Good morning Köln

Was up early this morning having slept in a mixed dorm in the youth hostel near the station! A somewhat disturbed night as people drifted in at 11.00, 12.00 and 1.00 in the morning! There was an Australian in the bed next to me and he had been surprised that they had mixed dorms and he was going to move to another hostel for the following two nights! He was also up early so we went for a walk along the Rhein and the weather was glorious with not many people about!

He was in Europe to help a friend with sorting out her mother’s house in Belgium and it was a tough job so he was taking time out from time to time to go and see other places. They were going to take two at the end of their time to stay at lake Como! Lucky them.

Had paid for breakfast in advance so took that sitting in their courtyard watching the blackbirds come and go to their nest behind one of the speakers!

Then it was time to board the train to Linz! Was lucky enough to find a seat which was reserved from Linz to Vienna but was unoccupied so I got a window seat, sadly backward facing! German trains have lots more space than British trains and are more comfortable! Still a long way and nigh on 8 hours in the train! Was blessed after a while with the presence of a young man who sat next to me! I was reading at the time and he was sleeping but then we chatted. He was going to visit his girlfriend in Regensberg and he spoke really good English as he had been born in Rwanda and been taken from there as a baby to Namibia and was in school in Namibia being taught in German! His parents then moved to Belgium where he joined them to do his degree and is finishing his masters now! He was a very bright and articulate young man and a real pleasure!

The train was 15 minutes late arriving and I was very glad to be there to be greeted by my friend Bernard, who is English and we took a taxi home for a lovely cup of tea and a yarn! His wife, Romy, is Italian and she came back from work at 10pm

Now time for bed and hopefully a good sleep!