So, when I went to secure our seats on the Eurostar high-speed rail to Bruges, I was very politely informed that there weren’t any seats available. Not at 9am; not at noon; and not at 3pm. Nor were there any seats on the any of the trains to Paris or Amsterdam. The best she could do was to give us 2 of ONLY 4 remaining seats on tomorrow’s 9am train. So here we are, in London for another day.
In yesterday’s post I mentioned an edible Gold-encrusted sandwich. Here’s what it looks like – tartufi duck – and can be yours for a measly 50 GBP ($57.50 at today’s exchange rate)
Fortunately, we were able to extend our stay at the esteemed Hotel Meridiana for another day – although, the price went up $12 from yesterday’s price “because availability.” Right.
Ok, so we weren’t able to get to Bruges today, but we did kind of a Wheel-of-fortune spin on the train schedule board and decided to take the next leaving train, which was headed to York. We had no idea what we’d find, but oh what a gem! It is as the guidebook says, “a charming medievel, walled city with lots of Gothic architecture,” and I might add – so much charm. Narrow streets, mostly with cobblestones and lots of artisan foods, drinks and of course, chocolate. Yes, of course we sampled some.
Speaking of trains, I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am we bought Eurail Global passes! We can jump on or off any train in the UK or in Europe, including the famous Eurostar which passes under the English Channel – and which we’re taking to Brussells in the morning. We’ve already in 5 days used fares equal to about 1/3 of what we paid for the passes! Here’s a smattering of photos covering what we saw today:
On to Bruges via Brussels and “The Chunnel” tomorrow.