…and she’s off!!

So… it’s finally begun! With just a little trepidation on leaving from St. Pancreas yesterday, I’ve now officially begun my trip and am writing this sitting in a hostel in Berlin. 🙂 EDIT – I’m finishing this from a in Berlin surrounded by street art

Yesterday’s journey consisted of 3 trains which crossed 4 countries (England, France, Belgium & Germany.) It was cool to sit by the window and watch the towns and countryside pass by – certainly much more interesting (and comfortable) than being on a plane. Some notable observations:

• Cycling seems super popular in Belgium (I was cyclist spotting from the train) which is hardly surprising as the countryside looks both beautiful, and not particularly hilly, and have loads of what seem like purpose built cycle tracks.
• Cologne (Koln) railway station is right in the centre of the city and the city itself looks beautiful.
• European trains are amazing – so much leg room, free wifi, electronic screens showing departure times and platforms for onward connections each time the train pulls into a station, and even recycling facilities separated into paper, glass, cans, etc at the end of each carriage!

Another thing on the trains which made me think was updates of the current speed on the electronic speed on the electronic display. Lots of the countryside that we were passing through looked like it would be lovely for cycling adventures, but the train was travelling at around 100kmh! To put this in perspective, for the Tour Aotearoa which i will be doing in NZ, 100km in a day is the minimum average distance per day, and probably what I will be aiming to cover. Basically, you could spend SO long cycle touring in Europe!

Today, I have explored Berlin through two walking tours. The first was a free “intro to Berlin” type tour covering the main tourist sights, and the second was ‘Alternative Berlin’ tour led by the same tour guide. Both were excellent. Afterwards, I went down to the East Side Gallery (art painted onto the remaining Berlin wall) with some people I had met on the tour.

It’s been a very full on day and I now feel pretty tired at the end of it, but I do feel like I am starting to get into the swing of things. Now onwards to the overnight coach (I’m hoping I’m tired enough that I will sleep for a lot of it) and onwards to Warsaw!