Thursday 9 January 2020 We left Helsinki on the 10:00 Allegro service to St Petersburg in bright sunshine. This would have been a much better day to visit the Suomenlinna Fortress: what a difference the weather can make. Shortly after departure we were offered a choice of fish, meat or vegetarian meal, with fruit juice and either a brownie or a yoghurt [see Dish of the day]. Many people, including Robert, chose to eat this immediately but it seemed more like lunch than breakfast so Matilda saved hers for later and thought of the myriad school children on a trip who eat their packed lunch almost before the coach has passed out of the school gate. We were in first class and so could help ourselves to unlimited water, tea or coffee from a refreshment station in the middle of the carriage. The Allegro train is a purpose-built, high speed Alstrom Pendolino [tilting] train: top speed 140mph. These trains are purpose-built because they need to cope with two different voltages on the Finnish and Russian train systems, as well as the two different gauges of railway track. The journey takes 3 hours and 27 minutes and both customs checks and […]
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Wednesday, 20th November 2019 There were conflicting reports about whether it was possible to visit the Royal Palace, but we set off to try and gain entry, armed with our passports which we had been told we would need if we were successful. This quest proved to be an exercise in perseverance. Initially we took the tram to the Nations Unies tram stop and walked a short distance to one entrance to the Palace. Here we were told by one pair of guards that it was always closed to the public and we were not allowed to take photos. A little further down the street a second set of guards told us that we had to walk clockwise around the perimeter to a different entrance. On the way, we passed the Rabat Ville Railway Station which has a well tended fountain in front. We also took some time out from our quest and visited the Art Deco Cathédrale Saint-Pierre situated on a pleasant circus, Place du Golan. Construction began in 1919 and it was inaugurated in 1921. The two distinctive towers were added to the striking exterior in the 1930s and the interior is beautiful yet rather minimalist by comparison […]
Saturday 6th to Sunday 7th July 2019 Although we could hear the Friday night revelling from our hotel room, it was not as loud as we had feared when the receptionist warned us and happily neither of us had recourse to the earplugs which had been provided. As we walked back along the marina to catch the ferry to Sardinia, staff on the more luxurious yachts were polishing the chrome and hosing down the decks whilst chefs were negotiating with local suppliers for fresh produce to be delivered. Unlikely as it is, if we ever have that sort of money we have promised ourselves we will return to Bonifacio on a luxury yacht. Regular ferries run between Bonifacio to Santa Teresa di Gallura on the northern tip of Sardinia and take about an hour. From here we were scheduled to catch a bus to Sassari and then a narrow gauge train to Alghero. Having taken the indirect route up to the bus station, a bus to Sassari was pulling out just as we arrived. The very accommodating driver allowed himself to be flagged down and accosted in pigeon Italian [unspoken ‘O’ level Latin] and agreed to let us put our […]
Wednesday 13th March When we arrived, very early, in Kolkata off the sleeper train and took a taxi to our hotel, the LaLit Great Eastern, we were not expecting a room to be available but wanted to deposit our luggage. We were therefore really pleased to be offered the use of the in-house spa as a “freshen-up” room. A shower, some complementary bottled water and a change of clothes and we felt ready to walk round a few of the sights which Matilda had identified as being within a reasonable distance of the hotel. Meanwhile, there had been a change of staff on reception and, much to our amusement, we were again offered the use of the freshen-up room. Clearly we were not measuring up favourably, even “freshened-up”, to the high sartorial standards they expect of their guests. Matilda had done some research and thought it would be possible to walk through and round The Maidan to see the Victoria Memorial and St Paul’s Cathedral. The Maidan is also apparently sometimes referred to as the Brigade Parade Ground and includes Eden Gardens and the Kolkata Race Course. The hotel staff clearly felt that we were a breed apart from their […]
Wednesday, 17th October 2018 As you pull out of the campsite in Bastogne you are faced with Ardennes Boissons – a drive-in off-license with plenty of parking for a vehicle the size of Alan. How could we drive past? The selection of bottled beer was extensive and we wanted to buy some bottles of “Airborne” in honour of the American troops and the struggle to retain Bastogne and the Ardennes. Ralf reluctantly, but successfully, completed his first museum visit at the Bastogne War Museum today. This involved him staying in the motorhome alone for the two and a half hours it took us to go round. He was waiting in the driver’s seat for us to return and although all was quiet when we exited the museum, he became quite vocal as we approached the vehicle but thankfully nothing untoward seemed to have happened in our absence. The museum itself is well laid out and very informative and certainly creates a sense of what it must have been like for civilians and the military alike on all sides to have been involved in the Battle of the Bulge in the depths of a harsh winter with limited food. In any crisis […]
Monday, 13th August 2018 An early swim before breakfast helped to get the day off to a healthy start. Following Robert’s friendly criticism of her backstroke technique yesterday, Matilda googled this and realised she was using the recreational technique, not the racing technique he was recommending. Looking in the wardrobe we found bathrobes and slippers for the pool which we had overlooked yesterday. Even though we got to the pool at 07:00, there were already several people there before us including a coach training several young swimmers: Matilda, always open to constructive comment, tried to interpret his arm actions to help improve her backstroke technique, but will probably stick with the recreational approach. At breakfast we realised we were sharing the hotel with the Austrian and Norwegian youth judo teams as well as those from several other countries which we did not see. This explained the signs to the “unofficial weighing room” on the mezzanine floor. The signs were positioned by the lifts and seemed to suggest these might become overloaded. In fact, the Cluj-Napoca Junior European Cup 2018 – International Judo competition ran from 11 August to 12 August, 28 countries and 290 competitors were involved. Although on the train […]
Last night we realised that the windbreaks, mentioned in the last post, which many use to mark out their territory on a camp site, are not necessarily effective against a curious Lakeland who is prepared to sneak under a motorhome and poke his nose into someone else’s personal space. Robert is the self-styled chef for this trip. Matilda was a little concerned that the preparation of the breakfast muffins for the morning seemed to take precedence over her evening meal. Robert is not going to make a short order chef any time soon: he does produce quite a professional English muffin, except when demands are being made for an imminent meal. The phrase ‘critical path flow’ springs to mind. But the view of Southwold beyond the muffins is very picturesque. The first morning waking up in the motorhome with Ralf was punctuated by whimpers and urgent indications that he wanted to go for a walk. Robert would have preferred a chilled start to the day including a coffee but Matilda persuaded him to head out. A passing dog walker commented, “I think it’s going to rain.” We smiled politely, but turning back to look in the direction he was heading we […]