Busy busy

It has been a very busy few weeks.  We got back into the swing of normal life with kindergarten and Little Ducklings for Alex and then Oktoberfest starts.  Katie had been going on about Oktoberfest since September the first.  The girl knows how to live!  We haven't had many visitors over the years for Oktoberfest.  Well not as many as we could have but this year we were full and the funny thing was, was that none of them came specifically for Oktoberfest! 

First of all we had Jon and Rachel for a week. We went to family day at Oktoberfest on Tuesday and met up with Catherine and so Katie had Millie to get excited with and Alex loves Thomas.  The weather was great but it was so busy,  busier than usual I'm sure. A fun day was had by all but usual getting home took forever as for some reason there were three cancelled s-bahns in a row.  Always a nightmare travelling when the Oktoberfest is on. 

We also went down to Scheffau and took the Gondola up to the top where there is a fun play area.  Had lunch up there and then went up the funicular train at Ellmau.  A fun day was had by all.

On the fun swing thing

And the go-karts

On a ride with Millie at Oktoberfest

How excited?

fun

Katie on the Rund um Tegernsee - a very fast ride for a small lion

A heart is a must

And this was quickly scoffed when the rascal woke up!

And a very expensive bit of helium

Then after Jon, Rachel and Jake left we had a couple of days to clean the house for Helen, Emily and Rosie to visit.  They were here for a week and we had a lovely time.  We got it all sorted so we could all go out on bikes.  Rosie and Emily in the Chariot, Alex on a bike seat and Katie on her bike but with the trail gator for the way home!  (on an aside, now Katie is on a bigger bike, it fit better on the trail gator with the brake still in place.  I made Matt put the brake back on her small bike as she was losing confidence.  Well you would wouldn't you with only a back pedal brake . . . ) 

I digressed . . . .

We also went to Oktoberfest and had another fun time but also a long time getting home - this time on the u-bahn but he s-bahn was fine! Very exhausting. We cycled to the beer garden to several playgrounds and also went swimming on a wet Sunday morning.  We had a good time.  Since they went home on Tuesday we have been having a relaxing time.  Katie has been shattered with all the visitors and so we have have had a quiet rest of the week and Alex has caught the cough from Helen and Rosie. Oh well. 

On the return from cycling to the Pirate Ship playground.  Two out of four asleep.

At the end of a fun day. Katie has a corn on the cob in case anyone was wondering!

And now autumn has truly set in and we have had a lovely housey weekend doing outside clearing up jobs.  It was nice weather and this morning we went for a nice stroll across the fields over the road to the woods.  A small cat followed us the whole way.  Nicer than our cats . . .

Playing in the leaves today with neighbours Anna and Max

Talking of cats . . . . .

This is the new cat house for outside.  It's massive!  As the weather is getting colder I was thinking that we ought to get a house for Jess as the basket is not going to be warm enough soon. I was prepared to buy one but once Matt saw the one I fancied, he was horrified enough to make one himself.  I think he was getting Lack of DIY Syndrome, so for an awful of more money in the end and a lot of time, he made this house.  Oh and a Jigsaw and new electric screwdriver too.  I think we could have made it 10cm small each way as it could house a huge family of cats but it is insulated and the door doesn't just go straight in, there is a corridor and another door at the end to get into the main house.  I put some hay in it and stripped the heads of all the screws trying to unscrew the lid . . .  And does she go in it?  No! Well not yet anyway. Tomorrow the forecast is wet and cold so maybe.  I have put her in it and she ran out through the door which is better than jumping over the top. I put her food in it today too.  Hope she does use it if she won't come inside.  Would make a nice hedgehog house if not!

Prague

A couple of weekends ago we popped up to Prague to visit Lolov and Basia and baby Olivia.  Well we didn't just pop, we took a long roundabout way as in avoiding one major lot of traffic we stumbled into another and then had to do a major diversion due to other roadworks.  Took a bit longer than we imagined but not too bad.

Lolov has worked with Matt since we came to Munich in September 2000 (that was 12 years ago! Heck!) and since then he married the lovely Basia who is Polish but not as mad as Magda who is also Polish.  Magda and Nigel were planning on a big cycle trip to Prague and meet us there.  Unfortunately Magda had a huge accident on her bike the week before and was knocked out receiving 14 stitches in her head.  That's what sunglasses do to you.

Anyway, I digress.   The last time Matt and I were in Prague was for our first wedding anniversary and in November it is much quieter than the beginning of September.  This time we took the metro to the centre and fairly marched through the square avoiding all the tourists and the set up for the Prague Marathon.  Actually the whole of the main city was busy.  Not really a great thing with children, or me really.  We had a bite of lunch by the river and took a boat trip which is quite nice.  Then we pushed through the masses on the Charles Bridge and dropped Matt and the children off at the playground while Nigel, Magda and I climbed up to the castle.  A bit of a mad day but very nice and the children were great.

Sunday we went to a quieter nice park area for a stroll and lunch with some former work colleagues of Matt's who I knew.  It was all very pleasant and then we came home.  A quick trip!

Lolov and Basia's

Walking by the river. Alex loves Nigel!

Boat trip

Waving to the boats that have already gone passed!

Playing

Back to Civilized Sleeping Arrangments

myWe had made an arrangement to visit Kate, Andre, Thomas and Max van Schuijlenburg in Ljubljana from Thursday afternoon until the Sunday.  Actually Kate was the reason we went to Slovenia in the first place.  We met them in St Petersburg and then they went to Romania and now they are in Slovenia.  I immediately thought that that was a good opportunity to visit so proceeded with holiday plans.

Anyhow, we had one night to kill and wanted to move on but didn't want to camp for one night as it is too much faff with children. Too much faff anyway really.  Kate had suggested going to Velika Planina which is an alpine pasture with traditional herdsmens settlement.  We arrived in Kamnik, the nearest town and very pretty and as it was so hot we decided to head straight up the mountain that afternoon to escape the heat.   A steep cable car ride and then a chair lift took us to the top and it was absolutely lovely. Of course we didn't actually get to walk to the settlement itself as it was a 15 minute waslk which could have been a long time with smallies and we were just appreciating the slightly cooler air.  Katie was particularly enjoying climbing on the rocks and exploring.  We didn't have a lot of energy and just played at the top but it looked a great place for exploring on foot or bike.

On the chairlift

Looking out at the view

Playing with rocks.

Velika Plania herdmans huts.

Eventually we came down and went to find somewhere to stay which was a jolly nice hotel in Kamnik.  We had a set meal and then went to bed nice and early - no change from camping then!  But very comfy alhtough the a/c was stuggling.


Good job we weren't camping as we would have had to race to get packed up before a big storm came over the next morning.  The teperature dropped a little which was pleasent and we were pleased we had gone up the mountian the previous day.  So my idea of a stroll round Kamnik and coffee in the mornign before heading down to the van Schuijlenburg's was not to be due to pants weather so we went to Atlantis Water Park.  As we were in the land of dragins we didn't really know where we were going and only had the address from Lonely Planet and our 1:300,000 map.  Amazingly we did find it without too much problem and paid for a 4 hour stint in the kids Adventure World part which was absolutely fab.  We had lunch there too but on the last whizz down the big slide with Alex I went and slipped sideways tight at the bottom and I blimmin clouted my head on the side and felt my brains shake somewhat.  Felt awful all afternoon like I'd been drinking at lunchtime. . .


Anyhow, when we came out, the wether had cleared and it was hot as hoot again. Found Kate and Andre's house and Katie had a lovely time playing with Thomas and Max the big boys while I had a lie down.

Next day we did Ljubljana.  We are not city people but Ljubljana is great as it is so small it can be donw in a day if you want!  Perfect in 36°C. We hit it early, strolled about,went up the funicular to the castle,  went on a boat, saw two otters and then had lunch by which time I was beginning to melt so we then escped to the city forest and the playground under the trees.

First thing inthe city

the lock bridge

My two new favourite people

otter spotting

Add caption funny hanging shoes

Next day, the zoo. What a cute little zoo inthe trees so lots of shade.  Big cats and chimps not in nice areas but the rest was ok and the playground was fab.  Ncie elephant. In the afternoon we went to a gorge and had a lovely play in the water. The drive there was nice too and we saw more countryside just south of the city.  Then went for dinner afterwards at a lovely gostilna where Kate and I shared a very expensive but freshly caught by diving John Dory fish. We misunderstood the price but it was worth it!

focus went on manual which is a shame as this was fun

The elephant

swimming at the gorge

gorge

A good end to a great a holiday

Click HERE for more photos.

So, in a nutshell:

Slovenia is great and I'd like to go again and see more.  It's such a small country that there are no great travelling distances.  We only touched it though and there is a lot more to see. There is some good Slovenian wine that needs tasting.  We only had a sample at Kate and Andre's.  I'd love to hike and bike there.

Rough Guide is better than Lonely Planet.

Tourist info is great wherever you go.

Very friendly people who mostly speak English too!

So go adn enjoy!  Thanks Kate for moving there!

Slovenia Tourist Heaven

After the caves, which were very touristy - busloads of Japanese - we headed up to the Lake Bled area which is even more tourist heaven - just what we try to avoid but we needed to see it!  I was keen to go to Lake Bohinj really as quieter and more beautiful really but the campsite there was so disappointing. Just run down and full of fat people lolling on lilos by the lake.  So we headed to to the mid-spot campground -Camp Danica which was the perfect place for children.  It was rather busy but then it was top holiday time, but we had our first grassy spot and managed to get some pegs in.  The children loved it as there was a playground really close by but we did feel a bit like we were on a busy campsite - which we were . . .  It was next to the river too which was great for stone throwing, paddling, lilo floating down the small rapids, dam building and deep swimming a bit further up. What more do you want when the temperatures are steadily rising into the 30s?

playing horses on the sleeping bags which were supposed to be going inside the tent!

stone balancing

The first day here we went up to Lake Bohinj and rented a canoe for a few hours.  I think this was the nicest day.  We had a lovely time paddling round and landing on a couple of gravelly "beaches" for a swim in the beautifully clear and not too chilly water.

Morning at Lake Bohinj

Checking out the hire boats

Katie at the front

lovely swimming

Always a bit chilly for the boy to swim

But he liked the whistle

We returned the canoe, swam some more and played in the shallow water and then walked to have ice cream and have a nosy at St John the Baptist Church. It really is an idyllic spot and although there were a lot of people it wasn't too crazy mad.

happy swimming

Inside the church

 Then we went back to the campsite.  Tiring work all this lolling about!


 Next day we drove the same way up to Lake Bohinj and then took the cable car up a mountain. And then a chair lift.  Always get as high as you can by lifts I say.  Obviously we couldn't walk very far and it was very hot but we watched some paragliders jumping off and walked up to a couple of mini peaks. Got a good view of Triglav too (you can see it behind Alex in the photo underneath)  It's Slovenia's biggest mountain and would have been fab to climb. 3 days.

practsing mountain walking

resting

strolling about

Climbing up to ring the bell.

chairlift

Hard work all this mooching about in the heat

The next day we went to Lake Bled.  Having 2 small children we wanted to park somewhere and not walk too far to the boat hire place but we did it wrong and the boat hire place that was stayed in the book wasn't, so we walked along the lake and then found a sign for a Labyrinth.  So we did that.  It was good fun and took up the morning.  Then carried on the walk to the castle but didn't want to pay tourist prices to go in and essentially have an ice cream, so came down, had lunch and found somewhere to swim! Cut my foot on some glass. . .

The maize maze

the bed to lie on and listen to sounds!

Bled Island from the highest castle viewpoint without going in

waving from the fortress

And then cooking dinner in the evening

 We even used all three rings on our stove for dinner.  Such luxury!

Did Lake Bled the the next day too and managed to hire a rowing boat to the island and have a jaunt on it and then row back.  All very nice.

En route to get a boat

Alex wanted to go on a big tourist boat (castle in background)

Getting arty shots of the island

Rowing

and again

Then in the afternoon we went up to do the Sommer Rodelbahn. This was one of Katie's highlights as she loves speed.  We got 3 rides each (with child on front) and had a great time.  The chairlift was, I am sure the slowest one in the world but the rodelbahn was super fast and on my third run down I was with Katie and she declared I was faster than Matt and we nearly flew off we were so fast!

Slowest lift ever

And even Alex surprised us by loving it

 Then went back to play in the campsite river on a lilo.

And there I will finish for now as that was the end of our camping jaunt.  We felt we had "done" that area and were heading for Ljubljana so packed up next day and set off . . .

Click HERE for more photos