One week gone already, with a long day's travel from Bratislava to Timişoara in prospect. Our goal was Istanbul, and to get there and leave ourselves four days to see the great metropolis would necessarily involve a few tough journeys. Tuesday 1 September It had rained a little during the night but had stopped by…
We are back in dear old Blighty, and what a trip it was! Nearly four weeks on our third annual Interrailing jaunt, visiting seven countries - plus two solely to change trains. Itinerary as follows: Eurostar to Paris Lucerne/Luzern (train, 2 nights) Innsbruck (train, 1 night) Graz (train, 2 nights) Bratislava (train, 1 night) Timișoara…
We have had a wonderful time Interrailing. If you want to see a lot of Europe in a few weeks the best way to do it is by train, no question. And preferably first class, which doesn't cost much more. Last year's trip will take a lot of beating. I loved it, but said I…
I have a vague interest in astronomy. I've seen lots of meteor showers, the Hale-Bopp comet in 1995, and a very good lunar eclipse a few years ago. But everybody loves a solar eclipse. On 12 August 2026 a solar eclipse passed through Europe, with the Path of Totality travelling through Iceland and northern Spain.…
I last posted at the end of June. I wrote that it was 34c, the hottest June day on record in the UK. More than six weeks on, nothing has changed. That same temperature, 34c, is projected for London by the end of this week. It may even go higher. It has hardly rained a…
At one time most people in the UK could remember the summer of 1976. But you’d have to be at least 55 years of age to have any real memory of that strange time. It was a foretaste of what we are going through today, the hottest June day on record. I’m sitting at home…
The last time we visited Scotland was to deposit Dad's remains in Loch Lomond. Three years on, I was thinking of doing the same with Mum's ashes; but I recalled that she talked about how much she loved living in Crieff (Perthshire) when her family had been evacuated from Glasgow during the war. Maybe that…
We'd got as far as West Norwood (all of two miles), and I realised something was not quite right. The trusty Golf Estate was labouring a bit up the hill. And it was hardly Mont Blanc. There was a lot of luggage on board, but surely it didn't weigh that much? As we motored down…
Following two very enjoyable but busy weeks in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, we fancied a week at the seaside. Plan A was to go to Ko Chang on the Gulf of Thailand. However, the Thais and the Cambodians were lobbing shells at each other across the border, which necessitated a re-think. Not that we believed…
It was still bucketing down in the UK (and much of the rest of Europe) but we had another week in Chiang Mai. It was time to explore the old town, which lies inside a rectangle surrounded by a moat. Graham was our guide as we visited Wat Phra Singh, perhaps the most important of…
