And there we go!

 

I was ready rather early, which was good, because son2 arrived 15 minutes before the time we agreed.

The result was that I managed to get a train earlier.

In the center of the country it was a mess at the railway station. First I was directed to platform this, then it was said we had to go to platform that. 
Sitting in the train I saw the time moving forward more than the train. Something was wrong. 6 men ran to the first part of the train on the outside. After a short while:
"Sorry, this train is cancelled because of technical issues."
So we had to go to another platform again.

At Rotterdam I left the train on the platform of the Eurostar.
I could check out within a few steps.
In the meantime they had started to scan the tickets.
Just 5 people waiting.

I asked assistance... which was already arranged by my daughter.
Got proper help, and very fast I was sitting in the hallway.
A small child was very curious. She didn't wave back, but came over and over again peeking... So funny!

It was very nice to spend time with the people from assistance. We spoke English and Dutch without realising we were switching to and fro.

At the train I met my travel companion, who helped the assistance. LOL!
Because my back is so bad the first part of the day I was very happy with all the help!

Within a couple of hours we were in St. Pancras.

I like to travel straight to my destination, but I had said something about eating in London. Meaning: wetherspoon at St. Pancras or a grasp Greggs.
Instead of that she wanted to go into town.
After more than an hour walking and pulling the suitcase and medical bag we sat down in a Lebanise small bakery restaurant, where we had walked past before.

I had trouble making a choice, as there was a lot of goat, sheep and olive oil involved. 
A guy eating beside me heard us and apologized for listening in.
He advised eggs and a sausage, which he had. Smelled great.
My companion ordered without the sausage....

Well, it was very nice and as the restaurant was very near my favorite hotel I have a place to eat when I am there alone.

When we finally went to the station again, she wanted to go by bus to Waterloo.
While the drizzle coloured the pavement, she was looking where the bus would stop.
Let's say we finally went with the tube. My turn to tell where to go.

At Waterloo station she insisted the bankcard could be used on the train we needed.
I had heard that was not the case.
To end the discussion I went to assistance: "No, can't be used.
Get a ticket at the machine and come back and I tell you which gate."

I am not good with machines, but went through it and paid 31 pounds!! That was 10 pounds more than last time!!!!!!
My companion was still struggling with the machine. I was amazed. I always consider myself money-machine-stupid...

At last we went back to assistance: "Gate 14. The train will leave soon."

Hmmm...We were in the train in the right direction, but I think we should have had another one, with more stops.
It was a commuter train, and because we arrived rather late all seats were gone.
We had to stand.

It was very hot, so I couldn't cope well.
The train was shaking badly, so my bad foot started to hurt a lot.
I sat down on my suitcase, not bothering if anything would break.
But at a bad switch of rails shook the train so bad I nearly fell. I could hold myself at the door, saving me from crawling to find a way to get up.

Another stretch I stood up... feeling worse and worse, and then suddenly a woman gave me her seat.
I was so very grateful!
She was kind and looked very kind.
If I had a bunch of flowers I would have given it to her.

When we had our last transfer, it was frrom train to bus.
I was not feeling right at all, so decided we would not walk all the way to the other busses, but we would take the one in front of the station.
Our walk in London meant we had lost so much time that daylight was gone, and so where the nice panoramas... 
Well, if there will be a next time....

We arrived in the hotel, and the young man at the desk couldn't find the double use of the room. Well, it had been put in the notes. I didn't know the name of the person who took my call, but it was one of the regular girls.
As he knew me, he was fine with it.
So I got my old room. LOL!
Told my companion to use the other bed and I took "mine".

There was some todo about where to eat.
One of my friends offered to come with his wife, so after this and that and this and that my companion decided to eat at the hotel.
I just took onion rings...

It was so good to see my friends again!!!!!
We had a beer and agreed that we would go the next morning to the museum where he works.

Happy to be there!!!

Just 1 photo from today: here

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About *Syl

Syl: "Life is a chain of challenges. Sometimes the largest challenges are we ourselves. Facing life, facing others and facing yourself requires either a worryless attitude or plain courage. Most of the time it is dealing with judgement. Maybe life is about getting rid of it."