Trains, planes and automobiles

We've been involved in a festival of (mainly public) transport today. Car from our friends' place to the S Bahn Station. S Bahn to the Hamburger Hauptbahnhof. ICE from Hamburg to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (on time today, unlike Saturday afternoon when it was reportedly delayed by actions being taken by protesters against the annual movement of nuclear waste in Germany), Airport Express (not very express, in fact) from the magnificent Hauptbahnhof (you can see the Reichstag dome in the distance) to Schoenefeld airport, Easyjet to Glasgow, and then car back from Glasgow, narrowly missing being inconvenienced by a major fire in Glasgow captured by another blipper.

We had a wonderful couple of days in Hamburg with friends, including an amazing performance of Salome at the Hamburg Staatsoper yesterday evening, followed by a wander around the Christmas markets, and these days built nicely upon an interesting couple of days at an academic event in Berlin. But it's always good to be home. And it was even better that all the connections were on time, and the weather did not affect us. This is certainly a change from this time last year.