Today was
our last day in the Netherlands. Mike had kindly said he would take us
into Brussels to the station as we had never been there before other than being
driven through it in Graeme’s case.
We got up
early, loaded the car and we were on our way. En route to Brussels Mike
had a couple of surprises up his sleeve. The first was a short
visit to Leuven which is about 16 miles from Brussels. Leuven has suffered so much war damage in the
past and particularly in both World Wars, but the restoration is such that you
wouldn’t know that.
What a
little gem it is with its beautiful buildings, a stream and squares. We
had a wander through the town. There must have been a big party in the
town on Saturday night as the street cleaners were busy tidying the place up
and there was evidence of street parties and live music.
We then
moved on to our second surprise. We never imagined that there would
be an opportunity to see the celebrated Atomium, but Mike took us there.
We felt that photographs of the Atomium did not do it justice, in fact, Graeme
didn’t believe it was the same structure that he had seen when he was
young.
The drive
into Brussels wasn’t easy but Mike managed to get us into an underground car
park right below the Grand Place. We were able to have a wander around
the Grand Place and a walk down to the notable Mannekin Pis which was just off
the Square.
By now, we
were getting a little anxious about getting to the station for the Eurostar to London,
so we curtailed our time in Brussels and set off. Again, the roads were
tricky – very narrow and twisty but we got there safely and said our goodbyes
to Mike and Marion.
Signs to
the Eurostar were virtually non-existent but we eventually found where we were
meant to be. We were delighted to be told that we could get the earlier
train which was a huge relief as our original scheduling didn’t give us a lot
of time to get from St. Pancras International to King’s Cross to catch the
train to Retford. Using the earlier Eurostar train gave us plenty of time
at King’s Cross so we remained well on track to be picked up by Sarah and
James.
Unfortunately,
we were badly delayed at our first stop - Stevenage - as the Transport Police
had to be summoned to deal with some anti-social behaviour which delayed us by
35 minutes. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that LNER
would refund half of our fare as compensation for the delay.
It was
great to get to Retford and to see Sarah and James who then took us to Water
Meadows for a very welcome tea.
Electric fiaker
Eurostar speed record is 334.7km/hr (208 mph). The standard speed along most of the route is 296 km/hr (184 mph)
The roof of the Channel Tunnel is roughly 100m (328 feet) below sea level. The average depth of the English Channel is 63 metres (207 feet) meaning that the roof is on average 37 metres (121 feet) below the sea bed
Train's speed in the Tunnel (70 mph)
And here we are at St. Pancras International
Those were the days!
