Tale of two cities

I’ve always maintained that Paris and London are incredibly alike. They’re both big, proud, characterful cities that utterly dominate their respective countries politically and culturally, and they both are world famous cities that are centres of major world languages. Also, they share a similar feel – engaging, gritty and down to earth, yet with an…

Munich to Paris

It was approaching the end of our trip, but this particular leg was one I had been especially looking forward to. Any journey between two of Europe’s greatest cities is always going to be an exciting and evocative one, not least when it is a sleeper train. Moreover, this was going to be no ordinary…

Munich

“Here, have this, I don’t need it any more,” said the Chinese-looking man in broken German. He pressed a card for the Munich metro into our hands. “It’s for up to four people.” With that, he was gone. As we stood next to the metro ticket machines at Munich’s largest railway station, the encounter set…

Mentioning the war

“That bloody war,” the woman said, a pained and angry look on her face. I can’t quite remember how the Second World War came up in conversation, but when it did her anger was clear. We were on a train heading from Austria up towards Munich, the beginnings of our slow rail journey across Europe…

Haindlkarhütte

I was looking forward to the climb. Firstly, after about a fortnight of doing little else except imbibing copious quantities of food and wine on our journey through the south of France to Austria, I knew I needed some serious exercise. Secondly, I’d never done any serious hillwalking outside Scotland, so I was keen to…

Styrian castles

If you don’t visit, Austria is quite an easy country to forget about. A smallish nation in the middle of Europe, it’s known for mountains, skiing, Viennese waltzes, and perhaps not much else. Remember, though, that less than a century ago it was one of Europe’s five great powers, an empire that stretched across much…

The Admont monastery

Admont is a quiet little town in the Styrian mountains that, while pretty and a great base for exploring the Gesäuse National Park, wouldn’t normally be big enough to register much on a week or so’s visit to Austria. We have a pile of great friends there (why we do is a whole other story that…

One day in Slovenia

I’d been to Slovenia twice prior this summer’s trip. The first was two very enjoyable weeks that Niall and I spent on our big trip in 2001. In was there, in fact, that we discovered that the 9/11 attacks had taken place, thanks to the BBC World Service which was a bit of a lifeline…

Sausal: Austria’s wine region

I never really considered Austria as a renowned wine producer – or beer producer to be honest, though it does both excellently. The major wine producing region is Sausal, in the south of the province of Styria and near the border with Slovenia. Look across the rolling green hillsides with vineyards as far as the…

A day in Graz

Austria’s second largest city, Graz, is an easy place to like. It’s got all the basic prerequisites for a good city. It’s pretty. It has a river running through it and a hilltop castle lording over it. It has trams. It has gorgeous architecture. It’s got plenty eateries, drinkeries and shopperies. It’s got Hitler in…

Zurich to Graz

Scouring the departures board at Zurich’s main railway station, there was a moment of mild alarm when our intended Graz sleeper train wasn’t there. In its place though, at exactly the same departure time, was a train to Belgrade. I thought for a minute, and realised that given Belgrade was beyond Austria, this was indeed…

The death of Zurich

Aficionados of the wonderful science fiction series Firefly will need no reminders about the backstory of the Reavers. As the crew of the Serenity journey through the badlands of space just at the edge of the authorities’ reach, they are reminded of the unspeakable horrors of the Reavers, creatures who are mere myths and legends…

Sur le pont?

Avignon. One of those famous places whose name rings a bell – though if you’re like me, you’ll not be able to recall quite why. At least until you go there. Ah yes, the famous international arts festival. Ah yes, the pont d’Avignon, on which we danced, on which we danced. Ah yes, the papal…

The liberation of Millau

I blogged in my previous post about the Millau viaduct, and whether I thought it was worthy of “world wonder” status. My conclusion was less enthusiastic than most of my fellow travel companions.  However, I think the real strength of the bridge lies not in its specific merits as a bridge but in the effect it…

Millau viaduct – a wonder?

The second potential world wonder candidate we visited on our trip after Carcassonne was Millau viaduct, and in this post I fulfil Niall’s request to share my thoughts on this second candidate too.  For background, here are Niall’s own preview and review. In a few punchy sentences, though, Millau viaduct can be introduced as the tallest…

Well, Albi…

The best thing about travel is when something pops up to give you a pleasant surprise. In the case of our road trip through southern France it was the beautiful city and cathedral of Albi.  Recommended as a good stop-off on our journey, we spent three or four hours there and were hugely impressed by…

Eating through France

I have three simple rules that define my eating habits. 1. Squelch, crunch. I hate seafood, because it is rubbery, squishy and horrible to taste. Meat and fish, on the other hand is great. The defining difference between them of course, is that meat and fish have the bones on the inside, where all self-respecting…

Tour de Force

After the fun of Carcassonne came the fun of Pau.  A nice enough place to visit in its own right (and family home to our travel companion Claire), the southwestern city of Pau also hosted the Tour de France while we were in town.  I’m not much of a fan of the sport as a…

Carcassonne Old City: a review

The French roadtrip revolved around three potential wonders on Niall’s candidate list.  In the end we only saw two of the three – Carcasonne Old City and Millau viaduct.  There wasn’t time or energy in the end for the papal palace at Avignon this time, but we did stumble across somewhere quite impressive that Niall…