tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:30:26 +0000http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/noreply@blogger.com (Tom)Blogger133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-6571473751631657297Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:30:00 +00002010-03-10T19:30:26.361Z This blog is now located at http://blog.toms-travels.me.uk/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://blog.toms-travels.me.uk/feeds/posts/default. http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/03/this-blog-has-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-2383841616497397786Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:06:00 +00002010-02-28T14:24:53.282ZCromwellHeritageEnglandCastlesHaving visited Kenilworth today and over the last few years a large number of other ruined castles an interesting question is posed regarding one of the most device men in British History.Did Oliver Cromwell effectively create English Heritage?A large number of castles around the country were destroyed, or slighted, on the orders of Cromwell following the Civil War so that they couldn’t be used http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/02/historical-question.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-9122441879805025186Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:10:00 +00002010-02-21T22:11:00.199ZPublic TransportCoventrySnowDelaysIt’s the usual story, a small amount of snow falls in the UK and the transport infrastructure grinds to a halt.I got up early today because I wanted to have the maximum time in Stratford-upon-Avon. As the first train to Birmingham wasn’t until 08:37 it wasn’t that early, but 07:30 on a Sunday is still unpleasant.When I woke up I looked out of the window and noticed that there was a small amount http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/02/at-least-co-ordinate-your-lies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-5310729737948895889Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:36:00 +00002010-02-21T22:07:00.261ZShoppingCoventryThere might be a recession on (OK so we have supposedly come out of recession but it still feels like there is a recession on), but there is one industry which appears to be thriving, growing, almost as rapidly as Swine Flu didn’tIn the time it took me to walk the ½ mile or so from the station to the hotel I lost count, they were everywhere...The Pound ShopPoundland, Everything a Pound, http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/02/industry-to-be-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-1195043094242184008Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:15:00 +00002010-02-21T21:59:26.567ZPublic TransportDelaysI suppose it is partly my fault for assuming that the tube would be running OK, that on a day when several London football clubs were playing at home TfL wouldn’t have most of the tube closed for engineering works.Unfortunately, TfL did have engineering works, lots of engineering works, in fact the Victoria line was about the only line which didn’t have line closures and consequently was very http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/02/sort-it-out-boris.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-6304088340331733422Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:54:00 +00002010-01-22T22:55:17.166ZMistakesLanguageCastlesWalesI’m going to put my hands up to making a very basic error, and one that has taken me over two years to realise.When I visited Swansea back in August 2007 I went for the afternoon to Carmarthen. Part of the reason for going was to look at the castle, because I had heard lots of people going on about how good the castle was.I didn’t think much of it, all there appeared to be were a couple of wallshttp://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/01/confession.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-2208570264320230107Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:36:00 +00002010-01-22T22:53:37.073ZHolyheadAngleseyTravelodgeSleepWalesThe problem with Travelodge’s are that they are fantastically cheap, and consequently are first choice for anyone looking to book lots of rooms.This does mean that in some towns (Newcastle, Edinburgh) you can be woken up at 2 or 3 in the morning by the sounds of groups of drunken people coming in from a stag or hen do.Things at Holyhead are a little different.I can’t think that anyone who’s not http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/01/not-drunken-stag-parties.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-4240868645447731949Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:58:00 +00002010-01-20T20:58:44.924ZHolyheadAngleseyPublic TransportWalesThere are two buses an hour between Holyhead and BangorHowever, they are not at half hourly intervalsOne is the X4, it’s supposedly the express route, but wanders around the houses quite a bitThe other is the 4, except it doesn’t go to Bangor it goes to the town of Llangefni where you can connect onto Bangor on the 4A, except in Llangefni the 4 just becomes the 4A without anyone mentioning it. (http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/01/why-make-it-easy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-6463709258864326798Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:43:00 +00002010-01-19T21:44:56.250ZHolyheadAngleseyWeatherWalesIs falling somewhere in Britain tonight, but its not in North Wales.As the train entered Wales the clouds started to clear, and as we ran along the edge of the North Wales Coast sunlight was sparkling off the still sea and the distant wind farm.By the time I got to Holyhead this had turned to haze rather than full sun, but it was still better than had been predicted.Of course, I know I am just http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/01/heavy-snow.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-4346391345721938196Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:56:00 +00002010-01-19T12:57:38.068ZHolyheadWeatherWalesThis is a question which I have started to ask myself over the last week or so as I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather.I booked last June based on the last couple of years when January has been crisp, cold at times, but generally very dry.I thought that there might be a pattern developing, that January might be becoming a very good month to visit the UK.Then the Met Office started to jinx it http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2010/01/why-holyhead-in-january.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-9045866657163356901Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:45:00 +00002009-12-28T12:18:11.870ZInjuryGermanyContinuing my unpleasant roundup of which injuries are “in” in Europe.Nuremberg appears to be home to the non-specific minor face injury with at least four people walking around with surgical tape on parts of their faces mostly around the eyes.http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/12/wound-spotting-v.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-7273334263631471055Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:16:00 +00002009-12-28T12:14:03.729ZAlcoholDaily MailGovernmentGermanyNanny StateOK, so it’s a bit of an overstatement, added with, perhaps, a bit of malicious misinterpretation of the facts, though it’s no different to the shaky evidence that this government report is based on, so I think I can be allowed the exaggeration.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8413559.stmTo distil it down to the nub of the Governments feeling, giving even a drop of alcohol to anyone under the agehttp://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/12/uk-government-all-european-children.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-4396569911692111024Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:31:00 +00002009-12-22T08:46:18.515ZWeatherPublic TransportGermanySnowDelaysToday, wandering back to the hotel through the station, I noticed that again the trains were all running with massive delays (actually what I first noticed was the massive long queue to the information kiosk which alerted me to the fact that something might have been up).I really wasn’t expecting there still to be problems, I would have thought that they could have got it sorted out, but http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/12/british-disease-continues.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-5025187743096749378Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:38:00 +00002009-12-22T08:44:17.238ZWeatherPublic TransportGermanySnowDelaysDisruptionIt’s heartening to know that it’s not just the Brits who can be crippled by some wintry weather in, well winter.Normally I would have thought that snow is so common in Germany that they would have the infrastructure in place to be able to deal with even relatively heavy snowfall.So it was somewhat surprising to see that Dusseldorf Airport had been closed for the whole of the day, and when I got http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/12/british-disease-is-spreading.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-8822653991486493914Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:21:00 +00002009-12-20T18:22:37.731ZBelgiumWeatherGermanyEurostarDelaysBavariaFor the last two years I have been going to Belgium for my pre-Christmas trip. I had originally been planning to go again this year, but back in February I got an email from Air Berlin with a spectacular offer on flights to Nuremberg just before Christmas, so I changed my plans and decided to go there instead.And now, as I sit in the departures lounge at Stansted Airport I am feeling very http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/12/glad-i-chose-southern-germany.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-8702072733552166544Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:58:00 +00002009-11-01T20:59:23.303ZWeatherRainBathLiesBut I didn’t actually Lie, so why, when I go to Bath, does it always rain on me?Earlier this week I had to go to Bath for a work meeting.This is the first time I have stayed overnight in Bath since my fateful visit in 2002 when the online booking site had got a mix up between BA2 (the postcode for just outside the centre of Bath) and BS2 (the postcode for the outskirts of Bristol) and ended up http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/10/i-might-have-fibbed-when-i-was-17.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-1966155664520214520Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:39:00 +00002009-09-29T21:41:10.414+01:00ItalyGamesMilanCathDaqAfter a slow start the CathDaq took off towards the end of the trading period.Five monks from three different order (or at least three different types of robes) taking the index higher.Priest in a sports car in Bergamo took the index lower for a while before a flotilla of Gucci Nuns by the Duomo sent stocks soaring.Milan trading closed up over 100 points.http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/cathdaq-trading-statement-for-milan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-2377382167789835040Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:45:00 +00002009-09-29T21:39:13.574+01:00ItalyMaltaInternetMuseumsAs I was leaving Santa Maria delle Grazie having taken in Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper, it struck me how much of a leveller the internet has been to enable people to see things they otherwise might not have been able to.To get to see the mural you have to book in advance (the signs out today showed that it was fully booked until November!). Prior to the real take off of the Internet you would http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/if-it-wasnt-for-internet.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-4045149382015009011Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:19:00 +00002009-09-29T21:24:32.958+01:00ItalyMilanPoliticsMonday saw two major events taking place in Milan.The prime minister, gaff-proneSilvio (as I believe his first name is now pronounced) Berlusconi was in town to speak to his followers.There was also an exhibition on at the fair ground that appeared (by the posters) to have something to do with scantily clad young ladies (though in Italy it could have been an accountants fair and they would still http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/monday-saw-two-major-events-taking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-5906338121465308394Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:34:00 +00002009-09-28T21:35:32.175+01:00ItalyMilanPoliceStereotypesA minor correction to my comments regarding police vehicles.Of course the Italian government would never allow their police to drive around in German Audi’s. The police were, of course, in an Italian Alfa Romeo.http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/more-thoughts-on-police-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-8064387754134092903Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:09:00 +00002009-09-27T21:11:36.291+01:00ComparisonsItalyMilanToiletsBidetMilan is a vibrant city, the powerhouse of Italy’s economy; it’s a modern Finance driven city. Perhaps not in the same league as London, Tokyo, New York and Frankfurt. But it’s up there in the next league with the Hong Kong’s, Brussels’ and Shanghai’s.Which makes it all the more surprising in a city that combines the best of Northern European capitalism with Southern European style and elegancehttp://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/things-you-wish-you-hadnt-seen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-8695806497021186017Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:08:00 +00002009-09-27T21:08:48.833+01:00InjuryItalyMilanBergamoAnother edition of the informative guide to what injuries are “in” this season.Bergamo (and Milan as well) appear to have had a spate of lower arm/wrist injuries, with at least four people seen wandering around sporting slings.Given the cobble stones everywhere part of me suspects that it’s the leathal combination of marble cobles and rain, but it could just be that everyone wants to show of http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/wound-spotting-iv.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-2043217408683333128Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:12:00 +00002009-09-27T21:07:10.213+01:00ItalyMilanPoliceThis topic is giving me a rich vein of thought and observation.Walking through the Piazza Duomo this evening I noticed that there were three separate police cars parked up.There was a very smart modern 4 by 4 with Carabinieri painted down the side. Inside the officer was preening himself in his rear view mirror. I do have to wander are the Carabinieri actually the fashion police, because all theyhttp://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/more-thoughts-on-police.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-1799269069277164826Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:04:00 +00002009-09-27T21:05:19.693+01:00ItalyMilanPoliceEmergency ServicesBefore I had even gotten onto the tram this morning I had already seen my sixth type of police, these were the Polizia di Milano, who were in a completely different uniform to all the other ones I had seen yesterday.The sublime finally gave way to the ridiculous though when I walked into the main courtyard of the castle.There, laid out as a family open day, were the tents of at least 20 differenthttp://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/oh-no-theres-more.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5595291596792751453.post-3051294587471296594Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:48:00 +00002009-09-25T21:49:40.490+01:00ItalyMilanPoliceHow many different types of police does one country need.In the space of a couple of minutes this evening, I think I saw the full set, but I could be wrong, there could be more types floating around.First to be spotted were the Milan Vigilantes, or at least that’s how my very dodgy Italian translated what was painted on their cars.Then walking in front of me, in full regalia, including massive http://www.toms-travels.me.uk/blog/2009/09/italian-police-bingo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tom)0