The last European venture of 2009, was a four day trip to Germany with Mr Chung. Flying Riotscare from Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn (no-where near Frankfurt!!!!)
Visiting Mainz bischofsheim, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Munich. We returned home by train to Koblenz then a 181 to Luxembourg, a bloody 'bog seat' to Brussels, then Eurostar home. Weather wasn't brilliant, but a fantastic four days nonetheless.

A small selection of photo's from a day trip to Munich with messers Chung & Barstow, flying on the EZY3411 08:10 Stansted to Munich service, returning on the 21:35 flight. Weather was cold, with heavy showers, and the odd sunny spell!!, the next trip will definately be a summer one!

The last S.T.A.R.S trip of the year, the 'Benelux Rapide' originally intending to cover the Tilburg works open-day (sadly this was cancelled owing to swine flu!!!!), nevermind, the show must go on as they say. The week-end covered Roosendaal, Dordrecht, Feyenoord depot, Waalhaven yard, Europort, Kijfhoek yard, Tilburg, Antwerp Noord, Schaarbeek & Oostende, another great week-end abroad.

A day trip to Paris with FCC drivers Lawrence Chung & Dave Skelton. Travelling on the 05:25 Eurostar and visiting such place's as Nord, L'est, Lyon, Austerlitz, Montparnasse, Villeneuve saint george and Viroflay rive gauche, returning home on the 21:13 departure from Paris. We had a laugh or two (catching the wrong train TWICE!!), all in all, an excellent day throughout with great company.

Another top class trip with fellow driver Lawrence Chung, and organised by S.T.A.R.S. Travelling Sea France to Calais (with boatage from Moliere & Berloiz), Visiting places such as Schaarbeek, Ronet, Stockem, Luxembourg depot, Bettembourg yard, Kinkempois, Hasselt, Antwerp noord (with a police escort!!!!), Mechelen works and Oostende. The weather was top notch, except for the Sunday morning at Kinkempois!

A family break to Portugal. Unfortunately the hotel was quite a distance to the the nearest railway station at Albuferia! Hence I only managed one day trip to Faro! Nevermind.

A day trip to Bremen & Hamburg-Harburg with Lawrence, Dave and new recruit Ray, making his maiden voyage to Germany. Flying Riotair from Stansted at 06:40 and returning on the 19:35 from Bremen. An excellent day showing Ray the ropes (as it were).

A four day trip to Switzerland with fellow driver Lawrence Chung. Flying Easyjet from Luton to Zurich, and return to Gatwick, stopping at the IBIS at Hardbrucke. We visited places such as Zurich, Basel SBB/Bad, Pratteln, Olten, Erstfeld, Luzern, Bern, Spiez & Interlaken Ost (managing a guided tour around Erstfeld & Luzern). The weather was very unkind to us for three of the four days! Nonetheless, Switzerland is a beautiful, but expensive country!

The annual 'Belgium Rapide' with S.T.A.R.S. Two days of mostly wall to wall sunshine, taking in the delights of Monceau, Schaarbeek, Antwerp noord, and Merelbeke depots, plus various stabling points. A great weekend with fellow drivers Dave Skelton & Lawrence Chung.

An outstanding four day trip to Germany organized by S.T.A.R.S. visiting locations such as Gremberg, Eifeltor, Vorhalle, Dortmund, Oberhausen, Aachen west, and as an added bonus we popped into Montzen yard on our return journey (well its was me 40th!) the only downside to the trip was being stuck in the English channel for nigh on five hours!! British weather, you can't beat it!