My usual journeys involve an early start, but not so today. It’s a cold and sunny Sunday in late March, and I’m set to get an afternoon Eurostar from London St Pancras to Brussels, where I’ll change for the onwad connection to Cologne.
But first, getting to London. And on a weekend the UK has a wonderful tradition of carrying our maintenance on the railways. Rarely is a journey as simple as it should be. Instead of getting a direct train from Nottingham, I need to divert via the East Coast mainline. At Nottingham station, NewsMutt has already made a friend. And frankly, it’s terrifying.
This is Miles, the East Midlands Railway mascot (see what they did there?). And while I get the idea of strong visual marketing, I’ve always thought he looks a bit, well, creepy. Then again, it’s no more strange than a bloke travelling around with a stuffed dog in his bag, stopping off for selfies at every opportunity.
To connect with the East Coat line I have to first travel to Grantham. And while I may have a first class Eurail ticket, there’s no such luxury on the aging regional train bound for Norwich. Still, it’s only half an hour.
The two carriage train is pretty busy, with a large group of Chinese people who are also heading to London, and, in my corner of the train a rapper in a wheelchair and his two mates who’re going to a gg in Leeds. Leeds is North of Nottingham, and it seems an odd route to take. It turns out they’re on the wrong train, and grateful for my warning that they’re travelling in completely the wrong direction.
I have a reservation on the 1035 train to London, but Grantham is blessed with a multitude of operators all competing for service on the same line. Hull Trains, Grand Central, LNER and Lumo all call here – but in typical British fashion, you can’t use a reservation on one service for the other. Thankfully the LNER ticket office issues a new reservation for its earlier service for free.
Also free is the food and drink the first class, with efficient staff taking orders for breakfast. A bacon roll does the trick, along with a desssert of shortbread biscuits and a tea. On services later in the day alcohol is also served, though these days you have to pay for it. A few years ago, booze was also complimentary – which used to make for interesting journeys at times…
I’ve arrived early at London Kings Cross, right across the road from St Pancras International. Not so long ago Kings Cross was the poorer cousin of its neighbour, with drab and dated platforms. But around a decade ago it underwent a huge referbishment. Now, both stations compete for the bragging rights in architecture.
It seems worthwhile seeing if I can get on an earlier connection to Brussels – at 1pm instead of 3pm. The man at the Eurostar ticket desk seems extremely helpful and optimistic : “Yes, I think this will be possible,” followed by “That will be 50 Euro”. Given that I’ve only paid 32 Euro for the reservation, that seems a bit steep. And yes, train companies will naturally try to maximise income, but that’s a big price to pay for convenience. I decline the offer and wait.
Having used Eurostar a few times before, I knew that it was better to wait in the main station at St Pancras, because once you check in for the international leg, you’re packed into a fixed waiting area with nowhere to roam. The gates for check in close 30 minutes before departure, and boarding starts 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled leaving time. So there’s plenty of time for NewsMutt to make some more friends.
It’s a Sunday afternoon, so the 1504 service to Brussels is pretty full, though with the near-silence in Standard Premier you wouldn’t know it. The on board staff serve a tasty lunch of chicken roulade and re cabbage (it tastes better than it sounds) and – because I’m worth it – a free beer. Not exactly free, but one advantage of the Eurail pass is that you only pay for the seat reservation – as described above, at 32 Euro – that’s a luxury seat and a two course meal.
Seats in Standard and Business Premier are arranged in a 2/1 formation, so if travelling alone you can pick an individual seat, meaning a relaxing journey with no interruptions. Well, not too many
Brussels Midi, known locally as Bruxelles Zuid is a vast complex of a station. But its platforms are thankfully all (roughly) in the same place. I’ve read that certain connections with incoming Eurostar trains are guaranteed, so if the service is delayed, the connecting train will sometimes be held. But I’m taking no chances. The ICE 19 to Frankfurt is due to leave just twenty minutes after our arrival.
This means a bit of a dash – the exit from the Eurostar train is about halfway down the platform, and a bottleneck of passengers soon builds up. But it’s all done calmly – nobody of pushing to get to the escalator. Having cleared customs checks in London there are no barriers, through a group of security guards stand at the bottom of the stairs looking at the crowds arriving.
The onward train is waiting – in fact, the doors haven’t been opened by the time I arrive on the platform. But it’s good to have made it on time. The ICE services are run by Germany’s Deutsche Bahn, though cross frequently into neighbouring countries. And although my booking ap had warned that this train would be busy, first class is joyfully quiet.
I had originally planned to stay in Brussels for the evening. Having previous encountered in during a freezing winter, with an icy blast that gave me the flu, it would have been nice to sample the nightlife without sixteen layers of clothing. But this trip is on a tight schedule – stopping in the Belgian capital would have meant a train the next day at 0620. By pushing on, I can at least get up at a more reasonable hour.
Arrival in Cologne can only be described as… interesting. I’d diligently gathered up by bags in good time to leave the train, standing by the door watching the darkness go by. The electronic sign clearly said that the exit would be on the left hand side, so that’s where I positioned myself, ready to press the green button to open the door. I did so, thinking that it looked like a big gap between the train step and the platform. I even threw my suitcase down, thinking I couldn’t lift it that far.
At this point a fellow passenger look at me as if I were some kind of insane individual. I’ve somehow managed to open the door on the wrong side of the train and effectively dismebarked on the track. Bearing in mind this is an electric train… I throw my suitcase back on broad, am helped to the correct side by said passenger, and emerge – unscathed but enormously embarrassed.
In the UK, we bemoan construction projects that take longer than expected. Delays of months or sometimes years provoke fierce debate about what’s gone wrong of who’s to blame. In Cologne, they would sniff rudely at south consternation, because Cologne Cathedral too six hundred years to build.
Construction began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560, unfinished. Attempts to complete it began around 1814 but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.
It’s certainly an impressive sight, yet all around it – like so many German cities – is concrete; a result of reconstruction after the Second Wold War. I only have one evening to sample the sights, so it seems apt to do so in a pub like no other.
Papa Joe’s Biersalon is a jazz bar with a difference. Yes, there is live music – and it’s beautifully performed. And yes, there is good beer – the regional Kolsch here is a quaffable light brew, a bit like a pilsner but considered to be an ale because of the way it’s made. And then there are the… curiosities. Instruments that play themselves and life size puppets that bang out a tune of your choice for a Euro.
In this case, Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean, done in an oompah style. Obviously all of this is perfectly normal to the locals, who laugh at the tourists laughing at the silly puppets. A father and son from Liverpool are sitting close by, and we compare notes on the weirdest places to drink in Europe.
With Poland, Lithuania and Estonia all ahead, things can probably only get even weirder.
Getting here
By train : Eurostar services run from London to Brussels several times per day. If you’re using a rail pass you’ll still need to book a compulsory seat reservation. The Eurostar website will guide you to the booking process. You can change at Brussels Midi for onward services to Cologne which run once an hour. Allow enough time to change – the twenty minute connection I had was extremely tight, and involved some brisk walking up and down the stairs.
Tip : It’s worth noting that seats for rail passholders are limited on Eurostar, so if you’re planning a longer trip, consider booking your inward and outward trips from and to the UK up to 90 days in advance; you can always book the rest at a later date, knowing that your key connections are safe.
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