Europe - books, river cruising and flight sims!

Drakecula

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We're off to yet another flight sim event, this time Flight Sim Weekend at Aviodrome Lelystad in the Netherlands. It's on in March, and in true travel fan fashion, I endeavoured to make the most of it and tacked on a few extra adventures. Turns out the London Book Fair was on the week before Flight Sim Weekend, so we're going there and I'll be able to claim my flights and London expenses on my tax return because it's professional development for me. Keen to get a closer look at the book industry and any cool library related services the the Fair.

I am also intrigued by river cruises, as I think they'd be an excellent way to see a country at a chill, slow pace. Alas ocean cruises are not my friend due to seasickness, so I found the shortest river cruise I could find and I guess I'll find out if I'm safe to sail rivers soon enough! And lucky us, I used a code that meant the all inclusive option was cheaper than not, and later we got an upgraded cabin for free! Already I am feeling this will be a highlight of the trip.

Conveniently, there was a sale with Virgin Australia thanks to Qatar Airways flying direct from Canberra again, so took advantage of that and I think in the process we'll be earning up to 150% bonus points. I worked with @Ade and the Ministry of Travel team to book our flights. We're travelling Y because MrD's flights are being reimbursed.

Rough itinerary is:
CBR-(MEL)-DOH-LHR
Train from London to Cologne
A 4 night mini river cruise from Cologne to Cologne - travelling up to a few locations in the Netherlands and Germany
Train from Cologne to Amsterdam
AMS-DOH
A few nights in Doha courtesy of the Qatar stopover program
DOH-(MEL)-CBR

We leave in about six weeks! Still a few last things to book, like our UK ETA, and some activities in Doha (open to suggestions if anyone has any!). It's going to be fun!
 
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