Father & Son

This article is about the importance of "father-son bonding," rather than a classic Cat Stevens number, and specifically covers times I have spent with our son Matthew, over the years. It doesn’t cover the equally happy times we spent as a family, staying in a rented cottages at both Rye and Winchelsea Beach, or the other holidays we enjoyed visiting East Anglia.  It’s interesting that some of those visits took place before my parents retired to Norfolk, but then I have fond memories from my own childhood, of holidays in the region.

It would perhaps be an exaggeration to say that Mrs PBT’s welcomed me taking Matthew out for the day, but on the other hand the parent who spends the greatest amount of time with a child will obviously appreciate a little “me time,” so what started out initially as days out, but then developed into full-blown father and son holidays, were definitely periods that both of us looked forward to, in our own individual ways.

There is also a theory, that when both mum and dad are present, a child will try and play one parent off against the other. This was definitely the case with our son, even though neither of us managed to work out whether this was deliberate on Matthew’s part or not. The other thing to consider is that this probably applies more in the case of a single child, than it does when there are siblings involved.

Ever since Matthew was quite small, I have taken him to a variety of places of interest, and it probably comes as no surprise to know that beer was often involved with these excursions.  Ashdown Forest, Lewes Castle and the London Transport Museum spring to mind, as do several outdoor beer festivals, including the Maidstone event. This was when it was held at the Kent Museum of Rural Life, at Cobtree Manor, to the north of Maidstone.

Matthew always enjoyed that event, as there were opportunities to explore the museum, see some of the animals or just watch his dad enjoying a few pints of cask ale (only joking), in an outdoor setting. The early-September timing of the festival invariably meant autumnal sunshine, so much so that I can still picture those pints twenty or more years on, as well as feeling the warm sun on my face. I also recall, having to squint later in the day, as the sun was shining in my eyes.

When Matthew was older, and approaching his 16^th birthday, I took him on his first father-son trip abroad. He’d accompanied Mrs PBT’s and I on a visit to Paris, when he was around 10 years old, and a year or so later, we took him on a day trip to Brussels. Both trips were via Eurostar, with the Paris mini-break allowing Eileen the chance of admiring up close, some of the late-impressionist paintings at the Musee d’Orsay (she was studying for her “A” level art, at the time.) It also provided the opportunity of a visit to Disneyland Paris.

Eileen and I enjoyed the art galleries, museums and other attractions that Paris had to offer, as well as being able to experience a little of the city’s famous café culture. Matthew’s enjoyment came in the form of a visit to the plastic theme park an hour or so’s train journey from Paris. The park itself was more of an endurance for the grownups, but sometimes you have to make the odd sacrifice, especially when you’ve got children.

The lad enjoyed it despite the cold weather (it was February), and the long queues for most of the major rides/attractions, but the incessant "Disney-tunes" on continuous loop, which follows visitors around the park, and even into the toilets, was most unwelcome and damned annoying.

Anyway, back to that first overseas, father-son trip which took place during August 2007. The cities of Munich and Salzburg were our destinations, and the trip saw us flying out of Stansted to Munich with Easy Jet, and then back from Salzburg with Ryan Air. Two thirds of the way through the holiday we swapped where we were staying, by taking a train between the two cities.

This was the first time Matthew had flown, so he was understandably more than a little nervous, but once we were in the air, he really loved it. It was getting dark when we landed, but after clearing border control we jumped onto an S-Bahn train and headed for the city centre and our pre-booked hotel. The latter was a short walk from Munich landmarks such as Odeonsplatz and Marienplatz, and a stone’s throw from the nearest U-Bahn station.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t really on our side, but this didn’t really matter, as there were plenty of things to keep us amused. One such place was the Deutsches Museum, overlooking the River Isar.  This huge institution is like London’s Science and Natural History Museums rolled into one. Our visit took place on a particularly wet Sunday, and we spent several hours there looking at all sorts of exhibits, representing both science and engineering.

We also had lunch in the restaurant, before making our way back towards the hotel, dodging the showers on the way. It was an attempt to dodge a really heavy downpour that saw us diving into Munich’s most famous beerhouse; the legendary Hofbräuhaus. 

 It was heaving, as usual, but we still managed to find a seat. I ordered a litre Maβ of Helles for myself, and Matthew then decided that he’d like one too. Now this was breaking the law, as although the legal age for drinking beer and wine in Germany is sixteen, Matthew was still three months away from his 16^th birthday!

I went ahead regardless and ordered one for him, as by my reckoning he looked old enough. No-one batted an eyelid when the beers were delivered, along with a large Pretzel (Brez’n in German). For some reason I had a king-sized thirst on, so I foolishly ordered myself another Maβ. Matthew was more sensible and stayed with just the one. 

I don’t remember too much more about the rest of our stay in Munich, although when the sun eventually appeared, we took a stroll through the glorious Englischer Garten before hiring a pedalo on the Kleinhesselohe Lake, followed by a glass of Paulaner at the Seehof restaurant that overlooks the lake.

We also took a trip out to Kloster Andechs for a spot of lunch, plus the chance to enjoy a few glasses of the monastic beer, brewed at the monastery. Afterwards, and much to Matthew’s annoyance, I announced that we would walk back through the woods to Herrsching S-Bahn station (we had caught the bus up to the monastery). On my first visit, two years previously, I had walked there and back, my logic being, it added to the “pilgrim experience!”

A couple of days later we checked out of our hotel, straight after breakfast, and walked along to the Hauptbahnhof ready to board the train that would take us to Salzburg. It was a good job we had pre-booked, as the train was packed. We discovered that 15^th August is a public holiday in Bavaria - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which explained the crowded train, plus the lack of traffic in central Munich.

The journey took us through some very picturesque scenery, with attractive, flower-bedecked, chalet style, wooden houses, set against the backdrop of the Alps. Many of the passengers were dressed in hiking gear and alighted at various delightful-looking stations along the way. 

 We arrived in Salzburg shortly after midday. Rather meanly I insisted that we walk to our hotel. It was further than I thought, and with the sun blazing away overhead, my popularity with my teenage son, took a rapid nosedive. The hotel was pleasant enough, and after checking in, showering plus a change of clothes (shorts + T-shirt), I relented, and we took a bus back into central Salzburg.

One particular highlight of our stay in the city of Mozart’s birth, was taking the funicular up to the massive fortress (Hohenfestung) that overlooks the city, before walking along the crest of the Monschberg hill through woodland, to arrive at Augustiner Bräu. The latter is another brewery with monastic connections and is something of an institution in Salzburg.

We sat outside in the shady beer garden, each enjoying a couple of ceramic mugs, full of the tasty Märzen style beer. This was in complete contrast to my first visit, eight months previously, in December 2006, when temperatures were well below freezing. On that occasion I sat in the warmth of one of the large beerhalls, marvelling at the excellence of the beer and its obvious popularity with the good people of Salzburg. 

This was the first of many such memorable holidays abroad, which included trips to Prague, Regensburg, Bamberg, Düsseldorf, and Berlin, along with several return visits to Munich. One memorable, yet contrasting holiday started with a four-day visit to Prague, followed by four days in the southern Bohemian city of Cesky Krumlov.

This lovely old town, with its stunning location set in a gorge of the Vltava River, is like stepping back in time-warp, but even back in 2015, found itself being “discovered” by foreign visitors, including a large contingent of tourists from China. 

 With the exception of the Munich-Salzburg trip, that I described in detail, at the beginning of this post, I have chronicled virtually all of the other holidays just mentioned. Both Matthew and I enjoyed them immensely, and I’m sure we can look back on them with some really fond memories. I would like to think that, as well as taking Matthew to some of Europe’s finest beer destinations and instilling in him an appreciation of good beer and good places in which to drink it, I have also helped him to appreciate the architecture, culture, and customs of these places. 

 Things changed somewhat in 2014, when Mrs PBT’s decided that she too wanted to explore a little more of Europe and come along with us. This saw us re-visiting Prague, Salzburg, Regensburg, and Munich, but also took us to Barcelona. It would be rather churlish to suggest that my good lady wife cramped our style but hitting the bars before midday in a hedonistic fashion, has rather gone by the board.

The last such proper “lads holiday" Matthew and I enjoyed was the visit we made to Bamberg, back in May 2018 with a group of friends from Maidstone CAMRA, but unfortunately a proposed trip to Pilsen, with the same group, has already been postponed twice, due to the pandemic.

Who knows whether or not we will we repeat such trips in the future? I would like to think I have shown Matthew sufficient of these places, and instilled sufficient confidence in him, so he can visit them on his own, without my company or indeed support. I am sure he could show his friends, or perhaps a future partner, just how enjoyable visiting Central Europe and enjoying its beery delights, can be.