On arrival here, the first task was beer and lunch.
We found a lovely quirky bar built around some ruins and enjoyed a wheat beer with our our Panini’s:
We then had a wander through the picturesque town to a nice park:
We then climbed up to Schlossberg, with some excellent views over the town:
And some nice gardens:
There’s a large church at the top, so we had a look:
Then a stroll back through the town, another quick beer and back to the hotel:
We got on a coach to Alexisbad in the Harz Mountains. We had a bit of time before our train left, so had a pleasant stroll along the river:
Then our train pulled in, took on water and reversed:
And then we were off, winding through the hills and valleys:
Finally arriving at our destination:
An exciting short ride.
Our train from Cologne was diverted on a very scenic but slow route to Hannover due to works on the high speed line.
We then had a long (due to roadworks) coach journey to Goslar, a peaceful little village where we changed coaches.
But had time for a quick beer and a look around.
This is a bronze model of the town:
This was the imperial palace:
And after a shorter coach journey, we’re now in Wernigerode, our base for the next 3 days.
We stopped at Wuppertal, famous for the unique overhead railway:
Not easy to photograph from a train, though…
Another early start today, and after a short tour of Cologne by coach, we were back at the station.
The cathedral is (still) just by the station:
After a bit of confusion with our train arriving in the wrong place with the wrong coach numbers, we headed off over the Rhine along the “padlock bridge”:
We’re now on our way to Hannover.
We ate dinner in the Bellavue restaurant at the top of the hotel – despite staying in the hotel many times, we’d not been there before. There’s a lovely little lookout overlooking the Rhine:
There’s always something going on in the river or over the bridges!
An early start today, but a really quick journey to St Pancras – 32 minutes platform to platform.
After the usual long wait for our Eurostar, we were soon on our way arriving in Brussels on time.
We’d normally stop for a beer, but there wasn’t enough time before our next train…
A slightly delayed arrival in Cologne but our coach was waiting to take us to our hotel – we’ve lost track how many times we’ve stayed here!
You can just see Cologne Cathedral from our room:
The good weather continues, though a little cooler this morning.
After a couple of right angle bends in the canal, we stopped to refill with water. This turned out to be quite protracted as the water pressure was very low.
This bridge carries the Metropolitan line to Watford, a sure sign that we’re getting close to London:
Shortly afterwards, we moored near Croxley for us to leave and the Scouts to join:
Whilst waiting, I had a stroll down the canal to Rickmansworth, passing a most unusual moored boat:
5 Locks today.
Another nice day – I do enjoy the stillness of the canals first thing in the morning:
Shortly after setting off, the engine overheated. This turned out to be a lack of water, so we had a bit of a delay while it cooled down and got refilled. The swing bridge by the pub is fully automatic:
Further down, there seemed to be a problem with too much water in the canal, so progress was a bit slower:
We stopped for lunch by yet another crossing of the West Coast Main Line:
And then passed under the M25:
and moored up near to Cassiobury Park, just past the very pretty Grove Bridge:
17 locks today.
Another nice day at a reasonably peaceful mooring despite the West Coast Main Line not being far away:
Not far to the first lock of the day:
from there, it was a constant stream of locks with only a few being close enough together to walk between:
We often attracted an audience, possibly as there were not many other boats travelling:
We stopped for water next to a canalside supermarket:
and moored at Winkwell for the evening:
As it happens, there was a pub within sight, so that took care of the evening!
A mere 15 locks today.