Warwick Castle

Just 30 km from Mike and Pat's place in Nuneaton is an amazing castle. William the Conqueror originally established part of the castle here in the 11th century with it being added to over the centuries. The castle is considered one of the best preserved castles in England. It is a little more "theme-parkish" than it was when Sally and I visited it 13 years ago but it was still worth it. The views were amazing and climbing up Guy's tower and walking around the ramparts was a beautiful way to see the scenery. It would be beautiful to walk around the grounds in Summer as it was very pretty but a bit too cold and overcast. We spent about 3 to 4 hours there and then went for a walk around the town of Warwick. 

Here are some pictures of our day:

 

 

 

London

On Monday morning we took the train to London where we were to spend the next few days. It has been a while since either us have been in London and I had forgotten what an amazing place it is.
People were friendly and it was an easy city to wander round as well as catch buses - we tended to get the double deckers and race to the front top seats! The first afternoon we went to Harrods - mistake as it was the first day of the sales. Just walking around the food hall there was enough and reminded me of when I went in there with Mum when I was 13.
We then walked around and in the afternoon went to the Science Museum. Amazingly lots of the museums were free. We thought we would just pop in for a short time and then head to the Natural History but after 3 hours we ended up leaving, mainly because they were closing. Malcolm and I had to split up as there was so much to see and I was a bit impatient as he was reading all about engines and pumps! I headed straight for the Mathematics section and saw a replica of one of Charles Babbage's calculating machines.  There was also many other interesting items.

Memorial to Jewish Children transported to England in WWII

The next day we wandered the streets, saw the Gherkin, the harbour, walked across the Tower Bridge, along the Thames and many other amazing sights. We caught many buses and in the evening went to see "Wicked" which was an amazing production. Just before we went in Malcolm did ask if it was a musical - Whoops I forget to mention that to him :)

British Museum

On Wednesday we headed to the British Museum and mainly saw the Egyptian and Greek exhibits, again free! We visited Fortnum and Masons and went for a walk along the dark green section of Monopoly! (Oxford, Regent and Bond Streets). The sales were on and the streets were packed but they were still beautiful to walk through. In the evening we did a walking tour called "Ghosts, Gaslights and Guinness".

Thursday afternoon we were leaving so in the morning we separated, I went back to Oxford St and Malcolm went to the Victoria and Albert museum and after seeing his photos there I will go next time. We went to the National Portrait Gallery for a few hours and the went to St Martins In the Fields church where there were a classical group rehearsing for that night's performance so we got to listen. A quick race through to see some favourite painting at the National Gallery - did not do this justice! and then off to catch the train.

More photos.

Christmas

This Christmas we decided to go to England and spend it with my brother, Mike.  Pat and Mike put on a great feast and we ate and drank heaps, yet again!

On Boxing Day we went for a walk around the Bosworth Battlefields where the final battle of the War of the Roses was held. We stood at the spot that King Richard III was thought to have been killed during this battle and I got to cry out, from one of my favourite Shakespeare plays,: "A horse, a horse, my Kingdom for a horse". 


Where Richard III died

 

Derby and Coventry

After a short delay in departing Munich, we flew into the East Midand Airport Wednesday night to a Christmas pantomine-like welcome of no boarding steps, a half mile trudge through ice, snow and freezing torrents to the "international" arrivals hall where Malcolm had to dive through the dividing curtains to rescue his bag on the jammed luggage belt system. It was a great relief to finally see my brother Mike there to greet us. We drove back to their place and had a lovely family dinner with Becky, Ben, Pat and Mike. It was great to see them all again. 

Mike loaned us the car whilst he was at work so we got to travel around a bit.  On Thursday we went to Derby to see an Industrial Museum which was set in the  first factory in England that later was used by Rolls Royce.  We walked around the town and went into their beautiful Cathedral.  We then drove back through the backroads through the very pretty English countryside,

 

The next day, Christmas Eve, we headed to Coventry.  We first went to the Jaguar Heritage Museum and after driving around and around to find it, it was closed.  We then visited the canal basin which was frozen over and then walked into Coventry.  Everyone was bustling around getting ready for Christmas.  We headed for the Art Gallery and museum where we got to see a fantastic exhibition on the history of Coventry.  Then lunch in an English pub and we continued our walk around until it was just too cold to walk any more. Tonight it is going to get down to -18.

Canal Basin

Christmas Markets

Leading up to Christmas here it is very easy to stay inside warm rather than venture out to the cold and dark.  Outside is very pretty with snow everywhere but the minus 5 degrees makes it challenging.  But one thing beckons - the Christmas Markets.  Friday when school finished we caught the train into Munich and had some gluhwein and a walk around.  Deb and I looked at the different stalls full of Christmas decorations and Malcolm when up the tower of the town hall to get a better view over the markets. After wandering around these for a little while we headed to the Medieval Markets where you can buy all your bows, arrows, crystals, armour and so on.  The thing we like best about these markets is that they are in a nice square and the food!  Lots of woodfired ovens and we had some great hot smoked food there as well as a little more gluhwein.

 

 

More Photos

Our Local Gasthaus

We have been to many Gasthaus over the last year and half, some touristy and some small town ones. We have come to realise that one of the best ones is our local which is 300 metres down the road.  Any night of the week it is busy and the food is always great.  Unfortunately it does serve the one local beer that we do not like but they thankfully have nice white wine and one of my new favourites, Aperol Spritz. Their food is also great especially their roast pork, one of the best and cheapest we have had, and the schweinhaxen (pork knuckle).  Each Wednesday night a group of us go for dinner nearby as it is the middle of the week and we have meetings each Wednesday after school - any excuse. At the moment it is decorated throughout and out the front, where you can sit in summer, they have a Gluhwein Stand.

Winter

  

Winter is definitely here.  Whilst on the phone to Louise, I started to describe how cold it was and the snow and she told me about the warmth and sun in Perth.  It is very pretty and although very cold the novelty of snow has not worn off.  The photos are taken from our bedroom window.

 

Aberdeen

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity recently to go to a maths conference in Aberdeen.  No MYP, no IB, no new courses of study, just good fun teaching maths.  Most were technology based and mostly it was, for me, a chance to relearn and have a chance to use different computer programs.  The conference was fantastic as it reminded me of the joy of mathematics and why I love this subject. It was great not to have to think of assessments and rubrics! There were about 80 maths teachers there and it was great opportunity make new friends.  On the first night we had a wine tasting and the conference dinner where I got to try haggis (chicken stuffed with haggis so not too much!!)
Aberdeen made it even easier to make friends there as we got stranded!!!

The School

Cocktail Lounge

 Due to the unprecedented snowfall, our flights home Sunday were cancelled.  There we were sitting in the hotel lounge saying our goodbyes and suddenly someone announced that some flights were cancelled.  Everyone raced to the phones and rebooked for Monday.  So we got to go to the local pub for dinner.  Monday morning some people went into Aberdeen town, were there is not too much to see, then Monday lunch as we waited around to leave we rang the airline - flights cancelled again :(  This was now too much.  Went into Aberdeen for dinner. Had a drink at a cocktail lounge that was set in an old church, still had all its features inside including the stain glass windows. Then off to Mexican. 

Tuesday morning we finally got to leave. I had a mad dash across Amsterdam airport to catch a connecting flight to Munich and finally got home late Tuesday afternoon.

Malta

View from one of my hotel room's balconies

Having been to a number of maths conferences over the years I would have to say this one tops the list for location.  It was a 2 hour flight south of Munich from the very cold to sunny Malta.  The hotel we I stayed in was overlooking the beach and my room was a suite!  It had 3 balconies and it was great to hear the waves, smell the sea and wake up with this view especially after living in land-locked Munich for the last year and a half.  The great thing was that when I arrived I met another maths teacher (Lisa) at the airport who was from the other international school here in Munich, so it was great to meet and talk to her. 

The hotel was on the opposite side of the island to any of the main towns but they put on a bus to St Julian's so we went there for a great Mediterranean dinner.  On the Saturday night Scott (another maths teacher), Lisa and myself shared a cab to Mdina, a medieval walled town which many years ago was the capital.  It was beautiful in the dark and I want to take Malcolm there and see it in daylight. 

On the Sunday a group of 8 of us hired a mini van and went to the capital Valletta.  As our day finished early we had a chance to walk around in the light.

 

 Malta is a beautiful place and I look forward to going back, hiring a car and exploring more than just a the end of each conference day.  It was very hard to get on the plane back to the cold...

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Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

After a very long term we finally reached the one week off.  A few months ago Ingrid booked flights to Copenhagen so off we went.  A few weeks after we had booked we caught up with our good friend BD and she was telling us about the World Trade Fair she was off to see in Shanghai and was excited to tell us that "even Denmark are sending The Little Mermaid there".  Needless to say I was not impressed.  She has been in the same place for 97 years and for the first time is absent and back a couple of weeks after our trip!  That's ok - plenty more to see!!  Well Tivoli Garden was closed and even the Tourist office was closed.  This was getting a bit much so we decided to rename it Close-enhagen.  As it was further north it also got dark earlier (around 4pm).  We did get to see the spot where the Little Mermaid usually is (they had a video link to her in Shanghai) and to walk around the ramparts of the Kastellet (fortress).

On the second day, not to be deterred we got up and being a weekday the city had much more of a buzz to it.  We went on a fantastic harbour cruise and got to learn a lot more about the city.  We went to Crown Princess Mary's city palace in the full knowledge that as a fellow Aussie she would make us welcome but she was not home.

   

We wandered through the city, stopping in beautiful furniture shops to see the renowned Danish design, as well as having traditional Danish smørrebrød (open sandwiches with great toppings).  We also went to Christianhavn and had a quick visit to Christiana which was a hippy/squatter's enclave set up in the 1970s.  We did not spend much time there as the smells and ambiance were not really our thing!  But we did get to visit "The Black Diamond" which is a modern extension to the old library which was a fantastic design inside and out.

The next day we visited Jen Olsen's astronomical clock, the town hall, the beautiful Danish Design Centre (much better than the Danish Design museum, which we also saw), Rosenborg Castle and the Round tower.

We did see lots of statues and references to Hans Christian Andersen as he lived most of his adult life here.
On the last day we took a bus out to Frederiksberg Castle and grounds.  This was beautiful and it was a shame we only had a short time to see this before our flight as it was a beautiful area to walk around.  The colours of Autumn were very beautiful.

For more photos click here.