Category Archives: Travel

The Royal Birth

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It was so pleasing that the Prince and Duchess waited until we arrived in London for the Royal Birth. Normal big news like the fact that it may also be the warmest night on record seemed pretty minor on our arrival given the news of the birth.

That said it was hot even by Australian standards.

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With the papers and TV full of coverage of the new Prince’s birth we thought we should visit Buckingham Palace. We were not the only people who had that thought! As well as the thousands of people there was a real media scrum!

The Post Office Tower proclaimed the birth quite simply with – “It’s a boy”.

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Weekend in Edinburgh

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After three relaxing train trips through Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic our next travel day involved flying from Berlin to Edinburgh via London. Passport control and security checks leaving Berlin were fairly straight forward, however it is a major process at Heathrow including being photographed on entry and exit to the transit area.

Our stopover at Heathrow was short, just long enough to check the scores for the Lords Test – wish I hadn’t!

We had eyed The Balmoral off as the place to stay but it was booked out, as was most accommodation that we had considered.

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More Berlin

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Having covered so many sights on our first day we decided on a leisurely next couple of days.

This was certainly helped by morning visits to the gym and watching the previous days highlights of the Tour de France as well as quite surprisingly finding that Foxtel Go worked on my iPad and iPhone.

Late breakfasts in the Wintergarten Coffee Shop, a new leader in the best coffee stakes, were also part of our leisurely starts to the day.

Whilst walking through Berlin we had become fascinated with the painted fibre glass bears that were spread throughout the city.

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Berlin – Second World War and The Wall

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After a long train trip we arrived in Berlin.

Berlin feels much more normal than the tourist filled Prague. A short taxi ride for a sensible fare and we are at our hotel, which overlooks the Berlin Zoo and is away from the centre of the city. It had been a debate about whether to stay in the West which is a little more conservative or in the East which is apparently more edgy and cool. An upgrade from a room to a small suite made the answer to that question easy! Our hotel is the former Danish Embassy building and is also next door to the Spanish Embassy.

After a week and a half I couldn’t get to the hotel gym fast enough. Won’t make up for all the holiday excesses but its a start!

Our first full day was all about the Wall and the Second World War.

We started at Check Point Charlie and The Wall. All interesting Continue reading →