2022 and all that

Everything went like clockwork on arrival in Holland, from the trademark Stena Line chirpy bird wake-up call to the blue exercise deck for Lottie’s comfort break.

Train geek alert: they’re doing some work on the train station at Hoek van Holland, so I had to walk 450 m to the temporary stop, only to find out there was a shuttle bus. The metro ticket to Schiedam, where I changed for Amsterdam, was 4 eur and lasts 2 hours. Lottie’s dog day pass purchased back in Cardiff was 3 eur. I added the Schiedam Centrum to Amsterdam leg to my Interrail pass and the app automatically combined it with the Amsterdam-Berlin leg. Very neat. I could probably have added Hoek van Holland to Schiedam to the ticket too. Never mind.

Got to Amsterdam with no bother and then had a couple of hours to kill with an excellent Illy cappuccino and croissant.

Then the train from Amsterdam to Berlin took 7 hours, including a 30 minute delay at the German border. I was flagging by the time we got off and Lottie wasn’t best pleased with being made to put on a muzzle by an officious train guard. I had to top up her Dutch dog day ticket with a half-price child ticket for the German leg of the trip – then no one even checked it.

Berlin is cold and wet so I’m glad the hotel is just round the corner from the station. I’m heading out to get some food and then I’ll have an early night. There’ll be some time to look around tomorrow morning before my train to Prague mid-morning.

Got here a little early after an epic trip. Have now well and truly learned my lesson about doing any trip in London on a Sunday and risking the dreaded rail replacement service.

I was looking forward to relaxing in comfort on the Dutchflyer from Liverpool Street to Harwich International, but ended up having to settle for getting here via the Central Line packed with West Ham fans, a double-decker bus with lager cans rolling down the steps to Shenfield, train to Manningtree (ok-ish) and the last few stops to Harwich International and the ferry, at last.

I’ve had a few messages from people telling about the Lagottos at Crufts on the TV tonight. Turns out the ferry is full of show dogs going back home. There are a lot of seriously well-groomed pooches on the boat.

The train journey here was so bad I didn’t have the heart to put Lottie in the kennels down in the bilges so upgraded to a dog-friendly cabin. We’re installed in a palatial pad with a sea view now. Lottie’s out for the count after a long day and I’m heading to the bar 🍻🍺

In other news, I’ve been talking to Sasha, a former AirBnB guest from Ukraine who I’ve stayed in touch with, and am hoping to sponsor her to stay at my place in Cardiff now the visa rules have been relaxed.

Signs of things to come? Blackweir Bridge over the Taff finally opened up again after nearly a year of COVID-related closure (no room for social distancing) and some repair work.

It’s a key route for walkers, runners and cyclists and will make life much easier after months of detouring along the other bank of the river to the next bridge.

If only the Summerhouse Cafe would reopen on the other side of the river in Bute Park, then life could start returning to some kind of pre-pandemic normality. I heard the previous proprietors couldn’t afford to renew the lease after successive lockdowns…