A visitor from Australia

We are about to have a visitor from Australia: my brother is coming to stay with us for a week. For months, we have been counting down the days and now he is almost here.

He will only be with us for a week but we are very excited. I was going to say that Miss M is very excited, but the truth is, we are all very excited. We don’t get that many visitors from Australia – it is a long way! – though this is my brother’s third trip.

One of the great things about having family visit is that you get to be a tourist in your own town (and see parts of Europe, like we did when my Dad visited). Peter grew up in Solingen, so he had already seen the tourist attractions ad nauseam on school trips. For Miss M and I, it is still quite new. Visitors are our excuse to go and see some of the sites that we might otherwise neglect.

What are we planning to do with our visitor from Australia?

As it is his third trip, there are some things that my brother does not need to see again. He also has some idea of what he wants to see (apart from us, of course). I plan to blog about some of the highlights:

Schloss Burg

A medieval castle that was built in 1130. It has fantastic ramparts that you can walk around and a keep that has just reopened after extensive renovations.

Burgers’ Zoo

One of the biggest zoos in the Netherlands and one of the best in Europe in our opinion.

Cologne or Düsseldorf

Or perhaps both. My brother has already seen the sites in Cologne, so it might be Düsseldorf this time.

Knife shopping

Probably. Solingen has been famous for its blades for centuries. Currently, there are no fewer than seven knife manufacturers and numerous scissor manufacturers with factory outlets, as well as a number of manufacturers who don’t sell through outlets. Appropriately, there is also a blade museum and an industry museum (in an old scissor factory), and most of the main tourist attractions sell local knives.

Berlin

In addition, we will be meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law in Berlin. We are going to a Metallica concert but will be seeing some of the city, too. You can expect a post on Berlin with a small child and probably also one about the Natural History Museum (Museum für Naturkunde) and its dinosaurs (because we need more dinosaurs in our lives).

We don’t often get visitors from Australia, so when we do, we try to fit in as much as possible. (That’s code for “I over plan things”.) We have a busy few weeks ahead – hopefully not too busy – and a lot to post about when it is over. I hope you will come back to read our reviews.