As part of our InterRail pass we can spend ten days in twenty two on the train, we Helen has sorted out our route, and we now know that we will need eleven days so we had to pay for one trip in cash. Hmmmm. A 36 hour train journey from Bulgaria to Turkey comes in at the bargain basement price of just over 18 Euros, so we decided to choose this one. I don't understand how they can afford to run the trains at those prices - perhaps they are subsidised. We took yet another night train from Sofia through to Istanbul. None of your Swiss to-the-minute trains here, we were fully four hours late rolling into Istanbul, but I think it was worth it. What a great place! I know it's a cliche, but it really was east-meets-west, everyone was really friendly, and the food was great. Our favourite restaurant in London was Turkish, and it was great being able to enjoy some of our favourite dishes again. We even remembered the Turkish words for certain things, which helped when we wandered into a very un-touristy lunch place on the second day. The Grand Bazaar was exactly how I expected (although I suppose I expected more locals - it looked about 99% tourists as we sat and sipped our overpriced espressos) and the Spice Market was equally wonderful - we even got talked into buying some Turkish Delight. Now, normally with Turkish Delight I can take it or leave it, but this stuff was FANTASTIC. I think they must put something addictive into it when it is super fresh which evaporates over time. The piccy here is of the Spice Market. The Turkish flags you can see here were on display all over the city - don't know if they are there all the time or if it was celebrating the national holiday which was coming up the next day.

Of course we took a ferry over to the Asian side so we could say that we've made it to Asia overland again :) From here on we are slowly heading home....

In the middle of the night, on the way through in the train from Slovenia to Bulgaria, we pass through Croatia and Serbia. Some debate ensues as to whether we can "count" Croatia or not. We didn't leave the train, we couldn't see much of it as it was pitch black, but on the other hand we got to meet some friendly locals (the border guards at each end) and we got stamps in our passports.... check out the cute train pic you get! Actually I think that the only reason that Helen didn't want to count it was that she's already been... I'm definitely counting Serbia though, we changed trains at Belgrade at 6 in the morning and I spoke to a bona fide local in an attempt to get a coffee! Unfortunately he didn't take Euros....

Countries so far

1. England
2. Scotland
3. France
4. Switzerland
5. Italy
6. Austria
7. Slovenia
8. Croatia ?????
9. Serbia
10. Bulgaria

So we took the train back to Ljubljana and our first night train experience ended up being from Ljubljana to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where we arrived about 9pm. The sleepers are pretty good, we got a room to ourselves with a basin, two reasonably comfy beds and a decent amount of room, even for a tally like me. As you can see here, Helen nabbed the top bunk.

Sofia itself was a nice enough city, you can see the whole place pretty much in a day. It's funny how times have changed, only 30 years ago it was asking to join the USSR and now it's in the EU and we Brits get to come and go as we please. I learnt the Cyrillic alphabet when we went to Russia a few years ago and it came in useful occasionally here, although they use a different version of it to the Russians I think. Most signs and menus are just in Cyrillic, I've got no idea what this one on the right says.... we stayed at a place called Hostel Mostel, bad name, great place! We arrived late at night after the long train journey, hungry, thirsty and probably a little smelly. Within minutes we were sat down with some pasta and a free beer! That's the best way to make a traveller feel at home :)

  Highly pleasant lakeosity experience in Bled, Slovenia... This place is great! We walked into town from the nearest train station (about 5km) and were heading to the hostel to get a room but were intercepted by Andrea, who insisted that we consider staying at her house. It was a good rate, and had three rooms(!) and free wifi, so hostel schmostel! This is us rowing across the lake to the me to the Church on the island there.

I'm sure some people out there think that this travelling lark is just an excuse to wander around, seeing the world making sure not to do too much that could be considered constructive. Well... there is that side of things, it is true. But in addition, there are significant worldly problems to be addressed in the course of our journey. The past couple of days we have been attempting to find the longest German word in the world ever. I am glad to report that I won this little mini-competition with this whopper, with 23 letters

So yesterday we decided to hit the hiking trails again. After getting some local knowledge we found that Rigi mountain was a great place to get out and about. In fact I was especially keen as this mountain looked perfectly climbable. Just because there was a cog railway taking people almost to the top didn't mean we had to take it, did it?? Actually the walk (at least to start with) was very pleasant - we took the ferry across Lake Lucerne to to Visinau, were everyone else who disembarked made speed to the connecting cog railway. Wusses! We headed up the mountain on winding trail designed for walkers and quad bikes, and had pretty much the whole path to ourselves. One thing that is amazing here is just how high up the mountain people live...  even 600, 800m above the lake there are people living just off the path. It must be really hard work in the winter. Everywhere on the mountain there are logs piled high, to be burnt when it gets colder.

Walking here is really easy. There are well maintained paths everywhere, and pretty much every junction has comprehensive signage which tells you how long it should take to walk that section of path. In the end we got to the top (a climb of about 1400m) in around 4 hours, back down in about 2 1/2. Then a well earned shower (a bath or even a jacuzzi would have been better, but we've left the luxury behind us in Montreux) and some dinna.

We lived in Stoke Newington, North London for nearly four years and loved it. I kinda miss it already and we only moved out two weeks ago. Anyway, one of the reasons we liked it so was the array of culinary options on our doorstep. They may not have been Michelin starred restaurants, but it was usually decent food at a great price and that's what we like (especially now we are moving to Scotland!)

So we thought as a fabulous reward to the internet-inhabiting community of Stoke Newington we would give a short review of each and every eatery on Church St, as well as a couple of our favourites on the iced wastes of the High St. Here we go, working from west to east.... (with opinionated interjections from Helen):

The Rose and Crown - Decent food... only eaten there a couple of times I think. nice Sunday Roast. (Great pub quiz! - the Wife)
	Petit Coin - Lovely place for a sit down and a nice cup of tea after jogging round Clissold Park on a weekend. Or something. (I was never that enamoured by this place - looks nice from the outside but average caff on the inside - the Wife)
The Fox Reformed - I didn't go in here for ages after we moved in as it looks far too posh to be serving someone like me. However I relented eventually, went in and got a fantastic glass of wine with some puddin. :) (Justifiably famous for its banoffee pie! - TW)
	The Parlour - Fairly new place looking to do pretty much the same thing as the Blue Legume... good stuff. Nice garden bit at the back . (Lovely looking place but food very ordinary - prob a better bet for a coffee - TW)
Ryan's Bar - this was probably our favourite place on Church St for a long time - huge portions of tasty Thai food served by the lovely lady who was constantly traipsing up and down the stairs. They have a huge beer garden out the back too for those sunny Saturday afternoons. However, they abruptly stopped doing food just a few weeks ago... not heard if something has happened to her or if they have started again
	Haikksun - Every few months I would come home drunk after forgetting to eat before hitting the pub after work, and I would think "Why don't I grab a take away - it can't possibly be as bad as last time" and it always is. If you fancy a Chinese go to the one on the high street instead.
Tea Rooms - newcomer doing pretty much what it says on the tin. (Teas come with full-on paraphernalia - the English version of a tea ceremony!! - TW)
	The Spence Cafe and Bakery - quite possibly the finest bakery in the world. Yes, really.
Pronto Pizza - Everyone loves a bargain. When I first moved to Stokey I thought that their 1/2 price deal (at lunchtimes and after 10pm) was a bargain. It took me quite a few trys to work out that it wasn't. There is much better pizza to be had down the road at El Bacio and Booth's. (Yeucch! The pizza goes through one of those things like the toasters at a hotel, rather then a proper oven. 'Orrible. Don't do it!! - TW)
	Lydia - another newbie to Church street but this one is a definite winner. Great breakfasts, unpretentious food served with a smile for a great price. Thoroughly recommended!
Salt and Pepper - actually I think this is the only restaurant on Church Street that we haven't been into. They obviously took it badly as now they seem to have closed down, but to be fair I don't think I've seen a single person eat in there. The food might have be good but sitting on a corner you need to work on your ambiance as well before people will walk in the door
	The Blue Legume - I used to think this one was a little poncey but I think it was just the Jazz playing in the background the first time we went. :) Great conservatory-type area at the back. (Lovely food! Love their goats cheese salad. Paella bargains on a Monday & Tuesday - TW)

In Montreux, the language possibilities blew my mind slightly - Most people were speaking French, but pretty much everyone was fluent in (at least) English as well. All the hotel notices were written in English and French, and often also Italian and Russian. When out and about, we would hear German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Russian all the time.

We travel maybe 70 miles north-east to the capital of the country, Bern, and it's all about one language - German. We just spent a few hours walking round the sights (what a great place!) and I don't think I saw a single French sign, and certainly nothing in English. Unfortunately my German is even worse than my French, but Helen has been teaching me some stock phrases.

Currently heading further north-east to Lucerne, where we plan to stay tonight.

We've finally left Montreux and are on our way to Bern and then Lucerne. Switzerland is pricey but we're loving it here so want to stay at least another day! It's the first use of our Interrailing passes so Helen has spent hours over the past few days poring over our copy of "European Rail Timetable" which details every train journey you can make across Europe this autumn. We must look like right Trainspotters! We've splashed out on a first class pass as it wasn't that much more and I like my leg room. Ah, the luxury!

Plans after that are still a bit hazy but I'm keen to do the Lötschberg pass, from Switzerland into Italy, which loops round on itself as it goes through the mountains... after that might head eastwards to Croatia and then, eventually, Greece.

Travelling by train in Switzerland is deffo the way to go. The trains are clean, comfortable, reasonably empty and are obsessive in running to the minute. There are special deals on hiring bikes from one station and taking them to another, each station has reasonably priced left luggage, and the timetables and announcements are clear and helpful - once you get the hang of them! The rail operator name is a little bizzare though.... not quite worked out what the SBB CFF FFS TTLA stands for yet!