Day 1 – To Berlin

A long days travel today, but we made it and I’m writing this blog entry from the hotel in Berlin. Our day started with a glitch, when Eurostar cancelled our Brussels train and rebooked us On another one that left 40 minutes earlier. I asked Eurostar for the reason behind the cancellation and they blamed the snow that we experienced a week or so ago. Apparently, some of the grit that was used in the area of the high speed rail track was unsuitable, and had shattered the windows of several train carriages which subsequently had to be withdrawn from service.

However the good news was that the John Betjeman Statue was on duty outside the Great Rail Journeys office as usual, and we had a sendoff from the lovely Jazzy who looks after our St Pancras office.

After that it was all pretty straightforward. Eurostar to Brussels, Thalys to Cologne and then the ICE train all the way across Germany to Berlin Hauptbahnhof.

Tomorrow we have a guided tour of Berlin in the morning, and then free time to explore the city at leisure in the afternoon before our group reconvenes for dinner in the hotel. For now, it’s time to hit the sheets. Good night John boy