Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 March 2013 I am writing this sitting on the top bunk in the First Class sleeper compartment on the Deutsche Bahn train from Berlin to Paris. At the moment we are stopped in Hannover shunting and adding more cars. Unfortunately, none of the new orContinue Reading
Sunday 23 March 2013 Our last day in Berlin was proceeded by a night of minus 10 degrees and heavy snow. The locals were calling it winter wonderland, a little tongue in cheek since it was meant to be spring. The main feature of the day was a visit toContinue Reading
The railway system in Germany would be lost without the structural capacity of the three pinned arch. Most people are familiar with the arches in stone which were the structural system of choice for bridges and buildings prior to the 19th century. They were sufficiently massive to ensure that theContinue Reading
Friday, 22 March 2013 A common experience for young men in France during the World War II was transportation to Germany to work, replacing the men who had been conscripted into the German Army. Not all experiences were positive, but fortunately for Bernard Bruneau, Dominique’s father, he managed to findContinue Reading
Thrusday 21 March 2013 With spring refusing to arrive in Berlin, we found ourselves dealing with a day of cold wind, snow and icy conditions underfoot. This was the perfect day to spend inside and Museum Island was the perfect place to do just that. Museum Island was classified byContinue Reading
Wednesday 20 March 2013 The Germans must live with their past, so before launching into a tourist frenzy, we decided to spend a day looking at that past and how they deal with it. What better place to start than “Unter den Linden” the main avenue through the centre ofContinue Reading
Now that I have arrived in Frankfurt I am in a position to report on the Premium Economy Experience Qantas Style. It seems very much like a slightly toned down version of the old business class before lie flat beds were introduced. The seats are bigger, so that there areContinue Reading
In sitting down to write this post, I expected to say that I have not changed much since last time. But, in fact, almost everything is different. Starting with the laptop, I am now armed with an ASUS Ultrabook which is faster, shinier, lighter, and thinner, with a bigger screenContinue Reading
This time we have chosen to fly to Frankfurt, Germany via Singapore with Qantas. This decision was driven by the frequent flier points. I thought it was more likely that I would find a suitable award flight to Frankfurt than I would to London, and it was indeed the case. Continue Reading
It has been far too long since we set out for Europe and so a quick trip this Easter seemed to be in order. The main focus of the trip is to attend the baptism of our grandnephew in Le Mans, but built around that are a visit to familyContinue Reading