Haben Sie Gehort Das Deutsche Band? 

Mrs. Kinch and I have just returned from Germany where we had a wonderful time. We spent most of it drinking gluhwein and buying the odd Christmas decoration.  Hanover was a bit of a washout as Hurricane Xaver meant that everything closed.  We managed to find a relatively secure gluhweine spot and watched the snow billowing.  Mrs Kinch was completely enchanted with all the lights and stalls and music. 

When we arrived in Berlin, I nipped off to Berlin Zinnfiguren. What a wonderful place! I was surprised that there were so many books. It was great to see, but I managed to keep my wallet under control. I got Mrs Kinch some painted flats that are Christmas decorations. The stuff I was interested in was so expensive that I could legitimately look at it without desiring it. The only other thing I was tempted by was a Prince August crib set - trust me to travel to Germany and fancy something from Cork!

While we were wandering around Hanover, we came across this Steif bear window display, complete with marching bears. 

Just before the storm hit, we went to the medieval market near the Market Kirk. It was quite lovely with lots of folk in costume.  There were a variety of stalls, one of which was a stall where one could shoot a crossbow for a small fee. My father in law and I gave it a whirl.

All I could think of was that we would never get away with this at home...

...someone would definitely end up with a quarrel in the eye.

Ernst August of Hanover

And curiously enough 3rd Earl of Armagh, though he was the last Hanoverian monarch to hold a title from the British Isles. 

A medieval scene in flats from Berlin Zinnfiguren - beautiful, but an eye watering €445

While we were away it was extremely cold and it started to snow. Snow is something of a novelty to Irish people, I've seen it at home three times in thirty three years. 

While we were walking through Hanover, it began to snow and Mrs Kinch was so happy she started to dance. I managed to get one picture, but I think this may be my favourite picture of her. 

A Panzer Nashorn or Armoured Rhino 

Unfortunately we were unable to go to Hanover Zoo, which is excellent, and to which we have been before because of the hurricane. So we went to Berlin Zoo instead. We rather like zoos on the whole and are quite lucky to have one of the best in Europe in Dublin. Sadly, Berlin Zoo is not quite up to that standard, but we did have a good time. We saw some interesting animals, though I thought the big cat and elephant enclosures were very, very small.

I was particularly taken with this armoured rhino which was an animal I'd never heard of.

And suddenly Durer's rhino who I always thought was a bit fanciful makes a great deal more sense.  

If you've ever wonderful what a baby rhino tantrum sounds like - it sounds a bit like this. The small rhino is a year old and isn't happy about being weaned. 

Mrs Kinch running away from an ornamental bear

Mmmm...sleepy. 

Fatou, the matriarch of the Berlin band of gorillas. She looks rather well don't you think? 

 

One doesn't like to ask a lady's age, but these things are done differently in Germany.   

Sally Bowles screamining under a bridge while a train passes over head. 

I read "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood in my early twenties and it formed my entire picture of Berlin, even Len Deighton's Harry Palmer hasn't managed to wrest my imagination from its grip. It was only when I met Mrs Kinch when I was 24 that I learned of the musical and the film of the book.   

 

We had to wait ages for a train...

Because of the hurricane, our time was brief and my trip to the Zeughaus museum (where they do not allow photographs) was very brief. The day after we got to go to Charlottenberg, the palace built by Frederick the Great's mum, Sophie Charlotte. It is an extraordinary place and worth a blog entry in itself. I shall glide over some of the highlights here. 

The palace contains a vast collection of ceramics, including a great deal of chinoiserie. This particular display is only a very small part of a huge room completely covered in china. 

A picture of Alte Fritz himself hanging at the entrance to the palace's chapel. 

General Zieten of Waterloo fame. 

"I like it, but I don't think it would go with the carpet in the parlour." Mrs Kinch examining the furniture, it was rather cold hence my jacket. I doubt she will thank me for putting this picture up. 

I have no idea who this chap is - there was something of a shortage of labels.

Our last meal in Berlin and probably our best, this place was amazing. The interior is a glittering Art Deco confection and the food was superb. It was a wonderful end to a really enjoyable trip. 

Back from Bath

We're back from Bath - whole and refreshed and thankful for the much needed break. We trotted off with our good friends Savage and Tootsie for six days of recreation and for the most part we had a wonderful time. Mrs Kinch did point out that it was the first holiday we'd managed together in over a year and the time together was a gift.

Highlights of the trip included...

Savage in one of the "covered ways" up which the Cornish infantry charged towards the Roundhead lines. The Sir Bevil Grenvill* monument is to the right out of shot.

Having a tramp around the battlefield of Lansdowne - this was the site of a set to between Roundhead and Cavalier in 1643. This was a real treat because the battlefield has changed little since the engagement and we managed to view it at the same time of year, in conditions that were similar.

I have never taken much of an interest in the English Civil War, beyond reading Simon as a boy and having a hearty detestation of the Commonwealth. My sympathies are naturally with the Cavaliers, while Savage is a Parliamentarian. You will see Savage in the picture above in a characteristic pose not dancing, nor celebrating Christmas. Neither did he attend the theatre while we were on holiday. My smoking was also curtailed.

Parliamentarian swine.

What is wrong with this picture?

Also due to my posting while I was away, my friend Mike realised that I was in Bath and we managed to meet up for a pint in "The Volunteer Rifleman's Arms". A splendid establishment. It was very interesting to meet Mike in person as we had only corresponded before. A fascinating few hours during which we talked wargaming, writing history books, publishing, cartography and oddballs in the fraternity. We also met Mike's family, who gave us a warm welcome. We then changed pubs. Inexplicably, in a Mecca of cask beers, we managed to find a pub that served Guinness which Savage drinks when he can't get any turps. Unfortunately, it wasn't very good Guinness as is evidenced by the picture above.

This was a real surprise and something I'll have to repeat. A game next time Embree!

I had to stay quite quiet to get this shot of this little fellow, who is a common Marmoset, which seems something of a misnomer to me. I had imagined a common Marmoset would wear a flat cap, drink bitter and say things like "Eeee lad". Look at him, probably hasn't a days work in his life.

The highlight of the trip so far as Mrs Kinch was concerned was our outing to Longleat Animal Park. This was fantastic, even better than I remembered it. There had been big changes to the park since we were last there. You can walk in amongst the Meerkats for example, which is great. My camera battery ran out regretably quickly, so many of my pictures were taken on my phone, but expect a torrent of Meerkat videos.

The SS Great Britain (Mrs Kinch for scale)

We went on a day trip to Bristol which was mainly memorable for SS Great Britain museum. I hadn't been that keen on going and was mainly there to accompany Savage who has a passion for Isambard Kingdom Brunel that should worry Tootsie, were it not that the chap is safely dead and buried. The ship is a magnificent sight and is a credit to the team that restored her. She's held in drydock and you descend through a sheet of plate glass which represents the water line to inspect the hull. This area is kept at 20% humidity or less to keep the hull from rusting. What makes this an even more surreal experience is the fact that there is a layer of water on top of the glass, so that one looks up to see rippling rain falling on the water "surface" from underneath.

Recommended.

Mrs Kinch and I recently celebrated our three year anniversary. As it happens we went to Bath on our honeymoon and had a splendid cream tea in the Jane Austen exhibition rooms in 2008. I'm very fond of this particular meal and when we returned we were shown to a table right next to where we'd had tea on our last visit. I asked if we could be moved, the waitress agreed, but was a bit perplexed until I explained why. Needless to say she rose to the occasion as you can see above.

It wouldn't really be a holiday without some book shopping and I managed to substantially increase my collection of Henty's. I read "With Moore at Corunna" on the way home - fine, stirring stuff.

Taking communion at Bath Abbey was wonderful. A particularly pleasant and welcoming group of communicants made a stranger feel very welcome.

Savage and I also went on a trip to Frome on the good advice of Stryker. We were not disappointed. The Frome Model Centre is enormous, well stocked and staffed by pleasant and well informed staff who seperated me from my money with significantly less sting than usual. Savage picked up some Soviet Anti-Aircraft guns which will soon be gracing Libyan technicals, while I bought some Beech trees to dolly up my game boards as well as some ECW plastics.

Some rather excellant meals were eaten while we were away, but the palm must go to the Barrique Bistro. This restaurant looks slightly grotty on the outside, but the unassuming exterior conceal a real treat within. The food is best described as French tapas, small portions of classic French dishes served in little pots by some of the nicest waitstaff we'd met in a while. Very affordable too.

And that concludes "What I did on my holidays" by Conrad Kinch, Age 31 and one third.

*Respects were paid, Steve.