Den Haag to Didcot

Posted on 18th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Appeared to be no luggage racks on the train.

Breda station is poorly signposted plus two platforms are missing. Very confusing for a visitor.

I had a little time to look around Brussels

Cartoons are on some of the house walls.. Rue des Capuchins

More cartoons. Rue Notre Damme de Graces.

View across Brussels from Palais de Justice.

In the cellar of the Judgy Vegan.

Kerfuffle at the border control. I was asked if I have a flick knife. Turns out to be a multi tool in the bag.

Due to congestion at the Eurostar terminal we leave late. Eurostar, you have something to work on. The whole process of passing through border control is hectic and disorganised with lots of pinch points.

It’s turned to dusk as the Eurostar sets off. It’s dark by the time the Eurostar has a pause waiting for permission to enter the channel tunnel.

Then it’s down into the tunnel and onto England.

I unfolded the Brompton to make it easier to move with the luggage. A mistake as it turned out. I was directed to the lift which is tiny and therefore has a long queue of people with large amounts of luggage, push chairs and one bike. I am second to last in the queue. Poor design!

I am the last to leave.

When previously passing through Oxfordshire on the train I had spotted that the train line would be closed between Paddington and Reading due to HS2 workday, but it was possible to get to Reading using the Elizabeth Line. So I cycled to Tottenham Court Road to catch the Elizabeth Line. I discover that the Elizabeth Line in the central area of London is not running. I am directed to take the District Line to Ealing Broadway to catch the Elizabeth Line. It is chaos at the tube station.

The District Line has small, noisy and very warm carriages. It is an old line. The tube train is crowded.

The Elizabeth Line has modern rolling stock. Nice and quiet but nowhere to put rubbish.

Reading- Elizabeth Line train across the platform.

The journey from St Pancras took far longer than normal so by the time I reach the Premier Inn at Didcot the kitchen is closed. So an emergency Macdonald’s it is.

The room has seen better days. One light out and sink plug jammed. Welcome back to the UK.

Tourism

Den Haag

Posted on 17th Nov 202417th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Hotel in a nice location, in a wooded area.

Room is basic with no kettle, rather inconveniently.

The Escher exhibition in a former palace is worth the visit.

One of the moving exhibits.

Having left the exhibition I stumbled on the Sintetkaas parade., which was impressively long. Before the parade children and parents thronged the streets. I grabbed a coffee in Vascobelo – V Den Haag.

Parade

The main attraction

Unfortunately the cycle back in the rain resulted in a soaking.

The people in Den Haag are extremely friendly and international.

Travel

Hamburg to den Haag.

Posted on 16th Nov 202416th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Catching the 1243 train I was due to get in to Den Haag at 1910.

The German Premier Inn breakfast was not as good as the British version. Fuelled up for the journey.

Premier Inn – Alster ( nearish to the Alster).

It’s only a 12 minute cycle to the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof.

Arrived punctually at Osnabrück.

The connecting train to Amsterdam was 27 minutes late.

Passing goods train at Osnabrück provided entertainment.

The train to Amsterdam arrived, off we went, crossing the border onto the Netherlands. The train guard had changed from a German to a Dutch person. The announcements went to three languages.

And then the announcement came on, the train was terminating early at Amersfoort Central, due to an accident on the line between Amersfoort and Amsterdam. We were told to catch a train to Utrecht.

Off we got at Utrecht where I followed the crowd who started running. After resisting the urge to join in, I sprinted on the platform to join a very crowded train.

The Christmas decorations are already up.

The next train to arrive at the platform where I had got off was heading to Den Haag, very conveniently. This was the same train I would have caught from Amsterdam. Which meant I arrived at Den Haag on time.

Environment, Tourism

Hamburg

Posted on 15th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Hamburg combines a massive port, industry with a beautiful city including two large lakes, Binnen Alster and the Außen Alster. Lots of history, lots of culture, lots to see. And the there is the Elbe, used by ships to reach Hamburg, which is inland. The container port is built on the Elbe.

Hamburg has a really good public transport system including the S Bahn.

Hamburg has a number of impressive churches.

View from the St Michaelis , including the Hamburger Dom.

Petrikirche- the oldest site for a church.

Not as old as the churches is the Elbtunnel opened 1911. You can cycle or walk through it, free of charge.

View down the tunnel from the north side.

And then there is the Spiecherstadt. A complex of old warehouses next to canals. Now mainly repurposed.

A view of the warehouses next to a canal.

Some of the bridges have two levels.

Warehouses, picture taken from above the previous picture.

There are other interesting buildings.

Schanzenturm- now a hotel. Formerly the biggest water tower in Europe.

FC St Pauli stadium, Grüner Bunker and Fernsehturm.

The former bunker now has a garden on top.

Every year the Hamburger Dom takes place in Winter. It has its origins in the 11th century.

There is a lot of culture in Hamburg, with the Elbphilharmonie standing out as a landmark, built on top of some warehouses.

Elbphilharmonie partially hidden by the bridge to the Spiecherstadt. St Katharinen Kirche in the background.

The Elbphilharmonie is a good place to view Hamburg and the Hafenstadt.

The Elbharmonie has a long curved escalator.

The port is huge, the third largest in Europe. The Elbe gives an advantage, bringing goods inland reducing costs, but the downside is as the ships are getting bigger they can no longer travel up the river.

Vehicles for moving the containers.

On a bus tour

There is of course the Reeperbahn

The Davidwache-the famous police station.

Just off Davidstraße is Herbertstaße. No men under 18 and no women allowed.

A few more Elbe related pictures.

Near Hammerbrook

Hamburg is a a beautiful city but like many cities it suffers from the dominance of cars. The roads are crowded with cars and the seems to be little observance of the 50km/h speed limit. Unpleasant!

There is good provision for cyclists, but could be better. Occasionally the routes are not clear and there are frequent road works which particularly seem to affect the cycle paths. Touring Hamburg on the bike was fun.

And a tip for rainy days. Buy a HVV day ticket and travel on the U3 , which does a loop, mostly above ground, sometimes elevated.

Travel

Wuppertal to Hamburg

Posted on 13th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Stayed at the Wuppertal Premier which is well situated.

Nice comfortable ICE train. However as the journey progressed it got later and later, eventually arriving 25 minutes late in Hamburg.

The Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is probably the most impressive station encountered on this trip.

Travel

Surrey to Wuppertal

Posted on 11th Nov 202411th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Now the international journey begins using the Interrail ticket.

The Interrail app is confused by the Farnham to Waterloo journey, thinking that I have to change at Woking, which I don’t, so I arrive early.

The cycle route was full of commuting cyclist. Some of which were very fast, some not so, and some who didn’t seem to be quite aware of what was going on.

Nice smooth journey across to Brussels Sud.

But things then start going awry. There is simply not enough time to make it from the Eurostar to the connecting train. A combination of being the wrong end of the train, passengers getting in the way and it being too far. Connection missed! Resulting in a two hour wait. Then the Köln train is shown with no platform and a bit of text suggesting that the train was going from another train. A quick check with the information confirms this and I am told to get on a local connecting train ton Brussels north. Not just a change of platform but a change of station.

Next the Köln train leaves late. So I miss another connection.

A 50min wait in Köln. I finally arrived in Wuppertal four hours later than planned.

Travel

Didcot to Surrey

Posted on 11th Nov 2024 by insightndes

That was an uneventful trip with the trains working well.

Travel

November travels- far north to the south

Posted on 10th Nov 2024 by insightndes

Setting off on the afternoon train with a grey sky.

It was already getting dark. A downside to traveling in November.

This is the standard cabin on the sleeper

The standard cabin has no ensuite, you don’t get breakfast and cannot use the sleeper lounge.

Google maps appeared to put me on the wrong train so I potentially could have ended up in Taunton rather than Didcot. Ticket man pointed out the error and I was able to change at Reading.

Travel