Travels around the Continent
"The Glory that was Greece" - Edgar Allan Poe [Continuing the account of a trip from London to Athens by train and boat, undertaken in November 2022.] Day 8 - Tuesday 22nd November 2022 - Bari to PatrasAfter a postprandial drink in the ship's bar, I returned to my cabin to settle down for the …
Continue reading "Europe Explored Trip 5 – From London to Athens – Part Three: Greece"
“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” (Leonardo da Vinci) [Continuing the account of a trip from London to Athens by train and boat, undertaken in November 2022.] Day 4 – Friday 18th November 2022 – Nice to MilanI left my hotel at about 8am to walk the short distance to Nice Ville railway …
Continue reading "Europe Explored Trip 5 – From London to Athens – Part Two: Italy"
"Sur le Pont d'AvignonL'on y danse, l'on y danseSur le Pont d'AvignonL'on y danse tous en rond."(Traditional French song) Shortly before I went with my wife on our trip round Poland in October 2022, I decided that I would try to fit in one more journey before the end of the year. Planning to travel …
Continue reading "Europe Explored Trip 5 – From London to Athens – Part One: France"
"Trying to impose Communism on Poland is like trying to fit a saddle to a cow." (Joseph Stalin) [Continuing the account of the trip to Poland I made with my wife in October 2022.] Day 6 – Saturday 15th October 2022 – Wrocław to PoznańAfter breakfast we strolled the short distance to Wrocław Główny station …
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"Nie od razu Kraków zbudowano "("Kraków was not built in a day" - Polish saying) Back in 2020 I had booked a family holiday to travel through Poland to Ukraine, which had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. With travel to Ukraine now off-limits, we decided to amend this to a trip just …
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How late it was how late - novel by James Kelman Day 9 – Monday 16th May 2022 – Bled to RegensburgWhen I booked this trip I bought a Deutsche Bahn ticket from Lesce-Bled railway station to Regensburg in Bavaria. Only from my researching the route for the previous day did I discover that the …
Continue reading "Europe Explored Trip 3 – To Slovenia and back – Part Four: Germany and home"
Slovenia - "a nation of beekeepers" Day 7 – Saturday 14th May 2022 – Trieste to LjubljanaI made my way the short distance from my hotel to Trieste Centrale railway station. On my arrival in Trieste the day before I had bought myself a ticket for the 0903 departure to Ljubljana, it not being possible …
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"In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance." (Harry Lime – The Third Man) Day 4 – Wednesday 11th May 2022 – Zurich to InnsbruckI mentioned in a previous post that I'm not a eater of big breakfasts and …
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"In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, and they had 500 years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock." (Harry Lime - The Third Man) When the Europe Explored idea was first conceived in the happy pre-Covid times of late 2019, the first trip I planned was a tour to visit …
Continue reading "Europe Explored Trip 3 – To Slovenia and back – Part One: France and Switzerland"
“Everything ends this way in France – everything. Weddings, christenings, duels, burials, swindlings, diplomatic affairs – everything is a pretext for a good dinner.” (Jean Anouilh) Day 8 - Wednesday 2nd March - San Sebastian to BordeauxThe hotel I was staying in was one of the more upmarket ones that I had chosen for the …
Continue reading "Europe Explored – Trip 2 – From Lisbon to London – Part Three: France"
Europe Explored 