That’s what it’s like going across Europe by coach.

We have arrived safely here in Brandys (for short). We were warmly welcomed by David who has kindly allowed us to stay in his little apartment whilst he is away. We are very tired indeed after our long bus ride (21 hours from London to Prague). We had a meal in a little restaurant, did some shopping, and then came home to have showers and get ready for bed. David had made us a cake and we had some with yogurt when we got back home.

I’m too tired to write much in my blog tonight. We found it very interesting to travel here by coach. David will catch up with us tomorrow for coffee and to introduce us to the car we will have whilst we stay here.

The photo was taken in the town square here at Brandys.

This is Stephen’s email to his family:

Hello everyone
We have survived the 22 hour bus trip. It wasn’t too bad, helped by the bus not being crowded and Susan and I each had our own double seat. Travelling through the tunnel was very interesting, the bus is inside a railway carriage. I was able to get out and walk around. Then driving through Belgium and Germany in the middle of the night was a bit dream-like. We had to change buses at 4:30 am in Frankfurt. The first bus waited until the second appeared, although we did our waiting on the pavement. We had three very short breaks of 15 mins, apart from the 35 mins in the tunnel, so the on-board toilet is essential. Also bring your own food.
Now we are in our apartment in a town 35 mins out of Prague, and it is 5 degrees and cold, with some specks of rain. The apartment, although small, is comfortable and WARM! We were spoilt in London. Now we have to cope with not knowing the language, no BBC TV.
Lesley, George and Hana will be arriving on Thursday morning, 17 December as previously advised. The plane lands at 7:45 am I believe.There should be two sets of keys in the house, one on the kitchen bench, one on the writing table near the front door. We should be able to give them these two sets. The keys to the car are in the top draw of that desk, could you get these out as well? One set has a remote. I think they only need one car key, unless they ask for a second. There is another remote in the car in the central compartment between the driver and front passenger.
If you are feeling energetic there could be some palm branches needing binning, but maybe Gary kept on top of them. Also George may enjoy doing some cleaning up, at least he mentioned that last time, as he doesn’t have a garden.
With three opera houses in Prague I should be happy. Also we may visit Berlin and Kraków.
Love
Stephen and Susan