Well, it's been a while...
Over a week ago, early on a Friday morning, I headed off down to the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone. The first hints of the day's likely progress were the "Delayed" messages on the departure board. It was only ten minutes or so, so I wasn't bothered. The crossing went smoothly enough. To begin with the drive through France and into Belgium went smoothly enough, too. However, I allowed my satnav to direct me on a route via Antwerp, and that was a mistake; it took an hour and a half to cover 15 miles or so of road past Antwerp. I arrived at my destination about an hour and a half later than I'd expected...
On Saturday we visited the Heinz Nixdorf Museum in Paderborn. I found it a well-presented and fascinating place, with lots of little treasures to be found. Its main focus is on computers, and there were all sorts of bits of computing equipment, including quite a few of kinds I've used in the past. There was an Apple I and a number of other more familiar micro-computer machines from the early 80's. It also made an effort to put computers in context, so there were plenty of mechanical calculating machines of various sorts, a fair bit about the development of electronics, including very early valves and transistors, and quite a bit about communication and cryptography. There were various encryption machines, including a few Enigma machines, and a bit about early long-distance communication, including an early Morse telegraphic station. We spent a few hours there, and I could have stayed longer...
On Thursday I took my radio on an outing to Hengeberg to do a SOTA activation. The weather was fine, and the walk was pleasant. The activation was a bit of a struggle, but was successful in the end, though at one point I was wondering whether I'd get the required four contacts. I ended up with twelve after I finally managed to get a spot out. On the walk back, coming up to an old quarry, we saw a rather large bird of prey, but didn't get a good enough look at it to identify it positively.
On Friday we went to the local animal park, where there were bears and wolves and lynxes and a wolverine and plenty more. It was a pleasant stroll in fine weather, and I must return next time I'm in the area.
On Saturday I headed home. I chose a route that went nowhere near Antwerp. It did, however, skirt Köln, and I did wonder, for a short while, whether that was going to cause me as much trouble as Antwerp had on the way out. Thankfully, it didn't. A bit after noon I was in Belgium, and near enough to another SOTA summit to try a quick activation by way of a lunch break. It worked out well, with twenty three contacts in half an hour, and time for a snack. The rest of the journey home went smoothly. I even had time to do a bit of shopping at Cité de Europe before checking in for Eurotunnel, and I ended up on an earlier crossing than the one I'd booked, so I was home earlier than expected.
On Saturday we visited the Heinz Nixdorf Museum in Paderborn. I found it a well-presented and fascinating place, with lots of little treasures to be found. Its main focus is on computers, and there were all sorts of bits of computing equipment, including quite a few of kinds I've used in the past. There was an Apple I and a number of other more familiar micro-computer machines from the early 80's. It also made an effort to put computers in context, so there were plenty of mechanical calculating machines of various sorts, a fair bit about the development of electronics, including very early valves and transistors, and quite a bit about communication and cryptography. There were various encryption machines, including a few Enigma machines, and a bit about early long-distance communication, including an early Morse telegraphic station. We spent a few hours there, and I could have stayed longer...
On Thursday I took my radio on an outing to Hengeberg to do a SOTA activation. The weather was fine, and the walk was pleasant. The activation was a bit of a struggle, but was successful in the end, though at one point I was wondering whether I'd get the required four contacts. I ended up with twelve after I finally managed to get a spot out. On the walk back, coming up to an old quarry, we saw a rather large bird of prey, but didn't get a good enough look at it to identify it positively.
On Friday we went to the local animal park, where there were bears and wolves and lynxes and a wolverine and plenty more. It was a pleasant stroll in fine weather, and I must return next time I'm in the area.
On Saturday I headed home. I chose a route that went nowhere near Antwerp. It did, however, skirt Köln, and I did wonder, for a short while, whether that was going to cause me as much trouble as Antwerp had on the way out. Thankfully, it didn't. A bit after noon I was in Belgium, and near enough to another SOTA summit to try a quick activation by way of a lunch break. It worked out well, with twenty three contacts in half an hour, and time for a snack. The rest of the journey home went smoothly. I even had time to do a bit of shopping at Cité de Europe before checking in for Eurotunnel, and I ended up on an earlier crossing than the one I'd booked, so I was home earlier than expected.