To infinity and beyond.........
Well
managed the metro, no crowd to see me off, that was the queue for the
taxi rank, and the smokers from the amusement arcade, about as far
removed from Phileas Fogg and the Reform Club as kippers are from
caviar, but that’s North Shields, my home town.
Travelling
quite light with, my camera bag, a backpack and Tiny Clanger who is being sponsored for Comic Relief
I left North Shields at 10am,and be on my over-night sleeper train to Warsaw by 22.30
First of
many cups of coffee on the way to London, wondering how many to
Vladivostok - doesn't bear thinking about if it all tastes like British
Rail.
I’ve
only purchased my tickets as far as Brussels, and my Vilnius to St
Petersburg ticket, the rest will be bought as and when, as it's cheaper
to buy at the station unlike our glorious country and needless to say
there is a much simpler format for tickets. To say nothing of the fact
that snow does not bring the rail network to stand still. The
Tran-Siberian leg of the journey can be done independently, and the many
charter companies running organised tours may well offer luxury, and
optional extras, but they certainly know what to charge for it. I was
quoted in excess of £2000 for the Moscow to Vladivostok leg of the
journey, which included five nights in hotels at various stops. Lena and
I worked out that we could actually do it for around 35% of that cost,
by doing it independently, staying well clear of 4* hotels and taking
full advantage of the discounts offered on Russian trains during the
winter. I’ve rented apartments in St Petersburg and Moscow
(laterooms.com, I never use any other website), Lena is handing the
accommodation once out of Moscow and has told me she has a surprise or
two in store, and if possible I should bring some typically British
goodies to offer to our hosts – hence my journey taking a brief stop at
M&S - shortbread, marmalade, mustard, Stilton, etc etc.
 | |
| Betjeman at St Pancras |
Eurostar
with a glass of champagne, so bourgeois, it will probably be Yak milk by
the end of the journey, which will no doubt still be an improvement on
East Coast Coffee.
I had 2
hours in Brussels, just long enough to stretch my legs, practice my
French, buy some chocolate for my friends, and find the Belgian Comics
museum. Alas the latter was closed, so no meeting with Tin Tin and snowy
for Tiny.
The high
speed Inter-City Express to Cologne, wow what a sexy train for all you
anoraks out there, very comfortable and very quick. I was kind of dozing
off nicely until a French speaking couple decided to have full-blown
domestic three rows away from me. They were on the wrong train and
Madame was berating Monsieur with some serious insults. The best part
was when she finally calmed down and stopped shouting, he suggested that
a weekend in Cologne could be more fun than Paris – she went ballistic.
It was far more entertaining than an in-flight movie.
I arrived
at Cologne at 20:16, only one minute late. I had another couple of hours
to fill before my overnight sleeper to Warsaw, which I filled with a
visit to the cathedral. It’s a gothic style building that would dwarf
Durham cathedral. The building was started in 1240, and with various
interruptions, was not completed until 1880. It’s been designated a
Unesco World Heritage site and described as "exceptional work of human
creative genius", which I wouldn’t argue with as it definitely has the
‘X’ factor. The Cathedral contains the ‘Shrine of the Magi’, which is a
large gold sarcophagus that reputedly hold the remains and clothing of
the 3 wise men and is the largest reliquary in the western world. Quite
stunning, even to a heathen non-believer like me.
Just
waiting for my overnight train to Warsaw now and looking forward to
some sleep, so I hope that there’s nobody on the wrong train this time.
Apologies for not posting earlier - technical problems. Shall bring things up to date this evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment