Continental Trains
The train I travelled on between Brussels and The Hague was a fairly new one. There are differences between these trains and what we expect in the UK.
Traditionally, continental trains have always had a few steps up.
Too Many Steps
We do have our bad examples, but usually it’s step-free or just one step from the platform.
It was interesting to compare the trains to the one I took yesterday to go to Leicester.
The East Midlands train had a visual display which told you the next station, whilst the European one had announcements in various languages.
But what annoyed me particularly, was that when I moved around the European train, the doors didn’t open either automatically or by just pressing a button. I bumped into two doors, before I realised you pulled the handle.
There is a lot wrong with our railway system, but in some areas we’re better than Europe.
An Infuriating Website
I’ve just booked a couple of Eurostar tickets.
It is rather an infuriating web site.
1. I have used it many times before and it wouldn’t let me login using my normal profile.
2. I thought I might have got the password wrong, but then it kept asking me to type my e-mail address, despite it being the right one.
3. When I created a new profile, I made the odd mistake and had to type in things again.
4. It also made me type in a city, when all I need is a house number, a road name, London and a post code.
5. Printing out the details was five pages.
European Capitals Alphabetically
I’m just playing for another trip. These are the capitals of the countries either in or contained within the EU
1. Amsterdam – The Netherlands
2. Andorra la Vella – Andorra
3. Athens – Greece
4. Berlin – Germany
5. Bern – Switzerland
6. Bratislava – Slovakia
7. Brussels – Belgium
8. Bucharest – Romania
9. Budapest – Hungary
10. Copenhagen – Denmark
11. Dublin – Ireland
12. Helsinki – Finland
13. Lisbon – Portugal
14. Ljubljana – Slovenia
15. London – UK
16. Luxembourg – Luxembourg
17. Madrid – Spain
18. Monaco – Monaco
19. Nicosia – Cyprus
20. Oslo – Norway
21. Paris – France
22. Prague – Czech Republic
23. Riga – Latvia
24. Rome – Italy
25. San Marino – San Marino
26. Sofia – Bulgaria
27. Stockholm – Sweden
28. Tallinn – Estonia
29. Vaduz – Liechtenstein
30. Valletta – Malta
31. Vatican City – Vatican City
32. Vienna – Austria
33. Vilnius – Lithuania
34. Warsaw – Poland
It doesn’t look like it is a trip that can be done within a month, as few journeys are short.
Questions.
1. Should I go to all the little countries like Andorra?
2. Should Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh be included? If we add Edinburgh do we have to add Barcelona.
3. Should the former Yugoslavian states and Albania be included? I think some are difficult by train.
4. Do I fly?
What Should We Do About The Ludicrous EU Budget?
These are not my words, but those of David Cameron speaking in Dubai, reported here on the BBC.
If you want to see the details of where all the EU’s money goes look at this article.
My conclusions from the graphs there are that too much goes on the Common Agricultural Policy and Administration. It is surely about time that the European Parliament was changed to only meet in Brussels. But that would annoy the French.
European Union Creates An Awful Smell
Apparently, the EU is proposing to ban certain ingredients used in perfumes. It’s all here in the Mail.
If the allergy police were to ban anything, how about stopping gluten in food?
No wonder the EU is so popular with the citizens of Europe.
Newmarket Sausage Gets European Protected Status
This has just been announced and about time too.
I actually prefer the Musks brand as does the Queen. It’s just a pity, I find it difficult to get their gluten-free ones in London. Hopefully, now they’ve got the protected status, we might see some promotion by the better food retailers.
I see on the Musks website, that they are offering a gluten-free hamper.
It’s Not April The First
This story shown here in the Daily Mail first caught my eye in the Sunday Times, so I suspect it’s serious. But it does have the touch of the April Fool about it.
On the other hand, there must be lots of other professions like shop assistants, receptionists or pharmacists, where some women choose to wear high-heels. I’ve also known a few short ladies, who wear heels virtually all the time. I also had a lady dentist who always wore very high heels, but that was only with the old-fashioned dental chairs.
So perhaps the best solution would be to ban women from wearing them except in the comfort of their own home!
Ten EU Nations Vote For Financial Transaction Tax
The FTT is one of those ideas, that might well come into being in the next few years. But if it does come into being it has to be universal with every country charging the tax, otherwise financial transaction will move to the areas of lowest tax.
So the decision of ten EU countries to introduce such a tax is in my view not the best idea. Read about it here on the BBC. I doubt if this proposal will work very well as two of the shrewdest countries using the Euro; Ireland and The Netherlands are not joining. Obviously, we aren’t as why should we disadvantage the City of London with respect to New York, Dubai and Tokyo?
One question that I have about the limited EU proposals is what do you get charged if your bank is head-quartered in a country, that levies an FTT. I don’t bank with a bank that is, but say if I banked with Santander, I’d be moving my account tomorrow.
On a personal note, an FTT on all transactions might possibly harm peer-to-peer lenders like Zopa, so in fact it might be a block to innovative financial developments in countries within the net of the tax.
I give a non-worldwide FTT a couple of years at most, as it will disadvantage companies in countries within the tax.
If the EU wanted to raise more tax, they could clamp down on illegal cash transfers between countries in the Euro. How do these fall within an FTT? Many houses, too in places like France are sold in part by bank transfer and by cash to avoid the capital gains tax.
Carry On Baling Out
It has just been announced that Germany’s top court, has allowed the Euro bail-out to go ahead.
Will this allow the solution to go ahead? Possibly! But what about the Dutch elections?
The Anonymous Widower 