10 & 11 July 2014 Brno – Hamburg 26C Warm Thursday 10th July is a travel day and we left Brno on the 9.30am train arriving in Hamburg at 7.45pm. The journey was comfortable but very long. We arrived in Hamburg and took the S Bahn to our apartment and found we were in a lovely area with lots of restaurants - mainly Spanish and Portugese. For dinner, we settled on a Spanish restaurant with tapas for dinner and fortunately, one of the waiters spoke Eng...

Saturday 21 June 2014 Bochum Cool Cloudy 18C After a late night at the wedding reception, we slept in a little this morning. Around 11, we headed over to a restaurant in Lunen for breakfast and spent an entertaining brunchtime convincing German palates that Vegemite was indeed palatable - mixed results .... Christof's father thinks it may be making his gray hair darker and himself possibly younger, while Christof's older brother isn't having anything to do wit...

Friday 20 June 2014 Bochum Cool Cloudy 18C This morning we drove into town and found a pleasant bakery for breakfast. Today is Christof and Nadine's wedding and we know it’s going to be a big day. We arrived at the church in Bochum Gerthe just before 2:00 p.m. (kick-off time), got through the groom/bride side seating decision by sitting with Christof's parents, brother and very pregnant wife. The church was large and quite modern inside although it was ...

Thursday 19 June 2014 Bochum Cool Cloudy 15C It is a public holiday in Germany today (Corpus Christi, we think) and so a leisurely start to the day. We drove into town and had breakfast at a bakery. There wasn't much open except for a few bakeries and cafes. Nice, but cool - the coffee (still searching) was hot and welcome. Our hotel is on a large park on the edge of the town. The signs of the big storm in early June, fallen trees and debris are still all arou...

Wednesday 18 June 2014 Frankfurt – Mainz - Bochum Sunny Warm 25C We were up early and on the train for Mainz at 8.40 to meet More of our friends (the Annikas). It was just a ½ hour trip, so we dropped our luggage into a locker at the stsion on arrival and set off with the girls for a 1/2 day tour of Mainz. First stop was for coffee (still searching for the elusive cappucino with fresh milk) at a modern coffee shop where Annika's (don't ask) brother ...