“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Chinese proverb – attributed to Lao-Tze)
Saturday 27th August 1983
The previous evening I had gone out for a supposedly swift after-work drink with my best mate to wish me well on my journey. However, it was not quite so swift and it certainly was not just one drink, so my plan to do careful final packing on the Friday night was thrown into disarray. Nonetheless, I managed to shove everything into my bag early on the Saturday morning and walk to my local station for the short ride to London Liverpool Street.
Liverpool Street prior to its late-1980s redevelopment was very different to how it is now. There was a road running through the middle of it to enable goods and mail to be loaded on to trains – effectively dividing the station into half. I caught the Day Continental boat train to Harwich (Parkeston Quay) departing at 0940, which arrived in Harwich just before 1100, followed by a quick embarkation onto the Sealink ferry for the seven hour crossing to the Hook of Holland. Seven hours is a long time to explore a ship and look at views of the sea, so after a while I settled down to read one of the books I had brought along – Laws of the Game by Manfred Eigen and Ruthild Winkler, a translation from the original German, which relates the rules from various classical games to biological, physical and social processes.
The boat arrived in Hoek van Holland at about 7pm Dutch time, where there were a number trains waiting: the Nord-West Express (to Copenhagen and Stockholm), the Hoek-Warszawa Express (from which some carriages eventually went through to Moscow), a through train to Munich, and the one I wanted the Boottrein Amsterdam. Things are very different now – there are no trains from Hook of Holland any more, just a metro tram service to Rotterdam.
Due to delays in getting everybody off the boat and through Dutch immigration control, the train to Amsterdam was late leaving, so it was well after 9pm before I eventually arrived at Amsterdam Centraal station. I went straight to the Tourist Information office just outside the station to try to find a hotel for the night. Despite the late hour, there were long queues and when I eventually reached the head of the queue, I was given the news that there were no hotel beds left in Amsterdam that evening, in part because the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix was taking that weekend place in Zandvoort, just outside the City. I was offered a hotel in Utrecht, about 30 miles away. An American couple who were also being seen at the same time as me were in a similar predicament – they were also offered a room in the same hotel in Utrecht. However, they had a car and kindly offered me a lift to Utrecht. So eventually at about 11pm I arrived at the hotel in Utrecht and went straight to bed.
Sunday 28th August 1983
I awoke early and went down to breakfast where there was no sign of the Americans who had brought me to Utrecht the night before. After breakfast, I walked to Utrecht station and caught a train for the half hour journey back to Amsterdam. Upon arrival, the first thing I did was secure a bed for Sunday night.
I then spent Sunday visiting the main attractions in Amsterdam, including Anne Frank’s House and the Rijksmuseum. In the evening, I had Rijsttafel for dinner.
Monday 29th August 1983
In 1983 there were a plethora of through trains (or through carriages) criss-crossing the continent. I caught a departure from Amsterdam Centraal just before 9am whose eventual destination was Munich, but I would only ride as far as Heidelberg. As was the norm then, my seat was in a compartment for up to eight people, but I shared it with no more than three or four other passengers during my journey. We seamlessly crossed into Germany upon leaving Nijmegen – fellow occupants of my compartment came and went as we progressed south. Upon leaving Cologne, the train followed the scenic classic Rhine Valley route as far as Mainz.
I arrived in the old university town of Heidelberg in the late afternoon, scenically located in the steeply banked Neckar valley. Even in 1983, Heidelberg was a bit of tourist trap, but nowhere near as much as it is today. As it was getting late, I would leave the main sightseeing for the next day, but I did climb up to the Philosophers’ Walk on the north bank of the Neckar, with good views of the town and its castle.
Tuesday 30 August 1983
I spent the morning exploring Heidelberg castle and its Apothecary Museum, including walking further up the hill behind the castle.
At lunchtime I returned to the station, which is a little way from the historic centre, to catch a train to Munich, where I arrived shortly after 4pm.
In Munich I found a hotel which was near the Englischer Garten, a large public park right in the centre of the city. It had been a warm and sunny day, so I decided for go for a stroll in the Englischer Garten prior to finding somewhere for dinner. As I wandered through the park the remains of that day’s sunbathers were beginning to pack up and drift away. I was walking towards a young woman who had a towel wrapped around her, presumably getting dry after swimming in the river that runs through the park. I noticed that, although she did not appear to be wearing anything else, she seemed not to be particularly careful about keeping herself covered up. As I got closer she removed the towel completely and started using it to dry between her legs. It was only then that the penny dropped – I had inadvertently wandered in to the area of the park that is used by nudists.
Wednesday 31 August 1983
I spent a further full day in Munich. As well as wandering round the city, I visited the Deutsches Museum, an enormous museum of science and technology far superior to London’s Science Museum. I also went to the Alte Pinakothek, which houses one of the finest collections in Europe of pre-19th century art.
I also had a look round the Olympic Stadium, venue for the ill-fated 1972 Olympic Games and the 1974 World Cup final. At the time it was the home of Bayern Munich FC.
That evening I found a pleasant restaurant with an outdoor terrace, where I had Fleischkäse (meatloaf) for my dinner.
(Next week’s post will continue with my journey as I venture further east.)
Europe Explored 
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