Out and About

The best day of the summer so far - and according to the weather forecasters, it will be the only one - so we thought we had better make the most of it!

The Swan Whisperer wanted to visit the new Battersea Power Station, so we caught a P5 up there; to be honest, I didn't think much of it - it's just an expensive shopping mall with extortionate restaurants! 

(Not my photo, by the way!) We had a look round, but then came away and had lunch in Wagamama.  I had suggested having lunch there the other day, but the Boy said it wasn't nearly as nice as it used to be - and he's quite right, it isn't!  And about twice the price it used to be, too - but they still do free green tea, which I do like.  

After which, we went to catch a bus to Clapham Junction as the Swan Whisperer needed new sandals and trainers and that is now our nearest branch of Clark's.  Of course, the nearest bus stop was closed, so we had to walk to the next one, but that didn't matter.  

Shoe-shopping successfully accomplished - I saw a pair of good winter shoes I rather coveted, so I might go back tomorrow, especially as I have a £10 Asda voucher to spend, although I couldn't be bothered to go to Asda today - we walked down to the ice-cream shop and I treated us to a cone each.  And then a bus home!  Not a massively exciting day, but at least different!

Young V&A and 10 Ages of London

The Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green is an old friend - we've taken the Boys at least twice.  But it has now reopened after having been closed for two years, now calling itself  Young V&A and I, for one, wanted to see what they had done to it.  The Boys are probably a bit old for it now - they are 13 and almost 10, but I thought, well, we can always snark....

We had originally been going to meet them at Liverpool Street Station at 11:20, but their mother said she'd gathered you really needed to be there before 11 if you weren't going to have to queue for hours, so we met them at 10:20 (the time their train comes in on the Overground) instead, and went straight to the Central Line for the one stop to Bethnal Green.  There was no queue to get in, but we were very glad we had gone so early, as on our way out, at nearly noon, the queue snaked about round the block!

The Swan Whisperer was desperate for coffee, so we went to the museum café first of all, and he and the Boys all had coffee while I, adequately caffeinated for one day, had fizzy water.  Then we set off to explore - the first gallery we went to was aimed at children learning their letters and colours.  Round the other side of that floor, there were a lot of familiar exhibits, mostly with rather dumbed-down captions, inviting visitors to imagine they were doing thus and so.   The Rachel Whiteread dolls houses are still there, in a section called "Small Worlds", and I think the original ones - the ones that used to be in the V&A until the 1970s - were still there, but I didn't see them.  There were also Sindys and Barbys, and lots of other dolls and miniature things.

Then we went up to the second floor where they had the Design Galleries, aimed slightly more at people the Boys' age; this had a lot of seemingly random things, but grouped by type - shedloads of scooters, including a Microscooter that had a built-in suitcase!  Then all kinds of other design objects, from clothes to toothbrushes!  The Boys were beginning to flag by then and needing what they will insist on calling "the bathroom" - I enquired whether they planned to have a bath!  We eventually all used the facilities and came away, very glad that we had gone so relatively early.  

It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, and certainly looks fresh and new, with a more airy feel to it.  I think I should like to go back on my own one day in term time so that I can take as long as I want to look at things.

The Boy had asked if we could have lunch in Spitalfields Market, so we got a bus there, and spent awhile wandering around the market and deciding what to eat.  Finally we settled on the pasta restaurant that Boy Two said he'd been to before and really liked, and after filling up on pasta, we went to find the place where they were doing rolled ice-cream, which the Boy badly wanted to try (so did I!); I did a video of one being made which I'll post on Facebook.  It was fun to watch the ice cream being made, but really, when push came to shove, it was just rather good ice-cream, really!

We then had to decide how to spend the afternoon.  I had read about a walk called the 10 ages of London and we decided to do that.  A quick bus down to London Bridge started the walk in prehistory - only the Thames is left from then, and it was very different.  Then the Romans - we enjoyed seeing where the Roman bridge was, and a model of the mediaeval bridge in the church of St Magnus the Martyr - there was also a piece of wood that they think was part of the original bridge and whose tree would have been alive in Jesus' day!  We walked past the office building that contains the Roman baths - not available to visit today - and up to All-Hallows-by-the-Tower  where we admired the Saxon arch. 

On past St Olave's with its three skulls above the gateway (mediaeval),

and then to St Andrew Undershaft for the Tudors.  

A brisk walk then, past Fenchurch Street station (none of us had been there before, and I was gutted that my photo of it didn't come out) and across Eastcheap to Pudding Lane (both the Boy and I wanted to call it Pudding Mill Lane, but that is somewhere different!) where the Great Fire of London infamously broke out, and out the other end to Monument.  This, of course, was the Stuart era.  

The guided walk suggested going on down to find the only pub that is said to have survived the Great Fire (and, of course, the Blitz), but both Boy Too and I had Had Enough by then, so we decided Monument would have to Do for the Stuarts, and we ended up walking up King William Street to the Bank junction, where we could see the Mansion House (Georgian) and the Royal Exchange (Victorian), and we decided that we had seen more than enough 20th- and 21st-century buildings to count!  So we got on a bus back to Liverpool Street Station, where we got some refreshments and then met the Daughter for a quick cup of tea before she took the Boys home, and we wearily clambered on to the next homebound 35.  Both of us fell asleep on the bus, and how the Swan Whisperer thinks he'll have the energy to go to dance club, I do not know!

Meanwhile, I have never put quite so many links in one blog post before!  There will be more photos on Facebook.

70th birthday trip, Tuesday 27 June; travel day 14/15

So, it's over! We are home. I think I'm glad to be home, but I'm tired tonight. I've done the bare minimum of unpacking - everything else can wait till the morning!

We enjoyed our breakfast in the hotel this morning - pretty standard, really. Why do they all (except the one in Budapest) have identical coffee machines? Anyway, our train was at 10:36, but because it had taken half an hour to get from the station the previous day, we ordered a taxi for 09:45, and, of course, it only took ten minutes to get back to the station! Ah well!

The train, miraculously, was on time and we arrived in Köln at noon. We put our luggage in the consigne and headed out to the Cathedral which looms over the station. When we had looked round there, we wandered down to the river

and then through part of the old town, stopping to have lunch (Currywurst for the SW, plain Bratwurst for me) in a random café. As we weren't too sure how long it would take to retrieve our luggage, we headed back a little before we need have done.

The left-luggage system is very clever - you go to a locker, tell it how long you want it for: up to 2 hours, up to 24 hours, longer... and it tells you how much to pay, which you can do by cash or card, then the locker door opens and you put your stuff inside, and it issues you a ticket and a receipt. But the clever part is that the whole locker then moves down to a storage area, so when you come to retrieve it, you can go to any locker door, insert your ticket, and it brings your stuff up just as you put it in! Takes a minute or two, but that's all.  You don't have to remember your locker number or passcode like you had to in Copenhagen, which was the only other place we availed ourselves of such facilities (in Budapest, we just put our cases in the hotel luggage room, and they didn't even charge us!). 

Anyway, eventually we got on the Brussels train, and then there was more time to hang about until it was time for the Eurostar. I do wish one could rely on German trains to be on time, as we could have had much shorter connections, although perhaps not in Köln, as we like it there. 

They feed you on the Eurostar if you're in Standard Premier. The choice was between chicken salad, which the SW chose, and a falafel, hummus and quinoa salad, which I chose, which was very nice, although the falafel were a bit dry. This was followed by a very nice lemon tart. The SW had wine, and I had lemonade, which was Fever Tree and very nice, for a change. Not too sweet. 

And then a horribly hot Victoria Line  and a bus, and home. 

70th birthday trip, Monday 26 June; travel day 13/15

Today was the last full day of our holiday. We were certainly not going to have breakfast in the hotel - CHF 27 per person!! But last night we had noticed a little bakery-cum-café across the road which looked as though it would do breakfasts, so went to explore this morning, and not only got some extremely good muesli and coffee, but also salads for lunch. The muesli came with a roll and butter, and we saved those for lunch, too.

There was a church clock which chimed every 15 minutes, but not between 22:00 and 07:00. However, at 07:00 it made up for the night's silence by ringing a peal of bells! Nice to wake up to! So after breakfast we wandered down to the church to have a look. I couldn't, however, take any photos of the interior as it was being used for a rehearsal - I assume by a local school, but with an orchestra of older people. We watched for a few minutes, and it looked good, with actors, dancers and gymnasts all aged about 10 or so.

Then it was time to check out of the hotel and head to the station for our train to Mannheim. Which was actually going to Hamburg via Köln - we could have gone straight to Köln and spent the night there. But we didn't. 

We had lovely seats on the train, in the panorama carriage, opposite one another. The only thing is they didn't recline and there was no footrest, bit still reasonably comfortable. And great views. 

We took a taxi to the hotel as it was further from public transport than I'd thought. It's not the nicest hotel - they only give you one duvet between two people, which I suppose is all right in the summer, but how on earth do people manage in the winter? It's literally the only place in this entire trip that hasn't had two duvets! Also only one pillow each, but a lovely and thick one so I haven't bothered to ask for another. And no, there were none in the wardrobe - we looked! Also no kettle or fridge, but not all hotels supply these.

The hotel recommended an Italian restaurant next door, which gave 10% off your main course if you flashed your room key. The SW had pizza, and I had a rather spicy pasta with crayfish, followed by ice cream which wasn't nearly as nice as the stuff we had at the Achensee.

One really nice thing about this hotel is that it faces on to the Rhein, so we have a lovely view from our room.

70th birthday trip, Sunday 25 June; travel day 12/15

Although I think I shall be glad to get home on Tuesday, it was sad to say goodbye to the Achensee for another year.

The bus stops practically outside or hotel, and it was one of the few that goes to Jenbach without having to change at Maurach. We were in good time for our train to Innsbruck, and even found a seat, but when the train got to Innsbruck, we think its locomotive broke down or something (it was headed to Rimini), thus causing a last minute platform change to the Zürich express. Which was rammed! I'm so glad I did book seats, as it was standing room only for those who hadn't. The train did empty a bit as we approached the Swiss border, and we could probably have got seats in 1st class but it would have been a hassle to move our luggage, so we didn't.

We arrived in Zürich on time, and the Swan Whisperer had done his homework and discovered what tram we needed to get to the hotel, where to catch it, and where to get off! He had even bought tickets, not that anybody checked.

After our experience in Hamburg, I was afraid that a "Boutique" hotel would always be nasty, but this one isn't at all. Quite the reverse! And it has Wi-Fi - or I wouldn't be posting this today, as Switzerland is not covered by our roaming policy, so very expensive, and we have firmly turned off data on our phones!

After a cup of tea, we went out to see what we could see. This turned out to be the Rigiblick funicular, which goes  up a very steep hill, stopping three times on the way. At the top you can walk up to a viewpoint, but it looked horribly steep, so we didn't, but contented ourselves with the views of Lake Zürich from the top of the funicular.

Then we not only took the funicular down again, but also a tram to the lakeside itself, which was lovely, if got. We were amused by an animatronic heron, which was remarkably lifelike!

Our tickets were about to expire, so we got the next tram back and treated ourselves to supper in a nearby restaurant. We both chose rösti, and very good they were, too, but filling to the point that we didn't have room for pudding (just as well, at Swiss prices!). 

70th birthday trip, Saturday 24 June

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, of course, stopping off at the Dorfladen (village shop) on his way back to get fresh rolls for breakfast. This apartment has a coffee machine so we were able to enjoy a decent cup of coffee (or two!) with our breakfast.

After which the SW went off to walk up the Karwendel and back (sooner him than me!) and I had meant to go into Maurach to get something for supper, but got held up trying to book seats on all of our remaining trains, which took far longer than it should have done, and there were no first class seats left on the Innsbruck-Zürich train tomorrow. Have got us second class seats in the quiet coach though.

So by the time I was ready to go out, most of the morning had gone, and I wasn't  going to get back to Pertisau until about 13:30. So I rang the SW and suggested he come and join me and we could have lunch at Klingler's, which we know from experience is good.

So when I had finished my shopping, I went down to the Achenseebahn station there and watched the world go by, mostly hang-gliders landing in the field,

and a train came past, which was lovely. So, incidentally, was our lunch - the SW, who said he had had a large slice of apfelstrudel on top of Karwendel, had two sausages with bread and mustard, and I had Leberkäse (nothing to do with either liver or cheese, but a sort of cross between a sausage and luncheon-meat) with a fried egg on top, and some chips, which the SW ate most of. Then I had a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of raspberry ice cream with whipped cream on top, and the SW had an iced coffee, ditto!

Then we caught the bus back to Pertisau and rested for a bit, and then decided to go out for a walk in the warmth of the evening. We had hoped to get to the Dripping Rock, but when it came to it, I was too tired (and so, I expect, was the SW, although I don't expect him to admit it) , so we just went about a kilometre along the lake shore and back again. And then drank beer, and I suppose one of us will have to get supper soon. More photos on Facebook. 

And tomorrow we start for home, taking three days over it! 

70th birthday trip, Friday 23 June; travel day 11/15

The weather, which has been absolutely glorious for the past 2 1/2 weeks, has broken and it has rained most of the day. But as we have been on a train most of the day, that wasn't a problem.

The hotel breakfast was lovely, and I rescued some hard-boiled eggs and paté and bananas to have later, although we couldn't make sandwiches as the beeswax wraps hadn't been washed. But we now have breakfast, and perhaps lunch. stuff for a couple of days!

It shouldn't take the whole day to go from Vienna to Jenbach by train, but we quite literally went the pretty way! I wanted to go on the Semmeringbahn to Graz, and then the SW discovered that the direct route from Graz to Innsbruck also went straight through the mountains and was very scenic, even though it did take 6 1/2 hours to do it.

It was, actually, a very pleasant ride, even though I did nap for a bit on the second leg. I don't know though, why Austrian and Hungarian "Inter-city" trains have to be quite so tatty - this one was made up of any old coaches strung together. Not nearly as smart or as comfortable as the Railjets!

I had been a bit worried about today, as I didn't know whether there would be any taxis at Jenbach, and if there were, whether they would be willing to go up to Pertisau (the last bus and train having long since gone). And I hadn't booked our accommodation through Booking.com (who didn't have any nice places), and had stupidly left the confirmation email on my computer at home, so wasn't 100% sure of it. But all was well, and we were just in time to get a meal in the restaurant. The food was good, but the service was dire - we won't go back.

Then it was time to explore our apartment, and honestly, I kid you not, it is much bigger than our flat at home. Can we swap? Huge sitting-room with dining annex, kitchen twice the size of ours, shower room and separate loo, big bedroom. Only thing is no chairs in the bedroom, and I do like to put my clothes over a chair at night!

It is raining!