Time to see my heritage 5/30/14

I started off this morning from Munich to Strasbourg France and made my tight connection in Karlshure Germany and the one from Appenwier Germany (just across the border from Strasbourg) by a bit after 1 PM and went to my hotel and was told that the room was not ready. I decided that it was time to go on a bit of exploration of my heritage--I trace in part to a small village called Zusenhofen. I only visited briefly but it was good to have been there and took a few pictures and a video clip whilst there. I then made my way back to Strasbourg and then came back to the hotel.

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644916192082/

Munich 5/29/14

I started out today by taking a "wizz by" city tour (meaning one goes wizzing by sights) on a bus and took lots of pictures. I stopped off and went up the "tv tower" which is a part of the complex where the 1972 Summer Olympics were also held. I could see the Olympic complex including the Olympic Stadium (which like a number of these Stadiums is not being used at the moment) and a lot of places related to the Bavarian Monarchy. Until the end of World War I Bavaria was a separate country and had its own monarchy. I came back to the hotel to upload the pictures I took and then headed off again to the Hofbrauhaus which I ended up going through but not staying as I was intimidated by someone who walked up to me and for NO reason hit my shoulders. I decided that leaving was the better part of value and went across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner as I figured it was an known quantity. I then came back to the hotel and finished tagging and uploading the pictures I had taken whilst I was out and updating this. I go on to Strasbourg France and hopefully I can take a side trip to a place called Zusenhofen which is near Strasbourg and is the town where part of my ancestry traces back to. I don't expect to be able to get any genealogy done, but wanted to try to see the place at least briefly.

Today's pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644899536292/

Munich 5/28/14

Sorry I have not reported in for a couple days, but I had a rather nasty reaction day before yesterday to what I suspect was some issues with bedding in Berlin and I am still trying to recover from this. I did do some touring while in Berlin although I had to miss my booking for taking a tour of the German Parliament that I had arranged to take. I went around Berlin on a couple of tours and took lots of pictures but did not get to see everything I would have liked.
Tomorrow is a public holiday in Germany so my plans will be somewhat uncertain but hope to take a tour around Munich.
Pictures
May 26
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644862556054/
May 27
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644465848980/
May 28
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644837867626

London to Brussels 5/25/14

The UK part of this trip is now over as I have come from London to Brussels Belgium by the Eurostar. The trip itself was uneventful and took about 2 hours. The train made stops in Ebbsfleet England, Calais France and Lille France on the way here and I got platform sign pictures at Ebbsfleet and Calais but no luck at Lille. I had to then make my way to Brussels Nord Station as it was close to my hotel. Once I got in, I then went and took a nap for not quite two hours. After my nap, I went to the European Parliament and Parliamentarium which is the visitors centre for the Parliament. Today happens to be the day that the results of the European Elections where people throughout the European Union will have cast ballots over the last few days for their members of the European Parliament and I saw some of the setup for a party that will be held outside the Parliament later on tonight.

Today's pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644787684676/

Checking in 5/24/2014

Today was mostly a prosaic chores of life day with lots of errands. I started out by doing laundry near my hotel and shipping back some books I had brought over to cut my weight down as Aer Lingus weighs carry on items. Once these chores were done, I then shifted hotels and once I did this, I went to the Voyages SNCF (formerly known as the UK branch of Rail Europe) so that I could validate my rail pass for on the continent as this way it was done without the issue of a language barrier involved. I then walked to the Green Park tube and took the tube to Westminster where I took pictures at the Elizabeth tower (the formal name for Big Ben) and the Cenotaph (the major memorial for war dead in the UK and to me appropriate to see given that Monday is Memorial Day back home. I also took a couple pictures at the gates of Downing St. By this time, it was getting time for lunch so I then went to Victoria station and ate. I then headed over to Buckingham Palace so I could take a couple more pictures stopping on the way by the official Buckingham Palace shop so that I could buy some cards. By this point it had started raining so I had to duck under an awning for a few minutes and wait for it to slow down. Once this had taken place, I went back to Victoria and caught the tube back to Paddington as I had a meeting with two friends of mine. This meeting was quite enjoyable. I went to a local pub for dinner tonight and it was definitely a bit rowdy as people were watching the Champions League (European soccer) final.

Todays pictures:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644414103488/

Progress report 5/23/14

Things have been very busy since the last chance I had to write any entries for this blog. I started out on Wednesday by meeting up at London Victoria where we then headed to Paington in Devon on the Torbay Express which is a First Great Western train and then took a ride to Kingswear on the Paington and Dartmouth steam railway--this one was in one of only two pullman observation cars in the UK and back to Paington. We then headed off to Plymouth via Newton Abbot where we then connected to a branch line up to Gunnislake and back which completed every line west of Exeter. The evening wrapped up on Wednesday with a train to Exeter St. Davids. On Thursday Dennis and I started out the day by taking two branch lines out of Exeter. The first line went to Exmouth and the second up to Barnstable. Once we finished those lines, the next journey was to Bristol (Temple Meads) where we stopped off for a spot of lunch and then took a branch line to a place called Severn Beach and back.We then decided that we would head just over the border into southern Wales to a place called Newport where we then changed trains on to Birmingham.
I have been on my own so far today and the first run of the day was from Birmingham to Leicester. This was so that I could then connect to a train heading up to Sheffield. I then rode the local tram two stops into the city centre and grabbed a bit of lunch before heading back toward Birmingham. Not sure yet what the rest of the day will hold as it depends on when I get into Birmingham and then I plan to head on to London.
Photos can be seen at the following:
May 21 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644848879943/
May 22 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644385800668/
May 23 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomreiser/sets/72157644753346646/

Day 1/2 May 19-20 2014

I started out by staying at the O'hare Hilton to make life easier and was able to get a shuttle vehicle over to my flight to Dublin. The flights to Dublin and then on to Gatwick were not bad although since the weather in Dublin was a bit stormy I felt like it was a bit of a rocket ride down from cruising altitude of 37000 feet and the second flight from Dublin to Gatwick which is south of London. Once I got into my room, I then headed off to Crawley which is a few miles away to get phone and data access sorted out. I ended up getting just a phone as the price was going to be to dear for data access so I will only have access at hotels--oh well. I may change this in Germany if it's not too dear but not sure. I then went to the room again as I needed to take my biggest suitcase up to London so I would not have to carry it around for the next couple days as I will be riding trains all over the place.