Read this blog: The one where we experience what we feel is is the longest airport walk in the world Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd March 2025 As we prepared to leave Hong Kong, Matilda reminisced about the last time she had visited around the end of March/beginning of April 1987 when she stayed with her brother-in-law Sandy. He had introduced her to Paul Simon’s Graceland album and on this trip she had enjoyed hearing tracks from it played in several bars and coffee shops. We were to fly from Hong Kong to Taiwan. Our Octopus cards were valid on the Airport Express but we had slightly miscalculated and we both found we had a HK$3 debt on each card but thankfully we were both allowed through the barrier. The new Hong Kong International Airport is huge. When we checked in and looked for our departure gate we saw that the numbers went up to 524. However, not all these numbers actually correspond to gates: there are 89 in total. At Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport you must first pass through the Animal and Plant Quarantine control to make sure you are not importing any banned foodstuffs. We noticed one woman in the […]
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Read this blog: The one where we see that Robert remembers the moves Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th March 2024 On the first morning on board, as we travelled from Cai Be to Con Phuong Island, the ship’s masseuse offered everyone a five minute neck and shoulder massage as a loss leader to encourage bookings. Uptake of the free service was brisk and both Robert and Matilda indulged. She certainly found some of Robert’s knots but the prices afloat were predictable much higher than we had seen on land. As we cruised further upstream, we passed floating fish farms run by families who lived on the water permanently. The cargo boats were often so heavily laden that we feared they were close to sinking with the wash running over the bow. The activity for the day was to visit a bamboo weaving community and a school but we opted to stay on board as the temperatures were set to rise to 36° and Matilda wanted to save her enegery for the 400 steps up to the temple which was scheduled for Day Three. We moored overnight near Tan Chau and the entertainment that evening was a screening of Good Morning, Vietnam. […]
Monday 16th May 2022 The American Queen is said to be the largest river steamboat ever built. Completed in 1995, she is a six-storey recreation of a classic Mississippi riverboat. At 418 feet (127 m) long, 89 feet (27 m) wide and with 222 state rooms she can accommodate 436 guests and a crew of 160. Having settled in, there was little to do other than familiarise ourselves with the layout. Going up stream along the Mississippi River, one side of the boat is bathed in sunshine whilst the other is in shade. A champagne reception was provided on the fore deck as we were leaving New Orleans. Later, a slightly delayed safety drill covered the sound of the alarm signal and the crew checking we could put on our life jackets and stand outside our cabin but did not tell us where we should muster in case of an emergency. This was helpfully printed on our personalised room keys. On our deck the cabins were named after states and we had been allocated New jersey. Currently this is the only state which Robert has visited which Matilda hasn’t, as he is fond of pointing out. She hopes to remedy this later in the […]
Sunday 27th to Tuesday 29th March 2022 We have now reached day 40 on The Duke – a number with Biblical associations – and Ralf will be returning to his homeland. The only problem is that it is difficult to identify exactly when we will be entering Wales: looking at the map, the canal seems to cross and re-cross the border. We are hoping that a sign will proudly announce when we arrive in Wales properly. A short distance from Barbridge, although still in England at this point, we turned onto the Llangollen Canal. Immediately, we were faced with the first of the 21 locks on the Llangollen Canal – the flight of four Hurleston Locks which rise 34 feet 3 inches from the Shropshire Union Canal. Ralf again wanted to participate in the adventure and perhaps plant his paws on his motherland once more. Matilda had to crank open a lift bridge. . . . . . and watch The Duke glide past before closing it again. Robert had read that there were cast iron embellishments to the graves at St Margaret’s in Wrenbury but Matilda could not identify them and as there was a man tending a grave […]
Thursday 16th January 2020 Although you can get a coach between the Estonian and the Latvian capitals, there is currently no direct train link between Tallinn and Riga: services go via Valga on the border. We had to rise early [we were first down to breakfast in our hotel] to catch a train from Tallinn to Valga for the first leg of the journey. Although the man at the ticket counter had suggested we might struggle to get a seat, once we were on board, we began to wonder whether he was being ironic. The scenery was predominantly trees and woodland. At the end of WWI, Valga was the only place that was disputed between Estonia and Latvia and a British mediator was called in to settle the dispute which he did by dividing the town in two. On the Latvian side, the town is called Valka. We arrived in Valga/Valka with three hours to wait before our onwards connection to Riga so we deposited our luggage in the lockers in the spacious railway station hall and went to stroll round the town. Valga promotes itself with the slogan, “One city, two states” and this is written prominently around the […]
Thursday 21st March 2019 Although not part of the planning process, as we were in India for this festival of colour, we thought we should enter into the spirit of the celebration. Holi signifies “the arrival of spring, the end of winter, the blossoming of love, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships”. Coloured powder is thrown in the air and smeared over people’s clothes and faces. Dancing and food are also vital. We bought white shirts from the shop in the hotel reception which seemed to be doing a roaring trade with a Chinese tour group. It took a few attempts to find a top which would fit Robert’s broad shoulders and the sizing was a mystery as Matilda’s top said 48 in the back and Robert’s said 38. We asked the hotel receptionist to take a “before” photo and headed out to the Dhulandi Festival. Some colours seem to be more adhesive than others . . . . . . and some are more long-lasting but . . . . . . there comes a point when they all merge together. Robert’s hair proved to be […]
Saturday, 27th October 2018 In the fifteenth century, apparently Duke John II wanted to thank the people of Lier for their support during his struggle against the people of Mechelen. They were allowed to choose their own reward and he offered them two options. The people of Lier were tasked with choosing between a university or a cattle market. The duke coined the phrase ”the sheep heads”: so you know which option the good citizens chose. We did, however, feel it was an apt destination for the Travelling Herd. We had inadvertently stumbled upon another UNESCO World Heritage Site – the Beguinage at Lier. We learnt that a beguinage is an architectural complex created to house beguines – lay religious women who lived in a community without taking vows or retiring from the world. The residents were often widows or unmarried women who supported themselves by crafts such as lace-making or embroidery. The Lier beguinage was established in 1258 and now comprises 11 alleys and 162 houses. Walking through the alleys does seem like stepping back in time and the style and topology of these buildings are reminiscent of alms houses found in England. The town itself is also charming […]
Monday, 20th August 2018 Only a short post today as it has been a very lazy day with just one purpose. We caught the 12th train of the trip, a short ride from the coast at Constanta to Medgidia, from here we changed to a small modern DMU train for a three hour trip on a single track line north to Tulcea. Tulcea is at the beginning of the Danube delta. It is here that we would be joining our CroisiEurope river cruiser the MS L’Europe. We arrived in Tulcea at 12:35 and could see our boat moored up, unfortunately we could not check in until 16:45. Because of our luggage we did not want to walk around the town, so we had a lazy afternoon sitting on the terrace of a local hotel watching the world go by.before boarding the boat, unpacking and settling in for the next twelve days. Miles walked today: 4.0 Route Map: