Got to agree.
Should have been straightforward, but wasn't.
Should I venture to Vienna again...it won't be on a train!
Don't mind flying, but get pissed of with airports!
Another foray into Europe on many wheels!
- Thread starter gerarddwatts
- Start date
Should have been straightforward, but wasn't.
Should I venture to Vienna again...it won't be on a train!
Don't mind flying, but get pissed of with airports!
Just for Chris...his favourite river with vineyards beyond....
Few more..heading towards Koblenz..
Sure quite a few will have been at or through Boppard..
River looks up again.
Yes - but I don't think the camp site I stayed at the last time would be habitable with that level of water.
Into Cologne Messe Deutz, (10 minutes late.. every German train we've been on has been late)which is other side of river from Hbf, and then shuttle train over.
Into good old Ibis right next to station, and opposite cathedral, at 1845.
Dump bags and head for grub and fluid....very important to keep fluids up.
Again following the recommendation of 'the man in seat 61' we headed a few minutes to Brauhaus Sion..
a bier cellar type place and had a very decent supper, pork loin stuffed with gruyere, with sort of saute spuds with bits of ham in....and fluids...a good suggestion from him...he hasn't let us down yet!
5 minutes past the cathedral, pass all the worthless drunks and other such rubbish as gathers round stations, back up for a shower, and bed...not so early tomorrow and going to go against the grain and have a hotel breakfast...usual don't bother as they are ridiculously expensive, and there is usually a decent cafe not far away from a station, but we need to get going tomorrow and no time to explore, shame, as I've bever been here.
Tomorrow takes us to Aachen for a change and thence to Brussels.
Into good old Ibis right next to station, and opposite cathedral, at 1845.
Dump bags and head for grub and fluid....very important to keep fluids up.
Again following the recommendation of 'the man in seat 61' we headed a few minutes to Brauhaus Sion..
a bier cellar type place and had a very decent supper, pork loin stuffed with gruyere, with sort of saute spuds with bits of ham in....and fluids...a good suggestion from him...he hasn't let us down yet!
5 minutes past the cathedral, pass all the worthless drunks and other such rubbish as gathers round stations, back up for a shower, and bed...not so early tomorrow and going to go against the grain and have a hotel breakfast...usual don't bother as they are ridiculously expensive, and there is usually a decent cafe not far away from a station, but we need to get going tomorrow and no time to explore, shame, as I've bever been here.
Tomorrow takes us to Aachen for a change and thence to Brussels.
It takes a fair bit of planning Chris, all the more so when the plans dissolve before your very eyes!
Initially it was all straightforward and relaxed.
I understand you cannot plan round floods or bomb scares but the chaos that is the German railway makes dealing with such interruptions difficult.
We have enjoyed many years of bike trips all over Europe, but reality insists that we now have an alternative that is not jumping into a coach or a plane with dozens of other folk and being told what to do every day. The downside is, as happened with the bomb scare, that you have to be self reliant and resilient!
I would not repeat a complicated trip like this, but then...it never started out being complicated!
Challenges have two outcomes...you either rise to them or fall by the wayside!
Initially it was all straightforward and relaxed.
I understand you cannot plan round floods or bomb scares but the chaos that is the German railway makes dealing with such interruptions difficult.
We have enjoyed many years of bike trips all over Europe, but reality insists that we now have an alternative that is not jumping into a coach or a plane with dozens of other folk and being told what to do every day. The downside is, as happened with the bomb scare, that you have to be self reliant and resilient!
I would not repeat a complicated trip like this, but then...it never started out being complicated!
Challenges have two outcomes...you either rise to them or fall by the wayside!
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Def something i think we would enjoy for a change. Probably end up in Istanbul
Is there a particular website for the trains you use ?
I now discover that dBahn stands for disasterBahn.
Whist waiting on the platform for our (delayed) train to Brussels, we decided to sit.
A nearby seat seemed appropriate until we were almost immediately moved away by station staff, who explained that our seat also hosted a lone 'lost' bag..
We moved away hoping the platform would not be closed...wifey promising a 'wobbly' should another incident affect our passage to Brussels.
But....every cloud, etc...
The foreign railway johnnies seemed to be relaxed about the bag, moving folk a good foot or so back!.
We were soon on the train and sitting in free seats in 1st.
Whist waiting on the platform for our (delayed) train to Brussels, we decided to sit.
A nearby seat seemed appropriate until we were almost immediately moved away by station staff, who explained that our seat also hosted a lone 'lost' bag..
We moved away hoping the platform would not be closed...wifey promising a 'wobbly' should another incident affect our passage to Brussels.
But....every cloud, etc...
The foreign railway johnnies seemed to be relaxed about the bag, moving folk a good foot or so back!.
We were soon on the train and sitting in free seats in 1st.
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Def something i think we would enjoy for a change. Probably end up in Istanbul
Is there a particular website for the trains you use ?
The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide
How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.
www.seat61.com
Has to be a starting point I'm told
Cheers pal.The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide
How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.www.seat61.com
Has to be a starting point I'm told
If I’ve been checking on European trains I use this
The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide
How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.
www.seat61.com
Chris...have an explore through 'the man in seat 61' website.
Lots of possibilities. Edit...like everyone says!
But try and keep it simple!
I have used the 'dBahn Navigator' app extensively to keep track(!) of options and timings.
Now comfortably being wafted towards Brussels...the nest, or lair, of the enemy at our door, soon to be escorted in by our own government..
Lots of possibilities. Edit...like everyone says!
But try and keep it simple!
I have used the 'dBahn Navigator' app extensively to keep track(!) of options and timings.
Now comfortably being wafted towards Brussels...the nest, or lair, of the enemy at our door, soon to be escorted in by our own government..
I like simple.Chris...have an explore through 'the man in seat 61' website.
Lots of possibilities.
But try and keep it simple!
I have used the 'dBahn Navigator' app extensively to keep track(!) of options and timings.
Now comfortably being wafted towards Brussels...the nest, or lair, of the enemy at our door, soon to be escorted in by our own government..
We enjoy following the rivers on the bike especially in Germany so maybe try on the train.
Actually the journey up the Rhine was indeed one of the scenic highlights.
Into the Pullman Hotel..actually part of the station..dumped the bags, and venture into the heart of the lair.
I remember my ma telling about the 'Mannekin pis', so had to travel into the centre to see him....I can do no better than quote wiiki..
a landmark[1] 55.5 cm (21.9 in)[a] bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the mid-15th century,[2] Manneken Pis was redesigned by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1619.[3][4][5] Its stone niche in rocaille style dates from 1770.[6][4] The statue has been repeatedly stolen or damaged throughout its history. Since 1965, a replica has been displayed,[7
It was graduation day for a whole new cadre of potential EU commissars, so they had dressed the poor mannie in a gown and mortarboard..
The graduation ceremony was just round the corner and they all looked very jolly, as they would when at the start of a lifetime of lavish income, expenses and pensions, all while subjugating the rest of Europe
I remember my ma telling about the 'Mannekin pis', so had to travel into the centre to see him....I can do no better than quote wiiki..
a landmark[1] 55.5 cm (21.9 in)[a] bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the mid-15th century,[2] Manneken Pis was redesigned by the Brabantine sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1619.[3][4][5] Its stone niche in rocaille style dates from 1770.[6][4] The statue has been repeatedly stolen or damaged throughout its history. Since 1965, a replica has been displayed,[7
It was graduation day for a whole new cadre of potential EU commissars, so they had dressed the poor mannie in a gown and mortarboard..
The graduation ceremony was just round the corner and they all looked very jolly, as they would when at the start of a lifetime of lavish income, expenses and pensions, all while subjugating the rest of Europe
Attachments
Not really sure what happened there...
A very attractive part of old Brussels..
A very attractive part of old Brussels..
