Days 13-14: Mannheim and Munich

We didn't see much of Amsterdam apart from a conveniently located Starbucks on the ICE platform in the station.

The ceiling of the Starbucks is worth a look

We zipped our way down to Mannheim to visit Birgit's Aunt and Uncle. We spent an hour or so at a bus stop, probably only a couple of miles from our destination, because of a suspended tram route and bad information. So near, and yet so far. Once we finally got there, we discovered a playground, slept well, reorganised ourselves a bit and set off on our final short leg back home. There wasn't much to see in Munich station to hint at the chaos of a couple of weeks before, except for some men working on the roof windows.

"Well  that's another fine mess you've gotten us in"

Play by night

Day 12+: Harrogate to the North Sea and Amsterdam

It was time to leave the UK. Our trip to Newcastle was quiet and easy, at least compared to the trip going to Harrogate. Very fitting for a Sunday. In Newcastle there was plenty of rain, a little confusion about where to get the bus for the boat*, and a great lunch perfectly located at The Town Wall.

Packing up. Should we leave them here?

After experiencing Stena's buses here and there, we got quite a shock to see just what a trade DFDS do with foot passengers. They have something like 8 buses to shuttle people back and forth. The Port of Tyne ferry/cruise terminal resembles a modern airport. You walk on to the boat, greeted by an array of staff eager to give you freebies and help you to your room. My only (predictable) criticism is the cost of the food. Captive market and so on... Our solution was to share a pizza. Matt can't eat pizza, but given his worries over a repeat experience of ferry sickness whilst on a stupidly long ferry trip, he didn't want to eat much anyway (until breakfast of course).

Views of Tynemouth Pier and Tynemouth Castle and Priory on the way out

Children are spoilt for choice. Lego, drawing, video, ball pond, a slide...

Dusk

The views going out were great, and the price of a glass of wine was worth it just have it whilst watching the sunset colours over the big blue ocean. We had a good night's sleep, and after going through a fairly civilised experience getting off the boat, coaches were waiting to take us to Amsterdam. This last bit was a bit confusing: apparently you can book your spot in advance. Otherwise the driver will want €10. Pro tip: book in advance. Backup solution: Go inside and buy it from the service desk, you seem to get the advance price that way. The coaches are a bit of a pain for a short journey with luggage and a buggy; the busses in Newcastle were very buggy and luggage friendly.

*I can't do a whole lot to resolve the confusion, because the bus stop was moved, apparently just for a day or two during our trip. I'll try anyway though. Come out of the station, cross the road and head for the street between the church building (left) and Gotham Town (right) - Bewick Street. The bus stop is on the right, the bus number is 327 and it leaves (officially) at 2.45 and 3.45pm. It seems though that they run a more or less rolling service with many buses.

The elusive bus timetable

Day 11: Yorkshire - The wedding

I love weddings. We'd never been to one though without the support of grandparents and a car. Would it still be fun? We got off to a great start: Ronja, in the act of extracting my shoe tree managed to get a bleeding nose. Then the bus that was supposed to be picking up the guests had a serious delay, while the bride's car had a breakdown (better that than the bride I suppose).

Ready to go

It all ended (or rather started) well though, a lovely service, and a wonderful venue (Allerton Castle). There was great scenery, great food, wine, and lots of dancing. It was fun to celebrate with the happy couple and their families. The speeches were anything but boring. And there was a big, much quieter room where children could sleep. And fireworks!

Ushers can't manage to look everywhere at once. Good that Matt had a bit of help.

Dancing!

Time for a nap

"When the cat's away, the mice will play"

And catching that mouse round the billiard table was a lot of fun too

It was all over soon enough, and then back we trundled in the dark to Harrogate, more than ready to sleep.

Day 10: Lisburn - Harrogate

We learned back in 2012 that travelling on higgledy-piggeldy itineraries involving boat, bus and train with a small child wasn't such a great idea. Ignoring all of that, we set off early on Friday morning for the Stena ferry to Scotland, final destination Harrogate, where Matt's university friend Jonny was to get married. This would be completely different: it was Scotland & England not France, and we had two children instead of one!

Aye aye capt'n

I'll start by saying that I had thought the Man in Seat 61's bashing of Stena's replacement of sailing to Stranraer (where there is a train station) with a bus to Ayr from Cairnryan was disingeneous. However, after watching Birgit try to calm a tired 1 year old down on a coach without enough room to swing a mouse nevermind a cat, I may have changed my opinion. It was brief though, soon both children were fast asleep, and the views of the Ayrshire countryside and the sea just splendid. It's a good idea to keep your eye on that sea - the twists in the road might hit your stomach faster than you think. It was a difficult situation for Stena Line when they made the switch, and all in all I think they do a good job. We had fun on the boat of course, lots for children to do, and again good quality and value food on offer for breakfast.

Once we reached Glasgow, we were prepared to sit on a relaxing express train all the way to York (which is most of the way to Harrogate). And this is where we were surprised. Not one, but two hen parties boarded in Glasgow: destination Newcastle (which is most of the way to York). What adjectives can I use? Loud (they even had a music system), terrifying, traumatising, disruptive.

Help!

The highlight for me was that Birgit had commented that it couldn't happen on a German train (because someone would complain). When we looked at the train in York, we saw it was being part run by the Germans...

"Are we there yet?"

Only one last short leg to go. We were weary. and in need of upliftment. And then, like an angel sent to help, arrived a cheery, happy Paddy. Who was shocked to learn he had paid more for his ticket from Birmingham than we had from Belfast ;-) He helped us find the hotel in Harrogate. We were there. Time to change and head for pre-wedding tapas, reserved for family, best man and ushers!

Day 9: Lisburn & Belfast

Our final full day in Ireland was spent coffee drinking, visiting Matt's mum's cousin (Reader quiz: what relation does that make her to Ronja? Answers on a postcard please) on the far side of Belfast, getting somewhat lost in the process, packing and taking a very late night trip to Tescos to buy baby travel food. Everybody ready?

Day 8: Lisburn - Entrepreneurial spirit

After all those gifts for Silas, it was time to spoil Ronja. Well, not really, it was more a trip of necessity to prepare for Saturday's wedding. Green shoes from NEXT - perfect. Matt and Birgit had a fairly quiet afternoon in Lisburn, while Ronja was building a grocery store (with little help from her Granny, of course). That evening there was a chance to witness late-night coffee drinking (serving till, wait for it, 9pm!) in Lisburn at Costa Coffee near the cinema with an old friend. Fantastic.

Day 7: Trip to Navan, Armagh and a party

It was Easter and that meant family friendliness and special events all round. Time for a trip well off the beaten track down to Armagh, specifically Navan Fort, just outside the city (I've bemoaned the fact that anything child-friendly was removed from Armagh before after our last planned trip there was cancelled). There was a short play and craft activities for children themed around the story of the ugly duckling. I give it top marks.

Then we dashed back home to help with party preparations. Matt's mum usually finds an excuse for a party when we return, this time it was Silas' birthday. The birthday boy got a large amount of really nice clothes, and a lot of attention. And people sat outside. In April!

Day 6: Lisburn - Return to Wallace Park and Aghalee

A well earned quieter day with a trip to the park, ice cream, lunch at home followed by a trip to Aghalee to catch up with some relatives. It was Easter Monday, driving to any tourist hot spots would not have been wise.

Teamwork in Wallace Park

Day 5: Easter at Lisburn Cathedral

It's been a long time since we last had Easter in Ireland. Matt got up for the dawn service, enjoying a gluten free "bacon butty" afterwards as a reward for standing tired in the cold. Later there was a big church service, for the Cathedral especially important as they had been out doing community work for much of the week. And after church? Well, ice cream of course! It was an Ice Cream Sundae (get it?). There was some sort of spiritual message to the white ice cream being brightened up by all the possible additions.

And afterwards? Easter Egg hunting!

Day 4: Lisburn goes mad

When I (Matt) was young, Lisburn was a fairly dreary place. It has come on since then. I've read about a Lord Mayors Parade... there were people out on the streets having fun. And the day before Easter, there was an "Easter Eggstravaganza", concentrated on Castle Gardens: car rallying in the afternoon on the Lagan Valley Island and Queens Roads, amusements for the kids in the gardens aswell as a diverse range of food, and a "Frozen"-themed celebration in the Cathedral. I'm going to stay positive and not talk about the worse-than-19th-century handling of the traffic diversion or how I feel about the Disney film music, needless to say that a good time was had by all. There were reports of someone being reduced to tears by the appearance of a Frozen-character in the town. And I still am having a hard time getting the tune of "Let it Go" out of my head as I write this two weeks later.

<Insert random lyric from Frozen here>

Bounce bounce baby

All play and no work just won't do. Time to clean up before Easter Sunday.

Day 3: Belfast - WhoWhatWhereWhenWhy

Who what where when why, or W5 for short, is a children's discovery/science centre in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast. Ronja had been there before with her granny, but her parents had missed it, and more to the point, the area for children her age was closed for renovation. So high time for a visit. We brought a packed lunch (there's ample space to enjoy your own lunch inside, as well as a cafe) which we ate before setting off to explore.

Levitation

The highlight: the 'SPAR'

Mmm, plastic croissant

Highlight #2: Water

"Now, you see, if they would just reopen the line through Dumfries, like this, our journey to Harrogate would be much quicker". "Yes, Silas, but what's the cost-benefit ratio"?

More plastic food

Caught in a trap...

Days 1 & 2: Munich-Belfast - Escape from the Hurricane

We're used to winds in the Pressestadt. We thought it was a bit windier than we'd ever had before during the day, but didn't dwell on it. Then we heard most of Munich's suburban rail system had been laid low. And then came the call about all rail traffic being stopped. And that the roof had blown off Munich's railway station. There was some simplification and exaggeration going on there, but there was more than a grain of truth. That was March 31st, and our latest trip to Ireland was scheduled early next morning on April 1st. We concluded we weren't going anywhere and settled down to a night's sleep, not 100% ready to set off at 5.45am as planned.

The online journey planner and telephone line the next morning told a different story. There was a way to Frankfurt. And we needed to get to Frankfurt, whatever way we could. And we needed to be on a train about 15 minutes earlier. So Matt had the happy job of getting everyone up to rush out of the house, so we could sit on the 15 minutes earlier train for 40 minutes before it went anywhere.

The obligatory sitting-on-the-train picture. This time with added scissors! Best idea, ever.

Wakey wakey! Time to get up, after a peaceful night, and a fairly long day before that. We had a good meal on board having failed to eat in either London or Liverpool. Thumbs up to Stena for having non-junk food options at reasonable prices, even though they have a captive market. Their friends at Irish Ferries and DFDS could learn a thing or two from them there.

Anyway, by some miracle by the time we had got to Brussels we were back on schedule. Or perhaps the miracle was that we got to Brussels at all. We're getting better at this, so there are no major reports, gripes or groans this time, except perhaps for a few fun facts...

• Did you know there's nowhere in Liverpool Lime Street to sit down and eat with children after 6pm? I didn't.
• Did you know that 'black cab' style taxis can let you wheel a buggy in and have a fold down booster seat in the middle? We didn't, but were thrilled to find out, as we contemplated walking 20 minutes in the rain down to the ferry.
• Did you know they're talking about opening a tram line that would call very near the Stena Ferry terminal? Not because of Stena Line of course, but it might make things feel more "integrated".
• On the integration front, there's also talk of building a central underground station for Euston/St Pancras/Kings Cross. That wouldn't bring the trains any closer together, but might mean a few moving walkways in between. Of course, by the time they build it, our children will be carrying their own luggage ;-)
• Did you know, that if you just wander in the first class area helplessly of the "Reisezentrum" in Cologne Hauptbahnhof, you might get help immediately with your international rail travel problem, bypassing the long queue nearby and at the information point, and thereby not missing that all important "we don't accept DB tickets" train that's about to leave above you? My strategically brought-along three-year old may have helped there.

Safely in Lisburn, it was time to greet family, relax, and do some baking.