Nick Fryer

Category: Family

  • Self-incompatibility

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    Spring is springing, and with it the quotidian miracle of new life on many fronts, not least in the fifteen centimetres of unpromising dirt that hems one side of our house block. Hard by the corrugated iron fence that daily prevents violence by separating me from my neighbours has sproinged into existence a minor forest…

  • Europe 31 & 32 – Full Stop, The End

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    And they all lived happily ever after. Audio: Emirates in flight announcement, in Arabic

  • Europe 30 – Mr Nicholas Changes Trains

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    Yeah, look, there’s only one train in this story, but if you thought I was not going to follow up the Isherwood reference of a couple of days ago with another (on the flimsiest of bases) then you have badly overestimated my creativity (or underestimated my laziness). Nor is it much of a story, frankly.…

  • Europe 29 – Le XIIIe siècle

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    A day in la Cité de Carcassonne. Some reading up on the Albigensian Crusade (C was a redoubt of the Cathars, I learn) and a short lecture is delivered in two versions for the boys on the feudal system and mediaeval military logistics, then we’re off to the walled city. Which is every bit as…

  • Europe 28 – Goodbye to Berlin

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    I have left this too long, partly because it was such a waste of a day. Forewarned that Schönefeld Airport is a national joke and to be early to allow for inevitable delays, we were early, and were evitably processed with efficiency and rapidity. That left us with the best part of three hours to…

  • Europe 27 – Babylon

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    The way to do museums, with kids, is hit ’em early, while they’re still waking up. Also, audio guides.  “That queue will be at least an hour,” said some bloke to some bloke I met in the queue, who relayed the message. Bloke didn’t know what he was talking about, blessedly, and about half an…

  • Europe 26 – The Border

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    To travel by U-bahn is to be deceived. Overground, Berlin sprawls. I had promised the boys the day to do as they pleased, including to sleep in as long as they wanted. They took me at my word, and we slobbed about until after 11am, Seb and I making it all the way across the…

  • Europe 25 – The Holey Roaming Empire

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    I know the story. You know the story. Charles Babbage invented machine computing, but the technical sophistication of the time wasn’t up to realising his dream. Alan Turing worked out the theoretical basis for computing during the day; while cracking Enigma, and incidentally laying the foundation for the hardware, at night. Then the Americans invented…

  • Europe 24 – Everything is Awesome

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    A day for the boys, at least the first twelve hours of it. Their pick was Legoland at Postdamer Platz – which is exactly what you think: a Lego shop with a Lego exhibition and a café attached. Two full hours for the boys to run around and play in an all-plastic, primary colour, indoor…

  • Europe 23 – On ICE

    —

    by

    Nick Fryer
    in ,

    And now it’s the boys’ time – Anna is off to the south of France while the merry men head east. Gare du Nord is surprisingly familiar – I had completely forgotten that we were there about 65 hours earlier as we got off the Eurostar. We’ve packed a bit into those hours. In any…