Craving The Continent

This year my family and I are starting to travel a little more

We are off to The Peak District next week

To Bosinver Farm in Cornwall next month

Bluestone Park in Wales in July

And

Lake Maggiore with Bookings For You in September

I would also like to try our first ever glamping trip this year

And would love to spend some time getting to know our local area better

As well as enjoying a day trip or two to France

boy on the beach

The plan is to truly travel and really live this year

And I want to spend as much time as possible outside

beach1

Sometime soon

I am hoping to plan a little road trip to Europe

To visit some of the places I lived as a child

To show my own children places I remember from my ownchildhood

Some rather vaguely

Some so very well

Germany

Holland

Belgium

The South of France

elf on the beach

When I was little we lived in Cyprus

When it was time for us to return home

Instead of just flying back to the UK

We took a boat to Piraeus in Greece

And then drove back to England through Europe

I do not remember much of it all

I wish so much that I could remember more

The Acropolis in Athens

National Parks in Yugoslavia

With rope bridges and waterfalls

The old town of Dubrovnik

I wish I better remembered those

I have a wishlist of places I would like to see with my children

I hope that one day we will be able to start ticking places off that list

Amsterdam and Brugge are two of the places

The city of Enschede

Cities I visited as a child and a young adult

Cities I would love to go back to as a mother

Cities I imagine changed beyond my recognition

I would love to return to Dubrovnik

Enjoy the beautiful beaches of Croatia

As a tween and teen my family spent every summer

On the Cote D’Azur

I would love to return to Frejus

St Raphael

Port Grimaud

Saint Tropez

Monte Carlo

I have so many happy memories there

Camping Le Colombier

Our home from home each summer

So very different now

To how it was back then

moments

We used to drive to France

From our home in Germany

I think the first time we stopped overnight on the way

But after that we just drove on all the way there

Through the traffic of Lyon

And on to The South of France

One year I chose to spend the summer at home

But soon thought better of it

And travelled alone from Krefeld to Paris

And on through the night to our campsite

In St Raphael, Frejus

It was wonderful

An experience I will never ever forget

I want my children to have experiences like that

I want to have experiences like that with them

jennie and dave aug 08 103

So if we were going on this European road trip

What route will we take

And where will we stop?

We will first travel to Ostend

Here we will stay overnight

I went here on a school trip in the 80s

Before we moved to Germany

I just remember the clear soup

And riding funny bikes on the seafront

From here we will travel on to Brugge

To spend a day tasting chocolate

And learning about lace

From Brugge to Antwerp

For an overnight stop

From Antwerp to Amsterdam

(via Efteling)

And the house of Anne Frank

Then on to Enschede

Before leaving The Netherlands

And heading home

My childhood home

Germany

First to Munster

Where I went to secondary school

Then to Wulfen

Where I became a teen

And some of my best ever memories were made

On to Dusseldorf

Krefeld

Monchengladbach

The towns that shaped my life

Where I came of age

16, 18, 21

All in this part of the world

Such a very special place to me

90s me

On from here to Aachen

To see the war graves there

Then to see Brussels

Before heading home

This whole trip involves less than 15 hours driving

There are some places which would involve a one night stay

Some places a few nights

With days out to places we used to go

Fort Fun being one of those

Places that are probably unrecognisable to me now

But places I would like to see again nonetheless

Places I would like to take my children to

The pool where we used to swim

The parks where we used to play

The ice cream parlour we used to frequent

The ice rink where we learned to skate

The places we used to eat, work and shop

The places we lived

JULIE021

We live where my husband David grew up

Every day for him is a trip down memory lane

Everything our children do

Every place we go

Is something he did or somewhere he went

I want so share some of me

Some of my history

Some of my haunts

And I want to try to remember the wonderful childhood that I had

baby tilda bench

It is easy to dwell on the negatives

But there were a whole host of positives in my growing up too

I think that taking some time to remember

And appreciate

To adventure and explore

Through my own children’s eyes

Could be a marvellous magical thing

carry a wand

All we would need is some clothes

A few toys and books

Our car

With an up to date service

An MOT at Kwik Fit

So we know we are fit to head off on our way

And then we could be off

On our adventures

European explorers

Finding new things

Rediscovering old

And spending quality time together as a family

sibling fuss

One day

I am going to make this happen

Would you want to come along for the ride?

This is a collaborative post

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