Like a fool, I volunteered for another stint at Leah’s school - this time on Eco Day, so it was bound to be something different. The whole week at the school had been themed around environmental matters, with everything culminating on this day. Several volunteers were coming in to talk to the children about various things [...]

continue reading.....

A slightly sideways post this one. I have been dealing with Scott from Rhino Car Hire over the last few days. He came across the 1000 Mile Walk site, and has made a very generous donation to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. I know that site doesn’t get the traffic it did, so I would [...]

continue reading.....

Something old and something new today. I went back to school. As some people may be aware, one of the options I’m considering is a PGCE (or PGDE if I do it in Scotland) to convert my IT degree into a teaching qualification – preferably with primary kids. As such, it made a bit of [...]

continue reading.....

Oops. I just booked a one-way flight to Reykjavik, Iceland on January 4th. As you do. Well, with their economy going up the fritz (the Icelandic Krona dropped to about half it’s value against the pound last week) and almost everyone I know who’s been there declaring it a wonderful place it made sense to [...]

continue reading.....

I’m up in Scotland catching up with family and friends, so the blog will likely be a bit quiet for a week or two. I do have a couple of plans for very shortly after the new year which will let me skip through a new country or two before I zip off back to [...]

continue reading.....

… you’re reading a copy of the News of the World someone left sat on the tube seat and once again you find yourself asking “why the hell do people read this garbage?” … you have the best, most filling breakfast in ages despite knowing it’s furring your arteries faster than lining them with badger [...]

continue reading.....

Not a lot to report for today. I slept in as I’d spent a lot of hours the night before gassing with first Liam and then his roomie. I managed to get hold of Theresa who I’d worked with in Chamonix last winter and arranged to meet her for a drink and a wander round. [...]

continue reading.....

That’s how the German train system runs. Actually, it’s how most continental train services run, unlike the disorganised overpriced garbage with out-of-date rolling stock we’re stuck with in the UK. I booked my ticket the day before I travelled online through www.bahn.de. Simple to use, in English and German and providing timetables, crossovers onto buses, [...]

continue reading.....

Melanie had kindly dug out all the bus maps and timetables so that I could figure out how to get into the city centre for a walk about. The public transport around here is pretty good, with new buses and trains which stick to good timetables. It’s not cheap, though – around UK prices but [...]

continue reading.....

Given the amount we put away the night before, I’m impressed we both woke at all. But we did, with an hour to spare before Melanie would have got a parking ticket. I enjoyed another hot shower (I’m appreciating the fact these things are a luxury) and we checked out. I actually seem to know [...]

continue reading.....