PostBlog: Costs in UK Pounds
Cost of travel
£1653 (tickets etc)
Cost per
km 8.3p/km, or 13.3 p/mile
Cost of
accommodation £2730
Total Cost
(exc meals etc) £4383
Wednesday 7 January 2015
Tuesday 7 October 2014
Brussels to Corfe Mullen (approx 580 km)
Wednesday 1st October
The hot water is working this morning so I can have a hot shower but the lift still isn't so I have to lug my bag down all 93 stairs but going down is definitely easier than coming up. Walk down to the station; it's another beautiful day with a clear blue sky.
Check in at the Eurostar platform and my bags and I go through the usual airline type security; I can see the logic of checking for bombs but can't see that any metallic devices on my person pose any more risk to the Eurostar train than to any other. Leaving Schengen so Belgian and British passport checks. In the departure lounge have a breakfast of Danish pastry and coffee. Just after 1030 the platform is opened and we go up a rather congested travellator to platform 2 where I find my window seat in Coach 5. Imediately behind a man in seat 61, not "the man in seat 61". 1056 and we are on our way.
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| Eurostar Train in Brussels Station |
Slowly out of Brussels but then pick up speed through the flat Belgian farmland. Reach Lille about half hour later where we stop for a few minutes. Then on to Calais Frethun, the tunnel and out on the other side to the rather more interesting English countryside before passing through the outskirts of London and arriving at St Pancras at midday UK time. Exit through a customs inspection area but no one bothering to check anything.
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| Flat Belgian Farmland |
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| Rather Dirty Eurostar at S Pancras |
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| St Pancras |
I have arranged to meet a friend in Blackheath, so get the Northern line to London Bridge and a South East Train to Blackheath where she meets me on the platform. After dropping my bags at her flat nearby, we have an excellent lunch at a brasserie overlooking the heath. After lunch I get a train from Blackheath to Waterloo East, walk over to the main Waterloo station and get the 1535 train to Poole. It's a pleasant two hour journey stopping at many places on the way and passing through the New Forest. Poole is the last station of my trip.
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| The Clock at Waterloo |
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| Last Train, the 1535 to Poole |
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| Last Train, the 1535 to Poole |
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| Hampshire Countryside |
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| Poole Station |
Up to the early 1960's, there was a station at Broadstone, just a mile down the hill from Corfe Mullen, but station and tracks have long since gone, with only a pub name "the Goods Yard" to remind people that where there is now a leisure centre, once there was a station. So at Poole station Chris, a colleague of my sister Mandy Li, meets me and takes me to Corfe Mullen. The final destination of my wonderful 67 day journey. If I have done my sums right the total distance is 19844 km.
Monday 6 October 2014
Brussels.
Brussels.
29th September.
29th September.
Between the station and the Mirabeau hotel is a predominantly Arab quarter of Brussels with lots of Middle Eastern themed cafes, food shops and book shops some of which have Islamic literature next to Tin Tin comic books. Tin Tin is big here! Many buildings around the city have comic book murals painted on them which are fun and liven up otherwise boring walls, shame some of them have been attacked by graffiti "artists".
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| Comic Book Mural: Devil's Barbecue |
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| Comic Book Mural |
The city centre has a much more "lived-in" feel than many of those I have visited in the last few weeks; the pavements are not so new, the buildings weren't renovated last year and in many places the rubbish wasn't collected last night either. From the hotel it is only a short walk in the other direction to the Grand Place which looks just like the pictures except that it has far more tourists. The buildings are fantastic and appear to be freshly gilded.
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| Grand Place |
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| Freshly Gilded |
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| Grand Place by Night |
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| Grand Place by Night |
Wander round the many little streets, go up to the Royal Palace, the area around Central Station and the cathedral. Also find some very impressive arcades, the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, bigger and later version of Burlington Arcade in London. Nearby is a street of restaurants so that I am spoilt for choice for dinner. Eventually settle on Le Marmiton where I have the fixed price menu at €21.95 and a small , 25 cl, carafe of wine for 6.95. Not haute cuisine but excellent, unpretentious meal. Parma ham to start. Beef carbonade with Belgian Fries followed by ice cream.
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| Statue of Godefroid de Bouillon in front of the Royal Palace |
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| Modern Brussels |
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| Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert |
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| So many choices for Dinner |
Later went down to the Grand Place for another carafe of wine at Le Roy d'Espagne, watched and listened to the lights and music in the square.
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| Glass of Wine at the Grand Place |
Finally went back to the hotel and climbed up to my garret!
Tuesday 30 September.
It was a cold start to the day with no hot water in the shower. Went back into the Grand Place to take some photos of it in the sun and then to the Manneken Pis where there was an unveiling ceremony revealing him as a jazz player. A jazz band was in attendance and provided musical entertainment. It seems there are "guardians" of the diminutive statue and he is taken very seriously. There is even a mobile version!
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| Manneken Pis Dressed as Jazz Musician |
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| Manneken Pis Naked |
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| Mobile Manneken Pis |
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| Guardian of the Manneken Pis |
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| The Jazz Band |
Had lunch at a cafe which again was very good. Took a lift to the Palais du Justice which is a massive, forbidding, neoclassical edifice and makes the Lubyanka look cosy! Built on a hill, it dominates the area but there is an excellent view of the city from nearby. Went back down to the Midi area and the station and then to the Grand Place area to buy some chocolates. Then sat down to relax in the Grand Place with a beer.
I'm not into shopping but there is an amazing range of specialist shops in Brussels, selling everything from Harry Potter wands and broomsticks, to 3D printing , quirky furniture, esoteric art books, expensive hand made chocolates and, of course, anything related to Tin Tin.
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| Le Musee Imaginaire et La Rose Identique |
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| Interesting Furniture and Decoration |
In the evening I followed the advice of a Guardian writer and went to the "Taverne Greenwich" a well known, turn of the century bar and restaurant which looks wonderful but the food was disappointing.
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| Taverne Greenwich |
Went back to the Grand Place and had my last beer, a Triple Karmeliet, before heading back to England. Just over two months since leaving Singapore in July, my fascinating journey across Asia and Europe, which exceeded expectations in almost every way, is coming to a close. Tomorrow I will be in England and Corfe Mullen.
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| Triple Karmeliet in the Grand Place |
Sunday 5 October 2014
Cologne to Brussels (approx 213km)
Monday 29th September
At the reception I get the key to the room on the 5th floor but then the man tells me the lift isn't working. The stairs are very narrow and it is no fun at all lugging my bag up to the room which is obviously recently renovated but very basic. Definitely not intended for cat swinging parties.
By the time we have another of Lasmini's delicious and enormous breakfasts of scrambled egg with ham and tomato, sausages, toast, juice, yoghurt and coffee, and I pack all my stuff, it is after 10 when we leave. Drive into Cologne, arriving about 1130 at the station where we have a cup of coffee before Lasmini has to leave since the parking will expire. My Thalys train arrives on Platform 8 but my seat by the window is occupied by a young mother and her toddler. She knows perfectly well she has taken my seat and tells me I can have hers next to the aisle. Since she and her child are comfortably settled, I can't really argue but I am a bit peeved. Train leaves on time at 1244 and very shortly afterwards I am presented with a lunch menu.
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| Thalys Train at Cologne Station |
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| Thalys Train at Cologne Station |
I hadn't realised my 1st class ticket for €49 included lunch and wine. The airline style pre-prepared food was fresh and appetising, although cold, and it came with a small bottle of wine, 187ml, I think. Very impressed. Stop at Aachen, Liege and then Brussels. Once I find my bearings, it is about a 15 minute walk to the Hotel Mirabeau.
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| Bruxelles Midi Station |
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| Bruxelles Midi Station |
Cologne
Saturday 27th September
Sunday 28th September
Lasmini prepares an absolutely fabulous breakfast of scrambled eggs with ham etc etc. She has to leave for work soon since she is a waitress in a cafe in Koln and has to work weekends. Much of the morning was taken up with Christopher's homework which seems hard since he is only 8. Then had a walk round the village they live in . Up until few decades ago it was obviously a farming village and there are still a couple of operating farms. It also has Burg Kendenich, a manor house complete with moat. The manor, or village, were first recorded in 941 AD so the area has a long history . Later we went out to an out-of-town shopping mall where we had Christopher's favourite of Fleischkasebrotchen, a huge slab of meatloaf in a bun. Very tasty, very filling and only €1. From there we headed in the direction of Aachen stopping off at the biggest hole in the ground I have ever seen. It is an open cast coal mine which extends for miles. According to the website, its area is 85 square km and it is 375 m deep! Alex was telling me that it "ate" several villages and the Koln to Aachen autobahn has been re-routed so that it can be extended further. By the time we get to the outskirts of Aachen it's clear we will not have time look around and get back in time for Christopher to see the football highlights. He is a serious Bayern Munchen fan. In the evening go out to a Text Mex restaurant called Taco Loco where Lasmini and I share an excellent Fajita. I broke my usual tradition by having a Mojito. Back at the house we try several of Alex's single malt whiskys including one in a bright turquoise bottle which is 50% alcohol!
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| Alex & Christopher in front of excavator |
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| Big hole in the ground: Open cast mine |
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| Dinner at Taco Loco |
Lasmini cooks an even more fantastic English breakfast which could stand comparison with any 5 * hotel. Alex, Christopher and I later go out to the Hurth Rugby Club to see young Rugby players in some games. Alex is a very keen Rugby enthusiast and is very keen for Christopher to follow suit but Christopher much prefers football. The Rugby matches seem to be very much a family affair with lots of Rugby mums as well as the fathers, and lot of dogs.
Later we drive into Koln and meet Lasmini at the cafe and spend the evening drinking beer and whisky with their neighbours.
Warsaw to Cologne (Approx 1050km)
Friday 26th September
As usual, arrive at the station with loads of time to spare. This is the last of my overnight journeys. Find my berth in a compartment which I am sharing with 4 other guys. None of them are very communicative; I think all are Polish. I am in the top berth this time and so watch out of the windows in the corridor as we leave Warsaw on schedule. But just 5 minutes later we stop at Warsaw Zachodnia station where I think the driver wants to see the sun set over the railway wagons. After about half an hour, when the sun has set, we start moving again. About 7, I head to the restaurant car which is standing room only. Have a beer, in the hope that someone will leave, and eventually manage to squeeze into a place at a table. Find a menu in German which I can understand a bit better than Polish although Mozzarella salad, which I eventually decide on, is fairly understandable in both. The young woman opposite is deep in a book but eventually we get into conversation over a second beer. She works in the financial dept of a fashion company and is going to see her mother who lives near the German border. After we finish our beers, I go back to the compartment and climb into my top berth trying not to wake up the other four. Fall asleep quickly but wake up briefly to see that we are in the cavernous Berlin station.
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| Overnight Train in Warsaw Station |
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| My berth at the top |
Saturday 27th
September
Warsaw
24 September
Feeling lazy tonight so have
dinner in the hotel restaurant where
they are offering potato pancakes with mushroom plus a glass of wine for 29
zloty
25 September
The room at the hotel would have
a great view if it wasn't covered by a giant advertising hoarding for what I
think is a TV series.
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| The window of my room is behind the CZW of CZWARTEK |
Good buffet breakfast in the hotel. First job of the day
is to get my ticket to Cologne .
Walk down to the Central station find the ticket office and it is all very
quick an efficient. Get a small discount because I am over 60.
Next job is to
buy a new phone since my old one is dieing, cannot charge the battery. As in Singapore , most shops are trying to sell a phone
contract but according to Google there
is a Samsung shop in the Arcadia
shopping mall about two stops on the metro from the hotel. Also get list of
phones which will accept standard size SIM card. Get a one day ticket for the
public transport and find the Arcadia
shopping mall with no problem
It is huge. Not so easy to find
the Samsung store but when I do find a phone that is the same size as mine and
, takes a standard SIM card,. it is also the cheapest of those on display. The
very helpful sales guy seems quite shocked that I actually want to buy it. His
colleague sets it up in English for me and Samsung has a happy customer. Have a look round the shopping mall while I
am here. Can match any in Singapore
or anywhere else I can imagine. Not hungry but look at the food court upstairs
where I can even get Pad Thai! Get the
tram back to the hotel and leave new phone to charge. Now all I need is to
learn how to use it!
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| Arcadia Shopping Mall |
Strikes me that many aspects of
life are so simple now provided you have money or the right plastic card, the
right passport and speak English. So simple to book hotels, buy tickets, go to supermarkets,
got to restaurants, et etc.
Use my one day tram ticket to go
to the old city and explore. I think, alone of all the cities destroyed in WW
2, Warsaw
decided to rebuild the old city as it was. In retrospect it was brilliant decision. Looking at it, there is
no way the casual observer would know
that it dated from the 1950's. but it
does make us question what we mean by authentic. One conclusion is that architects up to WW2 were much better
at designing spaces that make people
feel comfortable and happy than those who came later. At strategic places there
are copies of Canallettos showing the space in the 1700's which allow you to
compare it with now. It was a real pleasure to walk around. Get the feeling
that history is still a very hot topic
here. In a courtyard of the palace there was an exhibition celebration get the
partisans who fought against the invades
Nazi in the West and Soviet in the East.
I think in Britain we are always aware of Hitler invading Poland but the Soviet
invasion a few days later is ignored. Many of the partisans, after fighting the
Nazis, and joining forces with the Red Army to "liberate" Poland were then arrested and either deported or
executed by the Soviet occupying forces or the later communist government.
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| Main Square and Royal Palace in Old City of Warsaw |
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| Another Square in Old City of Warsaw |
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| Amber Shop in Old City of Warsaw |
I kept coming across images of battling mermaids in most unusual places. This is the story I found
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| Battling Mermaids, The symbol of Warsaw: Statue in a Square, On Cathedral Door, on Lamp post and on Battery Charging Point |
By late afternoon it was getting chilly and
threatening to rain, so got the tram to the hotel. Left it rather late to go
out for dinner and realised the place I was planning to go was further than I thought and may already
have accepted last orders, so tried another huge shopping mall near the Central
Station but the places there were all closing down for the night. Close to the Central Station the Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw's answer to Moscow's Seven Sisters looms out of the darkness.
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| Palace of Culture and Science, A "gift" from the Soviet Union and originally named after Stalin |
By shear
chance found the nearby Hard Rock Cafe, which, unlike the one in Finland was
still serving food. My burger and Murphy's stout were not exactly what I had
planned but were very welcome!
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| Murphy's in Hard Rock Cafe |
26 September
After breakfast set out to
explore part of the so called "Royal
Route " because it was lined with the palaces
of the aristocrats. It is very pleasant with lots of pavement cafes but not
desperately exciting. See part of the University
of Warsaw and an interesting exhibition in a small park
showing the changes in Warsaw
since 1989 when it was, in the words of the introductory poster, a grey, dismal
city. There are also several reminders of the Warsaw uprising of 1944. Further along the Royal Route is the
President's palace, in front of which is a massive poster celebrating the Solidarity movement which
started the liberalisation of Poland .
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| Pavement Cafes in Nowy Świat |
Continue to walk past the huge National Theatre and on to the monument
commemorating the uprising in the Warsaw
ghetto in 1943. There is a massive and impressive new museum, "History of
Polish Jews" adjacent to it but the main exhibition does not open until
next month.
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| Monument commemorating the uprising in the |
Had a late lunch of baked cod,
potatoes, sauce and sauerkraut and a
beer in a semi self service restaurant, Viking, in the shopping mall next to the station.
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| Zywiec. Easier to point to than to say! |
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