Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

The second half of our busy Sunday! The gig at Waldbühne, wearing ponchos, and a relaxed dinner at Yo Soy!

Wet, wet, wet!

We had reluctantly left the Literatur Café and walked back to the bus stop near Theodor-Heuss-Platz. The sky had darkened, and big clouds were massing above us. We took shelter in the bus stop, and realised that a lot of our fellow travellers were wearing cowboy attire... Two women wore bandanas, short skirts and cowboy boots. They were obviously only interested in Zach Bryan, whereas we were only interested in Ben Howard...

A bus arrived, and we all piled on. It was already rammed with people, and we all steamed gently as we made our way to an S-Bahn station. When we disembarked, the rain was coming down heavily, and we had to run across a busy road, trying to avoid a few deep puddles!

Heerstrasse station was very quiet, but as the time for the train's arrival drew near, more people gathered on the platform. Sophie was understandably annoyed with me for leaving our small umbrella in the hotel room, but I doubt it would have been much good anyway!

We boarded the S9 train to Pichelsburg, and when we arrived, everyone streamed off. It was still raining, and those of us who weren't prepared for the downpour had no choice but to buy a poncho from a very enterprising woman who was selling them for 5 euros each. She was making an absolute killing, and fair play to her! We hesitated about buying them at first to see if the rain would stop, but it was clear it was set in for the foreseeable future! We bought a clear one each, which covered all of us, including our bags. 

We set off with hundreds of others, up a flight of steps, along a bridge, up more steps, and then through a wooded area with tennis courts off to our left. As we emerged from the woods, we saw a constant procession of people heading for the arena. Trolleys, with a sign saying "Pfand", or deposit, were standing along the road, ready to collect bottles that people couldn't take in with them, so that the deposit could be claimed back. There is a thriving little business here in Berlin, and we often saw people going through bins to find the "Pfand" bottles. 

We asked a friendly steward the way to get in, but she said that if we wanted merchandise, to go there first. Sophie looked in vain for a Ben Howard T-shirt but couldn't see any, only Zach Bryan ones, which were selling for about 50 euros!

We made our way to the gate and joined a throng of people, most of whom were wearing ponchos! There were security searches here, and annoyingly, my can of freeze spray was taken off me and thrown away... Grrr! When we entered the amphitheatre, it was amazing to see so many people gathered together on the steep sides of the arena. Waldbühne was built in 1936 for the Olympic Games and is based on an ancient Greek theatre. It can seat just over 22,000 people.

Sophie queued to go to the loo, and then we descended the steep stone steps to our "seats", places on a wet bench quite close to the stage.

"Has the world gone mad, or is it me?"

Looking around, it was like we'd joined a weird cult for people with a fetish for ponchos! A singer called Keenan O'Meara was warbling away on stage, but most people hadn't taken their seats yet.

We tried to keep dry as it was raining hard now. I couldn't quite believe we were sitting on hard, wet benches in the downpour, waiting for Ben Howard to come on, and he would only be singing for about an hour! We weren't going to even stay for the main show!

Keenan O'Meara finished his act, and there was a flurry of activity on the stage as the roadies set up for Ben. I asked Sophie if there was another way out, and we both deduced there wasn't. It was going to be a hard slog back up the steps after our long day of walking!

Ben came on, and we whooped and cheered! A lot of people were still milling about at the top of the amphitheatre and obviously weren't interested in our hero from England! He did the following songs:

Sister

Cadence

Small Things

Towing the Line

Conrad

Days of Lantana

What the Moon Does

I Forget Where We Were

Sophie was ecstatic that he did Small Things, Days of Lantana (or Brantano, as I called it), and I Forget Where We Were. He was on for about forty-five minutes, but it was worth it to see him again, and really quite close! By now, the rain had stopped, and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.

From the screen next to us

As soon as he was finished, and it was obvious he wasn't going to do an encore, we made our way back up the slippery stone steps. Frankly, I thought they were dangerous. It would only take one big, burly guy, dressed in his camo T-shirt and cowboy hat, to lose his footing after a bellyful of beer, and take out a load of people as he went down! I was hugely relieved when we reached the top!

We made our way out and asked if we could leave. The female steward (who I wouldn't mess with) barked that we were unable to come back in, and "had to go home!" Fine with us! Sophie cast another long, lingering look at a merch stand, but decided to keep her money!

We walked back the way we'd come from the station, but both of us were reluctant to go through the now deserted woodland part, especially as a lone man was meandering about... we took the longer route and walked through a beautiful residential area of lovely houses and what we think were exclusive apartments. The complex of apartments was bristling with CCTV cameras... diplomatic quarters, perhaps?

We soon came back to the bridge we'd crossed and saw several security guards wandering about. The station was very quiet, and we boarded the next train, which arrived in minutes. Inside the train, it was also quiet with people engrossed with their phones or reading.

We had decided to take the train to Hackescher Markt and try to have dinner at Yo Soy, a Spanish tapas restaurant we'd eaten at a few years ago. It was an exceedingly pleasant journey to the station, and the sun streamed through the windows. I loved just gazing out at the Berlin cityscape.

Tapas treats

Once we'd alighted at Hackescher Markt station, we made our way to the restaurant. Even though it was a Sunday evening, the bars and restaurants were busy with people eating and drinking. Yo Soy also looked very busy, but the waiter who had served us before kindly led us to a quiet area at the back of the restaurant and said we could sit there.

We had a good look at the menu and chose a Spanish omelette, Padron peppers, meatballs, chicken croquettes, and bread, accompanied by olives and aioli. Two glasses of rosé completed our dinner order.

A dried-out Sophie!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner, away from the main hustle and bustle of the restaurant. Our waiter was impressed that Sophie ordered our dishes in Spanish! It had been a long day, and it was bliss to sit and relax and eat delicious food.

After we'd eaten and paid the bill, we called an Uber to take us back to the hotel. We couldn't face walking or getting the train to Alexanderplatz and then Märkisches Museum. I think we had done enough for today!

Back in our room, we poured a glass of fizz each and relaxed before bed! 

Our steps from Sunday

Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

I have split today into two, as we managed to pack so much in! The first half will be the flea market and lunch at the Literatur Café, while the second half will be the concert at Waldbühne and dinner in Hackescher Markt.

Flea market Sunday

We both slept well, and it was great to make a lovely coffee in our room. We were showered and dressed by 9:30am, and walked the short distance to the bakery that we had eaten breakfast in when we visited in December. This time, though, we didn't have the enormous breakfasts we had before! A coffee and an almond croissant were enough!

We sat and enjoyed our breakfast inside, but the folding doors were open. It was a gorgeous day, and we were keeping our fingers crossed about the concert this evening as the venue was outdoors! From the bakery, we took the U2 line to Eberswalder Strasse and then walked to the Mauer Park, situated in  Prenzlauer Berg. The walk took us through a pleasant residential district with apartment blocks, cafés, and restaurants. It was now quite warm, and at first we couldn't find the entrance to the park. It seemed to be fenced off! We noticed a huge arena advertising lots of well-known bands, and finally, after walking around the perimeter of the arena, we saw the flea market in the distance.

The first thing we needed was a sit-down and some water. Sophie spotted a stand selling drinks and said, "Ooh! Aperol Spritz!" But I said we needed to drink water to keep hydrated. She listened to me for once, and we both drank half a litre of still water while sitting in the shade of a tree. After this, she felt a lot better as her cold had been troubling her while we had been walking.

We both now felt ready to do justice to the enormous variety of goods for sale in the flea market. The park used to be a no-man's land when the Berlin Wall was standing, and it was inaccessible between 1961 and 1989. Now, it's an enormously popular Sunday market selling everything from new clothes, secondhand clothes, jewellery, art and food, to small-batch gins and vodkas, posters and antiques.

Sophie found a beautiful ring that fitted her thumb perfectly, so that's all of her fingers taken care of. She's moving onto toes next!

It was lovely to wander around and look at all the different things for sale. We both loved the antique stands, and Sophie bought two old postcards to take home with her. It was a good job we were flying home and not driving, as more items would have been purchased!

As is usual for Berlin, we found some stalls with more edgier items for sale, such as posters like these:

Nearby was a stand that had us wondering...

I couldn't see any donkeys about...

Sophie spotted a stand selling T-shirts and bought one with a cat in a plant pot on the front. She was enjoying herself immensely! We bought another bottle of water to keep us going and resumed our wanderings. Sophie used the immaculate loos and paid 50c, but thought this was a bargain as they were so clean!

The time was getting on, so we left and made our way back to the U-Bahn station via a different route. Sophie said she needed the loo, so we stopped at the first restaurant we came to, a Vietnamese eaterie called Chay35. We asked if we could have just a drink, and they were more than happy to accommodate us. Sophie ordered a glass of white wine while I had a "Han Noi" smoothie with mango and coconut milk.

It was very pleasant to sit outside and rest our weary feet! I had inserted the heel lifts into my trainers, and they had taken away the pain in my left heel, so I was very relieved! I dread to think how much pain I'd have been in by now without the inserts! We were tempted to order some food, but we had a lunch booking at the Literatur Café, and we didn't want to spoil our appetites!

Dedicated people watching!

After resting for about forty-five minutes and using the facilities again, we walked back to the U-Bahn station and rode the underground to the Märkisches Museum stop. We both needed to freshen up a little before having lunch, so we went up to our rooms and cooled down for ten minutes!

The last time we had visited the beautiful Literatur Café, it had been the depths of winter with a layer of dangerous black ice on the pavements and roads. It had grown a little cloudy while we were in the hotel, but it was still warm, and we took the U2 line to Theodor-Heuss-Platz. From the station, we crossed a small park (the last time we walked on the grass to avoid slipping over) and a couple of roads before heading down through a quiet residential area. To our left were exhibition halls and tennis courts, and we soon arrived at the entrance. It was still lovely and quiet, and we were shown to a reserved table on the terrace.

A few other tables were occupied; opposite were three men who looked dodgy to me, and were doing some kind of business deal in English, an Asian couple next to us were completely engrossed in their laptops with a pot of tea between them, and another two men were enjoying a quiet lunch. They were still there when we left, a lot later!

The terrace of the Literatur Café is the kind of place that induces a feeling of calm. We looked at the menu, and we both decided to have sandwiches. Sophie had a coronation chicken filling in hers, while I opted for a crusty baguette with serrano ham, salad and egg. We shared a bowl of crunchy French fries. For drinks, I chose a beer, while Sophie enjoyed a Campari and orange juice. It was heaven to sit and relax after our busy morning!

We both indulged in people-watching, and the terrace began to fill up with guests. An older couple arrived and were asked to move tables as the one they had chosen was reserved. They must have been in their early 80s, and the man chain-smoked cigarettes, even when his wife was eating! I said to Sophie that they were both most likely war babies, born around the early 1940s, like my Dad. This then made me think of the song "War Baby" by Tom Robinson, and it was in my head all afternoon.

However, if I thought the couple were old, the two women who came in next made them look like teenagers! I was utterly fascinated by them both... They sat opposite me, and one of the women pulled her chair around so I couldn't see her properly. They both wore hats and scruffy clothes, and when they were finally settled, one of the women took out a sheaf of papers, and I swear they were court papers, as in a court case. She then took out a newspaper cutting with a page highlighted, and I would have given my right arm to have sat with them and chatted about their lives!

They may have been too young to have been involved in the war (I hazarded a guess at late 80s), but even if they had been in their early 90s, they still wouldn't have been old enough to have had active roles in the Second World War. My guess was that they were lesbian lovers (although I would have settled for sisters) and had been active in the Stasi in the 1960s.

We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard.

You can see the two women in the background

As the women were perusing the menu, fat drops of rain began to fall, and one of the women immediately got up and went inside, leaving her companion to struggle up by herself! Bugger! The staff set the awning in motion so it covered us, but the drops of rain didn't last, and it soon stopped.

We ordered more drinks (wine and another beer) and an apple strudel each, accompanied by a delicious custard. We could have stayed forever, but the time was marching on, and we had a bus and a train to catch to see Ben!

Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

A poorly daughter...

Sophie woke me at 2:30am this morning, but I'd had such a bad night's sleep, I set my alarm for 3:00am and snoozed for half an hour. When we were all set to go, Sophie said she felt terrible and had had a bad night's sleep as well. Not an ideal start to our break in Berlin!

We left at 3:30am, and Jeeves took us onto the A5 to Dunstable, as a large section of the M1 was closed. It felt very strange taking such a different route, and as we drove, the sky became lighter and lighter. After this diversion, the journey was largely uneventful, except for one confusing section of the M25, which must have just reopened minutes before we reached it. This sent Jeeves into a tailspin, and he kept repeating, "Adhere to the route!" in a weird robotic voice, until we turned him off!

We arrived at Maple Parking in good time and took our seats on a bus bound for Terminal 5. We cleared security easily (without any grumbles from me) and decided to have breakfast at Giraffe. We both chose porridge with fruit and coffee. The food and coffee revived Sophie, who said she felt better, but she was still stuffed up, sneezing and coughing, bless her! She was able to comment to me quietly about the girl at the next table who was sitting with huge curlers in her hair and obviously making a YouTube video of a trip to New York... It was funny when she was asked for ID after ordering a Hugo Spritz!

After breakfast, we made our way straight to the gate and had our cabin bags taken away and put in the hold as the plane was full. We had checked in online and chosen middle and window seats, and Sophie was hoping that the seat next to her would be empty.

We had to board a bus to get to the plane, and soon we were taking our seats. Amazingly, despite the plane being "full", Sophie had an empty seat next to her! Bonus! We had a very pleasant flight indeed; Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz, and I chose a "Trip" drink, meant to induce calm. It sent me off to sleep!

I loved looking out of the window at the clouds and glimpsing the land (and sea) below!

Lunch by the river

We were dreading the EES system, but we used the machines easily, and then queued to go through passport control again. I have no idea why we have to do this, as our fingerprints were taken again, and our passports stamped! I honestly thought that once you go through this rigmarole, it lasts up to three years, and you don't have to go through it all again. Obviously not!

We had decided to take the S-Bahn to Jannowitzbrücke station (a couple of stops before Alexanderplatz) and order an Uber to take us to the hotel. We descended to the station platform and jumped straight onto the S9 to Spandau. We had bought 24-hour tickets and made sure we had validated them before boarding the train. Minutes after the train left the station, we were asked for our tickets. Two guys sitting opposite, who had been on our plane, were told off for not validating their tickets, but the ticket collector's wrath was reserved for a mother and son pair who had not bought a ticket at all! A huge argument ensued with the mother almost screaming at the ticket collector. The ticket collector would not give in, and at the next station, they all got off and carried on their argument on the platform!

A lovely couple boarded with a small dog, and I could see the woman was itching to talk. She asked us if this was our first trip to Berlin, and we had a great chat with them both until they disembarked at another station. Their dog was called Flo, and the woman had family in Birmingham who ran a pub. It was lovely to sit and chat, and another man also joined in, who was American. Only the two lads kept quiet!

It was warm and stuffy on the train, and it was great to leave it at Jannowitzbrücke station and hail an Uber. The driver arrived within minutes and took us the short distance to the hotel. Sophie hadn't wanted to go through all the ups and downs at Alexanderplatz and then take the U-Bahn to Märkisches Museum, and this was an ideal solution. 

Thankfully, our rooms were ready and up on the sixth floor. We were given two keys, which confused us slightly, but all was made clear when we entered the room. We had an entrance hall with a tiny kitchenette and two rooms on either side. We both had a bathroom, which was very convenient! My room overlooked the river, the Berliner Dom in the distance, and the blocks of flats.

We unpacked and then strolled over to the Nikolai Quarter for lunch. It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and blue skies. It felt a little weird walking over, as the last time we'd been in Berlin when it wasn't Spring or Summer was in 2013!

The roadworks were still in place on the main road we needed to cross to get to the Nikolai Quarter, but we were soon across and gazing at the views, which never fail to disappoint.

We walked along the river and chose Trattoria San Nicola for lunch. It was pleasantly busy, and the waitress was lovely. We took a table right by the river and watched all the pleasure boats pass by. We were hoping to take a boat ride on Tuesday morning before we went home.

We shared a pizza and a bowl of French fries for lunch, as well as a glass of rosé each. We had ordered a 500ml pichet, and we were delighted to see it was from Bédoin! It was heavenly to be sitting in one of our favourite cities, in the sunshine, with our four-day break ahead of us. The stress of travelling was over, and we could relax!

Sophie had been taking Lemsips for her cold, but after we'd eaten, she started to feel stuffed up again. We decided to return to the hotel for a much-needed nap before going out for dinner at Ephraim's tonight.

Return to Ephraim's

We walked back to the hotel and called into the supermarket on the way to buy milk and some snacks. Before going up to our rooms, we made sure that the bar in the Grosser Kurfurst opposite was open, as we both wanted to have a drink there and enjoy one of Chrizz's signature cocktails. Thankfully, the bar opened at 6:00pm, but the only method of payment was cash... That would rein us in!

It was then time for a nap and a freshen up before we crossed the street again. We hadn't chosen the Grosser Kurfurst as we weren't able to book an apartment or family room, but we were delighted by the Derag Living Hotel Berlin Mitte (formerly the Henriette). I was sure this hotel used to have a bar, but it now seemed to be part of the breakfast room.

The bar was empty, and we were able to sit in our favourite seat - the banquette right next to the bar. From here, we could watch Chrizz at work! Sophie chose one of Chrizz's own cocktails, called Be Fresh, while I indulged in a Black Russian. It was delicious!

Nobody else took advantage of the lovely bar while we were there, which was a shame. Chrizz has won loads of awards for his cocktails and is a fabulous bartender, albeit a little grumpy! As we still had an hour to go before our dinner booking at Ephraim's, we decided to try another drink each. This time I went for a summery cocktail, one of Chrizz's own, called Spring Fever, which was a longer drink and was gorgeous. It contained: Absolut Vanilla Vodka, red orange liqueur, passion fruit syrup, mandarin syrup, orange juice and passion fruit nectar!

Chrizz was a little bemused when Sophie asked him if he could make her a Negroni with cherry liqueur... However, he made it for her and made sure he tested it before handing her the glass! She pronounced it delicious! 

We paid the bill and left a tip, which pleased Chrizz and made our way back to the Nikolai Quarter. We decided to sit inside at Ephraim's and took a table in the beautiful front parlour.  We both chose the chicken with pineapple curry sauce served with rice and salad, and a 250ml pichet of white wine apiece. It felt very strange to be eating while it was still light outside! 

Our waiter had served us before and was lovely and friendly. The food was delicious, and we both found room for dessert - warm pancakes stuffed with blueberries for me, and the layered walnut cake for Sophie. My daughter was fascinated by a family that came to sit behind us, and was amazed at how surly and rude the daughter was!

We paid the bill and decided to have a nightcap at Zille-Destille, where we discovered Berliner Luft last December. On the way, we booked a table at Moon Exquisite for Monday night, and this was where we had enjoyed pre-dinner cocktails last Christmas. It's a South Asian Fusion restaurant, and the schnitzel caught our eye on the menu!

We walked to Stille-Destille and took a seat at an outside table. The Champions League Final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain had just finished with the French side winning. It took a little while to attract the attention of the scatty waiter, but we weren't in any hurry! Nearby were four British lads who were working their way through large glasses of beer, and I was a little shocked to see one of them get up and make his way over to some bushes where he threw up... ugh! Amazingly, they all ordered another round of beers even though I think the staff were in the process of closing off the outside area. This bar is surrounded by apartments, and we had been told the outside area was closing at 10:00pm, presumably because of the local residents.  This was fine with us as we had just one Berliner Luft each, which was a perfect ending to our evening!

We walked back along the main street, and Sophie fell in love with BJ, a large black retriever who took a liking to her, and lay down at her feet so she could stroke his furry tummy! His owner came out, and we had a chat, which was lovely!

A deserted Nikolai Quarter

It was great to get back to our rooms and look forward to a good night's sleep!

Cuddles with Milo

It turned warm again, but thankfully, it hasn't been as hot as earlier in the week! Today has been fairly uneventful; at work, I manned the phones with Kathy, and we had to deal with more swimming problems. The time whizzed past, and apart from the swimming lesson niggles, it was a pleasant shift.

When I arrived home, Milo was in the garden again, and he ran off as soon as he saw me. I followed him down the drive, and he let me stroke him. This time, I messaged Lynn, who lives next door to his owners and let her know he's been drinking a lot and that we were a little worried about him. She messaged back to say his owners were away and that she was feeding him and their other cat, Ninja, who doesn't leave the house. This might explain why he's been visiting our garden. Then, Lynn said that Ninja doesn't let Milo drink from the water fountain, so that explained even more!

He was still about when Sophie arrived home, so she had mega cuddles with him!

Milo

I don't think our two cats were amused!

Sophie has a heavy cold and admitted to feeling awful. This doesn't bode well for our early morning tomorrow and our trip to Berlin! I packed before we had dinner: Tesco curries tonight, as we didn't want to have to cook a heavy meal. Tomorrow, we're up at about 2:30am!

Back to the heat!

I took today off as we have been quiet at work, and I had a lot of things to get done. Keith went shopping first thing while I tackled some household chores, such as washing bedding and getting it out to dry on the line in the sunshine. It was set to be hot again today, but hopefully the weather will cool down a bit tomorrow.

I spent the morning pootling about the house and trying to stay cool! As well as numerous washes, I sorted my clothes out for Berlin. The weather looks like a mixed bag with cooler, rainier conditions for Monday, but I think I'll get away with dresses this time! We just want it to stay dry for Sunday evening, when we have tickets to see Ben Howard at an outdoor concert.

Keith returned from shopping and helped out by ironing some of the clothes I needed. I went to see Mum in the afternoon, and had a pleasant chat with her for over an hour. Again, I haven't told her we're going to Berlin, as I think it would just upset her. 

Back home, I carried on with more housework and did my exercises to help my heel. I'm starting to worry it will never get better, and just hope it doesn't play up too much in Berlin!

Sophie came home from work and spent an hour trying to take out the links on a strap for her new Apple watch. She'd bought it from her friend Becky at a bargain price! It will be able to tell her accurately in Berlin how many steps we've walked every day!

Once that was done, we prepared a lovely supper of cold meats, salad and new potatoes and caught up with an episode of Panda, accompanied by a glass of rosé!

A welcome respite

I was awake at 4:22am this morning and went to check on Sophie after her inadvertent poisoning last night! She was fine and went straight back to sleep, even though I had only cracked open her door quietly, but it took me a little longer to go back to the land of Nod! I hadn't had a call from the care home, so I assumed that Mum hadn't gone to the hospital, as they would have let me know.

However, I was woken at 7:00am by one of the carers saying the ambulance had arrived late last night, and as Mum wasn't in pain, they hadn't admitted her. Phew! What a relief! I did wish they'd left telling me for another hour, though!

It was good to get up early and have a coffee with Keith in the kitchen. Sophie left for work at 8:00am, and I caught up with the blog. It was a lot cooler today, and there was a delicious breeze coming through the back door. It was lovely to feel more energetic!

I had an appointment at the Back and Body Clinic at 11:00am, and Keith was going to drop me off, see Glen in Moulton about a pre-holiday service for the VW and pop to Aldi to buy more water as we drank so much yesterday in the heat.

I wasn't seeing Gabriel today, and had a consultation with Ben, who was lovely. I did miss having Sophie with me, though, and hearing the banter between her and Gabriel! Ben talked about the tendon and made me do a couple of exercises to see what range of movement I had with my knees. He wanted to rule out any other problems that could affect the tendon. He then made me lie down and manipulated my hips, which he said were OK. 

I was made to turn over, and he applied one treatment of the shockwave therapy. It hurt as much as last week, but it was bearable. He then used a massager on the back of my left leg, which was very relaxing. He recommended I buy a heel lift for the trip to Berlin and said I could use Co-Codamol for the pain. Sophie had written out our itinerary on Monday, and we will make use of the excellent buses, trains and trams in Berlin, like we did in Vienna.

Keith was waiting for me, and we went to Riverside as I wanted to get the heel lift for my trainers. I texted Sophie to ask if she wanted to meet for lunch, and she agreed. I spent another small fortune in Boots, and we walked to Next to meet Sophie.

I was expecting the Costa in the shop to be heaving as it's half-term, but it was pleasantly quiet. I bought lunch, but Keith only wanted a pot of tea as he had the rest of yesterday's prawns to eat at home in a sandwich. Rather him than me! I only ate half of my meal last night because I was worried about Sophie, and because it was tasteless! We sat and chatted, and I told Sophie about my appointment, telling her I'd been thoroughly checked over!

After we'd eaten, we amused ourselves by sitting on all the sofas and chairs in Next, and I had a play with a rise-and-recliner seat. I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet! We said goodbye to Sophie and headed home. As I was hanging the washing on the line, Mooney appeared, and we had a major love-in. He is so sweet! He loved rolling around in the grass, one ear cocked for all the bird sounds about. We have baby Jackdaws in the house next to us, and I could hear the young squawking for food! I sat with Mooney for a little while and then went inside to catch up with some jobs. 

I spent a good hour preparing tonight's dinner, and I do wonder how the contestants on MasterChef manage to prepare and cook their dishes in the short time allowed. Do they have someone helping? I grated ginger (next time we're going to get a jar, it's so fiddly!), garlic, chopped up broccoli and spring onions, and cubed chicken breasts. I then made a sauce of honey, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. This was a recipe for Honey Glazed Chicken that sounded delicious, so I was hoping it would work out well (and I wouldn't end up poisoning any of my family!).

Sophie came home with a long list of things she needed to do, and I started on the dinner. I had to coat the chicken in cornflour, which made it lovely and crispy, cook the veg, and then amalgamate it all together and add the sauce. We ate it with deliciously sticky Jasmine rice and prawn crackers. The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked, but it was still lovely, and Sophie had enough for two lunches. I'll definitely cook it again, but maybe lessen the wet ingredients.

As Sophie was washing up, she spotted a strange cat in the garden! It was Milo, a big tabby who lives down the road, and he had come along to drink the water we'd put down for the birds! He drank and drank, which was slightly worrying as cats don't normally drink a lot. Gomez had made one of his rare appearances and stood stock still in the garden as he suddenly realised there was an intruder in his territory! Sophie picked Mooney up, who, when he eventually noticed Milo, let out a growl!

We went into the garden, and Milo ran out, which freaked out both of our cats. It set the tone for an unsettled night, when Gomez kept being spooked by people. Twice, Sophie had him in her arms to bring him in as it was cooler, and twice he struggled to get free and ran off.

We watched an episode of MasterChef after dinner, and there are now just four going into the finals next week. Sophie and I have made predictions as to who will win, and I think we're both sure it will be a close-run contest!

Nature's entertainment

I was back at work at the normal time of 8:00am this morning and managed to park opposite our office. Sara was back from her break, so it was great to catch up with her before I started work. Already, the office felt hot, and we had turned on all the fans and drawn the blinds again. Nicola called Sara and asked what the temperature was like, and when Sara said it was warm, she asked her to go and get some big fans that we use in the main sports hall. 

Unfortunately, all they did was move hot air around the office, and they were noisy, so not an ideal solution! With six of us in the office, it became hot and stuffy! I felt for Nicola as her old office was air-conditioned, and she was clearly suffering in the heat, as was Sara, who looked a little red in the face. One of the senior managers came in and made us laugh with his tales of shaving his chest and having his shoulders and back waxed in the summer to feel cooler, so that provided a little light relief! He was on the lookout for sweets or chocolate, but they would have melted in our office at the moment!

Unfortunately, I received a call from the care home at about 11:00am to say that Mum had fallen again and was complaining of pain in her hip. The staff had called for an ambulance, but it would be about ten hours... ten hours? I asked them to let me know the outcome and tried not to worry about my Mum going into hospital again. She had broken her hip last July, and I really didn't want her to go into the hospital again, especially at the moment. I spent my short lunch period researching private rehabilitation homes where she could go if she had to have an operation, but there weren't any, just nursing homes, similar to where she is now.

It was lovely to escape at 4:00pm and turn on the air-conditioning in the car! I returned home, where I stripped off all my clothes and took a long, cool shower. What bliss! It has been hotter today, and the temperature hovered around 35 °C on the way home. We were forecast to have thunderstorms in the evening, and we were hoping they would materialise. However, although the clouds built up and we heard the odd rumble of thunder, we didn't see any rain at all.

I called the care home, and they said that my Mum had managed to get herself up from her fall and had been walking around, so that seemed like cautious good news. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet, but they would let me know the outcome.

Sophie and I watched Masterchef again, and she was delighted to see one of her heroes attend a fabulous dinner. The contestants had to cook at the old Whitehall building for people connected to the Secret Service, and Gordon Corera was one of the guests. We are going to see him live in London in September when he appears with another of Sophie's heroes, David McCloskey! Gordon Corera was the BBC security correspondent, and it was great to see him indulge in the fantastic dinner cooked by the contestants. We particularly liked the Vesper-inspired dessert!

When the show was finished, we prepared our own dinner. Keith and I were having prawn salad while Sophie made do with fish finger sandwiches. When we sat down to eat, she took a bite and said that the fish fingers smelled and tasted strange... she persevered, but in the end, left them. She said they tasted weird. She pointed out the baking tray she'd cooked them on, and I realised that last night, I'd sprayed it with the Fairy no-soak cleaner and left it overnight. Nobody had washed it, and Sophie had put the fish fingers directly onto the pan... I was horrified! Sophie started to panic, so we had a good look at the bottle, but there were no dire warnings about ingesting it, only to avoid getting it into the eyes. She said she felt fine, and she could only have ingested a small amount of cleaner, but it worried me all night. Not really what we needed at the moment, with the worry about my Mum!

Keith and I half-heartedly watched Spring Watch after dinner, but I was more interested in the sky outside! Huge thunder clouds had built up, and with the setting sun were all different colours. They looked beautiful.

Sophie and I went outside to watch and noticed both sheet lightning and fork lightning sparking off amidst the clouds. It was a fantastic spectacle, and I could have watched for hours! It was noticeably cooler with a brisk wind.

The colour of the clouds ranged from pink and peach to light blue, light grey, a bluey grey and white. The sky was ever-changing, and the lightning was brilliant. A lovely end to a somewhat trying day!

A Bank Holiday record!

I was working today with Kathy, so Sophie dropped me off, and she managed to go through the barrier and drop me off by the entrance. It was already hot, and I was dreading how warm our office would be. It was very warm, so I turned on all the fans and lowered the blinds to stop the glare from the sun.

Kathy and I had a pleasant shift, and it was great to leave at 2:00pm and go home with Sophie. She brought me a bottle of water as I'd forgotten to pack one, and I was thirsty! I had even skipped my usual morning cup of coffee as it was so warm!

Back at home, we had a late lunch and sat chatting in the kitchen for a while before going upstairs and lying on the bed with the fan. I hate how the heat makes me feel, and we talked seriously about getting air-conditioning for the bedrooms and living room if this heat becomes the norm. The temperature was saying it was 33 °C on the way home, and our kitchen was about 29 °C. Today has set a record for the hottest May Bank Holiday! Phew!

Before dinner, we watched MasterChef, and the final is drawing near. I think we'll be able to catch it before we go to France on the 12th of June. Dinner was a simple "build-your-own" wrap with salad and crispy chicken, and then Keith and I watched the first episode of the new series of Panda, which was brilliant.

Going to bed was not pleasant as the upstairs of the house was stiflingly hot and oppressive. Imagine how great it would be if we had air-conditioning!

Out for lunch

Before it became too hot, I gave the kitchen a good clean, while Sophie hoovered upstairs. She then hoovered downstairs and cleaned the living room. We're a clean family with two cats that are more often out than in, so why does the house get so dirty? I wiped down all the surfaces in the kitchen, including the fronts of the cupboards, and gave my orchid and the cacti a good watering. The cacti need repotting, but the little family of four seem very happy altogether, so I'm hesitant to separate them!

We had booked a table at the pub for 2:00pm, so we made our way there a little earlier to have a drink. It wasn't as busy as I imagined, and many people were taking advantage of the beautiful weather by sitting in the garden. When we went to the bar, I was amazed to see Izzy serving, one of the children I'd looked after when I worked at the after-school club back in 2017-2018. She was nineteen! Blimey! She told me she was at university in Bristol, and I said I always knew she'd do well, as she was very intelligent when I looked after her, and she was in Year 6. It was great to see her again!

Sophie and I ordered a bottle of Provencal rosé to drink, while Keith chose a lager to quench his thirst. We sat and looked at the menu, and Sophie found it difficult to choose. She thought she wanted a roast, but opted for a burger in the end. Keith did go with a roast - the beef - while I chose the halloumi burger for a change. I am trying to cut down on meat, and it was the ideal chance to go veggie for today! Sophie and I shared halloumi fries to start, and the meal was delicious. We even found room for chocolate brownies for dessert! They were sublime!

We paid the bill and returned to the car to drive home. It was very warm now, but the weather forecast said it was due to get even hotter tomorrow, the Bank Holiday Monday! Phew! We lolled about for the rest of the afternoon, feeling sleepy after the wine and heavy meal. Keith had been itching to get home to watch Newcastle play, but he was asleep ten minutes after the game started!

In the evening, it was too hot to play Scrabble, so we enjoyed a documentary about the CIA instead. It was very interesting and was about the US departure from Afghanistan, and the way that the Americans were trying to get the people who had helped them out of the country. I said it was a shame that Afghanistan was now a no-go area, as it used to be on the hippie trail to India in the 60s, and I would love to have gone there. I can't ever see it being open to tourism again in my lifetime! This then made us discuss all the countries today that are on the FCDO no-go list, including Syria, Iran, Russia and Israel. Let's hope that one day, we're able to visit again!

The heat builds

Sophie was doing a 5K run in Brixworth this morning and met her friend Becky in the country park at 8:30am. It already felt warm outside, and both Keith and I urged her to take it easy in the heat. I stayed at home and managed to catch up with writing the blog, so that was a relief. I hate being behind!

I spent the rest of the morning pootling about, and Sophie arrived home after having a lovely breakfast at The Workhouse in Brixworth. We went over to Tesco in the early afternoon and bought some things my Mum needed, as well as a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy over the weekend. One was a Provencal rosé that Helen had recommended on Saturday Kitchen Live, so we hoped it would live up to our expectations! We also bought salads for dinner tonight, as we had abandoned our plans to go to Market Harborough for lunch.

After Tesco, we drove to the care home and chatted to Mum for a while. She seemed OK today, and I spoke to one of the senior carers when we left to ask how she was. She replied that she was fine, but had played up the other day when she was asked to go to the dining room for lunch, saying she couldn't walk! Naughty!

Sophie and I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon doing very little! The heat had sapped our energy, so it was lovely to relax! In the evening, we decided to watch the Eurovision Song Contest as I'd made sure I'd recorded it. We saw the build-up (we had missed Graham Norton's narration!) and the first song. We skipped through most of the songs, but watched the UK's entry again, Bulgaria and Australia. 

We then watched the voting in full, and we were surprised by the results but thankful to Ukraine for giving us our only vote!

Over the course of watching the show, we enjoyed our salads for dinner and the delicious rosé. It was hard to believe that we were actually in Vienna last week!

It's hotting up!

It already felt warm when I went to work this morning, and I was amazed to find one of the radiators on in the corridor as I walked in! I turned it right down and set up fans in our office to keep it cool. It was just Sharon and me working today, and the suite of offices was very quiet. I had dealt with all the emails before 9:00am, but one of our managers came in and said that lessons had been cancelled again at a local school, and could I send out emails and then call the parents? 

Doing this kept Sharon and me busy all afternoon, and the parents were surprisingly understanding. It may have helped that the half-term holidays start today, so a lot of children may be going away this evening anyway. It was great to escape at 4:00pm and make my way to where Keith was waiting for me. The temperature was registering 30 °C, but it went down to 28 °C on the way home, thank goodness!

Keith wasn't at the pub this evening as John is in France, so he kept himself to himself in the kitchen while Sophie and I watched the two episodes of Race Across The World back to back. The contestants were now in Mongolia, which looked beautiful but cold and remote! We opened a bottle of the Chardonnay I'd bought in Duncan's shop, and it was delicious.

We had a spicy curry for dinner, and then it was half an hour of Have I Got News For You before bed. It's the weekend!

More pain!

I woke up in the night with a terrible headache and took some paracetamol, but when I woke up again at 6:00am, it was still painful. I think it may have been where I tensed up during the treatment yesterday. I reluctantly took two Nurofen and drove myself to work, thankful I was only working until 2:00pm.

At 10:00am, I manned the phones with Nicola's daughter, Macy, and we had a pleasant shift. At 2:00pm, I dashed home to find Kym already treating Keith's feet. She then did mine and tidied up my toenails so Sophie can paint them. We are facing a heatwave over the Bank Holiday weekend with temperatures set to be about 30 °C on Sunday and Monday. Phew! It's certainly not typical of this time of year... It's not even summer yet!

I had a great chat with Kym, as I always do, and she told me all about her Hen Night in Newcastle and her forthcoming wedding in June. When she left, I had to have a little nap as my sleep was so disturbed last night. I woke up again feeling muzzy-headed and think my half hour was too long!

Tonight was the last episode of Race Across The World, but Sophie and I will watch last week's and tonight's tomorrow. I just hope we don't inadvertently find out who the winners are! Instead, Keith and I watched the last episode of Series 1 of Panda. It was hilarious, as usual, and I loved the banter between the two lead characters. I wonder if they have the same chemistry in real life?

Relief at last?

As promised, I called The Back and Body Clinic in Moulton today and asked if someone could call me to advise me about what I could do with my painful heel. I am heartily fed up with it now. When I leave work at 4:00pm, it really hurts and I'd do anything to sort it out.

Someone called me back just as our neighbour Lynn arrived with the raffle tickets I said I'd buy. These are to raise money for barristers and consultants in our fight against a huge solar farm planned for our area, and land towards Wellingborough, which is affecting several villages. I bought two books for £10, and we had a chat with Lynn about what's going on.

When she had gone, I had a look at the text that The Back and Body Clinic sent me, and then looked at the prices... an injection was about £500! However, I really need to get this sorted now as it's affecting my life and our travels.

I had booked an appointment for 5.30pm today, and Sophie said she would meet me there as moral support. She also urged me to contact the doctor's surgery, but I knew they would just recommend painkillers or a support bandage, and I'd done all that!

At around lunchtime, I showered and then went to see Mum. She was a little quiet today and didn't seem at all pleased to see me. I still didn't mention Vienna, but I did take some photos with me, which we looked at.

Back at home, I caught up with some jobs, and Keith and I left at 5:00pm. He was going to drop me off, and Sophie would drive me home, just in case they did administer an injection. As we arrived, so did Sophie, and we went in together, where I had to fill out a form. At 5:30pm, Gabriel called us into his treatment room, and we immediately took a liking to him. When he grinned, he reminded me of Mike in a good mood, so that was lovely. There was a lot of banter between him and Sophie!

I explained what had happened with my heel, and he had a good feel of the affected area, saying it was Achilles Heel Tendinopathy. He made me keep going up onto my tiptoes and then said he wanted to give me shockwave therapy to tear the tendon so my body would heal it. I said yes immediately, but he said I would need a course of at least six treatments spread over the next couple of months.

Gabriel made me lie face down on the bed and administered the therapy three times. It was extremely painful, but in a good way, if that makes sense! All the time I was lying there, my daughter and Gabriel kept up the good-natured banter! I think they were also taking the mickey out of me as well!

Afterwards, I did feel some relief, but I'm hoping that after the course of treatment, I will be pain-free. The appointment and consultation cost £92, and each one will cost that, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be rid of the pain when I walk! Sophie drove me home, and we had Tesco lasagne for dinner. It was too late to prepare the fajitas again, and we drank a gorgeous Californian wine with the meal. Keith can definitely buy that again!

A quiet Tuesday

I drove myself to work today and parked easily. The problems of a few weeks ago seem to be over, and I wonder whether something was going on at the hospital to make it busier? It's certainly a relief to get a space!

Today has been mostly quiet, and I accomplished Sara's job first thing with ease. Back at home, I was looking forward to a day off tomorrow and a chance to catch up with the blog. Oh, and see if I could have some help with my heel, as Sophie was threatening to take her friend Becky to Berlin instead of me!

Sophie had a headache this evening, and we half-heartedly watched MasterChef before dinner. We are making notes of the culinary terms again this year. They include:

Cookery - the most used word last year, and something that irritated us. Cookery is what we did at school; cooking is what the contestants are doing! Far fewer than last year so far - 6 mentions   

A crumb - 12 mentions

A tuile - Just 5 so far

Influenced by parents or grandparents - a whopping 17!

Contestants crying - 13

Showing off about travels - 10

"Three ways" (always sounds vaguely dodgy to me) - 2

Chocolate fondant - just 1!

And then we have Anna keep saying "Orf (off) it". "I'm getting a real flavour orf it" - 10

Anna's assorted colourful headbands - too many to count!

And this made us laugh: "A segmented orange", i.e. a slice...

After a very simple supper (we should have had chicken fajitas, but Sophie didn't fancy cooking them or eating them), we went upstairs to watch another episode. However, my poor daughter fell asleep, so we'll catch up tomorrow!

Back to reality!

I had texted Sara last night asking if it was OK for me to work 9:00am until 5:00pm today. She is off all week, and I didn't have Nicola's number to let her know. I can't remember the last time I went straight to work after returning from a trip, and it was a shock to the system!

Keith dropped me off, and before tackling the emails, I had to do a job for Sara that took me most of the morning to get the hang of! I eventually did, so I was able to clear all the emails and catch up. I worked until 5:00pm, and Sophie came to collect me. We headed home to do the usual evening chores and enjoyed chicken Kyiv for dinner.

After eating, it was an episode of Panda and then an early night!

Eurovision in Vienna, 14th to the 17th of May, 2026

More culture

Both Sophie and I were a little shocked this morning when we woke up to the results of the Eurovision Song Contest last night. The UK was placed last with just one measly vote, Israel came second despite all the controversy, and news that the song "Choke Me" came third really upset Sophie. Is the love affair over?

We'd decided to have breakfast in the hotel this morning, and really make the most of the 24 euro price. I went downstairs first after we'd packed, showered and dressed. I made myself a coffee, and when Sophie arrived, we both went into the dining room. There was only one other table occupied, so there was no mad scrum to get to the buffet provided.

We both made use of the lovely foods on offer - cereal, fruit, breads, cold meats, cheeses, croissants, scrambled eggs and even fizz! We both had a small glass! My only gripe was the lack of service from the breakfast host, who never did bring me another coffee! Sophie kept me regularly topped up from the machine in reception!

Suitably full from our first (and only) meal of the day, we went back up to our room, did a last sweep and checked out. We were able to leave our luggage, and we emerged into sunshine... typical as it was our last day!

Sophie's itinerary was quite loose today, so we walked over to Karlskirche, which reminded me of the Berliner Dom.

Unfortunately, one of the pillars was shrouded in scaffolding, and we were sure a Sunday morning Mass was taking place, so we didn't go in. Instead, I treated Sophie to a coffee from a little café nearby. As we sat with our drinks, a bride and groom arrived, accompanied by an array of photographers. We deduced that it was some kind of fashion show taking place, and they attracted quite a crowd.

One man even played the piano and the couples danced, much to the delight of the crowd. It was all very jovial!

I was beginning to regret my large breakfast, but after sitting for a while, we decided to amble over to the Wien Museum, which was free to enter. The ground floor was about the original origins of Vienna, so we made our way up to the higher floors, where the exhibits were a little more interesting. Here, Sophie and I meandered about on our own, learning about Vienna just before the Second World War and the Anschluss in 1938, when Austria and Germany were united. 

It was very interesting to read the history right up until the present day, and there was even a Foodora bag on show! Sophie and I had lost track of each other as we wandered around the exhibits, and we both enjoyed the museum very much.

Exhibits on the lower floors

We both loved this, and it reminded us of a Manet painting

After all the culture and learning, we went up to the terrace bar, where we had a drink. I chose a rosé, while Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz. We took our drinks outside and gazed out over the beautiful views.

Back to the madness!

We had decided to take the train to the airport, and Sophie had been researching the route. We walked slowly back to the hotel, retrieved our luggage, had a lovely chat with the friendly receptionist, and then walked towards the Opera House to catch a tram.

It arrived within a few minutes, and we stayed on for a few stops, getting off at Rennweg. I had forgotten this stop, but I soon remembered when we alighted. We had changed trams here last time and had been very confused!

At Rennweg, we needed to get the train to the airport. We spotted a lift down to the platform, so went in, but when the doors opened, we rapidly went back in again. The platform was poorly lit, and there was a heap of clothes and bedding opposite, where it was obvious someone was sleeping. They were stirring, so we beat a hasty retreat and went back up to ground level. It was the only time we felt wary in all of the trip!

We found the right route down to the platform, and we were delighted to see that the train we wanted was arriving at 2:21pm, about a twenty-minute wait. As we stood there, more and more people arrived with suitcases, so we knew we were on the right platform!

The train arrived, and we managed to get seats around a small table. In the small bin by the table were McDonald's wrappings, which smelled horrible. Ugh! The journey to the airport only took about twenty minutes, and soon we were emerging into the madness of the airport. We had a long walk to Terminal 1, and my heel was hurting badly. I was not in the best of moods!

When we reached the check-in desks, we saw that BA were letting us put our bags in the hold for free, so we queued for ages to check them in. The people in front of us all seemed to have complex issues, and it took us ages! We saw lots more Eurovision T-shirts and hoodies!

We eventually checked the bags in and made our way through security (up and down, up and down, grrrr!). Here, I was subjected to a most intrusive search that made me feel very embarrassed. I thought at one point she was going to make me undress completely! This, of course, put me in an even more foul mood, so Sophie was, quite rightly, fed up with me.

We found our gate number, and my poor daughter went off in search of sandwiches. We enjoyed these, and I relaxed a bit! Very soon, we were asked to board, and then it was time to say goodbye to Vienna. Hopefully, we will be back again soon!

The flight passed smoothly, and we landed at Heathrow a little later than expected. We were delighted to emerge from Terminal 3 and see our bus arrive to take us to the car park. Jeeves directed us expertly to the M25, and we saw several 747s take off over our heads. How these things get into the air is beyond me!

A near miss!

The M25 was busy, and it needed all my concentration to drive on the hectic motorway. At one point, I pulled over to an inside lane after the car next to me also pulled over, but he realised he was in the wrong lane, so swung back over just as I was pulling over myself. I swerved back into my lane, thankful that the car behind me hadn't overtaken! We were a bit shaken up by this!

Luckily, the rest of the journey was without incident, and we arrived home at 9:00pm. We sat in the living room and chatted to Keith about our visit for an hour, and then it was bedtime. We are both at work tomorrow!

Eurovision in Vienna, 14th to the 17th of May, 2026

Another iconic café...

Sophie and I both had another great night's sleep, and I went down for coffee again while Sophie finished getting ready. It was lovely to sit and sip my coffee and drink a bottle of water.

This morning, we were having breakfast at Café Sperl, another location in Before Sunrise. This café was where Céline and Jesse pretended to have a phone conversation with friends. It had rained overnight, and the sky looked full of more. We walked to the café and joined the end of the queue for a table. Sophie was very excited to be at the café featured in the film, and we didn't have to wait long before we were shown to a table.

We sat in the window and had a good look at the breakfast menu. Sophie chose an omelette with ham while I settled for two warm rolls with butter and apricot jam. Oh, and copious amounts of coffee! The service was a little slow, but we were happy to sit and chat and stare out of the window at the people passing, now carrying umbrellas.

A man in front of us had ordered breakfast, and he followed this up with a slice of sachertorte! Why not? We lingered over our breakfast, soaking up the atmosphere as more people continued to queue to get a table.

After paying the bill, we walked down to the Naschmarkt, where we were hoping to visit the Saturday flea market. By now it was raining properly, and before heading over the road to the marketplace, we called into a small supermarket to buy some hair conditioner. Sophie also picked up a bar of chocolate and a small bottle of schnapps to enjoy later.

Wein Not?

Naschmarkt was very busy and crowded with people, and we kept getting dripped on from the awnings. We avoided the nut sellers (last time we were fleeced out of 10 euros), but the throng of people was a bit overwhelming, and Sophie wasn't even sure if the flea market had gone ahead, as it was out in the open. We decided to skip this, and we headed to Wein & Co instead for a glass of wine.

We took a table in the window again, and I ordered a Riesling while Sophie opted for a Chardonnay, both of which were Austrian, of course.

Outside, it was pouring, and it was almost hypnotic to watch the vehicles swishing past and people carrying umbrellas or wearing ponchos. The shop and wine bar were quiet, so it was lovely to sit and chat and watch the world go past.

We each had a second glass of wine - I chose a Sauvignon Blanc this time while Sophie sipped a second Chardonnay. The wine measures were 1/8 of a litre, so not huge. Once we'd paid the bill, we had a look in the wine shop, but it was a futile exercise as we couldn't take any home with us. We weren't sure if we'd be checking our suitcases into the hold, but there was a chance we wouldn't, so any liquids would be taken away from us. It was a bit mad, as at Heathrow we could take what we wanted in our hand luggage!

What a shame we couldn't take any home!

The weather was still horrible, so Sophie summoned up an Uber to take us to the Imperial Crypt. He arrived quickly, but as we neared the area where our hotel was situated, he said he couldn't take us as the roads were closed. It was very lucky he had parked right outside where we were staying! Sophie was furious and hellbent on getting the payment refunded, as he hadn't taken us to our destination and didn't even try to get us there!

We decided to abandon the plan to visit the Imperial Crypt as it was 15 euros each, and instead, we relaxed in the room. We had a late lunch booking at Figlmuller anyway, and Sophie was determined to get her shoes on the way there!

Enormous schnitzels!

We relaxed in the room for an hour before setting out for Figlmuller. Before we took the U-Bahn, we crossed the road and went to Humanic, a shoe shop where Sophie had spotted the Birkenstocks. She asked to try them on and decided they were perfect and would go with a lot of her outfits. They looked so sweet on her!

As well as the shoes, she bought a pair of liner socks, and we set off for the underground, taking the tube one stop to Stephansplatz. We had bought another 24-hour ticket, which would allow us to get the train to the airport tomorrow, rather than taking an Uber or taxi. It was a short walk here to the restaurant, and the area was busy with Saturday shoppers.

When we reached Figlmueller, we saw a queue of people waiting for a table! We were so glad we'd booked, and we were able to go straight in and to our table on a gallery overlooking the ground floor.

We ordered two glasses of Weisburgunder (Chardonnay) and had a good look at the menu. The restaurant is famous for its schnitzel, but I wanted to try something different so I chose the calves' liver, served with onion rings, browned potatoes and an apple slice. Of course, Sophie chose the schnitzel accompanied by a cucumber salad.

We also ordered a large bottle of sparkling water and sat back to soak up the ambience. I loved looking down on the people dining below and was also intrigued by a group of four men at a table opposite. They looked like two sets of sons and fathers.

Sophie was delighted with her schnitzel, but I think I made the wrong choice. The onion rings were lovely, but I just knew the potatoes had been reheated (they have a kind of taste when they've been cooked previously), and my liver was overcooked. Still, the wine was delicious, the atmosphere was great, and the waiters were friendly.

After the main course, I decided to have dessert, and it had to be the chocolate fondant, served with cream. This did not disappoint! Sophie skipped pud and ordered a glass of Schnapps.

It had been a lovely meal, and the service was what I would describe as relaxed, despite the queue of people still waiting outside to get a table! We paid the bill (110 euros) and made our way to another underground station to get the tube back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, my heel was now playing up, so I limped behind Sophie until we got on the train. Back in the room, we relaxed for a while and then showered, ready to go out for 7:30pm. We wanted to spend the evening at the Eurovision Village, next to the Rathaus and could get the underground again.

No bags!

I put on the support bandage I'd bought from Amazon and hoped it would help with my heel. I'd been taking co-codamol, which I think helped a little, but by now I was heartily fed up with the pain. Over the course of the three days so far, we'd walked over 20,000 steps (imagine if we hadn't used trains, trams and buses?) and I think my heel was starting to protest.

When we arrived on the platform, there were a lot of people destined for the Eurovision village. Many of them were carrying flags. We all boarded an empty train and went three stops to the Rathaus. Signs directed us to the village, and there was a lot of construction work going on here.

There was a long line of us heading for the village, and the surrounding roads had been closed. There were numerous police vans parked up, and in front of us, we could see the bright lights of the village and a long queue of people waiting to go in.

If I had read the instructions on the app properly, I would have known that bags were strictly forbidden in the Eurovision village for the final. We queued up, only to be barked at that no bags were allowed. An Englishman behind us told us that he'd been in for one of the semi-finals, and they'd been allowed then, so he was annoyed as well. We could see another tent with yet another queue, and Sophie went to investigate. She said that people were just leaving their bags on a bench in a tent and being given a ticket. 

This certainly didn't appeal to us, and the thought of getting the underground back to the hotel, leaving our bags there, and coming back didn't appeal either! We decided to give it a miss (I imagined it would be crowded and noisy anyway!) and stopped off at a wine bar before heading back to the hotel. 

The woman running the place said we couldn't pay with a card, so, again, we had to be careful of what we ordered with our dwindling euros! We both chose a Campari Spritz and settled back to watch people arriving in waves for the Eurovision Song Contest.

We both felt a little disappointed, but over the course of the last three days, we'd come to realise that we weren't diehard Eurovision fans like we thought we were! We had seen people proudly sporting wristbands and others wearing T-shirts and hoodies. 

As we sat and sipped our drinks, my foot really began to hurt, and I realised it was the support bandage. I took the bloody thing off, and the pain immediately lessened. So much for that, then! What a waste of money!

We finished our drinks, I paid the bill (15 euros), and we made our way back to the U-Bahn station, walking through a pleasant area of bars and restaurants. The Rathaus looked gorgeous all lit up and we'll definitely come back on a future visit.

The underground station was very quiet and only a handful of us boarded the train. There was a quiet atmosphere on the train, and I loved doing a spot of people-watching! Back at Karlsplatz, we emerged from the station and bought two small bottles of wine from the currywurst stand. The Spar was closed, and we never did manage to go in and buy what we needed!

We were able to catch the first song (Denmark), and we both settled down to watch it on the television in our room. No doubt, there were plenty of places in Vienna we could have watched it, but we were content to have a quiet night! While we were watching, Sophie downloaded a food delivery app, Foodora, and ordered some Japanese food - dumplings, crispy chicken and edamame beans.

We both went down to fetch it halfway through the evening and ate at the round table. We had everything we needed - cutlery, plates, bowls and glasses!

We watched until all the songs had been performed and then decided to go to bed. It was past 11:00pm by now, and we were shattered! The results could wait until tomorrow!