England and Germany

After Italy it was time to go to the Isle of Wight for Hannah's first trip camping. The weather generally held up and we did some good cycling, a bit of walking, and quite a lot of relaxing. Campsites are great places for kids that just want to be outdoors running around. Ours had an outdoor heated swimming pool as well as playground and games room. The Isle of Wight is really geared up for tourists, and families, with some great local attractions (such as a wonderful model village), good beaches, and incredibly family friendly pubs. We enjoyed the fresh air and scenery and came back nice and tanned!

After a nice evening celebrating my sister's engagement, Hannah and I hit the airport to go to Germany. Missing our flight due to traffic and ar*eholes at Luton Airport security (tip: always go for the line with the older staff, not the younger staff) meant we came back again the next day to finally get to Germany. There we spent time with the in-laws but mostly with the dog and sheep, whom Hannah seems to care the most about. Though when it comes down to choosing when we went to a large farm, it was still the local dog that won over more than the cows, pigs, rabbits, or even the horses.

We rode on a horse and cart, visited the local Castle (very briefly as everything was only in German), went to the zoo with another child (the guinea pigs were popular, but still I think Hannah enjoyed the playground, the little amusement rides and her friend more than the animals), and went to one of the many beaches nearby (on the edge of lakes). It was a very nice time, with generally good weather and plenty of traditional German food (we ate a lot of sausages, bread and potatoes).

Next up was a weekend far up in the North of England for a wedding - great to see old university friends again as well as hit the dancefloor. Driving 450 miles through England is a good reminder of how empty and green much of England is - and how beautiful its rolling hills are. Indeed Clitheroe, where the party was, is a nice little town, and one that really comes alive in the evenings. And after a second engagement party for my sister (different participants), a last minute trip to London to see some other friends it was time to fly home.

Almost a month away from Andrea went very fast, and Hannah managed well. Hannah's spoken English came on leaps and bounds, more than my German did that's for sure. It's good to be kept busy, and its wonderful to spend time with family. Hopefully it won't be too long till we're back again, though as a slightly bigger family! In the meantime I'll remember with fondness the ales, cream teas, steak and kidney pies, deserts and playgrounds as well as the laughs and tantrums. Arriving back in Beijing to Andrea and beautiful blue skies and 30 degree weather has helped smooth my arrival and yet again its back to the other life...

Living it up in Italy

After a weekend in the UK I spent a week in Italy with my mum, sister, her fiancee and Hannah. We spent a week around Lake Garda and Verona. We first based ourselves up in the mountain close to the lake in a group of small villages known as Tremisone. Pretty high up in the mountains, we had amazing views and fantastic car journeys up and around the mountain roads that cut through cliffs and required driving in 2nd gear most of the time. The Hotel (Panorama) was not easy to find but was great value with a nice pool, breakfasts and staff.

The first day we went to Limone, a very pretty village on the lake with an interesting lemon museum/plantation. On the second day we did the West side of the lake visiting Tignale (also high up in the mountains with spectaculr views), the beach at Gargnano, an olive manufacturer (the olive oil was so good you could almost drink it straight up and some of the flavors were incredible), a wine tasting, and Salo (for dinner - it has a nice promenade as well as pretty buildings). Day three was a boat trip across to Malcesine, another sublimely pretty town with a wonderful castle (where we witnessed a british couple getting married on the castle rooftop) and more nice shops. Day four was a trip to Arco, which seems to be the capital of the area for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, canyoning, climbing and all sorts. It has a pretty centre near the church but also a fantastic castle in the hills. Unlike the one in Malcesine which was all in one piece and very touristy (with some nice exhibitions), this one was really in ruins, but all the more spectacular. It also had a great little green in front of it with a bar! Then we finished the day on the beach at Riva Del Garda, of course getting dinner too.

On day five we went down to the south side of the island spending some time in Desenzano and Sirmione. Desenzano was similar to many of the old towns: very pretty with nice shops and riverfronts. Sirmione was a little more special, tucked into a tiny space jutting out into the lake and without barely any space to move due to a real overload of tourists, but it did have the most amazing ice cream ever. The afternoon finished with a few hours at a water park. I can`t recall the last time i went to a water park, i guess it must have been 15 to 20 years ago, but at this one, Beth, Josh and I went full out on all the rides, with a few really spectacular one. Indeed the one that has a sheer drop begns with you getting into a glass elevator at the top of the stairs and then the bottom falls out, leavng you in free-fall down onto the slide. Scary stuff. Awesome stuff. The neighboring other ride with two people in a double ring was a tiny bit less scary and more fun, with a sharp drop and then a jump! A very well spent few hours. Hannah even woke up from her afternoon nap in time to spend an hour playing at the beach there and going on the kid slides.

Finally we made it to Verona to stay 3 doors down from the arena and spend a day and a half walking around doing the usual Italian city stuff: churches, piazas, shopping, eating. Verona of course has the Romeo and Juliet balcony. It also has a much-less visited Roman amphitheatre which is very cool, and a fantastic garden. Probably the first Renaisance garden i have been to in Italy, insted of seeing Renaissance style gardens in other country homes and the like around the world! Deciding we were bored of churches and art (apologies, but none of us really that big on art and we`ve done Florence, Rome, Paris, London etc) we then dashed back to the lake (Peschiera) for some more beach time before flying back to the UK. An excellent week!

We certainly gourged ourselves silly on pizza, pasta and ice cream non-stop. And it was all incredible, especially ofte sitting outside with great views of this stunning lake or wonderful piazas. We managed a slightly grumpy 2 year old quite well, trying to fit around her afternoon nap time and trying to make her excited to visit churches, walk around streets, and explore churches. We didn`t always succeed but on the whole she was good and quickly adapted to the late night culture! Let`s just say that Hannah needs fun, not art, pretty buildings or walking. Though she loved the playgrounds and beaches too.

We unexpectedly came across a little piece of Germany in Italy in that more than 70% of the tourists to Lake Garda seem to be German and most restaurants have even adapted their menus accordingly (particularly offering boiled potatotes with everything) and even the ice cream shops were flogging German-style sundaes as much as they were traditional gelato. Most of the staff we encountered spoke german and most of the cars we saw on the road were german (if they weren`t italian). My first airbnb experience was excellent, hiring a 2-bedroom flat in dontown Verona for 2 nights. The lady who owned the place was so helpful and the place was great. And lastly I really had fun driving the mountain roads in daylight and night. Oh, and did I mention how good the food and ice cream was? Let`s just say a little girl had a lot of little treats!