On the Road Again ... and Air and Rail
After two and a half years, I finally got to travel overseas again last week. It was the first time travelling in the new reality of the semi-sort of but not really - post(ish) COVID-19 world. It was a part work trip, part “get away and clear your head” type of trip, and it involved two countries, and multiple forms of transport. Hey, if you’re going to do it, do it right.
Our first port of call was Brussels. Flying there on an Aerlingus A320 is generally a short flight, but I had forgotten how much palaver there is getting through airports before and after the actual flight. An hour and a half flight takes about 5 hours from starting point to destination, when you include airport shenanigans and tumultuous taxi trips.
I didn’t really take any photos in Brussels, apart from the obligatory iPhone food photos to make the relatives and friends jealous. Notable dish was an amazing brioche chocolate concoction from Le Pain Quotidian, a must-visit Brussels institution (they used to be in London and Dublin, but they’re now gone, and weren’t anything like the original Brussels outlet. I believe the US destinations are still there though – but again – not as good as the original Belgium stores)
Brussels was actually hot. It was 24 degrees most of the days we were there. It had been 14 on average in Dublin when we left. I spent most of the time reading in the nearby park to where we were staying, taking the occasional excursion to see some of the sights. I was surprised by how many tourists were about. It was like nothing had happened. On the other hand, I made my way down to the Apple Store one day, and I was saddened by how much that area has deteriorated. Lots of nearby shops were closed, and the neighbourhood was grimy and somewhat sketchy, considering its up-market resident stores. I did see a cool thing though on the way – a fleet of electric busses with an elaborate and somewhat innovative charging station.
We then left Brussels for London on the Eurostar. This is certainly less hassle than a flight, although post-brexit there are a few more hoops to jump through. We actually missed our original train because of a taxi faux pax and insane traffic in the city. Luckily, a nice attendant in the Eurostar terminal helped us change our tickets for the next train. We were in business class (long story) so we got to use the Premiere lounge, and it’s very swanky.
The trip itself wasn’t that pleasant. It was the first time I didn’t enjoy the Eurostar, and I love trains. Maybe it was the stress of travelling in crowds of people for the first time, but I was feeling a little motion sick and headachy, which never happens to me on trains, even the high-speed Eurostar. They had the air-conditioning on full blast (I assume for airflow reasons) so I suspect that was part of the problem. It also felt unusually bumpy for the normally fluid Eurostar, so perhaps the trains are starting to show their age, or more likely I am.
When we arrived into London, we quickly made our way from St. Pancras to Kings Cross to the local lines, and some very nice and helpful staff helped us on to the correct train. There it was a 45-minute train ride to our final destination in the beautiful city (town or city?) of Cambridge. And after sorting out a little mix-up with the rooms, we finally collapsed after another long day of travel.
The next few days in Cambridge were lovely. It’s a beautiful city, and thoroughly relaxing. I finally did take my camera out and took some photos around the city. I’ll have another post with the photos from that trip shortly.
Just watching the punters on the river cam can be quite mesmerising. The weather there was beautiful too, and it was a nice time to relax and sort through ideas and thoughts and plans for the rest of the year.
I have been struggling a lot lately with a lack of direction. The psychological trauma of the past two years of uncertainty has affected everyone, myself included. So, it was good to get away. It occurred to me too, that with all the politicisation of the pandemic, and the crazies coming out of the woodwork, many people find it hard to talk about it, especially online.
The fact is, the whole world was turned upside down, and even though many things might look like they’re going back to normal, some things will be forever different. It’s OK to feel lost and directionless at times because the entire world has gone through a collective psychological and physical trauma. Having lost a family member during the pandemic (not of covid) I found it incredibly difficult, and still do, and I can only imagine the effect of millions of others having gone through the same or much worse.
Something else occurred to me when wandering the streets of Cambridge, where there are still buildings dating back to the Middle Ages. The last few years will eventually fade from memory, and the world will move on, but the scars and remnants will probably remain forever. The stately and old streets of Cambridge have witnessed world wars and plagues of the past, and are now filled with tourists remarking at the beautiful buildings, while signs for social distancing slowly fade from the footpaths. Perhaps they will be unearthed by architects of the future and be preserved as a relic of the troubled 2020s.
With those deep thoughts in mind, we spent our last few hours in the amazing Cambridge Botanical Gardens. If you ever visit the city, I thoroughly recommend visiting these gardens. They are a beautiful, peaceful oasis on the edge of the city, and it’s a joy to wander around.
Feeling refreshed, we finally headed back to London by train, and from there by taxi across the city to Paddington station, in order to get one last train to Heathrow. We arrived into the airport excited to go home and eagerly checked the board for our flight information.
CANCELLED
Oh, for fu….
It turns out our flight was cancelled, but after a little haggling with the Aerlingus staff at the check in desk, we were eventually put on a later flight. This itself turned into a calamity, as there was some mixup with the planes and one plane had to be de-boarded, and everyone transferred to a different plane, while our flight was then put on that plane, but the whole process delayed us by another hour. The funniest part was the flight attendant making the announcement about the delay…
“There was an issue with the connections at Heathrow and that spiralled out of control”
Not exactly something you want to hear getting on a flight. It’s up there with “We’re returning to the gate because of a technical issue”—which seems to have happened to the previous plane which had to be de-boarded.
“So we got the plane with the issue? Great”.
Anyway, the flight home from London was super short, and even though it was a plane full of very stressed passengers, it was a nice evening flight. And so, after a drive home from the airport, the week away was over, and it was back to normality. We used to travel quite a bit before the pandemic, and this was our first big trip since. We were pretty nervous before we left, but it was good to rip the band-aid off as it were, and to know that we survived, delays and missed connections aside.
