Weekend in Wales

Another country (well kind of), took the train to Cardiff,Wales on Saturday the 20th. Was a 3 hour train ride, nice countryside, arrived around 11am, got a great rate at the Thistle Parc Hotel for the night. Check in and then out to explore the city.
The weather was fab... sunny and warm.. yes warm.. what a surprise. I took the sightseeing bus around the city, got off at Cardiff Bay, did some exploring there, saw the Millennium Centre (which hold events and theatre events), Norwegian Church which was the Norwegian Seaman's church, now an arts centre, the National Assembly of Wales building, and checked the few shops and eating places, while enjoying the bay. Then back on the bus for the rest of the tour, toured Cardiff Castle, which is very impressive and sits right in the middle of town. The tour went along the wall and thru some of the rooms that are/were used. Then walked the grounds and up into the Keep, which you can climb to the top, great view from there. Then wandered into a few of the shops and back to the hotel to enjoy my room for the evening. Sunday again couldn't ask for better weather, did a Centenary Walk which took in tall the major sites of the city, was approx 2 miles round, very nice. Then did some shopping in the many shops thru out the city centre. Then checkout of the hotel and boarded the train back to London around 4pm. The train was very full with people standing for 2 hours from Bath back to London. Great weekend.

Paris

Off to another city, went to Paris for a visit the client there, then stayed on for a long weekend.
We left Wednesday night 3 others from the office and myself. Meet the Eurostar representative at St Pancras Station for a drink at the Champagne Bar - then check in and on to the lounge.
We boarded the train at 7:05p and arrived in Paris at 10:30pm (a hour ahead of London). So a little over 2 hours to Paris via train. We taxied to the hotel and checked in. The Plaza Athenee put us up for the evening - very,very nice hotel. Thursday we visited the client and toured the 3 main hotels used in Paris for the clients. Then the others headed to the station to return to London and I headed to my hotel for the next three nights - not near as nice as the Plaza on my budge. Paris is wonderful city, lots to see and do. Lots of areas to walk thru, with many trees and flowers. I booked a ticket on the Hop on /Hop off Bus, which had 4 routes thru Paris. I think I saw all the major monuments and museums on these routes. Of course I got off and walked some (a lot) too. The Eiffel Tower is amazing and beautiful at night. The Basilique du Sacre-Coeur was stunning - lots of steps as it is a the top of a hill. The interior is beautiful, then climbed 300 stairs into the Dome. What a great view of the city. From there visited the Plaza de Montmartre - which has many painters - painting, a tree lined square with lots of shops and outdoor cafes. The Seine River is great with the many bridges that cross it and lots of boats.
All the sights were great - way to many to go into in a short visit like mine, it would takes days if not weeks to visit the inside of all of the monuments and museums, plus enjoy the many streets full of outdoor cafes and shops. I have added pictures to the slide show - so enjoy.
I headed back on Sunday afternoon - even figured out their metro system and used it get to/from the hotel and back to the Paris Nord station to board the Eurostar train home.

Places in Europe

I have just returned from a great unexpected trip to Munich and Zurich, it was a four day familiarization trip. Wow it was great, all expenses paid, business class flights, 5 star hotels, top restaurants, and a day in the alps at a outdoor adventure park.
It was a group of 10, we left on Thursday morning (28Aug) from Heathrow on Lufthansa, early morning as we had to be there by 6am (ugh). Arrived in Munich with transfer to the hotel, then toured a brewery there Isar Brewery, good beer and food, they brew only beer for their establishment. Then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and hotel tour in old town Munich.
Friday morning went into Munich via public transport (train) to see some of the town. Was a great town with lot of interesting sights in the main area of town. Then back to hotel for transfer to airport for our flight to Zurich. Arrived in Zurich transferred to hotel, wow - it was a boutique hotel, suites for us all, the suite was bigger than my flat here in London. Really nice hotel. We relaxed a little, then off to dinner and hotel tour at the St Goddard hotel. We rode the local tram to dinner, then walked back thru the old town - lots of cobbled streets going all different ways. Sopped off at a local bar for drinks then back to hotel. As Sat morning was a very early morning, we met at the train station for a 7:25am train to Engelberg via Lucerne. What beautiful scenery from the train. It was a double decker we were upstairs so had a great view. In Engelberg we transferred up to an outdoor adventure park, where we all participated in climbing and playing in the trees. We did zip cords, single line wires between trees, basically an course in the trees that we climbed upward with each one and between the trees. What a workout, but what an experience. Was enjoyable. (I should have pictures of this to add by the end of the week) So I can really prove that I did it. We had lunch at a local restaurant in Engelberg, then the train back to Zurich. Out for dinner at another hotel, then we checked out an outdoor festival going on in the old town of Zurich, again cobbled streets, they had lots of food booths and music going on, was very crowded. Sunday morning we took a boat around the lake and enjoyed the scenery and the sun. We had great weather on the entire trip, the sun was out and it was warm. I returned home on Sunday evening after a great trip. Was really glad for the chance to participate in it.