Training it from Bordeaux to Brussels

Our train trip to Brussels departed from Bordeaux St Jean at 12:58 and was scheduled to arrive at 18:43 at Brussels Midi. We met our host Charlotte at the apartment to hand over the keys and provided her with some feedback, all of which was good. It was drizzling a bit, but we decided to walk to the station. As the train trip was about six hours, we thought the walk would do us good. We arrived at the station a little damp and had more than an hour to wait, so found a place to sit and wait for the platform to be announced. We also bought some food for lunch etc and, before too long, everyone was heading to the platform to board. It was all a bit chaotic, but we found our carriage, stored our suitcases and found our seats. As I had booked well in advance, we had seats that faced one another with a table in between and which are more comfortable and roomy.

We departed on time and the journey was pretty uneventful. We had about five stops across France with the last one being in Lille, close to the Belgian border. We arrived in Brussels and, once out of the station, Ian put the Airbnb address into his phone and said it was 2 kms away, so we decided to walk. It wasn’t a good decision, as we didn’t think about the difficulties of dragging suitcases with wheels across the cobblestones that pave most of the footpaths in central Brussels. It was hard, judder-bar, going, made worse by some dickheads standing on the pavements not making any effort to move to let us pass. The closer we got to the city centre and our apartment, the more difficult it became. I nearly lost it at one stage but wasn’t willing to be defeated by bloody cobblestones.

We finally made it, picked up our keys from the Dominican Hotel located close by, and found our apartment. It was a lovely place, a centrally located duplex with a lovely terrace with great views across the old city. Ian suggested we head out to a café-bar around the corner from us which we have been to before. It is quite a Belgian institution and is called “A la Mort Subite”. It was busy and had a nice vibe. Ian ordered a Belgian beer and I had a glass of rosé, and we both had omelettes that definitely hit the spot. We then shared a chocolate mousse before heading back to our apartment to unpack and get a good nights sleep.Read more