The Viking Gullveig had moored only a few yards from the world’s oldest fast food restaurant in Regensburg. When McDonald was still a farmer, Sanders had not yet even enlisted, the only burgers to been seen lived in the City Hall and if you wanted ‘fast food’ you had to sit in the stocks whilst someone pelted you with rotten tomatoes!! At 09:15 sharp - not 09:13 or 09:17 but 09:15 we congregated outside ‘the Sausage Kitchen’ where we met Ursula, our guide for this two-hour walking tour of the old town. The Sausage Kitchen was originally built in 1135 when it was a small construction office built for the Regensburg stone bridge. After the bridge was completed in 1146 the building became a restaurant called ‘The Cook shop near the Crane’ as it was situated ... read more

This morning we woke to find the Viking Gullweig tied up alongside a small jetty with a prominent sign telling us we had arrived in Krems. Krems or to give it its proper name, Krems an der Donau is a small town about 70km west of Vienna with a modest population of just under 24,000. Although Krems was first mentioned in a document in 985, settlers were probably around long before that as a grave dating back over 27,000 years was found here making it the oldest grave in Austria. This morning’s excursion was to a working monastery known as Gottweig Abbey. Roisin, Kate and Carla had decided to give this tour a miss so I was on my own. As I mentioned in the previous blog, an audio receiver could be found in each cabin ... read more

Many of you are connected through social media so it will come as no shock to most of you as to where we spent the lead up to Christmas 2017. You will have seen many photos that tell a story; a few ABCs (Another Bloomin’ Church!) and one or two snow scenes (including a deck hand that performs snow angels on request!!) This blog is the narrative part of the tale, ‘based’on a true story!! There are some photos to support the blog including the odd few, courtesy of Roisin and Carla’s Facebook pages!! These photos that I have ’nicked’ were taken by them using their mobile phones when I couldn’t be arsed to get my camera out of my back pack!! Luckily Roisin and Carla were on hand to capture the spirit of ... read more

In China it is well documented that Facebook and Google are forbidden. This has nothing to do with West versus East. China doesn’t want a similar occurrence to another ‘Arab Spring’to spread across their country. Arab Spring was a series of both violent and non-violent demonstrations, protests and riots. This was spread through North Africa by the use of Google and Facebook. China now require internet providers to submit to Government censorship. As these companies won’t comply with these sort of censorship regulations, China has outlawed both sites and blocked any sort of interaction with them. This doesn’t help the blog as the maps function is powered by Google Apps. I spent an hour cursing before I realised the maps not loading had nothing to do with a poor wi-fi connection!! Our accommodation, the ... read more

That famous Genghis Khan statue which has featured on many TV shows such as Joanna Lumley’s Trans-Siberian Adventure (I bet she had the Provodnitsa at her beck and call!!) is the tallest horse statue in the world. There was talk that it was the tallest monument in the world, then the tallest statue. Now it’s not even that. It isthe tallest equestrian statue in the world but as the second tallest, General Jose Artigas in Uruguay, is only a paltry 18 metres tall compared to Genghis’s 40 metres, I don’t think there is much competition!! The statue is genuinely in the middle of nowhere, unlike attractions such as the Great Pyramids of Egypt that look impressive on photos and documentaries. What it doesn’t show you is the McDonalds and collection of litter blowing in ... read more