Which countries are on your bucket list?

Well Alex, living in Norwich, we have so much on our doorstep in terms of coastal and inland scenery, history, art, culture, and nature in many different forms, that going away is not really necessary. What we lack in brickworks, chemical factories, s**g heaps, motorways and mountains we make up for with some of the most diverse and richest wildlife habitats in Europe. From The Brecks to the Broads, and with the finest climate in the UK, it’s hard to beat. The natives are friendly too. Friends who like to get out a lot and explore the villages say it can take all day just to drive round the coast from sunrise in the east at Gorleston to sunset at Hunstanton in the west and I can believe them – we had a car like that once.

It’s not your browser Sophie. Avatars are misbehaving. They appear when you post a comment and they appear in the Latest Comments list but they have been turned into ghosts when you want to look at a comment.

It seems to me that every time one thing gets fixed something else goes wrong.

I am curious to know why you consider it would be a great experience. Crossing the steppes and the vast expanses of Russia must be almost devoid of any excitement. Various celebrities have done it for TV but I can’t remember any highlights.

If you want a nice train trip, take the Venice-Simplon Orient Express [or first class on the 10:30 from London Liverpool Street comes close – except it misses the stretch through the Dolomites].

I might have misled you, Alex. The 10:30 from Liverpool Street only goes to Norwich and as well as dodging the Dolomites it does not call at Paris, skirt Lake Lucerne, or traverse an alpine pass. But like the Venetian destination, it is only a short walk from the terminus to the waterfront and your boat for the onward journey.

Alex Whittle says Today 15:59

I’ve always wanted to travel on a sleeper train (I’m not a first-class kind of travelling) and I think it would be great to watch the changing scenery.

Couple of points, Alex: as it’s a sleeper train, there’s not a lot of changing scenery to watch. It’s dark outside. Second, the only half-decent sleeper compartments are first class and most of those are pretty dire. Ideally, you need two: one for your and the bedclothes, the other for the suitcases. Thirdly, sleeper trains are slow trains and do a lot of stopping – at stations, so you- always have to keep the blinds down. On the plus side, the rhythm of the train’s movements is extremely relaxing.

We tried what we thought would be a romantic sleeper-train trip a couple of years ago, through Germany and on to Switzerland. The compartments make sardine cans look positively roomy, so best to do it with someone you really like. The ‘shower’ is pitiful and they don’t provide towels or soaps. There is a decent sleeper train that does South Africa, I believe, but having done it in Europe in future we’ll lug the luggage to a hotel.

Must dig out the ‘groan’ smiley…

🤗 🚊 😴 🛌 😱 💥 💫 🤯

I use emojione that was an add-on with Opera internet browser. Some of the newer ones don’t display here properly.

You miss a lot if you sleep while travelling, or going by air. Years ago I drove to a conference in Barcelona instead of flying; 3 days of pleasure there and 3 days back seeing the real country, food and people. Daylight rail travel is interesting, in the UK as well as elsewhere. I’d stick with a proper bed at night.

Do we need emojis? The only place they might be useful is possibly Hansard.

Alex – just guessing, but your bucket moment must be so far off in the distance that all your plans [and the world itself] could change dramatically in the mean time, and emojis could be as obsolete as yo-yo’s, spud guns and scooby-do now are to my generation.

🐦 🐦 🐦 These are blue birds, not sure why Which? makes them red 😲

Indeed; everyone else has gone, AFAICS. This is the first post since we returned from a few days active debauchery and slovenliness and nothing seems to have changed. Except Alex is still in situ – face-wise, at any rate.

If we leave the EU without a deal I think that roaming charges for mobile phones will be the least of our worries. It could be cheaper to use the hotel landline than a mobile phone if a call is absolutely necessary. I cannot remember the last time I had to make a phone call when I was on holiday – it’s become a convenience to make frequent phone calls but hardly essential nine days out of ten. I think the mobile telecom operators will offer something acceptable to avoid losing a lot of traffic. The tourist industries in southern Europe might have something to say about anything that deters the Brits from going abroad.

I’m rather concerned that Europe is reverting to an earlier stage in its development – the latest example of this being the Italy – France row taking place.

The dangerous vote to leave the EU in this country could become the spark that ignites the flames of Europe-wide discontent. Based on previous years it won’t take a lot to fan the flames.