Read this blog: The one where we experience Cold War East Germany Wednesday 4th December 2024 We had booked to visit the Deutsche Spionagemuseum [German Spy Museum] in the morning which is promoted as being in “Berlin, the capital of spies”. It is open daily between 10:00 and 20:00 and on presenting our tourist train passes we were given a 25% discount on the entry price. This is home to over 1,000 exhibits which tell the story of information gathering over the millennia from Biblical stories and the ancient potter who concealed the secret recipe for a glaze in the decoration of a pot right through to modern surveillance techniques. Exhibits include hidden cameras, lipstick pistols, bugs and encrypted mobile phones as well as an original German Enigma Machine [below]. Also on display was a replica of the poison-tipped umbrella used to murder the Bulgarian dissident and anti-communist writer and broadcaster Georgi Markov in 1978 on a London street. The museum is highly interactive and if our visit had not coincided with those of several groups of students we would have spent more time trying to solve cyphers; seeing if we could identify when each other was lying and trying to negotiate a laser maze amongst […]
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Read this blog: The one where we solve The Fake Cheque Fiasco Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th November 2024 We left the York Tap behind and caught a train down to Birmingham, fully aware that we could have travelled all the way back to London in the time it took us to get to New Street Station. We were very taken with the mechanical bull on the station concourse. This was originally the centrepiece of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held here in the city. It moves at regular intervals, shaking its head and snorting [see Video of the day]. As Robert had had a full day’s meeting before we left York, it was later than we would usually plan to arrive somewhere when we finally reached Birmingham. We checked in to our hotel and walked to Victoria Square. Here “Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market” was already spreading the festive spirit [see Selfie of the day]. We went to find Chris Moose, the joke-telling, singing reindeer which has become a regular feature and focal point of the Christmas market here in Birmingham. The following morning, Matilda had invested in some entertainment: the Mystery Guides’ Birmingham City Centre adventure, The […]
Read this blog: The one where we mix beer and trains – obviously! Thursday 7th and Friday 8th March 2024 We flew the 1,434 miles from Singapore to Hanoi, arriving about 16:00 and Robert had pre-booked us transport into the city. We could tell on the drive from the airport into Hanoi just how different Vietnam would be from Singapore. Our driver, whilst perfectly competent seemed to have very little lane discipline and the main purpose of the horn seems to be to alert other road users that they are about to be overtaken. Closer into the centre, moped riders seem to ignore the traffic lights and pedestrians are forced to share the road with them as the pavements are used as parking for the mopeds. It is difficult to know which way to look. The driver passed our hotel and when we mentioned this, rather to our dismay, he checked on his phone, pulled over, then jumped out and disappeared. However, he soon returned with the bellboy from our hotel and we realised he wanted to ensure that no-one missed out on the chance of receiving potentially lucrative tips from foreigners. Matilda is really struggling with converting the number […]
Read this blog: The one where we visit Brunel’s bridge in Bristol. Tuesday 20th February 2024 The weather forecast was for rain the next day so we agreed to walk round the sites in the better weather conditions promised for Tuesday. Matilda had compiled a list of sights she would like to visit and Robert worked out a route to include as many of these as possible. After a little misdirection and a slight detour we reached the Clifton Lido, originally built in 1849 and opened on 29 July 1850 as the Clifton Victoria Baths. It is situated on a corner flanked by Victorian terraces and impressive classical facades overlook both streets. The main entrance is Egyptian in style and originally led to the medicinal baths, the offices and the boiler room. We walked round to the side entrance, added in 1867 to allow entry to The Victoria Public House which is also part of the complex, and entered the poolside café. Wooden changing cubicles line one side of the pool whilst . . . . . . cast iron galleries over two floors provide viewing space on another two sides. The the website states that the water is heated […]
Read this blog: The one where we see England triumph against the odds Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September 2023 On Friday evening, Robert wanted to soak up the atmosphere in and around the bars of Marseille and watch both the RWC 2023 opening ceremony and the inaugural match between France and New Zealand. Various FanZones had been set up including one by the entry to the Metro at Vieux Port but these did not seem very popular and we found ourselves seats with a view of a TV screen outside The Queen Victoria, in the Vieux Port in Marseille. Matches were scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday so fans for all the competing teams had gathered in the sunshine and mingled good-naturedly. We were surprised by how many Scotsmen were wearing their kilts, since the Scotland game was not scheduled until Sunday, but we were told that kilts are so heavy, it is better to wear them to travel rather than risk being charged for overweight luggage. Without any commentary, the opening ceremony was rather confusing but we later discovered that it was based on Les Miserables. Unfortunately, The Queen Victoria found that three cubicle toilets were not able […]
Read this blog: The one where we watch Sophie’s fringe performance. Friday 18th August 2023 Ever since 1992 when her mother first introduced us to the fabulous historical properties available to rent through The Landmark Trust, Matilda has been yearning to visit The Pineapple. It is situated in Dunmore near Falkirk, close to Stirling where she went to university, but she was entirely unaware of its existence at the time. When we learnt in the autumn of 2022 that Jaime’s friend Sophie [who came to Tresco with us in 2021] would be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, Matilda looked up availability and found that the weekend of 18th to 21st August was available. As this coincided with Robert and Matilda’s wedding anniversary, as well as likely dates for Sophie’s performances, it seemed as though it was meant to be. The dates of Sophie’s performances were confirmed earlier this year and our best option was to see her perform in Edges at 10:00 on Friday 18th August. During the Edinburgh Festival, accommodation is obviously at a premium so having stayed in Glasgow, we woke early and drove to Falkirk High Station, parked there and took a train in for […]
Read this blog: The one where we cycle through a vineyard. Wednesday 12th July to Thursday [morning] 13th July 2023 Having travelled overnight again, we awoke in Speyer and started the day watching a local man fishing while we were eating our breakfast. But we failed to see him catch a single fish, only some seaweed as he gradually got further and further into the water. [His partner did not look as though they were going to go to save him if he fell.] We started by heading into Speyer on foot, to go to the Technik Museum, which has many different vehicles on display ranging from bikes, cars, planes as well as mock ups of Apollo 11. Jaime has commented that there are too many photos of the Technik Museum, but Robert insisted that he wants to show the vast array of vehicles. Be warned: the Technik Museum Speyer was opened in 1991 and contains more than 2,000 exhibits in a total exhibition area, both inside and outdoors, of over 150,000 m². So get ready! There was a row of Rolls Royce cars through the years. Jaime couldn’t really tell much of a difference between them but enjoyed the BMW […]
Sunday 14th May 2023 Some subscribers may know that Matilda likes to read a novel which is in some way associated with the places we visit. She was unfortunately woken early on Sunday by earache (more of this in subsequent posts) but she was pleased that this also gave her time to start Crooked House by Agatha Christie before setting off to visit Greenway. Although she has watched innumerable film and TV adaptations of Miss Marple and Poirot she had not previously read any of the novels. She chose Crooked House as it appeared in a list of the top ten Agatha Christie books; at the time of publication, the ending was felt to be too shocking even for Agatha Christie and the author’s preface describes it as “one of my own special favourites”. Matilda subsequently discovered that Dead Man’s Folly was inspired by the house and part of it was filmed there, so that will have to be added to her reading list. In 1938 Agatha Christie bought the property Greenway House as a holiday home/summer retreat [see featured photo]. She described it as being “the loveliest place in the world” but did not take up residence until after […]
Monday 27th March 2023 Yesterday, just as the tram we were waiting for arrived, Robert spotted a message on the rolling digital notice board saying that there would be a national transport strike in Germany on 28th March. Robert mentioned this to Matilda. We were booked on a train to Bonn that day, so this obviously caused us some consternation. Having already boarded the tram, we discussed the ramifications and decided to get off at the next stop and walk back to the Hauptbahnhof to see how the situation could be resolved. As we walked, Robert called our hotel to ask if we could stay an extra night. Once this was agreed in principle we went to the ticket office to see what our options were. We were told that our tickets would be valid for several days after the designated strike day and we were given a printout of the train times for the following days. We returned to the hotel to confirm we would be staying for an extra day and find out whether we would need to change rooms. We would not. The woman on reception told us she had amended our booking and gave us new keycards […]
Tuesday 31st January 2023 Our research had revealed that although the European Solidarity Centre is closed on Tuesdays, the Museum of the Second World War was open so we decided to make this our first cultural stop of the visit. Our route took us past the Gdańsk Crane, which is rather less iconic when covered in scaffolding. Robert wanted to sample breakfast at one of the well-known bar mleczny [milk bars]. Originally subsidised by the state, they provided affordable food for the people but with the fall of communism and the consequent removal of the state subsidy in Poland many were forced out of business. Some have nevertheless survived and Bar Mleczny Neptun is recommended for providing flavour as well as real value for money. There was no queue when we arrived and the very obliging man behind the counter helped us to make our selection and then translated our order [see Dish of the day] for the cashier. Having eaten breakfast, we walked along the Stara Motława waterfront towards the museum. This took us past the Gdańsk sign on the opposite bank, still sporting a festive Santa hat. The Museum of the Second World War opened in 2017 in purpose-built accommodation and a statue […]
Sunday 25th – Tuesday 27th September 2022 Leaving Casier, we headed south, leaving the Parrocchia dei Santi Teonisto e Compagni Martiri towering behind us [see GoPro video below] and motored onwards towards Venice. Rain had been forecast but fortunately this seemed to have all fallen overnight and by the time we set off, both Captain and crew could enjoy the sunshine. At Portegrandi, where the River Sile meets the Laguna, we negotiated our first lock. The term ’we’ is used loosely. This lock, unlike those on the canals of England, was operated by a lock keeper and required comparatively little effort from the crew. The Co-Captain took most of the strain. Once on the Laguna, we passed several casoni with the fishing nets hung out beside them. A casone is a basic fisherman’s hut or peasant’s house in the Veneto, but as we would see shortly not all casone are equal and some are more basic than others. Our route took us past the picturesque island of Burano, which is famous for its brightly coloured houses. The bell tower is no longer vertical and from some angles the lean is quite alarming. le boat has its own dedicated berths on Burano and […]
Tuesday 13th to Thursday 15th September 2022 One of the pleasures of inviting friends to join us on Tresco is seeing their first reaction to the beauty, peace and tranquility of the Isles of Scilly. This year we are joined by the Robinsons who learned how to put up with us in close proximity on The Duke in April. We had hoped to meet them from the helicopter as they landed on Tresco for the first time and took the earliest boat from Bryher at 09:45. However, when we disembarked at the quay at New Grimsby we were told we would not be able to get to the heliport in time and that they would be taken straight to our cottage with their luggage, as would we. Having dropped various boat passengers at their accommodation, the driver subsequently relented and suggested he could drop our luggage at Green and take us on to the heliport to see if the Robinsons were still there. What ensued was a little like a Keystone Cops caper. We unloaded and left our luggage in the shed at the cottage and got back on the transport to the heliport where we were told that the […]
Tuesday 3rd May 2022 Under current restrictions, passengers are required to test negative within the 24 hours prior to boarding a flight to America and so we had independently verified Covid lateral flow tests arranged for 15:00. As rain was forecast we had booked a guided coach tour, which would keep us inside and out of the rain for the morning, to the lava tunnel at Raufarhólshellir, blissfully unaware that this excursion was to become the cause of all of Robert’s issues on the following day. As always in Iceland, the geology was impressive. The lava tube is 4,500 feet long and is one of the longest known lava tubes in Europe. Lava tubes are underground and are usually discovered only when a section of the “roof” caves in. At Raufarhólshellir, the roof has collapsed in several places and there are still snow drifts inside left over from the winter. Lava tubes are only formed during the course of effusive eruptions. If the magma has low viscosity the dissolved gases can escape from it easily and when the magma reaches the surface it forms lava flows which move slowly and steadily along the ground, melting the rock beneath it and […]
Friday 18th to Monday 21st February 2022 Having swapped the warmth of Italy and the comfort of a spacious room at the Savoy Hotel in Rome for a seven foot wide narrowboat with considerably less floor space, Matilda is once again questioning her sanity. We reunited with The Duke and our friends Liz and Martin who had been aboard whilst we were away, accompanied this time by Ralf, our Lakeland Terrier and Storm Eunice. Although this is not a name which exudes menace, Eunice added about four hours to the drive up to our rendezvous at the Cape of Good Hope, near Warwick. The motorway was at a standstill, first while a fallen tree was cleared from the carriageway and then for a lorry which had been blown onto its side across three lanes. Thankfully it looked as though the driver had been rescued through the windscreen. After that the M40 was closed completely but as our Sat Nav had helpfully offered an alternative route we were at least able to continue along A roads with Ralf, who is not particularly used to car travel, becoming increasingly desperate in the back. When we finally arrived, it was enough just to […]
Firenze Thursday 10th and Friday 11th February 2022 After a leisurely start; and a stroll to look at the Palazzo Blu, home of the current Keith Haring exhibition . . . . . . followed by a coffee in the sunshine and a little retail therapy in Pisa we crossed the road from the hotel to the station and we were once again able to catch an earlier train than we had booked. No-one checked our tickets before we boarded or whilst we were on the train. But as there were plenty of available spaces; we had already paid and the seats weren’t reserved we didn’t feel too guilty. We arrived in Firenze and as we stepped out of the station Robert declared this building to be one of the ugliest he has ever seen. And he has seen a few stations over the years. Designed in 1932 it replaced the original station built in 1848, which we were sure must have been more decorative. Matilda felt it was particularly unfortunate given that Firenze is known as a centre of beautiful Renaissance art and architecture. We walked to our hotel right by the Duomo and took the elevator, complete with […]
Monday 29th November to Thursday 2nd December 2021 We had originally planned to avoid any travel restrictions by going to Bath for the Christmas markets, but when restrictions lifted in the autumn our regular travelling companions, Liz and Martin, wanted to go further afield and we planned a trip to Brugge for three days, travelling back via Brussels and spending one night in the capital. However, as the date of our trip approached, Omicron cases were on the rise and countries were starting to impose more rigorous travel restrictions. Belgium implemented PCR tests and self isolation for those staying in the country for over 48 hours. We were therefore forced to revise our plans, reducing our time in Brugge by a day and travelling back via Lille in France instead of Brussels so that we were compliant. Liz and Martin were excited about taking their first trip on the Eurostar. Once in Brugge, we deposited our luggage then set out to get our bearings again and see the city as the sun went down and the light started to fade. The Markt, or old market square, is dominated by the 83 metre high Belfry and surrounded by old guild houses […]