17 June 2013

Day 4; train day 2; Munich-Linz-Ceske Budejovice

The Swan Whisperer has gradually got better all day as his antibiotics have kicked in.  But imagine being in Ceska and not able to drink beer!

We were up fairly early and at the station in good time for our train, which was a Railjet to Linz.  I must say, after the Man in Seat 61 raved about the train, I was not very impressed by the quality of the ride or the speed.  But lovely scenery which we tried, vainly for the most part, to photograph. And surprisingly nice coffee!

On arrival in Linz, we put most of our luggage in a locker and set out to explore.  The SW wanted to go to the Donau, which was about 20 minutes walk away, so we wandered off in that direction, but en route encountered a beer garden offering a lunch-time menu of grilled chicken breast fillets with asparagus and herbed rice, followed by apfelkuchen, for 7.90, with beer/apple juice and I had coffee which was not very nice.  We then walked on to the Donau and on to the bridge - it was looking very grey and not very beautiful.  We took a tram back to the station just because we could, and then I did a bit of shopping and we went up to our next train, which was utterly different - compartments, and speed was not a factor!  But it got us to Ceske Bujedowice.  But we had no idea where the hotel was, and there were no taxis!  And my satnav refused to acknowledge the existence of the pension, and in any case had run out of battery!  But the station bookstall supplied us with a town map, and we set off on a very hot and sweaty walk to the pension.

We got there eventually.  The room is lovely and large, but there are no bedside tables and there were no reading lights until we complained, whereupon they found us one.  We showered, then had a beer downstairs in the restaurant and then a picnic supper in the room.  There is free wifi but neither my ipod nor this machine recognises it up here, although my phone does.  I am going to take this down to nearer the router to try to post it.

16 June 2013

Day 3: Munich

Dear oh my, what a day!  We woke up early, and the Swan Whisperer said he felt a lot better.  Nina and her family came to pick us up shortly after 10:30, and we went out and saw lots of the sights of Munich, including a trip up the Tower of the Town Hall, from which you had a terrifric view all over Munich.  We also visited the Hofbrauhaus, but only to have a look and spend a penny as it is expensive and I'm told the food is not very good.  We went across the road to eat Weisswurst!

The SW had some dental work done on Wednesday before we left - he had lost a filling and there was an abcess under it, which he didn't know was there.  The dentist cleaned it out and put on a temporary filling, but obviously didn't do a very good job, as first it was very sore and then this last two days his cheek swelled up to the point he could barely open his mouth.  So Nina kindly found a 24-hour emergency dentist and we spent an hour there waiting while he had it seen to - the dentist removed the filling and has prescribed antibiotics.  They gave us a list of open-on-Sunday chemists where we got the prescription filled - he had to pay for that, but the dental treatment was covered by the EHIC card - thank goodness I got them renewed before this holiday! 

After this, we went to the Olympic Park and walked round there - the weather, I should have said, is simply glorious - and then out to a castle in the suburbs where there was a beer garden, but you could take your own food.  But it was fairly obvious that the SW had Had Enough by then, so Nina drove us back to the hotel.  Nevertheless, it has been a lovely day, and we can stop worrying about the SW, I think.  The bug is all but gone, and now we know the tooth will be all right... we can head on towards the Czech Republic with light hearts.

15 June 2013

Day 2: Liege to Munich

I am typing the first part of this on the train to Munich, actually the first leg, which is as far as Frankfurt.  We could have changed in Cologne, but had already entered our travel details on our pass, so decided not to. 

Well, last night was a bit of a bust, as the poor Swan Whisperer felt rotten - I think he has the bug I had about ten days ago, which knocks you flat for about 36 hours.  So once we got to the hotel, all he could do was sleep.  I did go out for picnic stuff and found an Aldi, but didn't venture further.  There were buses into the city centre and, had the SW been fit, we would have undoubtedly enquired about the ticketing system and used them, but I really didn't feel it was worth it on my own.  I did explore the station, though, which is a fantastic modern edifice only finished in 2009.  I have taken some photos, but have no way of uploading them until I get home, I'm afraid; I can't quite see how to upload them to the tablet.  They will follow!

Anyway, I took myself out for a forlorn birthday dinner in a local brasserie, and made the mistake of ordering something called Boules de Liege.  All I can say is, don't bother.  Yuck.  So I left most of that, but ate the chips and enjoyed a small beer, and then went back to the hotel and had an early night.  Oh well, even if he doesn't feel up to going out tonight, I can go out with Nina and her family.

Will finish this later.

Later: Have arrived at the hotel but big mnistake as it is in the red light district!  Oh well, the room is clean, quiet and pleasant, what more can you ask?  Tried to Skype with the Boy, but to no avail.  Signal too poor.  More tomorrow.

Actually, it is not yet tomorrow, but this wouldn't post earlier.  We are just in from a lovely meal with Nina and her family at the Augustin  bierkeller, where they only sell beer by the litre... I didn't actually mean to drink all of it, but it sort of disappeared.  I did eat -  sausages and kartoffelsalat!  Yummy.  The SW had fizzy apple juice (apfelschorle) and pork with a dumpling and red cabbage - I had a taste and it was lovely.  Now home quite early, and we are all hopin g the SW will b e better in the morning!

14 June 2013

Day 1 - Home to Liege

Up at a relatively civilised hour this morning as our train was not until 08:59.  Got to St Pancras with no problems, and mnanaged to get coffee and text my mother before it was time to board the train.  This was pleasantly half-empty and on time, and we decided to get the next available train to Liege.  This was a slow train and, when it arrived in the station, promptly broke down!  So we then got the next train from the older part of the station, and it too was late. 

However, we arrived eventually, and checked in to our hotel, only to find that the roomn they had given us was not yet made up, so we asked for another and got a very nice big one, with three huge beds, and separate bathroom and loo!  I have made us a cup of tea and am catching up; the Swan Whisperer is fast asleep!  I expect I shall have a nap soon, too, and then we must go out and find a supermarket to get the makings of a picnic lunch for tomorrow.  Our trip today was to "any Belgian station", so our inter-rail adventure really begins tomorrow.

29 May 2013

Sorted!

Right!  I have spent today sorting travel times and booking hotels and we have it all set up.  We spend one night in Dresden, on the middle Saturday, and then head off to Magdeburg, where we have booked four nights.  We plan to spend one day looking round Magdeburg, one going to Hannover, and one going to Quedlinburg.  Then we head up north to Stralsund, where we spend two nights.  On the Saturday we head south to Lübeck, and then over to Hamburg - not that we'll have much chance to do more than have dinner there. At midnight, we get a sleeper train - I've booked us a deluxe sleeper as the economy was no cheaper, and I don't fancy couchettes with strangers, thank you.  I'd rather pay the extra for privacy - to Utrecht, and from there we spend our last night in Antwerp.   And then on the Monday our "Any Belgian Station" ticket will take us to Brussels and back home!  It should be a great fortnight.  I will keep a journal on here, but as I don't think I'm taking my netbook, only my tablet, I won't be able to upload photos, but will make up for that on Facebook when we get back!

28 May 2013

Test post

I
I am trying to decide whether this little tablet will do to take away rather than having to take the laptop with me. I am hoping that it will; I always thought that it was so slow as to be unusable, but it actually seems fairly ok.

25 May 2013

Plans!

We are busy making plans for our Inter-Rail holiday, which starts in three weeks' time!  Wonderful - except that it means that I shall be 60!  I am very lucky that both my parents are alive, relatively well, and totally of sound mind.

We set off on the morning of my birthday, the 14th, but only go as far as Liège - we have bought tickets to "Any Belgian station", which means we don't have to use up a "travelling day". 

From Liege we are heading to Munich, probably going via Frankfurt-am-Main as most of the trains we could take are Thalys, and they are the one train you can't take with an Inter-Rail - well, you can, but you have to pay a supplement of about €36, so we aren't going to!  So we take a train in the morning to Frankfurt, then almost immediately get on another train to Munich, were we are spending the first Sunday - we have friends there, and it will be great to see them. 

On the Monday morning - the 17th, I think - we head of on a Railjet train to Linz, where we break our journey for a few hours, and then head up to České Budějovice (Budweis), for three nights.  We plan to spend one day going to Český Krumlov, which I gather is well worth seeing (this can be done on local buses), and the other day we will look round České Budějovice itself in the morning, and in the afternoon we will go to a little village called Baranov to visit Cestina's "Small Worlds" museum which will be properly open by then. 

On the Thursday we set off again, this time to Mariánské Lázně (Marianbad), this time spending the day in Plzeň (Pilsen).  Friday will be spent in Mariánské Lázně, and then we will be off again, probably to Dresden via Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad). 

And that is basically as far as we have got.  I haven't booked anywhere in Dresden yet.  I know the basic idea of Inter-Railing is that one can go as the Spirit moves one, but the Swan Whisperer will, I think, be a lot happier if we plan everything in advance. 

I am thinking that from Dresden we will probably go to Berlin, or even further, depending on train times, to the far North of Germany, and we also want to visit Lübeck, Hameln, maybe Hannover, maybe Hamburg, and end up at the Belgian border on the final day! 

Should be fun....