London to Cologne

Well we left London this morning on the Eurostar to Brussels with a connection to Cologne. We had a great trip on the Eurostar but when we got to Brussels Midi we were told our ICE train would now be leaving from Brussels Nord. Midi is the central station and Nord is like Redfern. This was due to the schedule being out of whack due to the snow in Germany. At least that is what we were told.

With our transit now being at Brussels Nord, I went looking for food to find most of the station shops shut down on a Sunday so we ate at an over priced take away shop and then went up to the platform. Clearly this station was in need of an upgrade. It looked like something out of East Germany in the 60’s. I have included a photo.

Our first class compartment on the ICE was great and we really enjoyed the passing scenery. The last hour showed a dusting of snow all over the paddocks beside the train with some snow on the

train platforms. Philipp had already sent us a picture of his backyard covered in snow this morning but it had already melted by the time we got there.

Philipp met us on the platform and we headed to the car. From there we went to a Christmas market in a small village. Had gluehwein and currywurst for dinner and soaked up the amazing atmosphere. The lights were beautiful but it was so great to loo k at the stalls without a crowd. I bought a beautiful pair of gloves that are sooo warm.

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow.Read more