Who babysits the babysitters?

After the night train from Prague took us most of the way back to Brussels before turning south, we were at least heading north on a train from Zurich up to Garmish-Partenkirchen. On the way we changed in Munich, where we met the eminent Professor Loren Stuckenbruck for lunch. Loren taught me and Hannah back in Durham, before we were even married - yes, long ago - and his memorable lectures included "people exploding in the ancient world" (it happened more regularly than you'd think). There was no exploding today, despite a large German lunch, and we reminisced about all the babysitting we used to do for his kids, who are now old themselves, making me feel even older.

I reflected on how babysitting has been a feature of my life as we went on to see Claire and JJ (and their parents, who still haven't paid me). Europe has been quite unsnowy this year, and the mountains around The USA's Most Picturesque Army Base™ were bare, apart from one run where they'd managed to rake a few inches together. My ambivalence to the ridiculous sport of "skiing" is known, but even I felt a spike of excitement when IT STARTED TO SNOW that night! And then got worried that it might mess up our trains.

After some light thrift store shopping because Christine knows us well, we hit the slopes for sledging and drinking, before sitting in a hot tub in the Eidelweiss resort on the base, as huge fluffy flakes drifted down around us. Vince is about to get promoted to Colonel, like Kentucky Fried Chicken, and as we can't get to the ceremony in Chicago we took him for a slap-up meal here to celebrate. And what's this? Claire's now old enough to babysit Pete and JJ while we're out!? Payback has begun.

Sadly our European rail riding was coming to an end, and the next day we boarded the Munich-Frankfurt-Brussels express. As I unlocked our apartment, having completed the urban journey home by metro and tram, I thought how amazing it is to basically walk from our door to the centre of major European capitals and then back. The newly-reinstated night trains are the key to that - travel while you sleep! - and we will definitely be doing this again. Only next time, maybe I can convince Claire to come as an au pair...

Once a student, forever a student.

Getting to Garmisch.

Hitting the slopes.

Skiing? Not so much. Watching others ski while I drink? Definitely.

I know the drinking age in Germany is lower, but I don't think so young lady!

JJ taking no prisoners on his way down.

Hannah, keeping up with the kids.

A far more refined experience at Dorfwirt and Friends (delicious!)

A final, wistful look out the window on our way back to Belgium.

Czech your privilege

It was a tale of two cities, both alike in charm, but with significantly diverging price tags.

The first was Prague. This is a proper walking city, all higgledy-piggledy streets hiding medieval towers, dotted with fantastic coffee shops. We did all the famous stuff, like that bridge and the castle, and then just wandered, soaking up the European history. Not much has happened in Britain since 1066 apart from a bit of royal infighting (plus ça change) while here on The Continent it was all going off! Holy Roman Empires rose and fell, dynasties came and went, nationalist movements burned and sputtered out, and it's all written in the streets of cities like this one.

Most importantly from a Davies perspective, everything's so cheap! We were able to afford a room on the "executive floor" of our hotel. Although, now I think about it, nine of the twelve floors were "executive floors", so I may have fallen for some marketing there. But they had a pianist playing in the lobby, which means it was classy, and a free bottle of water in the room. We also enjoyed some excellent cappuccinos in the aforementioned Prague cafes, and Pete's lunch included meat and whipped cream on the same plate. He was happy.

After our last less-than-ideal overnight journey, I admit to some trepidation boarding the train from Prague to Zurich. But, joyously once again, our Euros went a lot further, and we had an ensuite cabin! Granted, the "ensuite" was more of a cupboard, and the sink and the shower were the same thing, but the beds were long enough for me to sleep in a non-foetal position. Luxury!

You know you're in Switzerland when everything starts to run on time, and we actually arrived in Zurich two minutes early! The air was crisp and clear, the skies were blue, and everything was that much more expensive. €100 for some flatbreads for lunch was certainly a culture shock, and we'd got our hotel using Hannah's business travel points because how much for a sofa bed?!

But Zurich was as lovely as Prague, with similar winding, cobbled streets, and the lake making everything airy and open. I considered opening a famous Swiss bank account, but wasn't sure the three francs I had left after lunch would be enough. A far more significant chunk of change was spent by my wife on chocolate. It may be morally wrong buying Swiss chocs when living in Belgium (you can get Toblerone everywhere, after all) but there are some real confiseurs here, including one with a wall of flowing, liquid chocolate! Even pre-Covid I'm not sure I'd have stuck a finger in there for a taste.

One night in Zurich was enough - for my credit card if not my soul - and we were soon back in the station watching the famous clock hands sweep around as we awaited our next train, onward into Germany!

The Charles Bridge, well-known from movies and British stag parties.

Looking back from up the famous gothic tower.

Enlightened.

An astronomical clock. Not as accurate as those Swiss ones.

Horrendous. And delicious.

I decided to show off my music skills at the hotel. The three drunk people lounging in the lobby at 10am were very appreciative.

On board, ensuite. Hmm.

A three-layer Davies sandwich!

Followed by a much tastier breakfast.

Right on time!

Beautiful Zurich (it really is).

And some beautiful coffee here too, from a world champion barista.

The difficult, dangerous task of choosing chocolate.

That's a waterfall of liquid chocolate, just like Willy Wonka!

The good stuff. Better than Belgian? I'll have to eat a lot more to give an educated opinion.

Trans-Europe Express

It's "ski week" break for schools here in Brussels. Now, we Davieses are many things, but we are not skiers (get dragged up a mountain then slide to the bottom? Why not just stay at the bottom and save time?!) We do, however, like to take advantage of a holiday, so decided to do what we never did when we lived in Europe. Namely: see Europe.

The key to this was the newly-inaugurated night train from Brussels to Vienna. Fall asleep in Belgium, wake up in Austria! It's a hotel on wheels! Or a train with beds!! Either way, the romantic notions of an era when travel was that much more refined meant I eagerly booked our "couchette".

Sadly, the beds on a train are a lot harder - and lurch around a lot more - than those in a hotel, with more squealing brakes and horns, and then the lights go on in the middle of the night because you're waiting for the train from Amsterdam to join on at the back. So when we eventually trundled into Vienna, three hours late, I understood why they call it a "night train" and not a "sleeper".

But the ability to walk from your door to another city without touching a car cannot be sniffed at, and the ease with which you can leave your bags at major European train stations and just wander for hours is fantastic. We marveled at Vienna's imperialist architecture, all heavy columns and arches and palaces, as well as snapping pics where they filmed The Third Man, one of my Dad's favourites.

We also enjoyed some fine Austrian coffee. When Vienna beat back a Turkish siege in 1683, they discovered bags of brown powder left behind, and soon the city fell in love with caffeine (which I thoroughly applaud, although the amount of whipped cream floating on some of the concoctions is disturbing).

Our 36 hours in Vienna rushed by, with our extensive meandering exceeding all the goals in Hannah's fitness tracker. It was time to catch a train to Prague, one which thankfully I would not have to pretend to get a night's sleep on.

The height of trans-European locomotive comfort.

Arriving more than a little bleary-eyed.

Straight into Vienna, straight out for schnitzel.

Upper Belvedere Palace. Lower Belvedere Palace is behind me. They like their palaces here.

A place for Pete!

St Stephan's very snazzy church, right in the centre of town.

The Harry Lime doorway!

Why walk around Vienna when you can experience it through the medium of computer games?

The effect of too many computer games.

I prefer a little more coffee in my coffee.

More Third Man, at the famous ferris wheel. 

Relaxing in the Austrian sun.

Are cricket and barbies out too?