Last weekend I went to London with my father and stepmom, and this time not by plane, but by train. On thursday evening we went from Rotterdam Central station to Brussels, where we stayed for the night. Our hotel was located opposite the train station, in the middle of Brussels South. Because it wasn’t very late when we arrived, we went to a bar. I had difficulties ordering a beer, because the waitress only spoke French (not a single word Dutch or English). I’ve learned French at school years ago, but I’ve even forgot the very basics of the language.

The next day we continued our trip to London by Eurostar, the high speed train connection between Brussels and London St.Pancras station. It took only 2 hours to get there, and it was amazingly comfortable in comparison with the commuter trains I’m used to.

We stayed at the Thistle Bloomsbury hotel, near to Oxford street, with a tube station nearby. The interior of the hotel and our rooms had a very classical look, and the service was good. On my room there was a leaflet about Wireless internet for guests, but I couldn’t pick up the signal. Instead of that, I connected to someone else’s network (probably someone living nearby). The network was secured by WEP-encryption, but after guessing the password (it was 12345678) I was able to check my email.

Because it was my stepmom’s first visit to London, we visited all the tourist highlights like the Big Ben, the London Eye, Abbey Road, Piccadilly Circus, Notting Hill, and so on. We spent most of the evenings with going out for dinner, and going to the pub. Before I knew it, the weekend was over. I’ve been in London several times now, but it will never be boring.