The dear old Deutsche Bahn does provide for more than its fair share of frustrations, including this morning when the “right” train with the right number arrived on time on the right platform - and then set off in the opposite direction, back to where I had just come from. But, once I got nearer to my destination, I couldn’t help but smile at the relaxed little stations out in the Pfalz - even though I was now late for our off-site meetings.

I finally completed a long-held goal: not a huge one, by any stretch of the imagination, but one that had been on the back of my mind for a while: take the S-Bahn to Neckargemünd and hike through the hills along the Neckar back to Heidelberg. It was lovely, and really did get me as mentally relaxed and “aware” of myself again as I’d hoped. The fact that it was 12.5 km long and included a total of 900 m of climbing (and descent) meant that I really felt the legs again. Mens sana in corpore sano, as they say!

Oh, and I found the OsmAnd mapping app really good - felt good about supporting them with the subscription.

Spent the day in London yesterday, great to see the city again, and to enjoy two famous station landmarks: Platform 9 3/4 in King’s Cross and the Paddington statue on Platform 1. It all quickly became exhausting for our younger daughter. I eventually headed back early with her, and it was great to savour the quiet in contrast to the heaving masses of tourists to which we contributed!

I drove to work at my new job for the first time on Monday and it was indeed around 15 minutes quicker than my usual bike-train-bike commute - but it was miserable. Stop-start, drivers with different priorities and etiquettes, the concentration required, the noise. And then, the classic traffic jam on the way back which negated the time advantage, whilst maintaining all the downsides of the morning’s commute in.

Nope, I genuinely prefer the train, and the little bike sections make all the difference to how I start the working day.