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  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 12

    Quiet day in Paris

    April 10, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After the festivities of yesterday, it was decided that today should be a ‘quiet day’. I wish I could say that we managed to convince the boys to all have a sleep-in but alas NO! Rowan and Tom both weren’t feeling great, so Richard, Elise and I thought we’d brave the cold and head out to a park to give them ‘the quiet’. Rowan promised that after he’d slept he’d cook a baked dinner as a final farewell meal.

    Just like Berlin, Paris also has a lot of green space, some of it hidden between buildings. A short distance from the Paris Bilkeys' home were quite a selection of little parks. The boys decided they wanted to head back to one that had options - basketball, space to kick a football, a play area and a garden and seats for the parents.

    The boys played soccer, basketball, climbed the play equipment and the parents all managed to join in at some point.

    Richard and I then surprised Campbell, Charlie, Fred, Jack & Sam, by taking them to see the Mario Movie - it was the first time that Sam went to a movie theatre - I love ‘firsts’ so I was glad I could share that with him.

    Happy to report, Rowan kept his promise and cooked an amazing baked chicken dinner - yum yum.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 11

    Cam's Birthday Part 2

    April 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After returning home from our trip up the Eiffel Tower, we didn't have long before we needed to head out again. Richard and Elise's friends were in town with their kids and we were to meet them in a French Bistro around the corner from the apartment.

    Before departing for dinner though, Elise had scoured Paris for the best eclairs in the land and we sang Happy Birthday to the 11 year old. A gift of Go Nuts for Donuts for Cam from the Paris Bilkey's hit the mark.

    We then made our way to the Bistro. On the menu was the usual burgers, risotto, steaks etc, but a little surprise was the escargot. We ordered half a dozen, thinking that there would be one each for the Bilkey 6. However, the younger three all chickened out, so Tom, Sarah and Rowan all had two each. Rubbery chicken with a strong garlic sauce. Tom was a trooper, although none of us are worried if we don't see a snail again for a while.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    111
    Day 11

    Eiffel Tower - Cam's Birthday Part 1

    April 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C

    Happy Birthday Campbell! When we planned this trip, we asked Cam where he wanted to be for his birthday. His first response was with his cousins in Paris, then more specifically up on top of the Eiffel Tower. It was an early start to get there and we queued for nearly 2 hours before finally making it into the lift. The tour guide we were with filled in the time however with some interesting facts and history about the tower, one of the more interesting is that the French Government paid for only two thirds of the construction. Gustave Eiffel, the owner of the engineering company commissioned to create the structure, needed to fund the rest. In the negotiations, he had the government agree to his ownership of the tower. The tower remains in the Eiffel family estate to this day.

    Eventually, we made it onto the lift and up to level 2. Jack's aversion to heights kicked in and he felt quite uncomfortable, however to his credit, he made it all the way to the top and can tick it off his list. At level 2, we wandered around and took in the open air view of the city.

    After a while, we made our way (via another extensive queue) to the lift to head to the top of the tower. Some 300m above the Champs de Mars, we are afforded spectacular views of the city. Fred found exactly how high we were, 280m, and the wait was all worth it.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 10

    Canal Saint-Martin to La Villette

    April 8, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today's adventure was a boat ride up the Canal Saint Martin from the Siene, up to La Villette. The Canal runs south, however we made our way upstream, to the north. To do this, we first enter a series of voutes, or tunnels which takes us underneath Bastille. After coming out of the nearly 2km tunnels, we then needed to proceed through a number of locks to rise up water levels throughout the journey. The process of the lock was fascinating and the boys enjoyed watching the water flood through the doors. After the 8th lock, perhaps it lost its appeal, but a cool thing to do in any case.

    We ended at La Villette, a huge park in the north of town. Freddy, Teddy and Sam enjoyed a spin on the Carousel before heading across with the big boys to the main play equipment. We then had dinner at the Paname pub on the water.

    It was a beautiful evening and we strolled back down the canal, past crowds of people enjoying the spring air with a beer on the canal, or playing boules with friends. We even saw a few games of Finska and felt we could have jumped in and dominated.

    The boys wanted some ice cream, so we stopped at a creme glacee shop and enjoyed the local fair. By the time we made it back to the apartment, our feet were sore, but our bellies were full and the kids' heads full of memories of play and fun with their cousins.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 9

    Wandering Paris

    April 7, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Today was a quiet stroll around some of the lesser seen sites of Paris. We rolled down to the Siene and across onto Ile Saint-Louis. We were reliably informed by our guide (Richard) that the island in the Siene is the smaller of the two, it's bigger sister being the more famous Ile de la Cite which houses the imposing Palais de Justice de Paris as well as, of course, the Notre Dame. The Notre Dame is under busy repairs following the fire that destroyed the steeple and large swathes of the building four years ago. The French are aiming to have it repaired and open for business by the time the Olympians somersault into town in 2024.

    Ile Saint-Louis is smaller, but no less impressive. It is home to the rich and famous, some of the most expensive real estate in Paris is here, and the people are the epitome of style. We stuck out just a little bit...

    We didn't stay long, as we crossed the river again and up the hill towards Arenes de Lutece. This 2000-year old amphitheater once housed gladiatorial battles in Roman days and the cages which housed lions and other animals can still be seen. We kicked a footy and felt every bit the gladiator.

    A short walk around the corner brought us to the beautiful Jardin Des Plantes, a huge garden complex that houses, amongst other things a labyrinth, a mob of kangaroos, red pandas, a queue of taxidermied animals to rival Noah's Ark, and a life size stegosaurus statue. We couldn't see it all, but enjoyed walking through the gardens and having a good play on the playground.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 8

    Le Louvre et Notre Dame

    April 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We started the day taking Charlie, Sam and Teddy to their respective schools. None of the boys were happy to say goodbye, however there'd be plenty of time to come, to kick the ball with the cousins. We wandered down to the Siene and a rather heated match of soccer ensued in an upside down boat. Of course.

    As we continued our walk, Richard was most informative, giving information on the regions we were walking through, the buildings we were passing and the history of the city. We happened upon the Notre Dame, and Sarah and I recreated a photo that we took some 18 years prior. I don't think either of us had changed in all that time... much.

    The Louvre was next, as the boys had to see the Mona Lisa. We had a tip from Richard's mate at Le Peleton Cafe on where to go to skip the 2 hour queues to get in. Within 20 minutes of arriving we were inside and walking the halls. We viewed the Venus de Milo, before making our way to see the main attraction. We spent 2 minutes in the room, and the attitude from the boys was best summed up by Jack's reaction: "Meh."

    We wandered through for the next few hours and found the rooms, art, historical artefacts most interesting.

    On our way home I saw that a friend of mine, Michael was also in Paris. We hastily arranged a catch up and Sarah and I were able to leave the boys at home and head out for a nice beer at a cafe.

    Richard had also received an invitation from a friend to his restaurant for a supper club. Elise was not feeling 100% so I was fortunate enough to stand in. A wonderful degustation menu met us in a wonderful location, overlooking Jardin du Palais Royal.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 8

    Bilkey 6 arrive in Paris

    April 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our time in Berlin came to an end, we jumped on the train from Berlin Hauptbahnhoff, destined for Paris. The train meandered south from Berlin, through German countryside, before we changed at Karlsruhe. We then crossed the border into France at Strasbourg and headed west to Paris.

    We were met at Paris Gare de l'est by Richard and Charlie, great to see them after a long time. They led us onto the metro and then through the streets of Paris back to their apartment in the 3rd Arrondissement.

    When we arrived, we had a lovely lamb stew, followed by a happy birthday song, present and cake for Sammy's birthday. The boys were very excited to share a bedroom with their cousins, and fell asleep looking forward to adventures with the Paris Bilkeys.

    Our Paris leg had started.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 7

    Freddy Bear

    April 5, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We knew when we started this European adventure that we'd be doing a lot of walking most days. Each day in Berlin we covered 14-17kms, making it about 25,000 steps according to my watch and I reckon for Freddy's little legs that would have been at least double that amount.

    Day 2, Fred spotted 'Blue Bear' and whilst we didn't take a photo of the Bear that day, we both commented on it's appearance (Mummy & Freddy both love blue) and how 'cute' it was. Further down the street we noticed Butler Bear and I suggested I take a photo of that bear and him. This then turned into a game, find a bear, Sarah would take the photo as Fred would do a pose with the Bear. Whilst I know we didn't spot all of them, it definitely helped Freddy achieve the walking that we needed to accomplish to soak up what Berlin had to offer.

    Side note: The Buddy Bears Berlin have become an integral part of Berlin's cityscape. They stand as a friendly, colourful symbol of tolerance in the streets (and as a landmark to Berlin).    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 5

    Museums and Pork Knuckles

    April 3, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Berlin has a lot of green space, and the boys have been inspired to be world cup football players, so were keen to run out some energy. They got talking to a young dad at the playground, before they cajoled him into playing a game of mini soccer. Tom and I then joined in and things got a little competitive. The other dad and I stepped out after a while, and before long a throng of kids appeared from nowhere, forming a full on 10 on 10 game of soccer. Jack and Campbell were in their element.

    Campbell discovered a year or so ago, that the Melbourne Museum houses the most complete Triceratops skeleton in the world. When researching this trip, we then discovered the most complete T-Rex skeleton is in Berlin. We had to go. The Berlin Natural History Museum was outstanding, with a section devoted to explaining how taxidermy works. Some of Tom's squirrels' cousins were the unfortunate exhibit showing the gory details.

    We then made our way to Museum Island, a drop of land in the middle of the Spree River that houses some of the most amazing buildings. The Humboldt forum was spectacular, and we read the story about the building that was almost completely destroyed in the war, and the amazing rebuild they undertook to recreate it.

    Standing in the main plaza, the Berlin Cathedral is an imposing structure, so we headed over to have a look inside. Suffice to say it's a little fancier than the local church in Newcastle. We made our way through the main vault and tried to answer Fred's questions like - "but if God made Earth in a day, how did the big Bang happen?" Good question, kid.

    We saw the steps to the dome and decided to make the trek up the 267 steps to see the view. Jack was quite bullish to start with, but must have remembered halfway up that he's actually scared of heights, which came to the fore when we stepped outside. However he did terrific, as did the rest of the boys, and the view of Berlin was absolutely worth it.

    We finished the day with a few beers, pork knuckles and schnitzels. What a day.    Read more

  • Bilkey 6 in Europe
    Day 4

    Berlin Day 3

    April 2, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Some big highlights in Berlin today. The day started by following a tip from Lucy to have the best breakfast in Berlin. It did not disappoint. Cafe Mugrabi near the East Side Gallery is an Israeli cafe. The boys were dubious to start with, but after trying a few bites of the humous, baked eggs and laffa bread, the boys were hooked. A clear standout meal amongst the pork knuckles and schnitzels.

    We then walked across Oberbaumbrücke, a stunningly ornate bridge leading to the Berlin Wall Eastside Gallery. After spending time examining the Wall, we wandered back towards the centre of town, stumbling on a bohemian village where the boys played on a wonky playground.

    We then headed towards the Memorial for Murdered Jews of Berlin. This was on the list for Tom in particular, and we were warned as we lined up that it would be quite confronting, the younger boys might find it quite heavy. We continued, Tom and Cam absorbed the information and we all felt the gravity of the site. It was a moving memorial, and a testament to Berlin's approach to remembering the Holocaust - respectful, no fuss, honest without glorifying nor shying away from the event.

    We needed a walk following the Memorial and headed across the road to Tiergarten, where we found another playground. It was here that Tom saw his first squirrel, and then continued to film it for the next 15 minutes straight. It was a strange obsession.

    When we booked our trip, one thing I had not considered, nor thought I would need to encounter is Tom being legally old enough to have a beer. In Germany, at 14 you can have a beer or wine in the company of your parents. So, when we sat down at Pauliner München Beerhaus for dinner, that's exactly what Tom did. As far as first beers go, I reckon it was a pretty good one.    Read more

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