Bilious Blog…Around Europe in 80 days#78

Got to Mainz station early as per usual so changed my Interrail app and got an earlier train.No point hanging around when I could be moving…unfortunately got caught up in a carriage with everyone trying to find their seats and by the time I got into a relatively empty one all the best seats were taken.The best seats being the ones on the right hand side of the train heading north from Mainz to Bonn…this is because of the view.( I missed out on the way down owing to it being on a different route) I have seen it before a few years ago so no biggy…

If you are ever of a mind to take a train ride through Germany the journey between Bonn to Mainz is a treat.It goes down the Rhine Gorge and takes about an hour.I think the drivers deliberately go slower so people can enjoy it…picture perfect villages on either side of the river shadowed by steep sided hills with vineyards cascading down the slopes.I think they must employ those goats that stick to the sides of mountains to harvest the crop,no human could do it…dotted about everywhere are the kind of castles usually seen in guide books and probably built for European nobility with names like Heinrich the Inbred Halfwit and Ludwig the Lockjawed Lascivious Loon…but they look great,unlike their original owners…honestly it’s worth a trip.Going south get the left side and obviously the right side going north…

Got to Cologne too early to check in so went for a drink in the bar hitched to the hotel at the front by the river.There’s usually a picture of Cologne featuring the cathedral,bridge and three olde worlde brightly coloured houses.The hotel is right by all of those.Indeed my room looks out on the river & bridge but not the cathedral as that’s behind me…apparently the hotel building is dated from 1245 but at least it has a lift! Wake up Berlin! 

It seems good though.Any Hotel with a river side bar can’t be bad…because the tourists have now gone it’s probably gonna be pretty quiet but in the height of summer I’d rather a hotel a bit further inland cos‘ I imagine it gets pretty rowdy down here at times…

So I have tomorrow in Cologne,Wednesday in Lille then I head to Paris to get the Eurostar back to Blighty and that’s it.Journey done and dusted.and it barely feels like it’s been ten weeks.In truth I don’t really want to come back yet but rules is rules and I don’t think I can do any more time owing to my time being up.Not sure when the next batch of time permitted to be abroad starts.I assume it’s at the start of the year…anyway it’s been a blast.I was thinking of maybe doing a few tips in the next two blogs for anyone who wants to do what I’m doing around Europe…will see how I feel…

For the moment Caio…but as usual I might be back..,

Ps The outside area of the bar I’m drinking in has about a dozen mice dashing about.It’s a bit weird but everyone is like “Meh,what can you do?”