Prague July 5, 2017
This morning we headed to Prague by train. We had originally wanted to drive but you cannot rent a car in Austria and drop it off in Czech Republic. You would have thought that would be possible since they are all part of the EU but after trying at least 6 rental car companies and getting the same story I gave up and we decided to do it by train instead. The train trip takes just...
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Vienna Day 2 July 4, 2017
The weather remains very pleasant in Europe. Today got up to around 28 degrees in Vienna and even when we went out late afternoon it was still around 26 degrees C. H and O went for an early morning run and by all accounts enjoyed the experience of running next to the Danube, through parks filled with statues of composers and past other historical sites and impressive buildings. We had breakfast at one of the nearby...
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Grindelwald to Cologne January 10, 2017
Yesterday was my last day in Grindelwald but Stephen, Michael, Lara and Oli are staying on doing sightseeing, snowboarding and skiing. It was a stunning day yesterday with the sun out. It was -8 degrees in the morning but when the sun comes out it really does change the complexion of the place entirely. Even though the temperature is still low it just feels much warmer when you can feel the sun. Stephen & Lara tried...
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Grindelwald Day 2 January 9, 2017
We woke up to see that more fresh snow had fallen overnight though the temperature had risen to around 1 degree. It was still overcast. Michael, Oli and Daniel were going skiing at Kleine Scheidegg. It involves taking the train from the Grindelwald Grund station to Kleine Scheidegg (KS). KS is at about 2061m above sea level and is about half way up the Eiger and on the train line which goes up the Jungfraujoch (which...
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Grindelwald January 8, 2017
We woke yesterday to a snow-covered Grindelwald. You might think that was to be expected but until a few days there was hardly any snow in the area. Our wider family had been here over Xmas and they hadn't been able to ski because of the lack of snow. Given that the 4 of them (S, L, M & O) are here to ski and snowboard, this was obviously a great sight. As we had arrived...
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Traveling day January 7, 2017
Yesterday was the day of travel. We left for the airport at just before 11am. We dropped off the family with the luggage at the terminal and then Michael and I took the car back to the rental car company (which was offsite). It was pretty painless to do the drop off and then we headed back to check in. Helen and Chloe were heading back to Cape Town via Zurich and Johannesburg and the rest...
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Lisbon January 6, 2017
Today was residency renewal day. That meant breakfast at 9am and then a walk over to the lawyers office (about 20 minute walk). It was very misty this morning but not particularly cold (and I see as I type now it is becoming very misty again tonight). We got to the lawyers office at 10am and signed the necessary documents and then had to walk to the Home Affairs office. Home Affairs in Portugal is like...
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Aveiro to Lisbon January 5, 2017
Not a lot to blog about today as we left Aveiro this morning and drove the 220kms down to Lisbon. Motorway most of the way with a stop for lunch at one of the many motorway services. The weather was overcast for most of the day and there were patches of thick mist as we drove south down to Lisbon. I am sure I have said this previously, but the road network in Portugal is ridiculously...
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Porto to Aveiro January 4, 2017
We definitely seemed to have timed our movements perfectly with the weather this week. It was raining overnight and again this morning but even let up slightly when we had to load up the car as we left the hotel. We left at just after 10:30am and drove up the river toward the sea so that we could at least see what the beach area of Porto looked like (though it definitely wasn't beach weather). At...
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Porto January 3, 2017
We had expected it (thanks to our weather apps) but this morning we woke to it having rained lightly overnight and being totally overcast. The good thing was it stayed overcast but fortunately never rained (while we were out) so we could spend the day walking around Porto without getting wet. I definitely haven't walked so much in a long time and my feet are really very sore this evening. The biggest issue is that to...
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