or cross the livingroom without making the floorboards creak. Unsurprisingly, my featherlight daughters were somewhat better at this than I was…

Watched a great film this evening about the French criminal Mesrine starring Vincent Cassel. I’d never heard of the guy, and was surprised to discover he’d wreaked a fair amount of havoc in Quebec in the late 1960s…

August 20, 2012

Woke to the news that film director Tony Scott has committed suicide by jumping from a bridge in LA. The press don’t have any idea why, though they are speculating he may have had a terminal illness. Horrible for his wife and young kids, but I suppose worse if he had killed himself at home…Today was Nova’s “girls’ day out”, and once again we started things off at John Lewis for school uniform. Moved on to BHS, where I bought her a nice black trench coat and a pair of cropped bra/vest things. I was pushing her towards the coloured jeans, which are very ‘on trend’ this season, but she wasn’t interested.

At Adam’s suggestion, we had a look in Carnaby Street, but most of the shops there are geared towards men. Ate a dim sum lunch at Gerrard’s Corner, which has become a tradition for us: crispy duck, spring rolls, and a few different types of dumpling.

Next stop, Leicester Square, where I’d found the only cinema in London still showing “Snow White and the Huntsman”. You’d think the scandal with Kirsten Stewart and the director would have given it a little boost with the viewing public…

It’s a much better — and darker — film than Mirror Mirror, and the fact that Stewart is nowhere near as good looking as her step-mum Charlize Theron isn’t ideal. Also, the suspense about which man she’ll end up with is pretty much squelched by the fact that the film is called “Snow White and the Huntsman”, not “Snow White and the Smarmy Childhood Friend”.

Finished off our shopping in Covent Garden, where Nova chose a jumper from Gap, a handbag and ballet flats in Hennes, and a great dress, jeans and shirt at Zara. She gave her dad the full fashion show when we got home. “She left a girl and returned a woman,” Adam said quietly when Nova was out of earshot…

August 19, 2012

Took the kids swimming at Park Road Lido this morning. The water was cold, but lovely once you managed to immerse yourself. It was meant to be another scorcher, but the clouds gradually moved in, and by 1pm there was a downpour.Returned home for showers, then Nova headed over to Fays for the afternoon. Made a quinoa salad to take over to Kiran and Birgit’s, who had invited us for a barbeque. We’ll be seeing them in Vienna — Birgit is taking the girls to visit her parents for a week before school starts…

August 18, 2012

It’s very hot at the moment — summer at last! — and hard to sleep at night. Didn’t stop us waking up early unfortunately… Decided to catch the early showing of Brave at the North Finchley Vue. Ties in nicely with our Scottish holiday — in fact, Nova read something in the St Andrews tourist office about it being set in the Cairngorms.Brave is the latest offering from Pixar, but is definitely more Disneyfied than their previous films. You can just see Merida joining the fiesty ethnic princess line, along with Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine. Lyra found parts of it pretty scary and was clinging to me at times. “This family needs to be all bears or no bears!” she moaned at one point.

Put in a lot of garden work this afternoon — swept all the leaves in front, watered the Stillmans pots, mowed their lawn, and set up the sprinkler for the girls to run through. An excuse for yet another change of outfit…

Did some work in the greenhouse, as well. I’d really like to knock the greenhouse into shape, reputty the windows, fix the roof, cement the little brick wall into place and organise the pots and tools better. Maybe this autumn…;-)

Over barbequed turkey burgers and the rest of the lemon meringue pie, we had an interesting discussion on the film we’d seen today. “It wasn’t Merida’s fault that her mother turned into a bear,” Nova insisted. “She didn’t know that would happen when she tricked her into eating that cake the bad witch had made.” I realise we’re both coming to it from our own stage of life, but how can it be anything but Merida’s fault…?

Adam and Nova went off on their bikes to see what cycling to her new school is like. I’m not comfortable with that idea at all — Nova is a very inexperienced cyclist, and London is a dangerous city for bikes…

Watched the Woody Allen film, Stardust Memories. I thought I’d seen all his older films, but I hadn’t seen this one. Liked it a lot…

August 17, 2012

I had a “girls’ day out” with Lyra today. We left the house at 10:30, when Nova headed off to her grandmother’s house by bus to do some cooking. She was meant to text me when she arrived safely, but of course she forgot.

She’s pretty absent minded — the other day I asked her to turn off the soup. “OK!” she called back cheerfully. Ten minutes later, the smell of burning soup is floating down the stairs. Or on a school morning, you ask her to get the hairbrush so I can do her hair. Five minutes later, she wanders back into the room with a novel. And her glasses… I won’t even go there…

We started with some uniform shopping at John Lewis. I had her feet measured for new school shoes. We went for the ones with the patent leather toes, which seem more durable. She wore right through the leather on last year’s pair so her toes were sticking out by July. And these are £30 shoes…

Stopped for a little picnic in Hanover Square. I’d packed some oatcakes, slices of cheese and two apples, and we joined all the office workers enjoying a bit of sun. Next stop, H&M for new leggings, and then Hamleys. Lyra loves it in there — we didn’t buy anything, or even get past the first floor, but she spent a happy half hour tearing around…

Cut across the the Royal Academy after that. I’d told her we were going to see the Summer Exhibition, but it had closed on Monday. She had a mini meltdown when I said we were going to see the Impressionist paintings from the Clark exhibition instead. Not quite sure what the fuss was about, except that she felt she was being shortchanged in some way.

I’d seen a number of these paintings when we visited Massachusetts some years ago, but was very happy to see them again. I tried to get Lyra involved by asking her questions about the paintings. In one painting, a boy was herding geese down a country lane; in the next, a few quick daubs captured some geese on the water. “Which goose painting do you like better?” I asked Lyra. “These ones look more like geese,” she said pointing to the carefully painted flock, “but these ones are more like geese.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “those walking geese should just fly away. I think that boy is taking them somewhere they don’t want to go…”

Afterwards, we crossed the street for tea at the Wolseley, where Lyra ate her body weight in cake. One lone cake remained that neither of us could squeeze in, and Lyra wanted to take it home from for Nova. I asked the waiter to package it up for us, and he returned five minutes later with a little box. “I looked so lonely in there, I’ve added a few extra,” he said, giving Lyra a wink. I love the service at the Wolseley — they always go the extra mile for their customers…

No room for dinner, though I did find a little wedge sized piece for a slice of the lemon meringue pie Nova made with her grandmother…

“I need a more oriental-based wardrobe,” Nova groused. “Lyra has two saris, a slit-up-the-thigh Chinese silk dress, and a flower-splashed Japanese kimono dressing gown, and what do I have? Nothing.” I have gone through the bag of stored clothes lately and pulled out all the stuff that Lyra is now big enough to wear…

August 16, 2012

Took the girls to play tennis in Waterlow Park after breakfast, not that straightforward a thing to do. I had to unearth four racquets from the garage, buy a can of balls from the stationers, and find and pay the park attendant for an hour’s court time, before we got stuck in.I was on one side of the net with both girls on the other, and I alternated my attention between them. I’d hoped to sustain a little rally, but that proved wildly overambitious. Nova has quite an elegant forehand when she remembers to hold her racquet properly. And Lyra quickly developed a killer serve (underhand of course). But three shots in a row was the best we managed…

After a lunch of asparagus spears in parma ham, we settled down to watch Watership Down. While it was surprisingly true to the book, the animation is pretty basic by today’s standards, and the Art Garfunkel song didn’t seem to fit the story at all…

August 15, 2012

After breakfast, Adam and Nova set off to try the other bus route Nova can take to Henrietta Barnett. The 210 leaves from the High Street and delivers her to Golders Green station. From there, she can either walk 15 minutes, or catch a little hopper bus that runs back and forth at the start and end of the school day.Having done most of the unpacking and essential house chores yesterday, I had time to devote to girls today. I gave Lyra a thorough washing and grooming, and devoted some time to her various foot complaints (a stubborn nail infection, a crop of verrucas between her toes…)

After that, we made a batch of rice krispie squares, and read a few chapters of The BFG. When Nova returned, I got her started with Great Expectations, which we both thoroughly enjoyed. I don’t think any novelist comes close to matching Charles Dickens. On Desert Island Discs, after the interviewees choose the eight tracks they would take to a desert island, and pick one luxury, they can select a book to bring (in addition to the Bible and the collected works of Shakespeare). If asked, my choice would definitely be the collected works of Dickens, or if I had to limit myself to only one, David Copperfield.

After lunch, the girls walked over to Evelyn and Alice’s house for a joint playdate. When Christine called to tell me they’d arrived safely, she expressed surprise that I was happy for the girls to walk on their own. Actually, it surprises me that other people don’t let their kids walk around their neighbourhoods…

I made Chinese chicken for dinner, which was going uneventfully until Nova bit her tongue. I could tell it was a painful one by the way she froze and then shuddered for about ten seconds, her eyes pooling with tears. “Don’t worry, sweetie,” I said, “I know it hurts a lot, but it stops soon.” I went on, “One time, I bit right into my tongue, which was pretty nasty…”, trailing off when Nova opened her mouth and I saw the blood welling from the edge of her tongue… Poor thing…

August 14, 2012

Woke several times in the night, each time comparing the sleeping conditions unfavourably with those in the tent. It was too hot, too noisy, there were mosquitos attacking me…One of the best things about a holiday is all the things you get a break from. Television is a big one for me — if it’s around I watch it, when it’s not I don’t miss it at all, and have a lot more time besides…

It’s the same with the kids. On holiday, they had a pack of cards, their iPods and a couple of books each and seemed perfectly satisfied. Back home, surrounded by all their toys and games, they pronouce themselves bored…

Loads of unpacking, laundry, shopping, airing/repairing the camping gear, and housework to do. The cat has kept herself busy shredding the carpet in our absence… Fay did an reasonable job of the watering. There were several cukes to pick, the tomatoes are swelling nicely, and the pot plants all alive aside from one lobelia and Lyra’s sunflower.

Left the girls at home and headed of to Waitrose to restock the fridge. On the way back, I had an incident with another car. After turning across the traffic and joining the main road, I needed to changes lanes to avoid the turning lane at the next lights. I indicated and started to move sideways when a horn blared. As I swerved back into my lane, I heard a loud crunch.

I pulled over straight away and went to investigate. A furious elderly man started screaming at me — according to him, I’d forced him off the road and he’d flattened his tire when he hit the curb. Of course, I apologised, but it didn’t make any sense to me — I’d looked before turning into the lane, and there was plenty of room between me and the oncoming traffic. “Were you behind me when I turned out at the B&Q?” I asked. “I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW!!” he shouted.

Then I realised what had happened. There was a car behind me when I was waiting to turn, and when I pulled out, it must have pulled out straight behind me. But instead of following me into the nearest lane as he should have done, he turned into the next lane over and was in the process of passing me on the inside (thus in my blind spot) when I went to change lanes. Which was a pretty dumbass thing to do on his part…

No point in telling him that though. I offered my contact details so we could talk once he’d calmed down, or to help change the tire — “That’s the least you can do!” he snapped. He had no idea how to access the spare, and I was just looking through his manual when he called his mechanic who said he’d be right over to fix it for him. “You can go now,” he said, dismissing me. He was obviously very upset, and I felt bad about that, but I’m pretty sure he was at fault… That’s my second prang in a row coming back from Waitrose. Maybe it’s a sign I should shift to shopping online…;-)

Could have done with a stiff drink when I got home, but Adam and I are trying out a new eating regime he read about. It’s based on the theory that alternate days of fasting switches the bodies cells from growth mode to repair mode, reducing the incidence of cancer and diabetes as people age. The regime is called 5:2, and involves having two very low calorie intake days each week, and otherwise eating what you want. Unfortunately, this is one of those days.

Made little monkfish fillets wrapped in slices of parma ham for dinner, and served them with steamed green beans. Low calorie but delicious…

August 13, 2012

One last peaceful lie-in in the tent. I love waking up to the sound of the wind, the rush of the nearby stream, and pine needles dropping softly onto canvas. Read Nova a chapter of Watership Down while Adam and Lyra visited the loo, then it was all about breaking camp.

Breakfasted on malt bread, oatcakes and cheese, packed up the inside gear then took the tent down. It was a bit damp — the only rain we’ve had in the Cairngorms, and it fell last night. Flustered by the clouds of midges, Adam managed to break the tent bag trying to zip it up (re-break it actually).

Set off by 9:45. I did the first leg. The Highland roads weren’t that busy, but lots of it was single lane, which is more tiring. We stopped at the last/first truck stop in Scotland for a bowl of soup and a piece of pie, then Adam took the wheel.

We belted down the A1 for a couple of hours, until it eventually merged in the M1. The Kids didn’t sleep at all this time, which is a shame as it was a long day’s driving.

Stopped for a quick dinner at McDonalds. Incredibly, they had run out of french fries, in all my years of (admittedly sporadic) McDonalds visits, I’ve never heard of such a thing.

At least the girls got Olympics toys with their not-so-Happy Meals. I drove until the kids needed a pit stop, then Adam finished it off. About 12 hours door to door, including stops.

The cat cold shouldered us, as she always does after we’ve left her on her own. Got the girls down, cracked a beer and watched the Olympics round up before bed. It’s nice to be back, but I sure loved that camping. I think we all did…

August 12, 2012

Happy birthday, Greg!
Our plan was to hike to the top of Cairngorm today, and bag our second (of Scotland’s 284) munro. While the weather is still fine, it’s not so clear as yesterday. We’ve been sleeping so well, that it was 11am by the time we set off.There were two possible routes from the car park. We chose the more scenic one, which was called Windy Ridge. It was certainly aptly named — the wind increased in ferocity as we climbed until it was a howling gale. One of us had to keep hold of Lyra at all times, for fear she would be blown off the path. The views were great though, whenever we stopped for a rest…

About 600 metres from the top, there was a lookout/restaurant. This was also the terminus of the funicular railway that started at the car park. People who rode to the lookout on the funicular where not permitted to leave the building, and there were complicated sign-in procedures to ensure it didn’t happen. Not sure what the reasoning behind this was, whether it was a health and safety thing, or meant to reward those who’d slogged up from the bottom. However, I doubt any of the glaringly unfit and underdressed folks who had funiculared up had any intention of attempting the final ascent.

It reminded me of the time Adam and I climbed Snowdonia a number of years ago. We started our ascent at about 7am, and the cloud was still lying on the slopes. It was a long, cold, tricky climb — the path was poorly marked, and the visibility never did improve. At one particularly scary point, we found ourselves on a shallow ledge that just petered to nothing, with no idea what lay below.

We ended up hooking up with a trio of SAS-type guys, who actually had an early GPS system, which the five of us used to find our way across the scree to the summit. There’s a café on top of Snowdon too, and there were staff inside it, but it wasn’t open yet, so we stood shivering outside for fifteen minutes while they faffed around indoors. Turns out the opening coincided with the arrival of the day’s first train to the summit. A herd of holidaymakers emerged and charged into the café ahead of us, which meant standing in a long queue before we finally got a much-needed cup of tea.

We ate our cheese sandwich at the picnic table outside. Cloud was howling down the mountain face by this point, and the final ascent was fucking cold. Lyra was whimpering a bit, and had developed a blister on her left heel. We met a Japanese couple who had passed us on the way up, staggering back down. “Your children are both strong and brave!” the woman said earnestly.

After about half an hour we reached the cairn that marked the top, and sheltered behind it for a bit of relief from the wind. Gulped down the mini whisky I’d bought in the gift shop and scoffed the pack of fudge, posed for a couple of photos, then got the hell out of there.

Paused for hot drinks before taking the funicular back down. “Reaching the top must give you a sense of satisfaction,” I said to Lyra. “What is satisfaction?” she asked. After I explained it to her she agreed with me.

Back at the campsite, we all had hot showers before heading out for dinner. I’d expected to find a range of dining options in Aviemore, but it was a pretty sorry selection. Ended up at the Golf Club, where we scoffed steaks and burgers, and downed a pint of ice-cold lager. It’s been a great holiday — our leap of faith in heading north to camp in spite of a disheartening weather forecast has been well rewarded…;-)

August 11, 2012

We’d booked a couple of activities for our first full day in the Cairngorms. After breakfast, we headed off to Loch an Eilein for a canoeing session. There were twelve people in total, divided between six canoes, plus an instructor. Adam went with Nova, and I took Lyra. After a few basic instructions, we struck off up the loch. Lyra really tried, bless her, though sometimes her paddling was pretty random…It was a sunny day, but when the wind picked up the intended route proved too difficult. Headed in the other direction instead, and explored the bays on that end of the loch. Getting back across the loch was a challenge. I wasn’t able to hold the recommended line, and Lyra and I had to battle our way across the open water in the middle. “Do you need help?” the instructor called, but I said we’d manage. Little Lyra paddled her guts out and we just managed it. (The instructor ended up rescuing another mother/daughter team, with a girl about Nova’s age…)

Rewarded our sterling efforts on the water with a round of ice lollies, then headed back to Inverdruie for a quick lunch before the girls’ pony trekking session. While they were busy, we investigated walking options and bought a few groceries from the farm shop.

Dinner was pot noodle with grilled salmon, lemon drizzle cake and fresh strawberries for dessert. We’re eating pretty well, if I say so myself…;-)

August 10, 2012

One of those frustrating mornings trying to get things organised and not managing to do enough to justify the time spent. After breakfast, Turner managed to convince his dad to buy him a metal detector at Argos. Adam helped set it up, and Turner eagerly scanned the whole back lawn, but unfortunately it failed to detect anything…We went for a walk to the beach late morning to check out the local sand castle competition. I was expecting something like the one in White Rock, but this was a much more homely affair, with a dozen local families having a go. My favourite was a model of the Olympic stadium. There was also a shark with shell teeth and a leg dangling from its mouth that was quite witty.

After a lunch of sausage rolls Adam brought the car round, we loaded up our stuff and headed for the hills. Another two and a half hour drive and we reached our campsite in the Cairngorm National Park.

This campsite is much more Canadian in style. There aren’t individual pitches with table and fire pit, but the tents were widely spaced among the trees, and there was a little stream running nearby. The toilet block was lovely, and I was interested to see that instead of large mens’ and womens’ facilities, they had a series of family bathrooms.

My diced turkey breast hadn’t quite thawed, but seared it then added curry sauce, coconut cream and a stirfry veggie pack to make a pretty passable green thai curry, which I served with instant rice.

There were midges about , but our Smidge repellent sent them packing. There aren’t much in the way of mosquitos either, which is a blessing…

August 9, 2012

Things are pretty informal at Gilda and Steve’s. People got up whenever and helped themselves to what they wanted and drifted off. I was about to have something to eat when Gilda said she and Steve were cycling over to the local auction, and did I want to join them.I hopped on a spare bike, and off we went. The ride took about ten minutes. We turned into the parking lot of a funeral parlour, and I was just about to joke about tying a funeral home business to an auction when I realised that was what it was.

The lots were both interesting and sort of sad. I put a low bids on a few random things — a carving set, a stack of Rackham book illustrations, a stone pig (water bottle), more to show willing than out of a particular design to acquire the items.

Went for an afternoon walk around the town, through the golf course and on the beach. Picked up my own copy of the new Alan Hollinghurst novel that I started reading last night. Also bought some groceries for the Scotland camping leg, some of which I froze to serve as ice packs in the cooler tomorrow.

We were playing badminton in the back garden when Nova somehow managed to snag her earring on the net and pull it loose. Spent ages crawling back and forth across the lawn search for it, but no luck. It’s one of her new birthday ones from her grandmother, so she’s feeling quite sad about losing it. Turner spent a lot of time looking as well, and is all for getting a metal detector tomorrow to help find it.

August 8, 2012

Adam headed off to Alnwick first thing where there is better phone reception so he could have a work conference call. I hung out in the tent with the girls. We’d thought of going to the beach, but couldn’t rouse the enthusiasm. Instead, we slowly packed up, stopping regularly to read chapters of Watership Down. We’re all loving that book — who knew rabbits could be so exciting…Adam returned ten minutes before the checkout deadline, as I was taking the tent down. Stopped in Berwick to eat lunch. It wasn’t easy to find somewhere, and we ended up in a hotel dining room. I’m generally wary of eating in hotels, but the food was quite nice.

After buying a universal battery charger with an adaptor that allowed me to charge the camera battery off the cigarette lighter we headed out of Berwick. Followed the coast road a bit farther north, then crossed the East Coast Mainline for the last time and rejoined the A1.

The journey to St Andrews took two and a half hours in total. You can’t drive right to Gilda and Steve’s house as they live off a private lane, but we parked as close as possible and found the house without any trouble, though it’s been been four years since our last visit.

Steve himself had just arrived from London 15 minutes earlier. Poor Gilda lost her wallet yesterday, and has been without money or much in the way of groceries ever since. After drinking the bottle of wine we’d brought, we all headed out to dinner at Zizzi. Something went wrong with the service and we ended up waiting ages for our food. Too much red wine on an empty stomach but a fun evening…

August 7, 2012

We woke to a lovely day, with sun shining through the canvas and taking the bite out of what had been a pretty cold night. Cooked up some delicious bacon and egg sandwiches on the grill, the set out for a morning on the beach.Both girls were determined to swim in the North Sea, and although it was freezing, that’s what they did. Adam went it as well, while I stopped at my knees. Aside from one other family, we were pretty much the only people we saw doing that the whole day. It was pretty hot in the sun, and we soon dried off. Lyra set up a little shop selling shells, sticks, clumps of seaweed etc, that kept us occupied until lunch.

After eating, we drove into Bamburgh. It was already after 3pm, and we had to choose between the Grace Darling museum and Bamburgh Castle. Opted for the museum, which turned out to be thoroughly charming. It was dedicated to the local heroine Grace Darling, who carried out a daring sea rescue with her lighthouse keeper father in 1838. The museum has many of her personal effects, and the actual boat used for the rescue.

Until her untimely death four years later, poor Grace endured considerable fame. A surprising range of dolls, toys, chocolates, milk jugs and so on were produced bearing her likeness, examples of which were also on display.

Grace was awarded a silver medal from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the rescue. It may have been the influence of the Olympics, but I was puzzled as to why she didn’t receive a gold medal. I asked the woman on the door, who had no idea, and said that no one had ever asked that before…

After another beach walk, we returned to camp for some veggie soup. I’d made it before we left and frozen it in a large ziplock bag, to serve as a dandy ice pack for the rest of the food.

After an amazing sunset, we retired to the tent for the night. I’ve been sleeping like a log the last few days, although my family informs me that I now snore…

August 6, 2012

Nova was up for a loo visit at midnight and 5:30am, but still woke to damp pjs and sleeping bag…:-( It had rained in the night, and the tent canvas had a few damp spots too. We were snug and dry inside though, which is the main thing…After hot showers, we had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, then drove 20 minutes north to Berwick, which is the main town in this area. Had a look in a couple of shops for a camera battery, but nothing doing.

Spent an hour in a discount camping goods shop called Marshalls instead, where I bought a raincoat, Adam some hiking sandals, Nova a base layer, and Lyra a proper raincoat and pair of walking boots. So it wasn’t a wasted journey…

From there, we carried on to the holy island of Lindisfarne, crossing the causeway at low tide. Made a batch of sandwiches in the car park, we we ate in the ruined priory as we poked around. One of the original centres of Christianity in the British Isles, the monks were eventually driven out by repeated Viking raids, but not before completing the incomparably beautiful Lindisfarne Gospels, which are now held by the British Library.

There was just enough time for a quick visit to Lindisfarne Castle. We caught the little tour bus across the island, but had to allow time to walk back as it was the last one of the day. The castle was an unexpected treat. Originally a Tudor fort, it was converted into a holiday home in the early 1900s by Edwin Lutyens.

The rooms were beautifully preserved with the original, custom-built furniture, decorations and personal effects, and there were helpful guides in some of the rooms to help bring it to life. I alarmed Lyra by using the loo while we were there — she wasn’t able to read the sign that said it was for public use, and it was of the same vintage as the rest of the rooms. “What if somebody catches you, mummy?” she said, half impressed, half horrified…

After a brisk walk back to the car to beat to rising tide, our car gave us a little turn by refusing to start for a good five minutes. It’s getting tetchy in its old age, and requires a careful balancing and release of gas and clutch for the engine to catch.

Made some wicked pork wraps for dinner on the little grill, then spent the rest of the daylight reading Watership Down to the girls. I’m loving that book, but loving my novel, “The Sisters Brothers” even more…

August 5, 2012

Lyra came in for her cuddle at 6am, with helped with getting an early start…;-) After two more hours of prep, we were on the road by 8:30am. Sunday morning is always a good time to travel, plus we are close to the A1/M1, and we made good time.It’s a long, straight, five-hour drive north. Fortunately, Lyra slept three hours of it. I’d packed a nice lunch to eat in the car, and we didn’t stop once — except at a level crossing right near the end of the journey to let the East Coast Mainline roar past.

Pitched up at the campsite by the beach where Adam and I stayed 15 years ago. The afternoon was sunny after a brief shower, and we were shipshape in 45 minutes. Spent a couple of hours walking the length of the beach from Beadnell to Seahouses. Unfortunately, my camera died after one photo, and the spare I always carry is inexplicably flat as well…

It’s great to be back in this part of world, the emptiest corner of England apparently. Miles of sky and beach, loads bird life — herons, ducks gulls, sandpipers, and puffins (although it’s not possible to see them in August because they’re all at sea). Unfortunately, we’ve also forgotten the binoculars. What numpty did the packing for this trip?…;-)

Adam has been griping about the a dodgy stomach complaint he’s prone to, and wasn’t going to eat or drink anything. Somehow he managed several peanut butter pretzels, two glasses of red wine, a bowl of pesto pasta and a chocolate tiramisu. What a trooper…;-)

We were just finishing our meal when this car pulled up by the tent. Apparently, the man had seen our tent from the road and pulled over to ask us about it. It does attract a fair amount of attention…

August 4, 2012

Family Olympics day at the athletics! And it’s Super Saturday too, with 25 medals up for grabs. Once again, we left house about 7:30. The transport system was much more crowded this time, but still efficient, and the queues moved along briskly. Made it to our seats with 15 minutes to spare. We were quite high this time, and on the south end, but we and a cracking view of the Olympic flame.

There was a great line up, with the mens’ 100m and 400m heats. We saw the big guns like Bolt and Blake, as well as Oscar Pistorius’ historic appearance, as the first disabled athlete to compete in the Olympics. There was pole vaulting at the opposite end, the womens’ steeplechase, and Team GB’s great hope, Jessica Ennis was doing the fifth and sixth events of the heptathlon — long jump and javelin.

Went for a wander round the Olympic Park afterwards. Actually I wasn’t that impressed — acres of aphalt, and vast milling crowds with nowhere to settle. There just were not enough food or shopping venues, or enough seating. I think the sponsorship deals are likely to blame. Aside from McDonalds, there were only a few random, uninspiring food stalls with names like ‘Deli’ and ‘Cake and Coffee’.

Spent a bit of time in Westfield then made our way home. Stopped i for a cup of tea at the Stillmans. They’ll be away in France when we return from our camping trip, and I wanted to see how John was getting on after his surgery. Anne will be stuffed if John’s not able to keep their show on gthe road. Nevertheless, she was as snappy as ever with him, which he blithely ignores…

Spent a few hours getting the car loaded and the house in order. Stopped about 10pm for a snack and some Olympics TV. We’ll be going cold turkey from tomorrow. At least my main interest — the swimming — is over now…

August 3, 2012

In spite of a late night, the girls we up bright and early. They mooched around in Lyra’s bedroom, emerging when they were read for their rice krispies. (Lyra was very clear about the need to have rice krispies — not a cereal I normally buy — for the Alex sleepover.)Alex’s nanny arrived to pick her up bang on 10am. Just as well… though they were still getting on famously, sleepovers can come to grief if they go on too long. Over-tired kids, home sickness, that morning-after feeling. Best to wrap them up sharpish after breakfast…

The girls received a parcel from John and Jackie with two lovely summer dresses. Very sweet of them…

Adam headed off to an adidas meeting at lunch, and I flew at the holiday prep: laundry, packing, food shopping… Made a very nice prawn spaghetti for our dinner, though I did a bolognese version for Lyra who has issues with most seafood.

Nova has taken to sleeping in the flat of late, and has even moved a few bits and pieces down there. It’s nice for her to have a bit more personal space, but unfortunately we all make claims on that room, not to mention the regular houseguests. Adam uses it as an office, I treat it as an extension of the laundry room and kitchen, and Lyra’s garden toys drift daily between the flat and garden…

August 2, 2012

Today was Lyra’s much-anticipated sleepover with Alex. We agreed she’d arrive about 4pm, to give them a bit of time to play before dinner. Nova was at Sarah’s for the afternoon, so they had the run of the house. Alex is very keen on music, so we put the clarinet and flute together, and they played band, as well as doing hama beads.I made burgers and chips for dinner, with ice cream for dessert. Alex’s mum had warned me that she was a vegetable hater, so I did some raw veggies on the side, and she did have a few pieces of cucumber. I never worry too much about what other people’s kids eat when they are here — I figure it’s not my lookout if they haven’t been taught to eat vegetables. My only concern is that they’ll give my kids ideas…

After dinner, they watched a Harry Potter movie in the flat. Nova was back by this point, and joined them, but there was so much bickering that the little ones told me they wanted her to leave. Nova was very hurt by the rejection — she’s usually a big hit with Lyra’s friends — and was back down like a shot when they discovered they were too scared to watch it on their own. One thing I love about Nova is that she’s not one to hold a grudge. I could take a leaf from her book…

August 1, 2012

Went to the swimming at the Olympics today! Adam, Nova, Beulah and I set off at about 7:45 as advised by LOCOG, leaving Lyra with Grandpa Fred. The plan was for him to deliver her to Multisport for the morning and then take her out to lunch at Zizzi.Lyra’s was pretty grumpy about the situation. “Why are you taking Grandbee instead of me?” she complained. I explained that Grandbee used to be a swimmer and that daddy wanted her to have a chance to see Olympic swimming. “Then why are you taking Nova instead of me? She’s already been to gymnastics and I haven’t been to anything!” No answer to that one, and felt a bit guilty about it all morning…

We had a smooth journey, mainly because all the stations and trains were strangely empty. Although we changed trains at rush hour, King’s Cross was deserted. I half expected to see tumbleweed blowing through the ticket hall…

Another slightly surreal thing was all the friendly volunteers eager to greet us or offer assistance. There was about one greeter for every four visitors, and they were all hoping we had a great day, offering to take group photos, or just grinning like Cheshire cats. It was like being in Canada…

adidas have come through with great seats for us! We were about fifteen rows up, and right at the finish line. Adam spotted Will and Sara dozens of rows behind in our original seats, which made me even more satisfied, if that were possible…

I was interested to see that the swimmers all warmed up in regular suits, then change into those Victorian style bodysuits to race. We saw some good stuff: womens’ 100m freestyle; mens’ 200m backstroke; womens’ 200m breaststroke; mens’ 200m IM; and the womens’ 4x200m freestyle relay. In the very first heat we watched, three women from developing nations (Nepal, Senegal, and the Comoro) swam their 100m freestyle in a time I would have beaten in my prime. Needless to say, that was the last race we saw where that was the case…;-)

Found myself cheering more for the Canadian athletes than the Brits, and was especially impressed with the women’s relay team. Another highlight was seeing Michael Phelps’ IM heat. I’m certainly wishing him every success in his quest to be the most successful Olympian of all time…

Ate lunch at a Jamie’s Italian restaurant in the new Westfield Mall. Beulah surprised me by ordering a bottle of red wine for the table, which I was more than happy to drink…

All was fine on the home front. Lyra had forgotten her grievance, and seems to have had a nice morning with her grandfather. Had a red wine induced nap in front of cycling, and missed Wiggo’s victory…