Guten Tag from Berlin

Our last day in Amsterdam was spent with washing and packing along with a lovely afternoon walking the streets with Rockets school friend Simon. We tasted the world famous ice cream (which is mixed with cream) and the frites with mayo. 

We arrived safely into Berlin and while I was able to manage French and Nederland - I was of no help at all. After gaining directions from the very helpful (not!) information desk we set off. Not reading our details properly hurt us and several laps were done until we arrived at what we thought was our apartment. The lovely Russian lady staying there was most helpful and we had a conversation via her Iphone translate app - and we finally arrived. Desperately hungry and tired and with the Oogster refusing to walk any further we staggered to the nearby Turkish place. Lots of pointing and laughing and an awesome dinner was underway. It's worth mentioning the apartment is bigger than our house - older but these Germans know their internal heating!

Our Saturday was met with beautiful clear skies with a temp of 6! We had more success with the underground and joined our Berlin Fat Tires bike tour. As a coach I shall never complain about big groups again - Tanya our guide had 30 odd people of all ages (and abilities), and she did the whole ride in a full length skirt!

The tour was great and we visited many of the important historical sites of Berlin. the most touching was the memorial to the 6M murdered in Europe during WW2. We were all very impressed by the transparency the new Germany has (their words) and the respect to the history they make. It's actually quite hard to articulate and took a while to process before sleep. The tour ended at a bier garden and I was strongly encouraged to try the below! Yikes I still had to ride back....

As many of you fine readers may know we  luckily (??!!) happened to be in Berlin the same time as it's 40th Marathon. Now this race sells out in 20 minutes - so there was little hope of Rocket getting an entry. Thanks to the encouragement of many friends (we'll talk later and you know who you are) and our German friend Andrej, Rocket was in. Well Ralf Ellent was and he looked a lot like Rocket. 

These German folk are quite civilized and the marathon start was 8.45am, I thought this was because it gets light later, silly me it's because it is only 4 degrees. These crazy cats also don't care how dumb they might look, and I'm certain they must have invented compression socks as everyone had them on. 

Poor Rocket was freezing his already skinny butt off in his singlet and shorts so we kept him warm for as long as we could. Now triathlon friends you must NEVER complain again about busy wave starts are or too many people. Holy Moly this was crazy - I have never seen so many people, it was a stream of them coming. Our chances of seeing Rocket were slim, however because he is tall we caught him at the 7k, 20k and finish line. 

I'm sure all of you well travelled folk will agree how surprising it is that countries so close together can be so different, this is why it's so special to have the opportunity to travel and experience it all.

I wrote the first part of this installment before dinner and after a 500ml bier (is now the time I should mention I haven't drunk bier since I was 18?) I'm hoping there aren't too many spelling mistakes and it generally makes sense! 

Our marathoner was feeling pretty good but I think the walk home from dinner is the only time we have all walked faster than him. Hopefully he'll be up to lifting bags off and on the train tomorrow as we are off to a whistle stop tour of Prague and Munich. 

Until then Auf Wiedersehen.

Au Revoir Brussels - hello Amsterdam

Our final day in Brusslels started with a frenzy of packing, waffle eating and chocolate shopping. Not being a big waffle eater I was pleasantly surprised by how good they are and have blanked out how many possible kilojoules are in these babies....

A fast train trip of 2 hours and we arrived in Amsterdam. The feeling of being home I felt on arrival here caught me by surprise and it has stayed through our time here. We managed to navigate a phone call, tram ticket purchases and arriving at our apartment without getting lost (woohoo!!). Rocket was again very thrilled to carry the rapidly gaining weight bags up probably the steepest internal steps ever seen. 

We are very blessed to have relatives in Nederland (getting down with the right lingo - more to come on that topic) and my mums cousin Ria met us and was the most awesome tour guide. We met Ria's husband Nico outside the Western Tower which is Amsterdams tallest church at 85m tall. Nico is learning to play the Carillon bells of the church and as a special surprise they arranged for us to climb the top of the tower and hear The traditional Carillon player and Nico play the bells. A Carillon consists of at least 23 cast bronze bells and they are played on certain days of the week at particular times. We were very priveleged to go to parts of the tower not for other tourists and to stand out on the top with the bells, look above the clock in the photo below.  (at this point Rocket was peaking as there are not any barricades and he had visions of the kids falling off).

Out with bells at the top!

The Carillon player knows many tunes, it was kinda cool to hear Waltzing Matilda ring out across Amsterdam. He also let the Oogster help out with a tune. 

A whistle stop visit to the old Church which happens to be in the red light district (it was day time) was met with the widest eyes and jaw drops from the girls I have ever seen. Followed with quite a few questions - and potentially some explaining to the girls other parents when we get home! 

Ria and Nico very kindly hosted us for dinner and drinks at their home in Almere which comes with it's very own canal - the girls had a paddle in Nico's canoes, which did result with the Oogster getting very wet. A wonderful day. 

Today we had a much needed sleep in followed by a visit to the Anne Frank house museum. This was very moving and touching and reminded us of the terrible tragedies of war. Like many historic places you have to queue - but this one is most definitely worth it along with the tears you shed during the visit. 

Tour de Tanner should probably be replaced by Rockets 'Culinary fest of Europe', or with the Oogsters 'Tour de Toilet!' We have managed to sample Traditional Nederland foods such as raw herring, stoopwaffles (OMG good stuff), broodjes and cousin Ria has us loaded up with traditional sweets to bring home. Sorry England and Belgium, Nederland provides stiff competition in the food department!!

We met up with cousin Ria and her grandchildren Kat and Mas for a visit to the zoo. All of the kids loved it and they were all firm friends by the end of the afternoon. We also had a cultural update from Ria in that it's not kosher to call people from the Nederlands Dutch or say Holland - it's Nederland all the way baby! 

The near 3 weeks of walking has made us all a bit weary - or read that as, the children are tired and cranky and need an early night! The visit to Anne Franks house made for a lively dinner and history discussion - one we will all remember and beats reading a history book.

Thank you to everyone for the feedback on the blog. I'm enjoying writing it, although lots is left out, these are the stories you may have to hear when we get home. 

Bonjour!

We said farewell to Edinburgh with a final castle visit - Edinburgh castle was lovely and we easily understood how the Scots held their ground so long as its up a very large hill. 

John our guide anointed Princess Amy and her lady in waiting Maid Madison.

Sadly we also said farewell to G'ma in Scotland and who is now happily ensconced in Bright with the extended Lilley family. It was so lovely to have G'ma along and we have so many treasured memories we shared. Safe travels home.

After an obscenely early start and thankfully our last driving stint (we had a fun filled experience the previous day accidentally driving in a bus/taxi only lane and  fair bit of Scottish flavoured abuse and fist shaking!!) we departed to the wonderful and breathtaking Brussels.

Fortunately we have arrived in the middle of a festival weekend so the Grand Place was filled with Folk and traditional dancers and so many food and beer stalls. 

The immersion in the culture was amazing and we all loved it. A stop in to watch a chocolatier make chocolate and Mad Dog was selected to help out - very lucky indeed (it also meant more chocolate for us all).

After a much needed sleep in (is there such a thing as castle fatigue?) we headed to Heizel to see the Atomium. Our big surprise of the day was - A Bike Festival! With more bikes than a triathlon transition, every style of clothing and bike, we were in heaven. The girls rode the "death ride" which was a zip line from

The Atomium (you can see someone zip lining above the bikes in the photo below).

Rocket and the girls are practicing their French, along with dazed and confused looks my way when the person responds with Non to speaking English. Now my French is rusty, say 20 years so its really a laugh a minute but the locals are very kind. We have managed to buy waffles, beer, ice cream and dinner so we can't be doing too badly. We had quite a hilarious conversation with a lady while

buying a t shirt and when she worked out we couldn't understand her she asked for a pen to write it down - in French! 

The culture difference has been a bit of a shock for the girls but they are managing nicely (there are open air urinals in the streets - they don't smell so hot) and fully embracing the experience. Rocket and I

are super impressed with the volume of bikes on the road and the respect shown by drivers - much could be learned by the Aussies!!! 

Tomorrow we head to Holland which we are all very excited about, the birth place of my Mum and we are meeting cousins and possibly visiting a museum or two.

Until next time Au Revoir. 

Och Aye - we love Scotland

We had forgotten we'd splurged on first class train tickets to Scotland until we arrived at the station. Nothing like free beers and champers for several hours at 125mph. A reminder to the kidlets not to get too used to it as the rest of our train tickets might be budget.

The further from London we travelled the more the weather improved and we were greeted with brilliant sunshine on our arrival into Edinburgh. I think this is a little trick of the ancient Scottish gods to make you fall in love immediately with the place. The arrival by train among thousands of year old castles is nothing less than spectacular. Let alone walking up the main drag to find your surname plastered all over a building - how come I didn't know I had rellies here? 

We found our BnB which was up 3 short flights of stairs (hello - not fans of lifts here) and our athlete was absolutely stoked to carry all the bags and didn't complain once (said no one ever). The girls were thrilled we were staying in a family room, just like a sleep over? They fell in love with Honey the 18 year old cat and if ever in Edinburgh you must stay at 53 Frederick St - it was beautiful.

At our all included brekkie Rocket decided to try Haggis. He and Mad Dog loved it, G'ma and I fought back the vomits and the Oogster sensibly refrained. Pick up of the hire car and we were off.

A lengthy visit to Stirling castle - which in our minds was far better than Windsor castle, they love a good battle story and fairly give it to the English, this might be why or the fact we had adopted Scotland as our new favourite place. We headed to the Wallace monument and the wind had fairly picked up by this time - read the temperature dropped and we were all fairly freezing but toughed it out (we have Scottish heritage after all). Followed by a very lengthy trip (it will only take half an hour?) of 2 hours around Loch Lomond including a car sick Oogster and we were Glasgow bound.

Below is Rodney the Bruce with Robert the Bruce.

A quick stop for a late dinner and we headed off to find our hotel. The getting lost with an iPhone on only 7% battery in pouring rain has reinforced our smart decision to travel by train on the continent! We had the Churchill room at the hotel which may have led us to believe it was fancy - well perhaps when it was made during the war it might have been, but the door handle coming off and the window frame falling in when we tried to open it suggested maybe not? 

Apparently 1.6M people per week visit the shopping Mecca of Glasgow so we felt it required a visit just to be sure. My favourite sight of Glasgow is pictured below - geek alert!

The absolute highlight was a visit to the Rosslyn Chapel just outside Edinburgh. Built in 1468 this historic chapel was mad famous in the Da Vinci Code - however there really no words to describe the rich and enchanting history. It is A MUST SEE and experience.

We are now back in Edinburgh and off to see the castle, tomorrow we head to Brussels, very exciting.

Our World champs.

Rocket's race lead up was pretty good and relaxed, a little bit of anxiety and nerves but not too much. We popped out to Knightsbridge and into Harrods for probably the best ever red velvet Brownie I've tasted. Traditional race eve dinner of Spag Bol and heaps of yummy bread.

The weather forecast was for rain and thunder yet we were greeted with a fine yet bone chillingly cold morning of 6 degrees. Race organizers sensibly made the choice to shorten the swim to 750m, happy cheers abounded from all of our crew as this suited Rocket, Tam and Lachy.

Everyone had solid swims and managed to give us a smile and a wave on exit (we were glad to see they were still able to move!). We happened to catch Lachy, Tam, Jo, Steph and Fiona on the run to give them all a cheer. Rocket looked great on the bike as he always does and a few other Aussie guys got accidental "go Rocket" cheers before we could see them properly! The Ronnie and I were in good position to call out the bike split on transition entry and I managed a 50m sprint between run exit before I hit the wall - things are looking dicey for that 10k run at Noosa! 

Rocket responded well to our calls to "pick it up" on his run laps and pulled out a PB for the run. It was extremely special to have so many of our family here for this occasion - thank you to G'ma, Rufus, Yetta, Helen, Chris, Amy and Madi. Having you all here meant so much to Rocket and I. 

Team Tanner, The Ronnie and Rockie from Vegas met at the pub for yet another pub lunch and the war stories of the day. Back for showers and bike packing then we headed to ANOTHER pub (the kidlets have never been to so many pubs) to meet Team Richardson. Big hugs for Tam who had an oopsie on the day, and after many Pimms, a pie, game of monopoly and The Ronnie asking her if he should buy her a lap counter for her next race - she was smiling and laughing again. We love you Tam!

On Monday we farewelled Rufus and Yetta back to Laos. We had to cram in the last tourist items on our list which included a visit to the largest toy shop we've ever seen, Hanleys - 5 floors. The Oogster was in heaven and both the girls managed to spend more money! A trip on the top deck of a red double decker, and we treated G'ma to tea and cake at Galvin Demoiselle at Harrods, which was another highlight (we may well be eating baked beans for the rest of our trip!!!)

We bade farewell to the stealth bomber which is being freighted home with one flimsy sticker - Rocket says he thinks we'll be lucky to ever see it again, lets hope so! 

Packing or cramming for teenage girls complete and we are now sitting in the lounge at Kings Cross station waiting for our train to Edinburgh. Lachy is already there and reports back its FREEZING! 

Bye London - til next time, Mind the Gap! 

All Aboard the Hogwarts Express

The girls went absolutely bonkers at Madam Tussaud's - they were like the paparazzi! The highlight for Mad Dog was kissing Niall from 1D (see how I'm down with the lingo) on the cheek and the Oogster loved the Terminator. G'ma had a spot of tea with Audrey and Rufus offered popcorn to the Dalai Lama. 

The Aussie team BBQ was great and we found all our familiar Brissie faces. We had the chance to tell our travel tales and to complain about the British weather (safety in numbers!). 

As we left for the opening ceremony at Traflagar Sq down came the rain and it stayed...... Now known as Triathlon Sq the Aussie team was not to be deterred by the weather. All photos of people looking like us dancing or the now internationally famous "doing the Ronnie" are authentic and we will provide autographs and bookings on our arrival back into BrisVegas. 

Team Tanner ventured to the Tower of London and really enjoyed the day immensely. The kids eyes goggled at all the talk of beheadings.....

The anticipation for the Harry Potter tour was high - and was well worth it. The girls absolutely loved it as they are both big fans. Lots of potions and spells to be had along with "Ooh look at that".

Visiting Harry meant we missed watching The Ronnie in the sprint race. We can report he finished safely and is surely well in the running for the Spirit of Australia triathlon team award for stopping to help an injured athlete - we love you Ronnie! 

We braved Oxford St for shopping - I think it was easier to ride there than to navigate the people! Exhausting and crazy.

We are eating in for a few nights pre-race which has turned out to be lucky as no surprises its raining again! 

Ye Olde London Town

My oh my the weather in London is best described like Melbourne - 4 seasons in one day. And no one like the English to remind you of what you've missed out on, English newsreader "the temp has dropped 10 degrees in one week!"

We started our week with the most fabulous bike tour of the city - 3 hours and we took in a lot more than if we'd walked. Highlights were Westminster, Big Ben, original public bomb shelters during the war (now homes priced at £175m), Hyde park, Buckingham palace, marble arch, trafalgar sq. It was great, cold and it rained!!! Mad dog and the Oogster were the star riders and held the guides wheel all day. They rode in traffic like pro's and cruised alongside the double deckers - very cool. 

Our road trip to Stonehenge was slightly delayed by the hire car company but we soldiered on and all really enjoyed it and Rocket was quite thrilled to find out that ancient surveyors most likely helped guide the placement of the stones. 

Quick detour to Nuggs house built in 1268 for lunch in Salisbury then off to Windsor Castle. A lot more rain (recurring theme?) and what we shall call a running tour of the castle to fit everything in. G'ma loved the castle - so much she (accidentally) tried to take home the audio guide and set off the alarm! 

There are lots if little English quirks - I needed change and the guy gave me back "a cock and two jacks" a ten and two five pound notes. You can charge your hybrid car at Tesco's yet they don't have bins to put out the rubbish for collection - it just goes in plastic bags on the side of the road! 

Yesterday we did the London eye (poor Yetta who is scared of heights!!), Covent Garden, Trafalgar Sq, and Oxford St for shopping. We have added Ronnie to our brood and he and Rocket did race stuff and are getting ready for their Aquathlon this morning. 

The rest of Team Tanner are off to Madam Tussaud's and then we have the Aussie Team BBQ and World Champs opening ceremony.

I need a cup of tea just thinking about how busy it is - Twinings anyone?