I decided on Thursday thatI needed to leave this country; needed a brief reprieve from the sheer tedium that is life in the United Kingdom.
So I booked a ticket for a Brussels bound Eurostar train which left on Friday evening, reasoning that the Belgian capital would be a base from where I would go forth and explore. However, exploration to me, in most cases, comprises sitting in the first place I happen upon that sells alcohol and passing out. Perhaps this excursion would be different... we shall see.
I left work early and boarded a train from East Croydon station to St Pancras International
The imposing structure of St Pancras - ideal surroundings for the consumption of alcoholic beverages
Yes, a San Miguel should do it; make that two please, bar person.
Check in. This felt very much like being at an airport. Yet I was able to walk in a straight line and see properly. This was strange.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the seating arrangement in the Eurostar - cramped, noisy, no whoopsie with a trolley trundling up and down the aisle with a fine selection of Euro-fare and premium Belgian lager...
...so naturally I relocated to the buffet car for the duration and in turn achieved quite an alarming level of intoxication. This Leffe packs quite a punch. Especially of you drink eight of them.
Just two hours after leaving London the train arrived in Brussels Midi. By this time I'd developed something of a stagger; but this was an extremely pleasant place to go for a good, wholesome stagger. This was sophisticated staggering...