Category: Cities & Towns

Arnhem – The Bridge Too Far

January 5, 2017

Okay, here is the second place that I visited because of a bridge despite the fact that I wrote a post that has effectively trashed a really famous bridge back in Australia. Well, I guess the difference is that this particular bridge has a story behind it where as the bride back in Australia really isn’t all that flash (and as I have mentioned isn’t all that colourful either, unlike the one in the United States). … More Arnhem – The Bridge Too Far

Wandering Westphalia

December 16, 2016

Having studied Modern European History in High School and university I have been somewhat attracted to various regions of Germany, such as the Rhineland and the Palatinate, that I had read about so often. Mind you, in the days before Google Maps, and in fact in the days before Google, when you had to actually go and look for information physically in the library, many of these places simply existed as names. Even on my first trip to Europe I was only vaguely aware where certain cities and states were located (and was somewhat surprised to discover that our train stopped off in Hannover on our way from Berlin to Amsterdam). … More Wandering Westphalia

The Dullness of Dusseldorf

November 30, 2016

I have to admit that Dusseldorf actually wasn’t all that great. In fact it was pretty annoying. Half the reason that I came here was because it happened to be the butt of a lot of jokes from Hogans Heroes, probably because the name sounded rather amusing. Another thing was that Dusseldorf seemed to sit right in the middle of a cluster of towns and cities and a part of me wanted to explore parts of what appeared to be a mega-city. … More The Dullness of Dusseldorf

Cologne – It’s About the Bridge

November 3, 2016

A part of me wants to start off by writing about this rail bridge that crosses the Rhine and heads into the centre of Cologne, but since I wrote an entire post about a bridge in Australia that everybody seems to get really excited about, I thought that maybe I should leave talking about this particular bridge, which is called the Hollerzollern Bridge, until another time (particularly since there are a few things that I could write about the bridge beyond the fact that trains regularly cross it and boats regularly go under it). However, you might be wondering why it is that I have a thing about this bridge when I think that other bridge is, well, a bridge and nothing to get all that excited over (just like the radio antenna that people seem to get really excited over in Paris). … More Cologne – It’s About the Bridge

Mainz – Day Trip to the Rhine

October 26, 2016

As I mentioned in my post on Frankfurt, I noticed that the S-bahn went all the way out to some of the neighbouring cities, so when I was planning my trip to Frankfurt I decided that on one of the days I would head out to Mainz, if only to have a look around. Actually, I’m not really all that sure as to why I wanted to head out here, not that Mainz was all that far from Frankfurt – the trip only took about half an hour by train – but I guess it had something to do with that urge that I have to go and see what happens to be at the end of a railway line. … More Mainz – Day Trip to the Rhine

Frankfurt – Gateway to Europe

October 5, 2016

Okay, I probably should be a little clearer in that while Frankfurt is a gateway into Europe it isn’t the only gateway (the first time I landed up in the old world I entered through Heathrow, and Charles de Gaulle airport is also an option, if you are travelling through Singapore that is – I believe that you can arrive at quite a few airports if you fly one of the UAE airlines, though I’m told that you can find that they have shuffled you off your seat at the last minute which can be really annoying if you are like me and prefer a window seat). Even though I have entered Europe through Heathrow once, the last couple of times I came in through Frankfurt namely because I wanted some practice with my German and Frankfurt is pretty central (and is also a four-hour high-speed train journey from Amsterdam). … More Frankfurt – Gateway to Europe

A Singapore Stopover

September 28, 2016

I would say that it has been a while since I have actually posted something, but I have managed a couple of posts since getting everything back after seven weeks outside of the Australia (though these were posts that I had written before I left). What I discovered, and I have found this with others as well, is that when I am travelling I find it very hard to actually blog at the same time, namely because there are so many other things that I could be doing, which includes reading books, going to museums, and sitting in cafes drinking Belgium beer. … More A Singapore Stopover

Warrnambool – The Whaling City

September 21, 2016

It certainly took me a decent amount of time to get around to writing (and even posting) this piece, especially since it was Easter 2015 when I was last in Warrrnambool (at least at the time of writing, which is actually May 2016, over a year after I was there). Mind you, it isn’t that I hadn’t written anything of Warrnambool since that time, since I did write about the Maritime Village, the Cheese Factory , the volcano, the church, and of course the Great Ocean Road. … More Warrnambool – The Whaling City

Paramatta – Sydney’s Second City

September 14, 2016

In the past the only time I have actually seen Parramatta was either out of the window of a bus, or the railway station while I was sitting on a train. Okay, a suburb with a name like Parramatta may not sound like a suburb that everybody is suddenly going to want to rush to visit, but I can assure you that it is more than just an boring out of the way part of Sydney. … More Paramatta – Sydney’s Second City

Whittlesea – Melbourne’s Outer Edge

July 21, 2016

When I was a kid my Dad used to drive us all the way to Melbourne (and back again) at Christmas time, namely so that we could spend Christmas with the relatives. Since they all lived in Melbourne, and we were the only ones who lived in Adelaide, it was more convenient for us to make the trek than for them. Mind you, growing up 700 kms away from my aunties, uncles, and Grandparents meant that I never got to know them as well as those who lived near them. Still it was fun going on a long country drive once a year, and also visiting various places on the way there, and back. … More Whittlesea – Melbourne’s Outer Edge