I have to tell you that if you have never heard a Dutch station announcer say the words “Inter City” in English you have missed a minor treat of schoolboy humour. I have been trying to learn a few words of local train lingo for this trip. I’m pretty good in Russian, and even know a few things in Chinese, but so far I have rather neglected my Dutch and German. So I’m pleased to learn that today I’m on a train that’s a “zug”, and I’m sitting in what I think is a “fenster”. Not a nice guitar, but […]
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I set off from Edinburgh late on a bright December morning. With an already low winter sun behind Arthur’s Seat my old school Virgin East Coast train rumbled out of Waverley Station and chugged south towards the English border. Thankfully no visa formalities are yet required. I have fond memories of this journey when I used to be a man in a suit, but invairably my journeys would start at a crazy time in the early morning darkness and often finish late at night. But today the sun streamed through the windows of the coach and I sippled fizzy water whilst […]
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If I’m honest with you I’m not a massive fan of Amsterdam, but I’m sure that you will already have your own view of the city, so I won’t put you off by saying this. It’s been a wet and miserable day and the climate doesn’t do much for those contemplating some sightseeing. That said, I doubt many visitors to Amsterdam see that much daylight anyway. The streets seem busy with damp and bemused tourists, tramps, pimps, brewers, baristas and drug dealers all going purposefully about their business. In passing there is a very high profile campaign at the moment warning visitors about the […]
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So today is the day of days, as I’m finally on the move towards Tokyo. I am doing my best to adjust my mental state to being on the move, living in the moment and trying to stop worrying about things that I simply can’t control. It normally takes me a couple of days to get properly into this state as the problems of everyday home and work life recede in the distance behind me. So by the time I reach Warsaw (later this week) I hope to have my train mojo sorted out. I read a great blog from […]
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ICE 3 – “The Most Civilised Train in Europe”? Image courtesy Wikipedia. Well, its official – the winter timetable is now out and Europe now has even fewer night time express trains. From my point of view the main loss is the brilliant “Jan Kiepura” (EN447) from Amsterdam. It seems that Holland is now literally “A Bridge Too Far” from Germany and Poland – so I will have to get a train to Oberhausen where my Warsaw train now originates from. Why Oberhausen I have no idea – its not even as far away as Cologne… It feels a bit […]
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Well I’m on the move now, but looking forward to getting my first proper rail leg under my belt tonight on the EN447. Leaving home yesterday proved to be a bit more stressful than usual for some reason. I said farewell to the fish, closed the front door behind me and got into travel mode as best as I could. I can’t yet get my mind around the fact that I’m doing another one of these slightly mad trips. I’m feeling a range of emotions ranging from mild excitement through to hopefully unwarranted panic at the moment. On the equipment […]
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This post is another anoraky one, so unless you are visiting Amsterdam and have luggage, I’d move along to another blog entry..! I thought some of you might like to know how the left luggage service works now. Although the station is being redeveloped, there is still a big left luggage area and a security guy on duty at the entrance. There is no traditional service though, you have to use lockers and the automated system. If you read this blog you will know of my luggage issues, so my first mission this morning was working out how to use […]
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Distance covered so far: 494km, GMT +1, Weather: 1C, sunny I visited North Shields yesterday afternoon to board “Princess Seaways”, the daily DFDS ferry to Imjuden. The only attractions in North Shields appear to the visitor to be the ferry port and a Mega Bowl, so don’t ever make a special trip out here! Once aboard (another mammoth workout session with the baggage, this time with extra climbing) I did a deal with the Purser and upgraded to Commodore Class for what seemed like a pretty reasonable E 50. For this I got a cabin 8012 (more like a suite), […]
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