Wednesday 24 March - Colchester

The train ride through Germany, into Belgium and a corner of France - then into England went a lot faster than you'd think - even though it was 12 hours.

German trains are excellent, fast, on time it seems and easy to figure out once you have a modicum of help.

Lots of German businessmen in the carriage from Munich to Frankfurt - all on laptops or mobiles most of the way - all in black suits.

I was a little surprised at how much of the countryside is open fields - far more than I had expected to see given the perception I'd had of lots of people in small countries (compared to in Aus). One thing that did strike me and I wasn't sure I'd actually seen it when first spied - are the tiny little box-like structures that were clustered around and seemed to be homes - very poor homes, but definitely inhabited. Tiny little houses that must have only been single roomed, some with sheds and lean-tos added. Seemed to be made of wood.

I asked my English traveling companion about them on the train between Frankfurt and Brussels - he told me they'd been built for the migrant labour originally bought into Germany at some time. He hadn't noticed them before and hadn't realised they were lived in.

The other noticeable thing is the coloured buildings - all painted different although built but-up against each other. I'd wondered whether they were built using coloured plaster/concrete cladding or whether they were painted. It seems they're painted - be a bugger of a job to keep them up. Most of the buildings in the cities are 3 or 4 floors and quite narrow across the front. The really surprising thing was that when I saw some of these blocks of houses that had some of their surrounding buildings demolished - is that they were really skinny depth wise too.

There's a wide variety of facade designs too, but overall a sense of place and 'fit'. In the villages where homes are more detatched, they're also brightly coloured for the most part - a bit of a mosaic really, and it's as if they're at peace with the landscape.

I'd read in the Lonely Planet that there is a marked difference in the Bavarian style and the rest of Germany, and it's fairly noticeable. I'd like to do more exploration of the Bavarian countryside when I come back.

The train from Brussels to London meant going through border control before boarding, though nothing onerous. Then it's quite a rapid trip - the tunnel bit actually came as a surprise - one second I'd been looking out of the window at rural France, then glanced down at my ipod and the next look up all was dark.

By the time we came out of the tunnel on the English side, it was night. I was back in England after 52 years.Off the train and into the underground, found the train to Victoria St, and it was only a short taxi ride to the hotel.

A street lined on both sides with terrace houses that had obviously been converted into tiny hotels - and a Best Western which obviously took up several houses. The Vegas Hotel (I know, don't laugh) was tiny, the manager had a sense of humour equal to a peanut and down stairs to a door that opened into a small space that contained the toilet and shower and a door that led into a quite pleasant little room with a window that looked into a tiny courtyard.

Bag open, jammies out and sleep. I was in London.

Up fairly early the next morning, brekkie and out to find the underground again. Walked to the station as it wasn't far and it was good to walk the streets - all so narrow and busy - so many people, all looking like they have somewhere they have to be. And all the black cars...lots of people riding motor scooters too, would definately be the best way to get around.

Found the station, packed subway to Liverpool St station, across the road to the national line and found the train to Colchester waiting at the station. 50 minute ride to Colchester and there was Av and Ken waiting for me. Spent a lovely day sitting drinking tea and catching up on so much - family, memory, travels, lives - much needed rest as the body's had enough of all the stairs I've had to deal with over the past couple of days - up and down to trains - though for the most part someone always grabbed the back of my bag and helped me getting up - getting down's easy, got that one sorted when in the US and this bag's brilliant for it. But it's all still tiring, and everywhere is sooooo heated.

Great night's sleep in a comfy bed.

Today we're heading off to have lunch in a 14th century pub and toodle around the villages and local sights.

Tomorrow I'll go explore the local Norman castle - my holiday's really beginning ....