After 4 walking, eating, picture taking action filled days in Prague, it was time to take the train to Regensburg, but before we do, here is a quick recap of our time there. In the Prague old town and Christmas Markets, the air was thick with the smell of mulled wine and all sorts of food being cooked, but the crowds and tour groups, that was something else. 😩 If this is what it was like now, the summer crowds must be horrendous. In stark contrast, being...

So this is Christmas, and what have we done? 🤔 we’ve given up sunshine, 🌞for snow ❄and some fun After 14 hours of Emirates food and hospitality we, Jean, Sarah and me, arrived in Dubai en route to Prague for the start of the great Christmas market challenge of 2003/4 After settling in to the Emirates lounge in Dubai, we had our first BLOG MOMENT. Yes, less than 1 hour in to our lay over, and a very large guy came and asked if we would ...

Postscript Arriving into Heathrow at midnight does not lend itself to an early morning start the next day, and so it was for us. We opted for the 11:00 bus to Oxford for the day. Lots of sandstone buildings, and an endless stream of students with no understanding of the “keep to the left” protocol when careering down the footpath, single line abreast and oblivious to the rest of the world. But still, the weather was kind, the coffee terrible, and we even...

Leaving Desenzano, and with the previously mentioned landslide that closed the road and rail line cleared, we took the train x 2 to Varenna and on arrival we’re met at the station by our hosts who kindly drove us to our apartment. One of the many challenges of train travel in Italy when opting to prebook and reserve a seat which is usually in coach 1 or 2, or in the case of and earlier train, number 625, is guessing which end of the train the allocated coach...

Two buses and two trains later, all with seamless connections, we are once again in Desenzano, a town of 30,000 people plus tourists, on the shores of Lake Garda. Dating back to the Bronze Age, it has been occupied by almost every force in Europe since. Now it is a beautiful place for Jean and I to once again sit back and relax. Setting off for a passiagiata around the town, the first shop that caught our eye, was in the main Piazza, and it had a nice pair of s...