DISCO4.COM - View topic - Greetings from ……….. again.

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

And greetings from yet another train, this time from Prague back to Vienna.

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We had planned to go from Berlin to Warsaw then on to Budapest but with what’s been going on in the east we’re delaying visiting those cities until another trip. We’d also planned to go from Prague to Salzburg but the train link today was looking iffy and, as we couldn’t book seats, stressful. Most of the long haul trains have been stuffed so no way we want to get on the train and face no seat waiting on us. Today we’re on the Austrian service from Berlin to Graz (a 13.5 hour haul end to end!!), and when we booked seats only Business Class was available for not much more than 1st (€15 vs €3), well worth the extra.

Gratuitous pic of Czech countryside through slightly grubby windows, lots and lots of green.

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PS And back in Austria so back to wearing FFP2 masks on public transport.

And the view hasn’t changed much.

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3rd Jun 2022 11:29 am

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

And hello and goodbye to Vienna. Nice few days here, bit of lazy days, bit of seeing stuff, moving on bright and early tomorrow.

Bit of history first, the military museum yesterday.

Lots of cannons, both outside and inside.

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Very famous car, and where one bullet killed millions and millions and millions of peeps. And nothing to do with the pop group.

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Badabing, bada big gun!

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And a big painting of a big battle.

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We didn’t manage to get a curry wurst in Berlin but wasn’t going to not do a wurst stall special in Vienna. And I give you The Big Mamma from Leo’s wurst stall, the oldest in Vienna. Käsekrainer, sausage with cheese in it, bread a plenty, peppers, loads of condiments and a couple of gherkins. We caught the U4 metro these, scoffed the lot and the tram D back, as you do. And yes, that was for both of us.

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And today the Kunst History Museum today, lots and lots of paintings to look at from virtually every classical painter I’d ever heard of. Even the building was a work of art.

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This is the cafe, and needed a vertical pano!

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Canaletto, there were a couple of them. You really have to get close to see the detail, luckily this area didn’t have a laser net alarms, after I’d set one off just a few metres away by pointing.

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Could find the little white dog in the first, but we disagree what is a white dog in the second.

Pics in pic, bit like TV show rooms if the last millennium. No pics of pics in pic though, we have yet to find one.

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There were many weird pics, lots of ones with heads detached from bodies (David and Goliath, John the Baptist and Judith and somebody with a name I can’t remember are the gift that keeps on giving for grizzly art), but no pics. Instead, one of SWMBO’s faves.

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When art meats F1, one of many Rubens.

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Pics by Canaletto’s nephew, Bellotto (confusingly sometimes called Canaletto), of places we’d been to in Vienna. Only the hair styles have changed.

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And the moneyshot for the Museum, the one everyone wants to see, including the couple that stood in front of it, didn’t even look at it and just had a discussion/disagreement! Tower of Babel.

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That should be enough art & culture for you lot, there might be a few more pics where we’re heading to next again.

6th Jun 2022 3:30 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Morning all, another day = another 6 hours on a train heading in a SWerly direction. And a very moody looking loco pulling us!!

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7th Jun 2022 6:54 am

ianm27

Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154

2012 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 GS Auto Orkney Grey

Great pics del and a history/art lesson thrown in

Waiting for the call to become Art Critic on one of the Sunday national newspapers???

Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH

7th Jun 2022 12:28 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Fiona Bruce is worried re her job!!

Just short of next destination, Ljubljana, hopefully off this train in 10 mins or so. It’s 28c, full sun, no opening windows and AC is useless. Sweaty in the extreme!

7th Jun 2022 12:54 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

But of a slobby time in Ljubljana, really like the place as everything is really near so no public tpt needed. Bit of wandering around, stopping for coffee/teas and more wandering around. Weather yesterday was OK but bit wet & thundery on Tuesday, and very wet day today so plans were curtailed a little.

View from hotel room on Tuesday. Lots of lightning but failed miserably to actually photograph said electrical discharges.

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Yesterday was spent wandering around the old town. Only short walk from hotel so no pics of trams, buses or other assorted public tpt.

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Found where SWMBO’s Slovenian cousin hangs out.

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Big castle, heading up there tomorrow.

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And loved this ducks and bread art work. Lots of cast statues, some quite gruesome, but these are the cutest.

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All that wandering around was hungry work so when in Slovenia you have to go Italian!

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And a couple of pics from the walk back to the hotel.

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Today was a day of slobbing and planning future jollies. Back on diet so fruit for breakie and salad for dinner in the room with cheeky bottle of Slovenian VC. Mind you, food festival just down the road tomorrow https://www.odprtakuhna.si/en/events/290/open-kitchen so diet may not do so well.

9th Jun 2022 8:01 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Don’t get me started on Italian trains. Just coz our train from Ljubljana to Trieste is 30 minutes late they have to leave on time! Missed the train we’d hoped to get, mainly coz we had reserved seats, saw that pass us as we approached Trieste, then the backup option pulled away just as we got to the platform!

Another couple of hours on this train then it’s practise for the old Cornetto advert song.

Gratuitous pic of the med. it’s 30c out there but bleedin freezing in the train!

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12th Jun 2022 5:49 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

And greetings from Venice!

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12th Jun 2022 7:40 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Right, where were we? Back to Ljubljana, loved the place. Nice and compact, easy to get everywhere we wanted and Brucie Bonus, not too many tourists.

It was festival time so a bit busy, plus the usual gaggles od school kids. we have a theory, no school exist in Europe so they sent their kids out to roam the streets in packs, usually led by a teacher that was once told they had schools. She’s still looking for them!

Great views from the castle, lots of pointy mountains in the distance.

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And in the castle’s puppetry museum SWMBO’s Slovenian cousin that is a bit of a puppet!

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Plus usual tour of the market, proper market not tourist one, is hungry work. So large it needed a pano!

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Day before was pizza, that day was burgers, and really nice beer!

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OK, we only had one fries between the both of us so plenty of room for pud. Turns out our ordering went a bit wrong so ended up with double quantities of everything, not that we were complaining. The pink ice cream is rum flavoured, most odd colour/flavour combo!

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Next day was more wandering around, school kids had been replaced by peeps attending the Ljubljana Pride event. Also hiked up the local hill where a charity run was being undertaken, some serious effort being expended by runners going up and down the hills. We just walked.

All that exercise was hungry work so that evening was a bit more traditional, sausage and soup.

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Then more sausage & mustard, well for me anyway. Lovely.

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Next day back on the trains to Trieste then on to Venice, getting here (eventually) just as it was getting a bit dark. Gratuitous pic of loco, well would be rude not to. Even though it was uncoupled at Ljub and didn’t actually pull us anywhere!

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As we are now in Italy we’re off out to the local pizza restaurant, just as peeps back home are getting hungry. Will post pics, of course. Lots more pics from a day to Vaparettos and wandering on foot, taster for now & will post more later. When later is depends on pizza & vino.

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13th Jun 2022 4:31 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Sorry for those of you that have had a cheese sarnie for dinner but I promised pizza:

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And desert. Green pud was liquorice ice cream and t’other panacotta.

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All washed down with a lovely bottle of

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or two. Never heard of Rofosco wine but it was lovely.

Will post pics from Venice tomorrow, once a little bit more sober.

PS We tried to book there again for tomorrow but they are going to be closed. Waitress claimed they had more important matters to attend to than feeding us fab pizza, like going to to the beach.

13th Jun 2022 7:04 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Selection of pics from Venice, in no particular order. Loved the two days here, we’ll be back.

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Heading N tomorrow in the vague direction of home, got a few stops planned on the way.

14th Jun 2022 8:26 pm

ianm27

Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154

Great pics Del

Assume the first one was taken after the bottle(s) of Rofosco had been sampled??

Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH

15th Jun 2022 12:21 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

Next day, honest.

Was in artistic mode.

15th Jun 2022 1:00 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

And greetings from Verona. And it’s hot! 33c, high humidity and sweating buckets.

View of coliseum, on our wanders this evening. Will do tourist things tomorrow.

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Clocked the local police patrol veeeeeehicles, note they have a spare car just in case the crank lets go.

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And went shopping in local Aldi. That’s 1.73l if prime Italian VC for the princely sum of €2.59!!!

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And a lovely meal out, one of the best on the trip, if not the best.

Glass of Prosecco to start with, then lovely foie gras. For both of us. And 2 of our five fruit a day.

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Fillet steak, it was fab. We don’t often both have the same starter or main, never mind stater and main, but we did today. Lovely.

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All washed down with a fab Chianti Classico. Just a smidgen more than €2.59!

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And even though we are back on diet, couldn’t resist pud. Tiramisu for me, milafoglie (sp?) for SWMBO, with a glass of local red desert wine.

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Then bit of a wobble back to the hotel. Well fortified for our walking round the city tomorrow. In 34c temps.

15th Jun 2022 8:51 pm

DSL
Keeper of the wheelie bin

Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72779

And greetings from Strasbourg, via Munich.

Hot and sweaty day on trains yesterday, 37c here and lots of delays and waiting around stations. Then instead of the hourly tram to Strasbourg the French railways lot decided to stop the train two stops early at the border. Luckily there was a nice ACed tram but arrived at the hotel soaked. Only good part of yesterdays journey was that the train we were going to catch from Karlsruhe to Offenburg was running more behind time than our train from Munich to Karlsruhe. It’s ironic that the most on-time rail outfit we’ve used has been TranItalia, 100% on time. One out of one.

Unlike our hotel in Verona, at least here the AC was fully working. All supermarkets were closed so no scoff to be had, no hotel restaurant (staff shortages is not just a UK thing), so dinner was a bottle of wine from the bar in the tropical hotel garden. Lovely end to long and sweaty day.

Few pics from Verona. Lots of wandering around.

The coliseum is used a lot for big scale opera productions, with some really strange props lying around. Very surreal/SG1-esque

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Found that balcony. Got a pic between tourists pretending they are Juliet, or Romeo.

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And SWEEEEEEEEEET little moto/quad/buggy for the Italian postie to ride around in. Me bags front seat, SWMBO in the back. Or on the roof.

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And a nice Roman bridge. Nice and shady inside as it was getting a bit sunny.

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And on to Munich. Great view from the hotel room. Pic doesn’t show the row of police vans below, there must have been half the Munich boys/girls in blau staying at the hotel. Breakie was hooching with them and American tour groups, very odd queuing for fruit and yoghurt with body armoured and Glock (other hand guns are available) toting Politzei.

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Now this is the way to get around Munich:

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Or this:

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Decent slice of day was at the Alte Pineapple (second part might be made up) museum. All the big names there incl our first de Vinci and more Rubens than Barrichello could shake a stick at. There were so many “oh, that’s famous” paintings that Constable, Turner, Canaletto and Turners were consigned to side rooms!

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After visiting Venice, the Canaletto and Guardi paintings were just like where we’d been, you just had to take out the modem water buses/taxis, hoards of tourists and super-yachts. We were able to go to where the artist’s view point on Google Streetview and it was exactly the same as the pic.

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And a Guardi. My fave, loved the curvature of the earth.

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All that was hunger inducing work so mega healthy lunch at the museum, well would have been healthy if we hadn’t had a slice of cake before clocking they did lovely salads.

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And finally to Strasbourg. Again, wandering around, lovely compact centre and hotel not to far.

Sweeeeeet swans enjoying a swim.

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And the Fine Arts Museum. A bit hot & humid inside but lots of good pics. And like other museums, they like the pics of heads that are a little bit further from their body than the person would like. Judith and dude I keep forgetting the name of.

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And John the Baptist, who came to a very sticky end.

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No David and Goliath though, that would be 3 out of three and a free set of steak knives.

That’s enough culture for you lot, unless you count a prog on TV re sausage dogs that’s on now. All in French of course.

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Off to Paris tomorrow, then hopefully back home on Friday. Just hope the rail strike is as effective as the Italian national strike we heard about when we got the the station in Verona. Basically no difference from their very efficient norm.

20th Jun 2022 1:52 pm