tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-81250169604708107 2012-05-12T15:27:11+01:00 music-themed journeys by rail in Europe TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef0168eb74a640970c 2012-05-12T15:27:11+01:00 2012-05-12T15:27:11+01:00

In recent weeks I've been keeping an eye on the Euro/GBP exchange rate and trying to choose a good time to load my CaxtonFX currency card – undoubtedly the best way to carry the bulk of the Euros – and when to buy some Euro cash. The rate has been on the increase since the beginning of the year, accelerating over the last month or so due to the ongoing Eurozone crisis. With the press highlighting the benefits to UK travellers it seems worth looking at the rate's history; this chart is courtesy of xe.com. I've added bars to show the dates of my European trips, starting with the Grand Tour in 2008, and including my visits to Italy and...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef0168eb5ced36970c 2012-05-09T17:49:56+01:00 2012-05-09T17:51:12+01:00

The 'Highlights List' is now up to four pages of closely typed notes on the places I want to visit in Berlin, with two more pages of restaurants and highlights that I've already visited and probably won't go to again, but might. New attractions keep turning up and have to be fitted in somewhere. There are now 16 museums and galleries on the list, plus many other places including the multiple attractions in Frederick the Great's Park Sanssouci in Potsdam. I'm pleased to have managed to book a place at an English talk on the Deutcher Bundestag – the German parliament – which takes place once a week in the visitors' gallery of the Reichstag. Much security palaver, as expected,...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef0168eaf9c539970c 2012-05-01T14:00:53+01:00 2012-05-09T16:16:28+01:00

As I come within sight of my ten-day return visit to Berlin, it's time to blow the dust out of the blog and check that everything still works. I went there first - briefly - in 2008, as the final destination on my Grand Tour. I returned for three days last year, at the end of the shorter tour based on Leipzig, and came away feeling that I really ought to make a proper visit with the time to take in some of the superb art collections at a more leisurely pace. So this is it. Actually I will have eight days 'on the ground', plus two tedious days of travel. The planning is mostly done, apart from trying to...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef014e8a0061c8970d 2011-07-20T22:26:00+01:00 2011-07-23T12:06:29+01:00

Sunday: The night train arrived in Paris from Berlin on time at 09:23, at Gare de L’Est. It had been a good journey: two of us started from Berlin, two others joined the compartment at Hannover. Two of my German companions spoke excellent English, making up for my lack of German, and we shared beer and coffee and talked until late. I slept pretty well. At Gare de L’Est we were greeted by many soldiers patrolling the platform with automatic weapons, and my German friend and I agreed it felt decidedly threatening. Under what circumstances would they open fire on passengers? Would they shoot to kill? We said our goodbyes and left the station quickly. I walked the 300m to...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef015390024a77970b 2011-07-19T12:06:54+01:00 2011-07-28T17:33:20+01:00

Saturday: departure day, although not until the evening. But it did mean I had to pack everything properly and bear in mind what I might need easy access to on the night train. Paid the hotel bill – only the second time I'd seen my hosts as I'd been out very early on both of the previous mornings – and to the nearby stop for the 142 bus to the Hauptbahnhof to leave my suitcase; the bus a new discovery for me, saving the 1.5km slog along Inviladenstraße which is currently in the middle of road works. The luggage lockers at the station are open again now – last time I was here everyone had to use the manual check-in...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef01538ff7a1f3970b 2011-07-18T00:04:47+01:00 2011-07-20T22:36:17+01:00

Friday was grey. Again. And felt cold: I wore an extra layer for the first time, and was glad of it. I got up slowly, after all that art on Thursday, but was out by 7:30. Walked to Oranienburger Tor station and took the S-bahn down to Unter den Linden. Pariser Platz had been cleared of its rubbish and was almost empty, so a chance for a couple of pix of the Brandenberg Gate, although an almost white sky was not what I wanted. I'd picked up a coffee on the way and found it fits neatly in the camera bag – with a lid on of course – in the space where the camera normally sits. To the nearby...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef015433bf0d46970c 2011-07-15T22:55:17+01:00 2011-07-22T13:32:30+01:00

Yesterday was my day to visit the big art galleries in the Kulturforum, the gaggle of museums plus the Philharmonie on the south-west edge of the city centre (Mitte): but the art to be preceded by some photo opportunities. So I was up early and out by 6:40 for the simple journey to the Brandenburg Gate to try to get the photos I failed to get last time because of a concert there. It rained heavily in the night and the weather was grey and very dull, not the bright July sunshine I'd expected. And when I got there I found people cleaning up after another event the night before. I did my best with the camera and moved onto...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef01538feab6f1970b 2011-07-15T20:22:19+01:00 2011-07-15T20:22:19+01:00

Here I am in Berlin towards the end of a rather hectic schedule, hence the lack of blog posts for a few days. I'm going to have to do a quick summary of the last three days: Wednesday morning I packed everything away after six nights in Leipzig - was it really that long? - said my goodbyes, paid a last quick visit to the Grassi Museum, and caught my pre-booked midday InterCity Express to Berlin. By 2:30pm I was installed in my hotel north of the centre, close to where I stayed on the Grand Tour, and walked the short distance to the Berlin Wall Memorial, near Nordbahnhof station. Not just a section of the well known wall, it...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef015433ae2d95970c 2011-07-13T08:41:44+01:00 2011-07-22T12:49:06+01:00

Another day out yesterday, to visit the Bauhaus building and the Bauhaus Masters' Houses in Dessau. I caught the 08:00 train from Leipzig for the 45 minute journey, and walked slowly through the apparently deserted city to arrive at the main building at 09:00, an hour ahead of visitors' opening time. I knew in advance that I wanted blue sky, green grass and bright sun; and that's the way it was. I walked around the outside trying to make some arty pics using the 12-24mm lens on the Nikon D300, and naturally working hard to properly record that iconic end view of the building, with 'BAUHAUS' running down it. The building is not as tall as I'd imagined. Then a...

John tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83420661253ef014e89c215ed970d 2011-07-11T14:22:17+01:00 2011-07-11T14:22:17+01:00

Today the day for Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, not to see Martin Luther but his friend, painter and printer Lucas Cranach. I had a choice of two trains: the Regional 08:11, which takes an hour and four minutes, or the later Intercity Express (ICE), taking half the time but at almost twice the price. I chose the slow train, not just to save €8.00 but also as a dry run for my 08:00 train to Dessau tomorrow. But I thought I would treat myself to the ICE for the return journey. When I'd finished in Wittenberg I walked the kilometre or so back to the station and was pleased to find that there would be a 14:35 ICE as expected (I knew there...

John