Happy Easter. Easter Saturday in Poland is the day when people attend church for the Blessing of The Easter Baskets, a revered tradition that dates back to the 7th century. In modern times, baskets are carefully prepared and are set with a white linen liner and contain symbols of meat, eggs, cakes and breads. The foods in the baskets all have a symbolic meaning relating to the death and resurrection of Christ, renewal, and the joy of having an abundance in life. We attended the church with Tim and Andrzej, and after placing the basket on the table with many others, the priest gave a blessing and used a straw brush to sprinkle holy water over the baskets and the congregation. We then visited the local cemetery where Andrzej placed fresh candles at the graves of ... read more

We are back, sleeping on the floor again. Our foldout bed in Luxembourg is fine, but the white soft fluffy expanses of a real bed should never be underestimated. I’ve slept in the back of cars, under cars ( a story for another day), in tents, out in the open, in hostels with 60+ other people and the associated noises, and all were good under the circumstances, but at my time of life, you really can’t go past a nice firm bed, preferably made up by someone else, with fresh bedding and room to stretch out like a starfish in; it’s heaven. Day 2 in Bruge was overcast and raining but I don’t think anyone noticed. It is such a privileged experience to visit such a place, that no sun is no worries. By the time ... read more

Saturdays are a good day to go food shopping. Whether it’s at the local supermarket at home or the mobile fresh food markets in France, the mission is the same; stocking up for the week ahead. In my limited experience, Europeans, particularly those in small towns and rural areas, rely heavily on their weekly fix of market day. Today we visited the French towns of Thionville and Metz for a healthy dose of local culture. The outdoor market in Thionville sells all the ‘food groups’, and as you walk through grey, nondescript streets shaded by multi-storey appartments, you turn the corner and your senses are assaulted by an overdose of colour, noise, and the fragrant flower stall through which we entered the market. The vivid colours of the fruit and vegetable stalls compete with the pungent ... read more

Today had a quiet start and ended up with a quiet finish. It snowed heavily for a few hours early in the day, coating buildings, cars and the ground with a cold sheet of snow. Tim, Sue and I walked down to the local Portugues Bakery and had coffee and pastries, caught a bus into town (no tickets again) and wandered around the old part of town, visited the Luxembourg City Art Gallery, went to a pretty cool bar, had more coffee and pastries and caught the bus home. Luxembourg is very unique and is built on a hill surrounded by deep valleys. It was virtually impregnable and heavily fortified until 1867 when the Treaty of London was signed. Basically, all the world powers that mattered at the time forced Luxembourg to dismantle the walls and ... read more

What do you call a company that sells you tickets, takes your money, in the full knowledge that they can’t provide their service ? Batobus Boats! We started the day with coffee and croissants at a little cafe near the Notre-Dame and went looking for our ‘hop on hop off’ boat service. After yesterday, Sue wasn’t too keen to walk to the Eiffel Tower and back, so I booked tickets for a boat service that allows you to get on and off at 8 different spots; it was ideal. Unfortunately, due to the recent flooding in Paris, this service was suspended, but luckily for them their ability to take your money wasn’t. Unperturbed, the metro bus service became our next option and after a 20 minute walk to the stop, and an interesting discussion with a ... read more