Today is a trip to Colmar to checkout the medieval town, a 1/2 hour train trip tracking the route of the rine river sees us at Colmar. I expected a quite little town but Colmar has found tourism and the town centre is full of restaurants and gift shops. But this aside the buildings area truly remarkable and have a true medieval charm. Yet again it is a day of sunshine and showers with the rain easing a opportune moments for snapping a pic. The afternoon train takes us back to Strasbourg just in time before the rain settles in for the night. Tomorrow it is off to Paris, Strasbourg…

Another day of light rain as we venture out to check out the city. The main areas to checkout today are petite France and the cathedral. Heading along the river we head to petite France, it is only a short stroll from the hotel, the buildings along the canal are all decked out with flower boxes and make for a pretty site. Covered tourist boats ply the canals taking what seems as a never ending supply of tourists for rides. Making our way around the river we find the cathedral, it is not the usual French design as it has one spire and is quite well decorated inside, it is…

5:30 am and an early start, the rain is starting to ease, the 7:37 train to Basel is the only direct train that will take us to Strassbourg. We board the train on time and settle back for the 5 hour ride, through the sleepy suburbs of Brussels, out into the forests of the Arden, stopping in Luxembourg before arriving in Strassbourg. The border police are active on both the train out of Brussels and the crossing into France, looking for illegal immigrants, the trip is a relaxing one with patches of rain as we head over the hill tops. Arriving in Strassbourg I make the reservations for the tgv…

Today was going to be a trip to Amsterdam but the direct train no longer runs and the trip now takes 4 hours one way, the only way to get there faster is by the fast train costing 36 euros one way. Luckily there has been a festival going on all week with marching bands and music and there is a rock band playing in the market square so with the sun shining and a beer in hand we settle down for the afternoon. Today is our last day in Brussels and it has been a good stay, tomorrow we head for France.   Posted with Blogsy

Another damp day as we hit the trains again this time bound for Ypres, our first surprise of the day is the train is unable to get us all the way as track work is being done, so it is train to Menen, bus to Komen and train to Ypres. After an interesting bus ride and the short train trip we arrive in Ypres and start the walk into town, when we arrive we find that there is a festival on and all the stores have stalls outside, finally on the third trip I get to see the cathedral, it is hidden behind the guild hall and they are both…

The day starts off with blue sky’s and very promising, today we are off to explore Brugge but before we can go I need to get our train pass validated. We head to the station to get the necessary stamp on the pass then off to catch a train to Brugge, by the time we get to Gent the rain has started and the day is looking less attractive. Brugge is covered in light rain when we arrive but with the umbrella out it Is not to bad as we stroll along the canals on our way into town. Lots of people are walking around, and taking canal rides, despite…

Another overcast day as we walk to the station to catch the euro rail to Brussels, the trip is smooth and enjoyable with the train hitting 300 Klm / hour just before entering the tunnel, but for the most part the train sticks to 275 Klm. The French countryside glides by with farmers gathering hay for the coming winter, it isn’t long before we are crossing into Belgium and on to Brussels. Arriving at 2:30 pm we have heaps of time to do some basic shopping before retiring for the day, with 4 days here it will be nice not to be dragging my bag around.   Posted with Blogsy

12:30 am and I am bolted out of bed by a sound no traveller want to hear. No it isn’t a drunk Irishman trying to get into your room and refusing to believe he has the wrong room, that’s another story, no it is the fire alarm…. I stick my head out into the hall to see people hurrying towards the stairs, we are on the second floor so not far down, I grab my room key, wallet and phone and join the people hurrying out. Down 2 flights of stairs and out into the misty cool wet embrace of the London morning. People are all gathering on the corner…

Another day and the day is overcast and cool, but no rain is forecast until late afternoon. We head out for Hyde park and we find ourselves in the middle of the international triathlon, we head to the Albert memorial and then back to Hyde park corner, a long but enjoyable walk. Next we head down constitution hill and stop in to see the raf memorial, it may have taken 80 years but the memorial is very fitting and well over due. 12:00 finds us arriving for the end of the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace, as usual the crowds are packed in. Next we walked through James…

A cloudy day greets us as we head for the tube, it is made quickly apparent that 8:30 am is not the time to try and get on the central line as train after train of sardine packed workers travel by, but by 9:08 the trains are much lighter and we easily catch a train to St Paul’s. After a quick look around the cathedral it is a short stroll over the millennium bridge to the globe theatre, the sun is starting to shine but the wind is still cool. We make our way down the river and over London bridge to monument station. A short ride finds us at…