25th Jul 2017
Poor
Warnemunde
(said
Varnemunde)
was
afflicted
by
rain
when
"Queen
Elizabeth"
visited.
The
place
is
full
of
charm,
not
too
big,
you
can
easily
get
to
cities
like
Rostock
but
we
didn't.
Our
ambitions
stopped
at
buying
biscuits
in
a
shop
near
to
the
ship
to
take
back.
12th Aug 2014
Virginia
took
me
to
Waterbeach
station,
and
I
caught
the
7.57am
train
to
Kings
Cross.
1st
class
didn't
seem
too
different
to
2nd
class,
but
I
at
least
got
a
seat
and
room
for
my
larger
case.
I
then
navigated
to
St
Pancras
and
found
reaching
the
Eurostar
train
rather
like
reaching
the
airplane
for
a
flight
-
check-in
and
baggage
and
passport
control
queues
to
wait
one's
way
through.
I
worried
about
losing
the
magic
sheet
of
paper
for
the
eTicket
from
Deutsche
Bahn.
Crowded
in
the
waiting
room,
at
least
a
stampede
for
a
Disneyworld
train
left
some
seats
spare.
First
class
in
the
Eurostar
was
very
comfortable,
quiet,
not
crowded,
breakfast
included
(albeit
lunchtime).
We
stopped
at
Ebbsfleet
and
then
I
assume
went
through
the
Channel
Tunnel
with
no
fanfare.
Strong
rain
lashed
the
train,
raindrops
crawled
horizontally
along
the
windows.
An
easy
train
change
at
Brussels
Midi
station,
though
carriage
29
was
not
covered
from
the
rain!
On
the
ICE
train
the
carriages
each
had
a
carriage
number
on
a
digital
display,
at
first
I
though
each
carriage
was
numbered
2!
14th Oct 2013
Most
of
us
had
advanced
our
clocks
so
we
made
breakfast
before
reboarding
our
blue
coach.
The
plates
for
breakfast
were
rectangular
with
3
sections,
the
scrambled
eggs
didn't
taste
quite
right
to
me.
We
crossed
from
France
into
Belgium,
an
event
marked
by
a
sign
with
12
stars
and
mobile
phones
receiving
welcome
texts
as
they
changed
to
cells
in
a
new
country.
I
did
manage
to
doze
on
the
coach
making
up
some
sleep,
despite
the
roads
in
Belgium
being
less
well
maintained.
Stopped
at
a
smelly
and
child
infested
services
in
Belgium
(toilets
free
anyway)
before
resuming
our
odyssey
to
Germany.
We
stopped
again
to
allow
the
gold
coach
to
get
to
the
boat
first,
and
by
now
the
sun
was
in
evidence!
This
second
stop
near
Cologne
allowed
the
Zoll
(German
road
tax
officers)
to
pounce
and
check
we
were
legal.
Apparently
an
accountant
of
National
Holidays
bungled
paying
the
tax,
and
the
German
Zoll
impounded
a
coach
leaving
drivers
and
passengers
high
and
dry!
8th Aug 2011
Last
but
one
stop
on
the
Monday
was
Ruegen
Island
in
Germany
-
was
looking
forward
to
seeing
an
Oceanarium
but
not
enough
other
cruisers
wanted
to
so
that
got
cancelled.
Instead
we
had
a
disappointing
tour.
We
passed
by
the
Prora
Colossus
which
would
have
been
interesting
to
stop
at
(this
is
a
vast
holiday
complex
Hitler
built
but
never
used,
the
longest
building
in
the
world.)