Lago di Garda versus Sutton, Greater London

Well only 7 days more of Sutton.
Time waits for no man, as they say, but the onerous task of cleaning the two cars ( the Fiat 500 L is of course, the girls) definitely can wait. I have done everything I possibly can do to avoid this most unpleasant experience.

I have helped the father-in-law cut back some ferocious trees and shrubs, offered to help my better half with the shopping excursion to Morrisons and have recently been hiding in the bathroom. However, I fear that I will be discovered at some point and my fate will be sealed.

We have heard that snow has fallen on the mountains near where we will be based near Lake Garda. The better half has had more kittens now as she is frantically telling me to swap all the summer clothes "that I should have packed by now" for woolies, cardies and long johns. (Apologies to our foreign readers, I have no idea what she is talking about either...)

Morrisons have furnished us with another 12 bottles of Adnams Ghost Ship Ale that also need to find their homes in the car for onward transmission to the Uncle in Italy who has solved the crises, namely Global Warming and our broadband connection..

As I reflect on how far we've come with the girls since the day that my better half telephoned me at work and announced that we were due to receive three bundles of joy all at once, I find it reassuring to remember the panic setting in on how to cope with all the chaos, feeding, winding, burping, soiled clothes, dribbling etc......and then I thought, why worry about my habits, shouldn't I care more about coping with three little babies instead?

Cleaning the cars doesn't seem too that bad all of a sudden....

Triplets want to take the hats they bought in Prague after hearing about the snow!!!!

Non ha peli sulla lingua....he doesn't have hair on the tongue....

Or a better translation would be....he says it how it is......

Berlin no way as "nice" as Prague...don't get me wrong, I love Germany. I think if you visited Berlin first, it would be incredibly more enjoyable.

It is a very easy city to travel around by public transport, no doubt about that....and the beer, whilst hitting the pocket at 4.50 euros for 0.5l, was very refreshing in the heat.

The weather 'improved' for us for about an hour, in that the temperature dropped to 27 degs and we had a light shower which brought all the Berliners and tourists out to play in the streets to witness this thing called "rain".

We've now moved in with the out-laws for 10 days or so, so I pity them as they see their beautiful home being filled with boxes of stuff pending our departure. However, famous bolognese has been offered along with casserole and dumplings tonight, so life is not too bad after all...

Chaos this morning as family in Italy advised that they couldn't find the socket for our new broadband connection...Panic ensued and the emergency services were put on high alert. This would be a disaster of huge proportions...thankfully all now sorted and we are so grateful that we have offered to take over 24 bottles of English ale as part of the relief mission.

A very kind and lovely customer of the girls artwork (he has commissioned a Maserati Ghibli and a Tornado as a result of seeing Art By Three in a local paper due to their getting distinctions at college), has visited us this morning to collect two pieces from them. Thanks Pete, also for the choccies, wine and beers!!

Anyway, tempus fugit as always and I need to start brushing up on my hazy Italian.....ciao for now....

Melting quicker than an Eskimo in a sauna.........

Ever regret not checking that your Hotel has full air-conditioning?
Ok, can't complain - my fault, I guess. Girls have an app that tells you how many steps you've done. I do often ask why?, because I do miles, like we do years, not seconds for your age etc. So, their app tells me that 22,000 steps equals 13km, which in 34 degs and full sun must be either crazy or mad, or both..
As we have the Berlin pass, which means we can use the underground, I thought that must be cooler. Oh no. How wrong. There must be a whole liquid entity of myself distributed throughout the seats on the U7, U2 and the S whatever..
We crawled through the Charlottenberg gardens, chasing the shade. Headed off to Potsdamer Platz and boiled ourselves in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Humbled by man's inhumanity to man in the museum of the holocaust near the Tiergarten. Girls dived into the Ritter (chocolate) museum. Mum and Dad dived into a small bier garten (to get shade of course).
Went east-side and had dinner near the Alexanderplatz before returning to hotel for cold showers. Hoping to believe the forecast that we could be down to 25 tomorrow.

Art by Three seem to be very at home in visiting new places. I'll have to review our budgets for the Grand Tour.....

Day 3 and 4 !! Ich bin ein Berliner

Wifi  at hotel decided to have a hissy fit last night, so apologies. Another hot day yesterday, but we headed off nonetheless towards the Nove Mesto (new town) as planned. Three very fluffy hats were duly purchased (after some very serious but good natured bargaining), whilst I left them to it by seeking shade in an adjacent bar..... horrified to find that the price reached the dizzy height of £2.05 per 0.5l.
Further purchases occurred as I had taken my eye off the ball, but we agreed to meet for lunch at Giovanni's ristorante for a steady bowl of pasta. Not bad, but will never match my mother-in-laws or even better, her own mother-in-law from years ago....
Fully recharged, we took on the tourists again and, yes, very busy, but everyone seemed happy with it. As it was so hot, 32 degrees and no breeze, we took provisions back to our air-conditioned rooms and made plans for today.
First emergency this morning took place, road into town outside hotel was shut for resurfacing so my contingency planning skills kicked in. I informed hotel reception to advise all guests of best way to take trams into town via alternative methods of public transport, for which the reception team was truly thankful. Only to discover around a dozen Italian guests all piling into taxis instead.... No appreciation, honestly....
A gentle stroll in the heat, Art By Three found a great ice cream place indoors, whilst the missus got stuck into a "Tredlnk", a huge pastry cone absolutely stuffed with ice cream. So, she ended up wearing most of it which caught the local gang of wasps' interest.. Escaped into M&S for meal deals and headed for the train to Berlin....very sad to leave Prague😔...
We've decided on purchasing the Berlin Card at £135 between us that lasts 72 hours. That means that we feel obliged on spending even more money on getting in to see more attractions, museums, castles   etc that we can pack in in that time..
I obviously need to check out the local beer to make a fair comparison with the Pragivarians or whoever they are. Goodnight for now..will leave you with the wife and her tredlink!

Day 2 - wow it's warm and we walked 8 miles!!

Lovely day.....we went to western part of Prague today to visit the palace and castle ( as I said yesterday, the ladies dragged me through the beautiful lanes, disappearing into the many little shops when I wasn't looking). It was a hot one though, I was saved by a local hostelry that served up some golden nectar at £1.05 for 0.5 litre.

Have to say, the city is very clean, people friendly and very easy to get around. Great meal out (with a further beer to help the discussion as to whether the ladies should buy 3 ex-Soviet Union military fluffy hats that look like the cat on Specsavers advert.)

After a hearty breakfast tomorrow, we're off to Wencesleceslacesaselas square, yes I know, that beer went down very well!👌. Having lunch by the river maybe whilst planning the Berlin transfer on Saturday....

Great architecture here, overheard Art By Three chatting as to what to paint first......

Day 1: Escape To Prague

Evening all, Triplet Dad here. I promised that I would write this blog (with help from the girls, of course...).
Well, we arrived safely in beautiful Prague and have spent the afternoon in the 'old town' of the city. Amazing place, absolutely full of Italians, we understand this is one of their favourite short holiday breaks. Enjoyed a river cruise together.
 As we were up at 04:00, thanks to dear Linda (mother in law) who made us urgent teas and coffees, we are now shattered!!
Lots of plans for tomorrow (well shall we say lots of opinions🙀), but as usual we'll agree on a 'proportional representation' method, which means I don't get a look in....

We visited some great shops which exhibited many fine paintings (prints but box canvass) of the city. We hope to make contact with the artist at some point once we can identify her/him!!

Here is a pic of them on Charles Bridge...they didn’t know I took this one!

Countdown....all packed and ready to go....

Hi all.  Just an update.  We have packed the cat and she is being shipped away some 6 doors from home to her/our grandparents. She has had holidays there before, but not for this long.

Mum has had "kittens" (so she says) about packing up stuff that we aren't taking to Italy with us, whilst Dad has been quite happy keeping up to date with the cricket and pretending to cut back the garden and clean the windows.

So, we're off to Prague and Berlin this Wednesday, the first stage. Then we have to return for just a few days to make sure our tenants are well and truly settled in. We really didn't realise just how much stuff a family has when putting it all together.!!

We're trying to complete our many commissions before we head off to Italy on the 4th Sept.....here is a #wip of one!