Page 21 of 33

Euro Tour 6 – Prague to Vienna

6 August 2017 / admin

Friday 28 July 2017

An earlier start today as our train leaves before 9, so we packed up the night before almost ready to go. Once again the train not only has our booked party but also a large number of back packers. My journey is occupied with listening to podcasts and catching up with The Archers. Not sure if our fellow travellers have managed to catch up with getting podcasts but it seems unlikely. We are in a “quiet” coach so I can merely sing along to Barwick Green so only Jackie can hear me.

At points we are also rolling along at a decent speed as this on board display makes clear (with apologies for the quality):

In Vienna we arrive at the brand new Hauptbahnhof. After 15 years of planning and building the railway lines have been connected across Vienna (no doubt at some cost to older buildings) and there are now through services and not just a ring of stations on the various sides of the city. Our local guide is waiting and leads us down the escalator to the waiting coach as we are straight into a city tour.

Jackie does not get a window seat on the coach and so we decide to return in the morning for some better photographs of the magnificent buildings on Ringstrasse. The coach then drops us, not far I note from Sacher hotel, and we are taken by foot to the central Cathedral. At the suggestion of our guide we choose to visit the inside St Peter’s church which is very elegantly and wonderfully decorated.

After a break we walk through the City passing through by Hofburg Palace; we also pass the home of the Spanish Riding School (there are no scheduled training sessions we can attend in our short time here unfortunately); and some hugely impressive architecture. A mixture of photos can be found here.

Our coach journey also provides some orientation of the entire city as we are also taken over to the newer part of the City on the other side of the Danube. Our hotel is a little way out of town and we are given some guidance on the local buses and trams as well as how to buy tickets to permit travel as it is only just walking distance.

The dinner tonight for all tour participants is in our hotel and can be best described as a little plain. The main course of wiener schnitzel is of course typical Viennese fare; however compared with a similar item seen on a plate when passing through central Vienna earlier it seems a little small! This does not inspire us as far as breakfast is concerned!

Euro Tour 5 – Prague

5 August 2017 / admin

Thursday 27 July 2017

Today is a free day according to the official itinerary and we can therefore start a lot later, not only taking breakfast late but also setting out from the hotel much later in the morning. As last night we take the metro but this time only as far as Staromestske and we then walk past the edge of the Jewish cemetery (given the buzz around much of the town this is very quiet) to the Cech bridge as our booked river cruise departs from the closely adjacent jetty (stage 5).

We are booked on the 2 hour lunchtime cruise which takes us along the Vltava and up the lock in the centre of the city and then we go further upstream to just beyond the railway bridge (Železniční most). The boat then turns around returning via a complicated manoeuvre to allow a good look at the Charles Bridge. The waterway is busy at this point and I have a feeling some of the waiting was also to allow proper pathing of various boats on shorter cruises. We then go downstream as far as we can without going through the next lock down turning around just short of Hlávkův most before returning to our starting point at stage 5.

Lunch is generously catered with, amongst much else, a huge ham having slices carved off, lots of salad and a decent selection of cheeses. Jackie has some very good ginger cake. Our photos of the river trip are here.

One fascinating building we did see in the distance was the Dancing House, which is better explained and illustrated in the linked post than my pictures – a very different piece of architecture.

As we wander around the City we saw a lot of these cars showing tourists the sites (with thanks to Jackie for the photo):

After the cruise we take a tram along the riverside and then walk across the Vltava to catch the funicular to Petrin. The queue seems lengthy but moves fairly rapidly. It is helped by Jackie heading off to the ticket office for the funicular whilst I remain in the queue (we are following the example of people ahead of us in the queue). It is a pity that the fare is simply for the funicular and not also combined with the tower as we have another queue there! It is not Disney though!

At the top of the hill the observation tower (which previously we have been able to see from all over Prague) is now invisible! The posted map is useless as all the other visitors have stabbed the “You are here” point as well as the location of the observation tower, so the descriptions are obliterated and I cannot work out which is which! The map however gives the Czech translation of “Observation Tower” and nearby a finger sign showing the same Czech translation points the way (behind a bank of trees). We follow this indicator and soon find ourselves in a queue for the ticket office, which to our consternation only takes cash.

There is an ATM is in the same office so after some kerfuffle getting the right language (for us) Jackie is able to draw some cash; the ticket office then wants a smaller note than the one dispensed by the ATM. Sometimes despair sets in! We do not fancy taking the staircase to the top and the tiny lift can take 5 or 6 people, so we have to await the second departure.

Photos of the funicular and of Prague from the tower are here.

Once up at the top of the observation tower the movement of people and the slight breeze means that the swaying of the tower is discernible so we soon return to the ground floor and a refreshing brew ere retracing our steps to the funicular and then waiting a tram to return us to the hotel. There are a lot of trams here and they provide an excellent service, at least as far as our limited usage is concerned.

In the early evening we head down the hill from the hotel in search of a local restaurant which we find after marginally taking a wrong turning. It is packed, noisy and obviously extremely popular.

We decide on a traditional main course of duck and potato dumplings which does include a decent piece of duck so it is a good solid meal. We see various other fellow travellers and our tour guide partaking of meals in the restaurant!

Euro Tour 4 – Prague

4 August 2017 / admin

Wednesday 26 July 2017

This morning we have a guided tour (with that 08:15 start) of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.

We are only aboard the coach for a few minutes – it is taking us to Prague Castle and thereafter we are on foot for the rest of the tour, luckily it is nearly all downhill!

The castle is a huge complex and is recorded as the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost 750,000 square feet; hidden away deep inside are the Bohemian Crown Jewels. The complex also remains the official residence of the Czech President, although not in the main palace areas.

We see the changing of the Guard (not very numerous to be honest) before moving on to the dominant building of the complex which is St Vitus Cathedral. A brief word on St Vitus and his dance before we move on. He lived in Sicily and died as a Christian martyr under Roman rule in 303AD aged 12 or 13. He was tortured and as this did not shake his faith was placed among lions who would not touch him. He was therefore placed in boiling oil and danced as he died (according to legend). He was adopted as the patron saint of dancers and it became an established belief that to dance in front of his statue would give a year of good health to the dancer; this became a common belief in Germany in the sixteenth century.

We visit other parts of the castle including the Vladislav Hall leaving it by the Horse Staircase, which was of sufficient size to allow for ridden horses to enter and leave, presumably very carefully.

Outside of the main complex we visit the houses originally created as accommodation for archers, later becoming the residences of artists and writers, including Franz Kafka, the author. The houses had easy access to the ramparts from where the original occupants could send arrows down on those attacking the castle. The ramparts have a museum of military weapons. The interiors of the houses have been refitted to show the typical usage by potters and seamstresses etc during the period of occupation by creative people.

Our party then commence the descent to the city itself. You can enter the castle this way but you would be exhausted before you started a tour of the Castle (particularly if the arrows were raining down from above)!

The group reach the west side of Charles Bridge and we take a coffee break before we progress across the bridge itself, a very crowded place with many visitors. As we progress the architecture is simply magnificent and the photos mentioned below try to capture the wonderful style which exists.

The guide then leads us into Staromestske Square which is the old town centre square and where traders would come from all directions to trade. It is now encircled by cafes and restaurants for tourists, so the use may have changed but the visitors still come here in huge numbers, probably larger than the original use. The astronomical clock is not working properly as it is undergoing further restoration but it is still chiming the hours in front of large crowds. It dates back to 1410.

My photographs are here.

The guided tour ends and we thread through the Staromestske Square and then head down a quiet side street where we find a small place for lunch. We order a platter of Italian meats and cheeses which turns out to be more than we can eat. We also have some alcohol which seems to addle brains slightly as we are unable to follow the given instructions to find the trams! However we do eventually find the tram stop for a route which stops upside our hotel. Once back at the hotel it is time to have a rest and upload some photos.

In the evening we take the Metro (underground) back into town going as far as Mustek which allows for direct access into Wenceslas Square, which in contrast to the name is actually very oblong in shape and this is now the main modern shopping area. We then head back towards Staromestske Square via a market and some more picturesque alleys for our booking at Café Mozart. This destination had been identified and booked prior to our departure as having a jazz evening on the spare night we have in Prague and we enjoy a reasonable four course meal. The singer/pianist was supported by an excellent saxophone player. It was less jazz standards than popular music given a jazzy edge. Slightly disappointing was the overall customer care before and particularly at the end of the meal – the lights go up and it is exceptionally clear that the guests should go and go now!

Euro Tour 3 – Berlin to Prague

3 August 2017 / admin

Tuesday 25 July 2017

It is still raining this morning so we remain in the hotel until our lunchtime departure. The time is used firstly to get an internet connection. Euro roaming is now within my monthly data cap which means I can use my phone as a hot spot. Then using the Flickr app I can upload photos and progress is made! It is not as elegant as the old app on the old phone which could do it direct from the photo gallery app without involving the Flickr app. I probably should investigate another app for the photo gallery; it would be particularly good if the app could load an entire sub directory of photos on the phone straight into an album as I move photos from the two cameras to the phone before uploading.

Our train is electrically hauled (the station in Berlin is dark and the photos cannot be used) and feels similar in some respects to BR mark 2 stock but obviously benefiting from the larger loading gauge. 2+2 seating or three aside in second class compartments (and yes they do still have compartments). I did not go forward to identify the arrangements in first class. Some airline seating is used for half of the coach. The trains are loaded with a lot of rucksack carrying “students” – presumably on interrail or similar.

The area of Germany through which we are passing is fairly flat and agricultural as we head south. Throughout Germany there is none of the advertised wifi on the train; magically once we enter the Czech Republic everyone’s phones connect (much pinging everywhere) and we are all catching up with the rest of the world. The occupants of neighbouring seats (who are also on our tour) appear not to be able to get The Archers as they complain about not being up to date. It seems odd as I believe BBC Radio iPlayer should allow downloads – and certainly my podcast downloads work; I do not admit to having the episodes concerned! One of our fellow tour travellers is listening to operatic music (on headphones) and humming along (slightly tunelessly) to the sounds which emanate to the wider world. It is a pity really as if the opera had not been imposed on us I could have been making copies of The Archers available. I am mean!

Catering on board appeared limited; I think I had the only two sandwiches on the train (which reminds of the situation on the train to Portland last year). As we progress through the first part of the Czech Republic we are following the river Elbe and the scenery is rather more attractive. Then the sun comes out which is more cheering before we are once again passing through wide open farming countryside. It darkens again before we arrive, although it does not rain.

When we arrive I have a brief moment to take photos of some colourful local trains.

The Hotel Diplomat is functional although some of the decoration upstairs might need slight refurbishment. We are a little way out of the main city. However we do have a great view of Prague Cathedral from our window which looks like this:

The hotel does not register a credit card – so it is all pay as you go. At least there will be little delay settling the bill.

Dinner on the first floor is a buffet, for me tomato soup, beef stew, not spicy. Finished off by some local cheeses. It is a decent improvement on the buffet in Berlin as the selection is far more varied. Then early to bed as we have to be away from the hotel at 08:15 apparently.

Euro Tour 2 – Berlin

2 August 2017 / admin

Monday 24 July 2017

Breakfast is a little like dinner the previous night and is inevitably a buffet. It is good on all of the cold options but a little lacking in variety on cooked items. Several styles of egg, but only one type of sausage and no bacon! Good coffee though (but not perhaps damn fine coffee).

This morning is a three hour coach tour of the major local sites in Berlin. Our first stop is at the short remaining portion of the Berlin Wall seeing it from the now decorated eastern side. The decoration is explained here. Although the Wall has been largely removed the route it followed through Berlin is delineated throughout the city by a twin strip of pebbles which marks the space it occupied through the streets.

Moving onwards our next halting point is the remnant of the infamous Checkpoint Charlie – really just a photo opportunity. As the tour continues we briefly move into the former Allied occupied sector (West Berlin) which in the period between 1961 and 1989 saw many of the facilities in the former city become duplicated – two zoos, two opera houses etc. We are driven through the Tiergarten before a stop at the Brandenburg Gate, that great symbol of Berlin. It was here that the television scenes of the people dismantling the wall in 1989 were so powerful as the former East Germany effectively collapsed – along with much of the Communist system as we have previously seen in south east Asia.

We return to the hotel and try to upload some photos but the software on my phone simply does not seem to want to do as instructed. This Lenovo / Motorola has different software to my beloved Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and this is the first time I have tried uploading on it. Another learning curve to reach the right solution. (The right new way of doing uploads was eventually identified!).

The photographs from this morning are here.

Then we wander out the same way as yesterday and find a restaurant selling curry wurst. We share a small portion consisting of a sausage, pronounced dodgy by Jackie, covered in ketchup which has been slightly spiced. Jackie largely eats the fries and sauce whilst I eat the sausage.

Our restaurant was at the rear of the catholic cathedral and from there it is a simple meander into the Museum Quarter which we do emerging by the Opera House, opposite which they have just started rebuilding a former palace which will become the Humboldts Museum.

The photographs taken during this meander are here.

In the evening we again walk over to the TV tower and after some problems with tickets we make it to the revolving restaurant for our planned dinner. Over about an hour we steadily rotate watching Berlin beneath us. It seems that during the sixties many cities believed having a rotating restaurant way up a tower was a very good idea. Only the BT Tower in London seems to fail to appreciate that it remains a good idea! Views across the city are good and we can see down to the Brandenburg gate and the river Spree beneath us is also busy. My photos are here.

This is my rather nice main course of Stone Bass.

When we emerge the promised rain has arrived – but it is only a spattering as we walk back to the hotel and into the ground floor bar again. This time due to a lack of normal seats we remove our shoes and sit in the padded cabin area previously mentioned. Certainly comfortable enough to go to sleep.

Time to move on tomorrow.

Euro Tour 1 – to Berlin

1 August 2017 / admin

Sunday 23 July 2017

This is one of those holidays which has long been on the to do list – a variation on the usual Prague / Vienna / Budapest excursions as our first destination is the city of Berlin with onward travel being by rail. Tour operator is Rail Discoveries – the secondary brand of Great Rail Journeys.

The taxi is with us at home at 05:15 for our journey to Heathrow T5. We manage to avoid the long queue at Group check in as Jackie flashes her BA card and we are moved to a non-existent queue at Club check in (my BA membership has now dropped back to Blue status but thankfully they let me check in with her!).

We head through security and now we wait for the plane. Breakfast is taken at Huxleys which is a new outlet (to us) I think. Then downstairs for a wander through duty free, £20 saving on an iPad does not seem a huge amount, and trade in will provide a better net cost. Even though we are at terminal 5 there is no opportunity to ride the shuttle service as we are going from an “A” gate. I have still not been to the “C” gates.

We board the plane and as it is not full we are pleased to have three seats for the two of us so more comfortable than usual, greatly improved by the delivery of a glass of champagne each from the front of the plane courtesy of Angela and delivered by Mark. Thank you very much BA.

On time arrival in Berlin then a wait for our luggage. The coach loads and we are soon at the Alexander Park Inn and the sandwiches from Boots are consumed once we are in our room on the 24^th floor as a late lunch.

The weather is much better than anticipated. We descend to Alexandersplatz and walk under the adjacent railway line to the bottom of the TV tower which dominates the area. We go a little further to see Neptune’s fountain, the town hall and the old but rebuilt church. During this holiday we will be slightly restricted as Jackie is suffering from bad sciatica which is limiting the distances she can walk. I will try not to mention it again.

The photos of this are here.

On our return to the hotel (Park Inn by Radisson) we head to the Panorama bar at the top of the building for a couple of drinks and to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. Not an attractive space in itself – but then the building was originally a Soviet era accommodation for Comecon officials. There was a very expensive refurbishment in 2001 to bring it up to modern standards – we are deep in former East German Berlin. However I can get some views of the obviously very flat city which stretches in all directions from this point.

We rejoin the group for buffet dinner in the main restaurant with an excellent selection of starters, the main course is slightly less inspired but the cheese selection was also excellent. This was followed with a coffee in the ground floor bar (which had a very odd soft bed like “compartment” which we did not try) where we chat to some of the others on the tour.

Salcombe – the Jetty – and Home

1 June 2017 / admin

Thursday 25 May 2017

The sun is out again as we again drive down to Salcombe for lunch at the Jetty which is part of the Alex Aitken chain which has appeared out of almost nowhere in the last couple of years. We went to the Jetty in Guildford (it is also in a Harbour Hotel; as far as I know there are no actual jetties or harbours in Guildford) about a year ago and if anything this meal is better.

The sun is beating down and we choose to sit indoors in the air conditioning but the outside tables are fairly well occupied and allow us people watching time – and some possible cases of sunburn (no hat or cream hence our choosing indoor seats). Parking at the Harbour Hotel can be tight – but I think we got away with it!

This is my starter which is a Taste of Salcombe Crab and very tasty it was too. A good start to the meal.

Jackie had this stunning looking crayfish and prawn combination to start. I am told it was tasty.

This is my main course – a nice piece of sea bream on spring vegetables and risotto.

And here is Jackie’s main course of fish and chips which does look rather good.

Food photographs once again come from Jackie’s resourceful iPhone – much better than the two of us both trying to out photograph each other!

Now it is time for the drive home. I follow the road signs rather than have the sat nav telling me what to – so do not take the most direct route (which would probably have been faster). Instead we wind back to Buckfastleigh and rejoin the main road. This twisty bit follows the South Devon Railway which we visited at the start of the holiday and although I hear a steam engine we have no sighting of it! We swap driving duties at Exeter and then again near Salisbury Plain.

However there is another reason for coming home a night early – apart from getting a better night’s sleep. One of our guest dogs is coming to stay this evening and we are at home to greet him rather than our daughter doing the honours.

Distance from home to Salcombe is about 190 miles and we did some driving around narrow back roads (and some main roads) so total mileage was probably around 500 miles for this particular holiday.

Next up is a tour through large chunks of Europe which is largely by train!

Dartmouth

31 May 2017 / admin

Wednesday 24 May 2017

Much brighter and a lot warmer today – so we can have the top down on the TT as we head over to Dartmouth which is on the eastern side of this particular piece of sticking out part of South Devon. We know we have visited Dartmouth several times before, once staying in an apartment which was over an early Easter weekend in March (when I did not have to work, in April it was always year end work) and we used the Dartmouth Steam Railway for a return trip to Paignton. We also had a second visit staying in a nearby hotel when we went to John Burton-Race’s Angel restaurant, now closed. Both trips were with Stephanie.

When we arrive in Dartmouth the main car park is full but we manage to find a parking space on the road – but we are only allowed two hours; we rather hope that the wardens will not be around today. We walk to Mitch Tonks’s restaurant – “The Seahorse” – as our lunchtime destination.

We have asparagus (sparrow grass) to start. Fresh as it is the asparagus time of year with a very nice sauce as shown on the left.

To the right is Jackie’s main course of hake.

I have a whole John Dory which was a nice piece of fish. As usual Jackie asked that I do something about the eye which is watching her eat as it always unnerves her and the lemon was placed over it! The entire fish comes very cleanly off the bone.

Courgette fritti (pictured) and some new potatoes accompany the fish. Knowing we will eat some cheese later we decide not to have a dessert. An excellent meal, well presented in great surroundings.

On the way back to the car I go to the newsagents and try to tell Jackie where I am going but she does not hear me. She then “loses” me as I am in the newsagent (I can see her but cannot shout). As the counter staff are making slow progress serving anyone (I recall a line of pensioners who do not seem to realise that they need money to pay for their purchases!). I dump the paper back on the rack and I am just about back to her as my phone rings asking where I am!

We steadily head back to Challaborough – Jackie is unhappy at the uncomfortable bed in the caravan and we reach a conclusion that we should head home early tomorrow after lunch.

Salcombe

30 May 2017 / admin

Tuesday 23 May 2017

We do not sleep overly well. This is not unusual for the first night in a strange bed – but the bed does not feel comfortable. There is of course the usual restricted space in a caravan around the bed (it is almost impossible to get to the “wrong” side, which is my side) and the thin pillows mean my head is not high enough so my neck hurts. There is however a nice view out of the caravan across the park to the adjacent hillside and to the right we can see the sea as we are quite elevated over the main site. You win some and you lose some!

We are off out this morning for breakfast at the Winking Prawn on the water front in Salcombe. It is found without too much difficulty and we arrive just before the self service breakfast is available – so we have a few minutes wait. A nice substantial breakfast and my third cooked breakfast in less than a week, so it will not help the supposed diet!

Not as bright today as expected so we drive into Salcombe itself, park and find a newsagent to buy a couple of items. Then meander up and down the High Street – and get away before our one hour parking expires. Whilst I have been here before a long time ago I do not really remember the town at all.

There are some photos here.

Our next destination is the Sharpham Estate shop as we plan to buy some cheese. Being lunchtime we have a glass of wine as well as you do. Beautiful scenery along the Dart estuary towards Totnes as we drop down into the estate – which took some finding along some back roads.

Our return route takes us through some more of the outstanding scenery as we initially head towards Totnes and then swing west before reaching the town and tracking back towards Challabrough for a quiet afternoon resting.

We do some reading before we head out in the evening to the Millbrook Inn at South Pool which once again is a little bit of a drive along some narrow roads to reach our destination. The route requires that we have to go through Kingsbridge, then cross Bowcombe Creek, pass the end of the Frogmore Creek (as it is not bridged) and the pub is at the end of the South Pool Creek – all these creeks are part of the Kingsbridge estuary.

The pub dining room has a fire – not too near us – but the room goes from hot (doors closed) to cold (doors open) very quickly. Anyway to the very good food – with Jackie’s photos as usual (I cannot quite bring myself to take photos in a restaurant):

My warm duck gizzard, pigs feet and other nice things!

And we get home in the day light despite the tiny back roads we are using!

Devon and the South Devon Railway

29 May 2017 / admin

Monday 22 May 2017

With the football season over we can take a holiday without missing a match – so this is an inexpensive Monday to Friday break.

We are taking another cheap(ish) and this time short holiday. It is Monday to Friday courtesy of the Daily Mail special offer which including a few extras has cost about £80 for a caravan at Challaborough which is on the coast on the western side of the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, west of Kingsbridge and south of Ivybridge.

Unfortunately we are badly held up on the M3 due to an accident near Basingstoke. Heading west means the dear old A303 and it is a bright sunny morning which is a great start to any holiday but as we were held up we have to move along at the speed limit. As it is on the way to our eventual destination I have planned a trip on what is now known as the South Devon Railway but when I first visited the line in the late sixties it was known as the Dart Valley Railway. When we do arrive Jackie is unimpressed by the catering offering as she gets some sandwiches for us to eat during our rail journey.

The railway looks nothing like that early visit or even a subsequent trip in the early nineties. On that first trip it was possible to walk around the out of use stock and nothing was undercover. Like other preserved railways, it can no longer pretend to be a quiet bucolic branch line as patronage is now, even on a sunny but non-holiday Monday, vastly greater than the passenger numbers pre-closure.

The trains now run to Totnes Riverside and here the changes are even more dramatic; flower beds on the platform and sign posts to attractions as well as clear routes to the mainline railway; I don’t think we even went that far on the first visit. Working of the branch line into Totnes itself proved too costly and the railway retrenched to their own station. My photos of the railway are here.

With the return train trip completed we motor on from Buckfastleigh, more south than west to our destination at Challaborough Bay Holiday Park. This is at the end of some narrow roads so we get quite close to the hedges and with traffic coming the other way keep needing to find reverse gear. And of course sometimes it is walls and not hedges so even more care is needed, especially with a couple of blind corners!

In the evening we dine at the Oyster Shack. Finding it requires travelling along some very narrow roads, one of which is called Tidal Road alongside the edge of River Avon – and there is water across the road at various points.

I started with some breaded whitebait and here is my main course of crab linguine with spring vegetables which was very nice.

Jackie wanted hake but there was none available. In its place she had yummy cod:

And to ensure we knew we were at the seaside here is the ice bucket:

Photos come once again from Jackie’s camera.

We find a slightly different route back with a few less back roads!