Fallen leaves

The Jewish museum, we were all a little nervous of how the displays would impact on us. The building itself is quite imposing, the new section is based around an exploded Star of David, and has slashes for windows to represent the cuts inflicted on the Jewish way of life through history.

I was keen to contextualise my grandmother's experience. She lived in Berlin, and is Jewish. Born in 1916, she was a teenager when antisemitism was gathering pace. We saw photos of signs posted around the country with anti-Jewish sentiments. Many Jews came to Berlin at this time from smaller towns and villages as the big city offered more anonymity and protection. My grandmother may have been amongst them; her past is unclear as she rarely speaks of her childhood. Unfortunately, she has dementia and her few stories are often muddled and frequently repeated.

There was a walkway devoted to the axis of exile. Many Jews emigrated to other countries in the years leading up to WWII. My grandmother travelled to London. I'm unsure of the year. There were, however, restrictions on what they could take; only possessions they could prove they owned before 1933, wedding rings were allowed, as was silverware.

It was sobering to think that moving to a strange land, speaking a new language with only your clothes and your knives and forks was a better option than staying in your own country. Thank goodness my grandmother chose this. Staying behind was documented by a series of artefacts donated by families of victims of the holocaust. The statistics of the number of Jews murdered during this time is shocking, but reading the stories associated with aged photographs, dolls, teddies, letters and drawings painfully brought home that all those murdered were individuals, all with a life lived, with family and friends.

The holocaust tower was a very powerful building. Lit only by natural light, from a small slit way above your head. Not heated and dark, you could make out traffic noise from outside. All you could do was stare at the chink of light and hope.

Moving on to an exhibition commissioned for the space. Called Shalekhet 'fallen leaves' consisted on 10000 faces made of thick metal plates. All crying out. You could walk over the pieces which made a powerful clinking noise. Like the sound of a noisy canteen, but much more sinister. We spent quite some time in there. Maisie felt guilty and uncomfortable walking on the faces, but was compelled to do it anyway. I explained my interpretation - that's what you do, you walk on people's past experience, and build on it to make a better life. Remember those faces and what they represent, move forward and challenge inequality and persecution. A very powerful piece, used the space and the sentiment of the building's architecture vey well.

After a quick look at the temporary exhibition, R.B. Kitaj, I realised I didn't like his work as much as I thought, maybe too much of it one place. His strongest works were those addressing his Jewishness. He was clearly a very talented artist, and there were elements of all of his works on display that I could appreciate.

Off to check point Charlie, a quick photo opportunity. A quick look in the gift shop (we were too museumed-out to got to another). Maisie said "I know where all the wall has gone, they are selling it look!" Yes indeed, you could buy bits of concrete reported to be part of the wall. Why you would want to is anyone's guess.

Afternoon tea and a traditional German konditorei was needed at this point. We managed to be attracted by the bright lights of the Rittersport cafe/shop. Hardly traditional, but warm, cosy and the promise of hot Rittersport chocolate was too good to resist! We were not disappointed. We may have purchased some chocolate too. Well, it would have been rude not to.

sprechen sie deutsch?

Half term and time for a trip...

We arrive at the airport at the appointed time, terminal 3 Manchester. I look for the flight details on the check in board, Leanne says "I've already checked in we don't need to check in." That's fine, but I can't see the flight on the board. Leanne says it won't be there as the gate won't be displayed yet. I insist it should still be on the board. We repeat this conversation maybe more times than was strictly necessary. Eventually, I ask a nice British Airways woman, who says, no that's terminal 1 you will be needing... off we potter. The stress of getting up at 3 a.m. was starting to show. We find the departure gate without much difficulty, it's amazing how being at the correct terminal can help with this.

We fly, we get train tickets, we arrive at the rented apartment; all good.

Trying out my best German to buy pretzels and a ham and cheese thing for Maisie, words were flowing, Bitter, Danke, Schinken (ham), anyone would think I was fluent. Unfortunately, I then blow it by trying to pay the guy the time it was displaying on the till, not the Euros #doh! I didn't retrieve the situation by saying some random numbers in German, it was all too late. The guy was, however, fairly understanding. 

We had a few other language challenges, particularly when going to pay for stuff. The lovely check out person would say something, we would stare blankly like rabbits in headlights, checkout person would repeat incomprehensible sentence. Eventually we managed to mumble out the word 'English' and they would repeat the sentence in perfect English. One bloke even sorted out my change for me, bless!

Back to the trip...We walk to Alexander Platz and catch a tourist bus to get our bearings. We all loved seeing the East Side gallery, the longest remaining stretch of wall with painting by various artists (with some amendments by graffiti artists). The sun was setting, the light was beautiful, it was all quite moving. 

My Grandmother comes from Berlin so it felt like I was getting in touch with my roots. I was looking forward to exploring and discovering over the next few days.

Woe betide you Molly Moppy

I can’t believe I’ve not mentioned Molly in the passages yet.

Introducing Molly the dog.

She is a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle.

This creates a rather cute teddy style dog, Maisie’s dream dog.

There’s a reason she is so cute I’m discovering.

How can you be mad at such a cute dog for...

• Destroying a box of tissues
• Destroying a toilet roll, and distributing
• Chewing all the ends off your shoe laces
• Shredding up knickers
• Weeing on the carpet in the lounge, kitchen, hallway, bathroom, bedrooms.
• Pooing (although this has stopped almost) in the same places
• Jumping at the big dog and cat to annoy at every opportunity
• Whining at 6 am in the morning
• Developing the ability to escape from her enclosure within three weeks
• Finding a way out of the garden into the neighbours garden
• Discovering the ability to exit through the cat flap

We’re all going an a summer holiday...with added teenager

Our holiday destination of choice this year was France, first to see friends in Lille, then onto the Vendee...with two teenagers and Sabrina the sat nav lady.

A driving trip with a shuttle trip to France, regrettably requires an early start. Problem one and two...the teenage girls. Genius top tip I don’t mind sharing, tell them it’s a 5.30 am start. Then, when this has sunk in, say, actually it’s only needs to be 6.30 am. We had fist pumping and whooping at the prospect of a 6.30 am start, result.

They were both up at the required time, one a little disheveled, but up. Maisie however was sat in bed doing her nails, not just doing her nails, but painting owls on them, yes owls. When this was discovered, she was chased out of bed and seemed to be getting ready. The next thing we know, she’s on Facebook playing some sort of Ville game. No concept of getting out the door in time for the start of the holiday!

Thanks to the lovely Sabrina, it was a trouble free journey, with only the smallest blip at the end doing battle with the weird oneway system with roundabouts and cyclists in Lille.

A lovely time spent in Lille as always, and I fear I may have taken the exact same photos as last year in la Piscine art gallery. Oh well, love it there and no doubt the next time I’ll take them again.

Then the journey to the Vendee, laughing al the way at the pronunciation Sabrina attempted, admittedly probably better than mine, but funny all the same.

We stayed in an F1 half way in Chartres, Maisie refused to go to the toilet (shared) stating they were a “plastic stink box of hell” not sure how she managed, oh to have a young bladder once more (probably an over-share, sorry)

At one point, there was a really strange noise emanating from Alex...”Oh that’s my sonic screwdriver” Yes, that’s always on the top of my packing list as well? 

We had a great time at the camp site, activities, swimming, reading, eating...perfect

Beep Beep

The wheels on the car go round and round, I know that because you can see them. Well, you can when you go for a ride in a Caterham sports car. Some friends of ours recently purchased such a vehicle. When offered a ride I jumped at the chance of nervously, not at all elegantly, lowering myself into the passenger seat. I was given the steering wheel to hold whilst my driver (aka Antony) leapt in elegantly and expertly. I dutifully pretended to drive, as does every other person in a similar situation apparently, good not to disappoint. After being strapped in with the 29 point harness (only 4 really), a process similar to an Alton Towers ride, we were ready to go. At the push of a button, and the roar of the engine we were off.

I think I remember shouting awesome as the car raced rather quickly it felt, to the speed limit, which was actually only 30 mph, goodness knows what it’s like at top speeds. We whizzed through the streets of Sheffield and I could see the wheels going round reassuringly, the fender things rattling away, and the wing mirrors were vibrating so much there was no chance of seeing anything approaching from behind, not that I imagine anything else on the road had a chance. We reached some roadworks, boo you might say, but these provided the perfect chicane for Antony to show off the cornering. Surprisingly good suspension, surprisingly good weather for a South Yorkshire evening, and no surprises when I got out, it must have been one of the most inelegant scenes the street had seen all year, think kayak and that’s pretty close.

The dog wondering if he can beat a Caterham

The clambering was worthwhile, it was like being in a shark, crossed with chitty chitty bang bang, very very cool and to be recommended.

Check it out Peak Road Sport

Summer Bumper Issue - includes free gift

We have...been to the seaside, admired puffins, won big time on a penny push machine, been on a boat, got a new kitchen, lost a dearly loved cat, there must be something else? Now what is it? Oh yes, that’s it, the whole entire country has gone Olympics mad. We went to the most hot ticketed event of the entire games, New Zealand v. Belarus football match. 

The Puffin bit

The best puffin photo we took

Puffins are very small and hard to photograph. I had an idea I would be able to sit and draw one...not a chance. Darting around, getting mixed up with other sea birds it was hard to even photograph one. But - it was so exciting, none of us have seen puffins before, so if felt like a great achievement to spot some. We were also delighted by the gannets, less enamoured by the smell and satisfied the weather was really kind.

A Lancashire Belle on the Yorkshire one!

The boat bit

All aboard the Yorkshire Belle, I'm actually a Lancashire Belle, but I kept that quiet and they let me on anyway. The YB is a lovely little boat commissioned by the RSPB to take enthusiastic twitchers out to see the sea birds that hang out at Bempton Cliffs from the sea side perspective.

Encouraged by the fact that all the women volunteers had puffin earrings, we were hopeful of actually seeing some. We were not disappointed, there were more sea birds than you can actually shake a bit of seaweed at. We had seen them earlier from the cliff side, but now we could see loads of puffins bobbing along on the water.

Maisie with 'winnings'

The winning bit

In NZ you don't really have the traditional sea side gambling opportunities that amusement arcades offer. Not wanting Maisie to miss out on an important part of her upbringing - beginner gambling, we ventured into an arcade on Bridlington's seafront. After converting a pound coin into 2 pence pieces (it's used to be a penny in my day - 100% inflation) we were all set to fritter it away.

We were delighted when Maisie won a lovely dolphin keyring. Who said gambolling doesn't pay.

The home improvements bit

We have a new kitchen, it's vey exciting and a million times better than the old one.

r.i.p. Weka (on the right) 

The sad bit

We were all fairly traumatised by the loss of our lovely little Weka cat. He was unfortunate enough to be hit by a car. Such a lovely cat, adored by the whole family he was even great mates with the dog. He was a regular on walks with the dog and would dash in between his legs and taunt him a little on the way.

He would always find a patch of light or a warm spot to sleep. He had a bath tap water habit and would explore any box bag surface he could find.

The unavoidable olympics bit

After various people had finished jogging round the countryside with a torch, it came time for the Olympics. However, Leanne had secured tickets for a footballing event which took place before the opening as there are so many fixtures to get in. We went to see New Zealand verses Belarus at Coventry City f.c. 

It was a great atmosphere, chatty security guards, entertaining crowd warm up by throwing giant balls into the crowd which we were expected to have a game of keep up with (Maisie's favourite bit!) and exhilarating football. Several 'Great British' waves and a pie. 

I lied about the free gift.

Can anyone smell burning?

Torch tôrCH:  

1. A portable light produced by the flame of a stick of resinous wood or of a flammable material wound about the end of a stick of wood; a flambeau. 

2. A gold coloured piece of metal, fashioned into what looks like a boy racer exhaust pipe, which, when lit, can bring cities to a stand still and inspire flag waving from all parts of the community. 

Yes, I have seen the light. Yes, I waved a flag. Yes, it was exciting. I even high fived a police officer on a motor bike, yes at my age. I could have done without the commercialisation of the whole thing with a giant coke sponsored truck at the beginning of the torch party (i didnt get any fizzy pop) and the mobile phone truck, no not giving out phones but flags ( I got one of those). But the atmosphere on an (unusually) sunny Monday night, stood by the side of the road, waiting for some one in a white track suite to run past with a torch was well worth staying at work for an extra hour and wandering out the door.  The bonus of being outside the university was the available WiFi, me and my work mate could live stream the torch cam, so sunshine, crowd banter, expectation and geeky ness. Cool.