A perfect day for Kite Flying

A windy autumn day. A trip to the Ruhrpott to meet my wonderful friends and let our children get to know each other. A kite. A field between two rivers. A kite that may lift you up in the strong wind and whish above your head. A kite that crashes into a tree and has to be freed by a brave 10 year old supergirl. More tree climbing. Homebaked cake to finish off an a day full of adventure. 

Couldn't help but wonder if today will be one of those days that will be referred to as "I remember when I was a little girl, when we flew the kite in Schwerte..."

Bottom picture by Cubling.

Flying high, in the sky

The last session of the course I treated myself to on all things carbon footprintish and greener living was a real eye opener. Now, to some degree I knew that I'm doing ok on the food front, ok on the recycling front, and I don't waste energy if I can avoid it (though there's still a lot of space for improvement in all of these areas). And I know that the biggest area of fail is that of transport.

It's only logical, as an expat. You travel home to see your family, your friends. Flying is convenient and if not as cheap as it used to, it still is cheaper than any other way of travelling. I knew that flying isn't exactly great for my carbon footprint, but hey ho, I did reduce it to only 2 European return flights this year, which, considering how I love travelling, is a major improvement.

Until I had to face the fact what those 2 short return flights mean for my carbon footprint. Gulp. I really didn't think flying was that bad for this planet of ours. I mean, I knew it was bad. But that bad? I thought it would compare to my car journeys, but really, no. All my thoughts went into how I could live without a car, when really my greatest sin are those four 75 minute flights.

It's really quite unspeakable how bad flying is. One return flight equals our carbon footprint for all things home - ie. in under 3 hours I damage the planet more than I do in a whole year by using household appliances AND heating/cooking. It is clear, the way to a greener world, in my case, and I'm sure I'm quite normal in that respect, is by saying goodbye to air travel.

That isn't easy. I'm certainly not pledging anything like it just now, I'm a realist. Although it helps that I actually hate flying anyway and when we got stuck due to some Icelandic volcano errupting and took the ferry back, it was actually quite a pleasant journey (admittedly helped by having "taxi" services on either side). Yes, I can see us using car and ferry to travel to Europe.

But what about business travel? If you are someone who flies for business, and you think hard and truthful about those journeys, are they really necessary? Are they really so necessary as to justify damaging the planet to the extent they actually do? On the eve of the end of my maternity I'm sure that for every suggested business trip I will advocate the use of alternatives. Luckily we have a fab train line to London, and Manchester, where most of my trips will be to.

In the grand scheme of things, the one area where we can all make a humongous difference towards reducing our carbon footprint is air travel. More than any insulating of homes, switching off of lights can ever achieve. It's an opportunity, even though it'll mean less travel (which I'm the first to admit is a bit of a shame).

And off we go

The bags are packed (I think).
Tomorrow morning, I'll go on an epic journey to my place of birth.
With 2 kids, one buggy, one car seat and two large bags that somehow pass as handluggage.
To take a taxi, a train, get a lift, catch a plane and get another lift at the other side (though Snowflake may impose her will to not travel by car in the dark yet again).

Without Mr Cartside.

I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage. I guess I've got a mouth to ask for help, that should come in handy.

I can also foresee a tantrum by Cubling because I've removed the items she sneakily keeps putting into the case. She won't be happy, but I'm simply not going to take a box of a magnetic fairy dressing up game. There are limits. She may though wear the flowery girly skirt that her auntie got her for her birthday even though it's not exactly perfect travel attire.

And off we go...

The big freeze or I love snow

So we had some more snow. And once again, the media is full of it. It's rather surreal, I mean, in how many ways can you say that some snow has fallen and discuss the repercussions of the falling of snow?

Enter the British obsession with blaming the "authorities" with incompetence. Heads are rolling in Scotland, made into snowmen I'm sure.

Can we get some facts right?

Firstly, if a considerable amount of snow falls anywhere, it will disrupt transport and it is never a good idea to just ignore it and go about your business as if no snow had fallen. It should be obvious that non-essential journeys (and commuting to work is one of them, as is visiting your auntie as nice as she may be) should not be undertaken.

Secondly, if a considerable amount of snow falls in an area where this is unusual, it is normal that it takes a little while to deal with it. This is not a sign of incompetence. It's logical and thus to be expected. Stay at home if you can. Be patient. Relax. Have a cuppa tea.

Thirdly, if a considerable amount of snow falls in an area where this is unusual you have to wait until the snowfall stops before any action by "the authorities" can be undertaken. Nobody can make snow disappear magically from the roads.Honestly.

Fourthly, all of this applies to any such area. I'm sick of hearing that "Europe" deals with snowfall so much better. Europe doesn't deal with it better. If we have such snowfall in the Rhineland, it causes exactly the same travel chaos. If such snowfall happens in the Alps, where it is normal, and people have snow tyres etc, it's a different story.

Fifthly, the authorities aren't the be all and end all. How about clearing your own bit of pavement/driveway/car top first before you go all mad at "the authorities"?

Sixthly, it is stupid and utterly selfish to panic buy bread. And I know how to bake bread so you can't phase me.

Seventhly, ever thought how stupidly dependant we are on transport? Couldn't this whole snow business be an opportunity to reassess if we really need to commute to work or if there are other ways of doing business? What is an essential journey, and how could we get rid of non essential one not just for the snow, but, like, for good? Oh I'm such a dreamer.

Eighthly, a bit of snow should not be a reason to stop all outdoor play at nursery. Cubling told me that the nursery staff said it's too icy. Too icy me arse. It's perfectly fine and fun. Risk aversion taken more than one step too far, deprivation from some fun snow games more like. A playground only touched by bird footprints. Argh, such a shame.

Ninethly, oh I don't know. Your turn.

Tenthly, I love the snow. Bring it on.

Munich for kids

One thing we didn't compromise on our short holiday to Munich was that we wanted to make it a child friendly visit to a big city. Basically, I've had enough of dragging an uncooperative toddler through cities and places within cities that she really didn't want to be. It's stressful for everyone involved. We were keen not to let this happen and to make it a holiday that worked for us all, that was relaxing as well as varied.

And luckily, Munich was game for it. I guess it does help that Munich is a well to do city, a green city and has rather helpful and friendly people in it. Coupled with lots of green spaces and a fabulous public transport system that surprised even someone used to good integrated public transport (in Cologne, not Glasgow, just to be clear), we were winning.

So if you ever fancy a city break with toddlers, Munich is a good choice. Here's what we enjoyed:

1. Olympiapark
A massive park built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Great for walking, picnics, with swing parks and a small beer garden, a little train with a guided tour, ponds, ducks, and good views of the city. You can also go up the Olympia Tower (which is a no no for me as me and heights don't talk) and visit a Sea Life Centre

2. Taxisstrasse Beer Garten
It's a big beer garden with traditional food - but you can also bring your own food. It comes with a play park and is popular with families. Cubling instantly made new friends.

3. Botanical Gardens
We visited them in the pouring rain and were rather thankful for the huge glass house and cafe. The glass house has different rooms for the flora of different countries, even a prehistoric dinosaur room (which was a bit problematic because Cubling thought there were dinosaurs behind the ferns and was rather reluctant to go in). I'm sure the actual gardens are great too, lots of space to walk and beautifully landscaped. The Botanical Gardens are connected to the Nymphenburg Palace and its gardens; where you can find:

4. Museum fuer Mensch und Natur (natural history museum)
A delightful museum about the world, nature and mankind. Cubling particularly enjoyed the quizzes upstairs where you can categorise animals etc (which really is aimed at children who can read and know a lot more, I struggled with some of the quizzes) - as long as there's buttons to press, she's happy. There's something for everyone in this museum, from geological information to dinosaur sceletons, it's all there. And once you're done, you can explore the palace or its gardens (we let Cubling nap after all the museum excitement and enjoyed reading a book in the gardens).

5. A stroll through the shopping precinct and Virtualienmarkt
The great thing about Munich is that its main streets are rather boulevards. They are wide, lined with trees, and in the shopping precinct, they are pedestrianised. So even the city centre doesn't become claustrophobic. There are endless fountains, so our progress was slow as every fountain had to be explored. We visited the Frauenkirche and a fabulous old fashioned toy shop just next to it (note: don't take toddlers in there, it's hard work to keep their quick hands off the toys), before we explored the Virtualienmarkt - a market mainly for food.

6. Englischer Garten and Chinese Tower Beer Garden
The Englischer Garten is apparently the biggest city park in the world. It's definitely big and we only explored part of it. It's beautifully landscaped along a little river, with play parks, lots of fowl, and - can you guess - a beer garden at the Chinese Tower, where you can refresh your batteries after your stroll through the park.

7. Fountains and more fountains, particularly the one at Hohenzollernplatz
There are countless fountains in Munich, but the one Cubling enjoyed best must be the one at Hohenzollernplatz. It's not a location you necessarily have to see, it's just that the fountain is perfect for little people. They can walk on/in it, and have hours of fun.

8. Best Western Apart Hotel
I don't want to advertise a specific hotel, but I have to say we were very pleased with our choice. The hotel is just a tram journey from the centre, next to the Olympiapark and with easy access to the Nymphenburg Palace. The service and breakfast are faultless. Above all, because it's an Apart Hotel, the rooms have a kitchenette/hall area which is separate from the bedroom. This meant that once Cubling was sound asleep, we had a space where we could sit without disturbing her. Also the room was spacious and simply comfortable, just perfect for what we were looking for.

We travelled with Ryanair to Memmingen airport which worked really well. There is a shuttle bus connecting to Munich and the trip was really easy, considering the distance. Direct flight from Scotland to Memmingen, bus trip and  - well, nothing. There. Arrived. A rather stress free trip.

Of course there's probably lots of other stuff that can be done in Munich, but I think we made pretty good choices (with little information, we didn't even bring a guide book) which kept us busy for 6 days and made it possible to combine a bit of sightseeing with meeting up with friends. We took it easy, so you could probably fit in more.

One thing I would warn about though is that restaurants are not necessarily as child friendly/acceptant of toddler behaviour as you might be used to from the UK. We had one rather unpleasant experience where we got the stare and some comments on our parenting style, but in the beer gardens all was very easy going and in general people were very helpful towards us as a family.

Munich calling

Two spirits, love and hate. I'm misquoting. Yet it's how I feel about travelling this day. I'm getting old or something like that, I mean surely something must be wrong with me. After all I'm the one who caught a serious travel bug aged 15 and couldn't let go, spent all her hard earned pennies laboured away in the dumbest of after school and holiday jobs just to be able to travel and explore the world. Only to declare in tears to hubby and Cubling today that I never ever want to travel again.

I guess it's understandable that I'm a bit on edge about this whole travel business. It once was fun when flights were cheap, you slept on someone's floor (and yes, I've slept on floors of people I didn' t even know) and it was all one big adventure. Nowadays it's an undertaking plus this year I've been caught out with cancelled flights twice. I'm scared of flying and feel that I fly far too often. I long for a week just at some Scottish loch taking it easy and enjoying the Scottish sunshine that can never be too hot.

Maybe it's because all my travel led me to Scotland, and as far as a holiday destination is concerned, it's got all I ever wanted. Maybe I'm just getting set in my ways and don't like the upheaval of travel anymore which was exciting once, and now with a toddler becomes a pain in the bum.
And I guess it doesn't help if you almost miss a flight first thing in the morning, after having been oh so organised.

We did get our flight though. We're in Munich. It's sunny and hot, and there's processions of people on roller blades, bicycle parks of unseen expanse, beer gardens the size of villages and after all the stress of the morning, I have to say that I'm rather taken with the amazing friendliness and helpfulness of the people. Above all, I'll be able to catch up with some very good friends over the next few days, friends whom I haven't seen in far too long because our lives no longer intersect an awful lot geographically. There is a bit of a time warp in Munich this week, with friends now based in Mexico, Cologne, Glasgow and of course Munich coming together. And never having been to Munich before, this was definitely a good enough excuse to explore the Bavarian capital.

I'm so excited to see everyone. I know the time will fly and be too short. But it'll be all worth it. And that's why I was in tears this morning, the panic of seeing it all slip by because of my own stupidity of not getting my directions right and getting stuck in Edinburgh rush hour traffic. All that effort, all that excitement to see some of my best friends only 10 minutes from evaporating into thin air. Gladly, I have a husband whose nerves are of much stronger built than mine.

So hello Munich, glad we made it.

Some moments from our trip

One of the striking differences between Germany and Scotland was that spring had sprung already. Cubling's excitement about this was rather huge.

Nothing beats the garden of older girls who very soon became her new friends - no question she can climb as high, even on tiptoes.

No trip to Germany is complete without a trip to Cologne Zoo...

...and a chocolate ice cream

Cubling loves to hug and so do I - and she loves to hug my bump

A long journey back home thanks to volcanic ash, but the sunset alone made up for it:

And finally, home sweet home (how amazing is that to be sailing underneath the Forth Road Bridge???):

Life without aeroplanes

I really appreciated the comments after my outburst (you didn't get the real thing, just the edited blog version...). Apologies for not responding individually, but the internet connection is still very iffy and takes hours for any activity. I'm still rebooking flights in the hope that the European airspace will be reopened, but to be honest, I don't think that will happen any time soon. So to be safe, we're booked on the next available ferry, which is on Wednesday, getting us home for Thursday. At least a ferry means we can sleep rather than having a non-stop journey on an overcrowded train. It's still a journey I'm not looking forward too, imposing a 600 km round trip to the ferry port on my dad, and a worrysome 20 hour ferry journey with a toddler who does have a habbit of running off (fast and suddenly). It's also costing a lot of money which is rather enfuriating after already paying for a very expensive flight to get here.

At the same time I keep booking onto the scheduled flights home in the hope that the airspace may magically open up again. I don't have much hope of that but it would get me home with much less hassle and above all much earlier. Not without less worry though, I'm still not sure if I worry more about losing Cubling on the ferry or crashing due to volcanic ash aeroplane malfunction.

Cubling on the other hand, keeps telling me "Don't worry Mummy". If only I could stop worrying.

Here's the positives:
- Spring has arrived in Germany, with 20 Celsius, sunshine, ice cream and all that.
- Cubling's German is really coming on
- Having more time to spend with my dad (although I have a feeling he's had enough of spending time with us)
- Knowing that I will be home on Thursday at the very latest.
- Having some time to read a book and knit baby stuff (though why did I bring a pattern with page two missing?????)

The negatives:
- Not having a proper computer to feed my habit or at least catch up on some work
- Being in a toy free flat and having to constantly tell Cubling off that Opa's stuff isn't for playing and that he likes it tidy
- Cubling missing her dad (and me too)
- My hayfever (which always comes on much earlier in Germany)
- Feeling that I'm letting down work yet again and the pressure I'll put on myself to make up for it when I get back

It does bring home how much we depend on airtravel and take it for granted. Imagine a life without it. There may not be much imagining to do, I wouldn't be suprised if this will last for a good while yet. Our next flight (and last for a long while) is booked for May, will it happen?

Groundhog day: Stranded again

The volcanos are after me again. Only earlier this year we were stranded in Lanzarote, the volcanic island, due to snow in the UK. Now it's volcanic ash from an Icelandic volcano that has closed down every single airport in Germany. Our flight home has been cancelled and I have no idea when we will be able to travel.

It seems that my ingenious idea for alternative travel, to take the ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle or Rosyth, has been had before and the route is as booked up as the Eurostar (not that I would consider a 12 hour train journey with my rather impatient girl while also 20 weeks pregnant).

I'm hard pushed to see the positives because once again I feel the work pressure on me, the rather large list of urgent to do's waiting for me, my annual leave yet again sifting through my hands like sand. The embarrassment of having to tell my boss that once again my flight has been cancelled and really I'm not making this up. Above all the fear not to manage a very exciting time at work due to lack of time, in my already inflexible work input imposed by childcare hours available and antenatal appointments to be attended. I can't even fricking check my work email or calendar due to this impossible computer I'm on.

And then there's that 20 week scan appointment on Monday morning. It took 3 pregnancies for it to be introduced in Glasgow and now I'll miss it, and judging by the letter that came with it, if you miss your appointment, there's no guarantee it can be rescheduled. And yes, I'm in mad mummy mode, I want to see my baby, ferociously.

Cubling on the other hand loves watching the images of the volcano. Not sure how she'll react if I have to tell her tomorrow that the ferry is fully booked and can't take us, as she was rather looking forward to going on a ship (as long as it wouldn't take her to that scary man made of rock that she saw about a year ago, when we took a small ferry to the island of Cumbrae - oh my does she have a memory!). Tonight on the phone to daddy she told him how she would see him tomorrow, how she was coming home to see him, because she loved him. So much excitement, and I so wish for her that we can still get onto that ferry.

If that fails I'll be stranded for a good few days more. I know there's worse things (like having your house close to the volcano), I know it can all be sorted, the world won't go under and that I'm in good company with even heads of states and even royalty affected as much as I am.  I know I'm making a big fuss and others have much more pressing engagements they now can't attend to. Still, I've had my share and feel rather reluctant about any kind of travel in the future (and of course we do have another trip planned which I now almost wish we hadn't booked, with my luck this year it's not a good omen...).

So here's me, control freak, once again having her steering wheel taken out of her hands. I no like it, as Cubling would say. Can I throw a tantrum please?