Things get very industrial in this part of Germany and I bypassed a huge chemical plant on my way up to Dusseldorf as I strolled up the banks of the Rhine. Handy things, cycle paths. When I said I was going to Dusseldorf, people in Cologne asked why I was bothering. There’s a bit of [...]

read more from this topic.....

Bonn is a fairly small city at the bottom of the big trail of places running down the Rhine Valley. This doesn’t mean you should miss it as the people are wonderful and it does have some good sights. Oh, and Beethoven was born here though he hated the place by all accounts. When I [...]

read more from this topic.....

Take your pick – Germans use both to refer to this city which is the capital of this region. It’s also home to a magnificent cathedral which has recently had a new window installed… which is awful. A mess of randomly coloured pixels with no reason, design or anything. Just dots. Pretty, colourful, but utter [...]

read more from this topic.....

Given that my first was barely three months ago, this was still quite new territory. Last time I entered by bus and left by plane. This visit was to be somewhat more pedestrian. My first overnight stop was in a small town called Roetgen which lies on the border. There are no signs telling you [...]

read more from this topic.....

I staggered to the airport bus stop as the time drew near 4am and hopped into the express which would wing me to the distant Frankfurt-Hahn. Worth noting if you get a budget flight to/from Frankfurt – check the actual airport. Frankfurt Airport itself is barely 15 minutes from the city centre. Not that it [...]

read more from this topic.....

I stayed in the hostel and loafed a bit until lunchtime partly as I was knackered and partly as the weather, frnakly, sucked. Harsh winds and periodic downpours made the outside world a very unexciting prospect. Still, this was no bad thing as I ploughed through the book I was reading and tinkered on the [...]

read more from this topic.....

A huge thank you to Belgium for another great long weekend. Still the friendliest Europeans in my experience, with one of the cleanest and most efficient rail networks. No surprise given that they laid Europe’s first in 1830. Thanks also to Sheilah for the pedometer, and Anni for mailing it on to Marina for her [...]

read more from this topic.....