In the previous two posts, I did a bit of reflection on how they'd been. But to be honest, there hasn't been much different between how I felt in the last one and feel now. So I won't get into that! Enough rambling. Lets get to it.
Visited Countries
- Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra)
- Austria (Vienna)
- Belgium (Brussels x2, Louvain-a-Neuvre, Leuven, Brugge, Roeselare, Zonnebeke, Passchendaele)
- Bosnia (Sarajevo, Mostar, Neum)
- Croatia (Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Podgora, Split)
- France (Mulhouse, Strasboug, Saint Louis)
- Germany (Dortmund, Hanover x2, Wernigerode x2, Friedrichshafen, Stuttgart, Speyer, Sinsheim, Nuremberg, Dresden, Freiburg im Bresigau, Cologne, Koblenz, Brohl, Linz am Rhein, Nordhausen, Munich, Berlin)
- Gibraltar (Gibraltar)
- Hungary (Budapest)
- Ireland (Dublin, Cork, Cobh, Blarney)
- Italy (Ancona, Milan)
- Latvia (Riga, Jurmala)
- Luxembourg (Luxembourg - well just the outskirts really)
- Norway (Narvik, Tromso, Stokmarknes, Svolvaer, Bronnoysund, Trondheim)
- Spain (Islands of Corralejo and Lanzarote, Canary Islands, La Linea de la Concepcion, Algeciras)
- Sweden (Stockholm x2, Gavle, Uppsala, Kiruna)
- Switzerland (Zurich x3, Romanshorn, Basel x2)
- United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai)
There is an appreciable amount of green, which is pleasing - about on par with the amount of purple and a bit more than the amount of black. I feel like this means I'm keeping pace, though not necessarily stepping it up a notch in terms of overseas destinations - but time is balanced out by doing "domestic" trips too and all else that life entails. The main things to note I feel are that Zurich is still the most-visited place at the moment, even though the the total time spent there would be less than 24hrs; more new countries visited in the last 6 months than the previous, but overall slightly less amount of places; and despite Germany still being the most heavily visited country of mine, I have not been there at all in the last 6 months.
In the last two posts, I'd listed some places I thought I would have been already. I'm pleased to say of those places, the close-to-home Ireland has been ticked off, as has somewhere in mainland Spain (Algeciras and La Linea) and also Austria (Vienna). Paris in France, Rome in Italy, The Netherlands and Denmark are still at large however. Do I have any to add to that list, at 18 months in? Czech Republic and Poland.
Visited Places in the UK
- England (London xM, Brighton, Bletchley, Folkestone, Hythe, Dungeness, Birmingham x2, Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, New Arlesford, Alton, East Grinstead, Sheffield Park, Lincoln, Carlisle, York, Bath, Windsor, Salisbury, Luton xM, Gatwick xM, Stanstead xM, Liverpool x2, Ryde, Shanklin, Ventnor, Newport, Portsmouth, Loughborough, Ascot, Didcot, Oxford, Weston-Super-Mare, Dover, Southend, Brooklands, St Austell, Penzance, Lands End, St Ives, York, Scarborough, Pickering, Grosmont, Whitby, Cambridge, Henley-on-Thames, Southampton)
- Northern Ireland (Belfast x2, Bushmills, Giant's Causeway)
- Scotland (Inverness, Drumnadrochit, Fort William, Mallaig, Edinburgh)
- Wales (Swansea, Porthmadog, Portmeirion, Caernarfon, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Pant, Torpantau)
I feel like this time, there is more green than there is purple meaning I've covered more places. A revisit to Northern Ireland, which I hoped might happen but didn't expect; and also a much more comprehensive look at Wales, with two separate visits in the last 6 months. No more Scotland this time round though - its just that bit awkward distance away from London. The only place that I listed last time round that I haven't managed to get to by this stage, is the Isle of Man - Cambridge, Cardiff, Snowdonia and Southampton are all ticked off. As has a fairly even more larger swathe of England, more than I might have imagined I'd get to see. The places that I thought I might have visited this far along that I haven't? only two come to mind - Manchester, and Glasgow (though I have been through Glasgow, I haven't been there according to The Rules).
The Railway Stuff
Excursions - 60009 London-Lincoln-London, UK - 46233 London-Carlisle-London (diesel hauled out of London and via Settle-Carlisle), UK - 35 1097 Dresden-Nossen-Dresden, Germany - Ra 846 Gavle-Uppsala, Sweden - 45407 Fort William-Mallaig-Fort William, UK - No.1 and L150 on London Underground, UK - 76079 Grosmont-Whitby, UK | Railways - Bluebell Railway, UK - Mid-Hants Railway, UK - Severn Valley Railway, UK - Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, UK - Harz Mountain Railways, Germany x2 - Weisseritztalbahn, Germany - Great Central Railway, UK - Didcot Railway Centre, UK - Kasbachtalbahn, Germany - Tyseley Locomotive Works, UK - Ffestiniog Railway, UK - Welsh Highland Railway, UK - Brecon Mountain Railway, UK - North Yorkshire Moors Railway, UK | Other trains of note that I have ridden - ICE High Speed Train, Germany - Eurostar x3, UK/France/Belgium - HST/IC125 xM, UK - IC225/Class 91, UK - Virgin Pendolino tilting train, UK xM - Javelin High Speed Train, UK - London Underground xM - Docklands Light Railway xM - Swedish X2000 HST | Railway-related Museums Visited: - National Railway Museum, York, UK x2 - DB Museum, Nuremberg, Germany - Cite du Train, Mulhouse, France - London Transport Museum, UK (and their Acton depot) - Science Museum, London xM - Thinktank Birmingham, UK - DB Museum Koblenz, Germany - Swedish Railway Museum, Gavle - Trainworld, Belgium |
I had a list made up of steam locomotives I wished to ride behind on the main line in the UK when I came over, all of which seemed very possible at the time. However the main line excursion scene in the UK has been particularly crap over the last 12 months or so. This can be attributed to a number of reasons - not the least of which Steam Train excursion operator West Coast Railway Company being suspended from operating not once, but twice in the last 12 months and for a month or two at a time relating to operational safety reasons. This meant excursion operators who rely on WCRC having to cancel trips, and then taking some time to gear up to run new trips - only to then have to cancel some more all over again, so the scene has been much quieter than it was when I first arrived. Some of the touted steam locomotives that I wished to ride behind have so far failed to materialise on the main line - the Blue King 6023 "King Edward II" in particular, but also 6201 "Princess Elizabeth"; while others such as either of the two Britannia class locos 70000 "Britannia" or 70013 "Oliver Cromwell" have spent much of the intervening time in the workshops getting some problems resolved. 60103 "Flying Scotsman" has made its way back onto main line metals but because its been overhyped, not only has every excursion sold out in a flash or been at exorbitant prices, but some of the excursions it is supposed to run have been cancelled due to trespasser concerns. I've seen the engine up close, I might see it out and about yet but I won't get to ride behind it anytime soon. Also, 46233 "Duchess of Sutherland" was supposed to have been painted red already, but is still green - mind you its not seen much action lately either. In all, its been a rather sad state of affairs and it sounds like in the future steam trains won't be allowed on some key routes because they are too busy now - and strangely enough, most of those routes originate in London. I've seen most of these engines in action anyway, and ridden behind some on preserved lines so that's something I guess.
The Two Trips Per Month Aim
November 2014 - Australia - Abu Dhabi - Liverpool - Brighton | December 2014 - Germany (Harz Mountains) - Train trip to Lincoln - York - Swansea | January 2015 - Canary Islands - Train trip Settle Carlisle line |
February 2015 - Bletchley Park - Mid-Hants Railway, Hampshire | March 2015 - Brussels, Belgium - Birmingham & SVR, Kidderminster | April 2015 - Windsor, Bath & Stonehenge - Germany for a week, inc. France & Switzerland |
May 2015 - Stockholm, Sweden - Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, Kent | June 2015 - Isle of Wight - Great Central Railway, Loughborough - Ascot Races - Basel, Switzerland for a week inc. France & Germany | July 2015 - Didcot and Oxford - Cologne, Germany |
August 2015 - Euradventure - Croatia, Bosnia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany - Scotlandventures - Scotland and Northern Ireland | September 2015 - Dismaland, Weston-Super-Mare - Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany | October 2015 - Berlin, Germany - PS Waverley cruise from London to Thames Forts - Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham |
November 2015 - Liverpool - Riga, Latvia | December 2015 - Budapest, Hungary inc. Austria - Snowdonia, Wales | January 2016 - Destination Greenwich - Gibraltar |
February 2016 - Northern Ireland inc. Giants Causeway - Nordic Odyssey | March 2016 - Brooklands - Cardiff and Cornwall | April 2016 - Ireland - York & Yorkshire - Brugge & Brussels, Belgium - Henley-on-Thames |
So that will be the new adventure - living in Berlin, Germany. How will it go? I don't know. We'll see. Something else to look forward to though. Will I be able to keep up the two trips per month aim in the new country? No idea. I like the idea of trying to keep it up but we'll see how practical that is or not. I feel like I've done really well so far, so sitting low and getting established wouldn't be a problem and of course getting established is the priority over travelling in the short term. So - we shall see how it goes!