June 30
It seemed that continental Europe didn’t want me to leave! Firstly a small panic when I waited for my train at Berlin Hauptbhanhof only to be told just before departure that the train was leaving from another platform entirely, thankfully the crowd suddenly moving as a giveaway, and I knew enough German to make out from the announcement on the tannoy where the train was actually leaving from. The train was held up so we could board and we left seven minutes late, but we made that up by the time we got to Hannover, and the connection at Cologne on to Brussels went without a hitch. But it was at Brussels Midi where things really started going belly-up. Firstly there was the queue for the Eurostar to London that didn’t seem to want to move. Then we were informed that the train was delayed by 38 minutes, I never did ascertain why but it seemed like something to do with the holding the train up due to the staff struggling with the volume of people trying to get past the security checks due to a mix of a new layer of Brexit-related bureaucracy and Covid-related staff shortages (which was to cause misery to thousands of holidaymakers that year trying to catch flights). My heart sank when the departure board stated that it would be leaving just under two hours behind schedule. I was meant to be staying at a friend’s place in Upminster, just outside London before going on a weekend trip with some old friends the following day. I desperately checked for the time of the last Tube, which was still doable if there was no further delay – nonetheless I would only be able to fully relax once I was actually on the train and it was on the move. It was with great relief that we finally left Brussels one hour and forty six minutes after scheduled departure, good enough to make it to London with an hour to spare, and I finally disembarked the Tube at Upminster station at 1:30am. This was to conclude this part of this saga, and I would pick up where I left off two and a half weeks later.
Tintin mural at Brussels-Midi, where I had a unexpected and
rather unwanted extended stay.
A panorama of Lulworth Cove, Dorset.
Sunset over Chesil Beach.
July 18
As seemed to be the par with my recent luck, the UK got hit by the “doomsday heatwave” when I was due to start the second part of my odyssey to MetalDays in Slovenia, with temperatures in excess of 40°C being recorded in the country for the first time ever, and the government was advising people to keep indoors and travel only if necessary – trains were being cancelled far and wide due to the heat causing buckling of the tracks. Fortunately I was on a budget and got the coach down to London, not helped by my prebooked taxi being 20 minutes late meaning I arrived at the departure time with 15 minutes to spare – a bit close for comfort although the coach itself was delayed somewhat. It was with some relief that the air conditioning was working properly and I arrived in London in a reasonable time, and the hostel at the very least had a fan running, meaning I got a reasonable sleep before getting ready for the morning Eurostar to Paris (thankfully largely unaffected by the heat).
Yours truly on the Flixbus, just relieved that the Armageddon heatwave hasn’t
prevented him from being able to get down to London for the morning Eurostar.