BITWRATHPLOOB World Tour

Tour d’Europe3
simon posted in Official Visits on July 15th, 2008

Before the ‘Ploob heads off to pastures new I thought I’d take one last photo of him in front of a Belgian landmark, so off we headed to the Atomium, which had recently been spruced up in time for its 50th birthday.

 

After the obligatory snaps and a celebratory waffle, I suddenly remembered that Mini-Europe was next door. What a perfect opportunity for ‘Ploob to visit (kind of) monuments from all across the continent (as well as a few Belgian sites he’d missed out on) in one go. I’m not sure we got all 27 EU member states, as my four-year-old daughter was along for the trip and needed occasional distraction, but we managed most of them, I think. I’d never been before, but I was quite impressed by the quality of some of the models. Most displays had a big blue button which played that country’s national anthem when pushed.

So, in no particular order…

Copenhagen harbour:

 

Dinant (Belgium):

 

Leuven (Belgium) town hall:

 

St. Patrick’s Rock, Ireland:

 

Bath, UK:

 

‘Ploob the Royal Guard:

 

Sacre Coeur, Paris:

 

Porto, Portugal:

 

Seville, Spain:

 

Mnajdra, Malta:

 

Pisa, Italy:

Vesuvius. Press the blue button and it “erupts”:

 

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin:

 

Apparently the most famous sight in Luxembourg is a bridge with some lorries on it:

 

Prague on the left, Bratislava on the right:

 

Bucharest:

 

Budapest:

 

Ljubljana:

 

Melk abbey, Austria:

 

The Acropolis, Greece:

 

So there you have it: a tour of (most of) Europe in less than an hour. A fitting way to end his stay in the Capital of Europe, I think you’ll agree.

Next up is a long weekend in Devon before moving on to the next destination…

 

Pis and mayonnaise4
simon posted in Official Visits on July 2nd, 2008

Yesterday I very generously sacrificed my lunch hour(s) to show ‘Ploob a couple of the main tourist atractions in the centre of Brussels.

First up was the Grand Place. Some say that this is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. It was hard to tell that day, as about a quarter of it was covered in scaffolding for renovation work, and the centre was a mess of cranes and trucks and seating stands as preparations were made for the upcoming annual Ommegang event. Still, I managed to get shots of ‘Ploob in front of the town hall…

 

…the City Museum…

 

and a selection of guildhalls.

 

We turned the corner and paid homage to one of Brussels’ most famous residents, the Manneken Pis. He’s disappointingly small, and although he’s often dressed in some sort of costume, usually donated by visiting foreign dignitaries, on this day he was au naturel.

 

Personally I prefer the little girl version, Jeanneke Pis, to be found a few streets away in the crowded tourist restaurant district. At least she has a smile on her face (plus she’s life-sized).

 

A stop for lunch, and ‘Ploob insisted on trying some more Belgian beer. I opted for a Hoegaarden, which is popular during summer for its lightness and refreshing taste.

 

We shared a cornet of frites, and ‘Ploob ended up with a mayostache.

 

He then drained the rest of the beer. Despite his well-documented love of this type of beverage, ‘Ploob has a tragically low tolerance for alcohol, and after one glass of blanche he was telling me that I was his “besht mate”, and asking to borrow my mobile phone so that he could call up all his old girlfriends.

 

Political ‘Ploob2
simon posted in Official Visits on June 18th, 2008

I felt it only right and proper that the ‘Ploob, during his time in “The Capital of Europe”, should visit some of the institutions which represent him (born in Denmark, he’s technically an EU citizen).

Well, when I say “visit”, of course I mean “stand outside”, as inside they’re a fairly uninspiring collection of offices and meeting rooms.

First up, the European Council, or “Justus Lipsius” building. This is where all the ministers of the Member States meet to reach their decisions. It’s also where, twice a year, the heads of state come for a summit. Later this week it’s where the new Irish Taoiseach will cower in a corner of the room while the other 26 countries glower at him.

 

The European Commission, on the other hand, is housed in dozens of buildings spread across Brussels, but the headquarters, home to the Commissioners themselves, is the Berlaymont building, handily located across the road from the Justus Lipsius. It used to be full of asbestos, but it’s safe now. Really, perfectly safe (cough).

 

A short walk away is the seat of European democracy - the European Parliament. At least, one of them. The other one’s in Strasbourg, and they shuttle back and forth between them once a month. (Yes, I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t see it changing any time soon). Anyway, in honour of our elected representatives, we stopped first for a little liquid lunch…

 

‘Ploob was hoping to meet some MEPs in order to lobby them about ‘Ploob rights, recognition as a distinct culture with its own traditions, and to demand that ‘Ploobese be granted status as an official EU language, but there was no-one around - they’re all in Strasbourg this week…

 

In Brugge2
simon posted in Official Visits on June 9th, 2008

You know what wedding anniversaries are like. You take some time to plan it all out perfectly - grandparents visit and look after the kids while you slip away to a chic little guesthouse in a picturesque Flemish town, and an acclaimed restaurant in the evening.

And of course, you bring BITWRATHPLOOB along with you. What could be more romantic than sharing your celebration of five years of wedded bliss with a ‘Ploob?

He tried to grab forty winks nestled under the GPS on the 1hr 15 mins drive north from Brussels.

Once we’d arrived, he was refreshed and ready to soak up the olde worlde charm of one of Belgium’s prime tourist attractions, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Brugge. We fought our way through the crowds of geriatric tour groups, taking sanctuary in an establishment selling one of Belgium’s most successful exports. ‘Ploob seemed to feel right at home here.

More wandering, with many a scenic view to stand in front of.

Scenic and “Tourist Tat Shops” are what Brugge does best, and personally I’ve always preferred Ghent, but we usually choose Brugge for its proximity to several world class restaurants, so once we’d done a tour of the centre, we unceremoniously dumped ‘Ploob in our room, leaving him to gaze forlornly out the window while we went off to feed our faces.

We made it up to him the following day, though. Once home in Brussels the sun decided to come out. Like any other Northern European, our instinctive reaction to the sight of the slightest amount of sunshine was “BARBECUUUUUUUUUUUUE!”, so out came the charcoal, tongs and skewers. ‘Ploob lent a helping hand…

…and was rewarded with liquid sustenance.

Afterwards he felt a little light-headed and had to retire, and our daughter gave him pride of place on the shelf next to various other beloved playthings.

Next up: a boozy night out (do we see a pattern emerging here?) in Brussels centre…

The ‘Ploob is off to the mountains2
Frederique posted in Official Visits on June 2nd, 2008

No self-respecting visitor to the South Island of NZ can avoid a trip through the Southern Alps. I would’ve loved to take the BITWRATHPLOOB to Queenstown and the more exotic Lake Tekapo and Milford Sound but, alas! I had neither a car, nor a three-day holiday to spend driving south.

What I did have was friends willing to take me, and the ‘Ploob, for a day-trip to Arthur’s Pass. We left early - 8am! - and headed to Darfield for our morning coffee, then we hit the road towards the mountains. The ‘Ploob spent most of the trip in Maddi’s company: 

The car started climbing the hills, then the hill turned into mountains, we were still climbing and our ears were beginning to pop. We were treated to some spectacular views, before finally arriving to our first stop: the Castle Hill rock formations.

The place is just stunning - those giant rocks sitting there, seemingly randomly scattered on the side of the hill.

Some scenes from the first movie The Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here, though I’m not sure in which part exactly. The place is also well known for bouldering, and we did get to admire a few climbers. You could say we were inspired (though perhaps less adventurous) and we climbed to the top of one of the bigger, more accessible rocks to take pictures of the ‘Ploob in front of this strange scenery:

The road between Castle Hill and the village of Arthur’s Pass keeps going up through the mountains. My favourite part of the drive, I think, are the incredibly large, flat riverbeds we cross here and there. During the thaw in spring they are probably full of water, but at this time of year (early autumn), they look like rivers of rocks. And somehow all the bridges - really long bridges! - have only one lane.

We arrived in Arthur’s Pass for lunch. We ate at the Wobbly Kea Café, then drove the short distance to the beginning of the Punchbowl Falls trail. Nothing like going up hundreds of steps to help with digestion!

The ‘Ploob managed to mess with my camera again…

…but nothing that couldn’t be fixed on the drive to Death Corner and the Otira Viaduct.

Years ago, the road used to be on the side of the mountain. Then the scree slope took over and the road disappeared. It was rebuilt, then washed down the hillside again. Not surprisingly, the zigzag-y bit leading to this portion of road was called Death’s Corner…  A few years ago (in the 1990s, I think), the viaduct was built - wider, larger angles, less at the mercy of tumbling mountain sides. Death’s Corner is now a viewpoint for the viaduct, a picnic spot for tourists, and the playground of the keas.

I had heard so many stories about those birds - they’re very clever, and so used to tourists that one only has to put down a picnic blanket for them to come out a beg/steal food, as well as hats, gloves, books, bottles and anything left unattended for a minute. I was really looking forward to photographing their encounter with the BTWRATHPLOOB. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. There were no keas there that day - not a single bird to be found.

Still, the day’s adventures weren’t over yet. We headed back to Christchurch on the same road we came in, stopping just before we reached Castle Hill again.

Cave Stream Reserve was another attraction I had heard about but had never seen myself. With the ‘Ploob in my pockets (that head that pops out is so handy for transport!), we started down the cliff trail, being mindful of the dangers.

Some people were obviously intent on exploring the cave, but the water was decidedly too cold for us.

When we walked back up, the moon was rising above the mountains. We drove home in the dark, exhausted by all the fresh air and walking, and those of us in the back seat slept most of the way.

A very warm thank you to the Dumbles: Helen, Darren and little Maddi, who took the ‘Ploob and I on this adventure through the alps and happily shared in the rock climbing and silly photo-taking.