The Anonymous Widower

To The Hague And Back

On Tuesday, I took the Eurostar to see a friend in The Hague. This is a picture of me, eating a gluten-free breakfast in Premium Economy on Eurostar.

Eating A Gluten-Free Breakfast On Eurostar

I know it is only a snack, but it is nice to get something if you’re a coeliac and need gluten-free food.

I had orange juice, yoghurt, as much tea as I wanted, some Dove Farms biscuits, gluten-free bread, butter and a small pot of Tiptree jam.

This leg of the journey cost me £107. That may seem a lot, especially as I could have flown to Brussels on BA for £59, if I’d have booked earlier.  But I would doubt, I’d have got such a nice breakfast and I would then have to get to and from the two airports at Heathrow and Brussels.

I actually booked a few days ago, but Standard Premier, always seems to be the same price of £107.  I could have travelled in Standard for less at less than forty pounds or to any Belgian station for just £44. Standard Premier to any Belgian station is £116. For many travelling to the southern parts of the Netherlands, that will be a good option, as you can go to Antwerp and travel on from there. You’ll also get to see the triple decker station.

If you’re on an evening train, I’ve usually found the dinner and free wine to be excellent.

I had booked a connection in Brussels, that gave me over three hours in the Belgian capital, so I had time to do two things.  One was to take an excursion to get some lunch and the other was to see if I could get a ticket on the InterCity train to The Hague.

I tried the Information, and the guy there said that the train had been discontinued. He did offer me a local train, that went via changes at Antwerp and Rosendaal, but I didn’t want to go on a mystery tour of the Low Countries. There were no machines to try out, so I decided to stop being a nuisance and use my ticket on the Fyra high-speed train to Rotterdam. Incidentally, there does seem to be a few teething problems with the organisation at Brussels, with Eurostar and Thalys up one end of the station and the Fyra at the other. They also changed the platform about fifteen or so minutes before the train departed. The carriage numbers are a bit confusing too, if you’ve been used to the old British Rail system of A-K and First generally towards London. Sometimes, I think the EU should lay down a few standards that would help us all.

Fyra Arrives At Rotterdam

The picture  shows the train after arrival at Rotterdam.

The train is a typical boring train, where in Standard Class, you get comfortable seats with only minimal leg-room. It was no more comfortable than the Mk 3 coach, I ride in to Ipswich. But one thing that was disconcerting was that there were quite a few thumps coming from the suspension.  My neighbour on the train; a Greek physicist, said that that was common. Incidentally, she’d paid the same €22, that I had for my ticket. It was just a sheet of A4 paper. More on this later.

I then took the local train to Den Haag HS station. I stood all the way, as I was talking to a Swiss lady with a Canadian accent, who worked for Rotterdam police.

I actually arrived earlier than I’d expected, as the Den Haag train I got was an earlier connection, so I had a look round the station, as the next day, I would be getting a ticket from there to Schipol for my flight home. I did find an automatic ticket machine, but it only took debit cards and not even cash. I couldn’t find the ticket office either.

Going home, I was dropped at Den Haag Centraal station and the machines were the same; debit card only.  After a twenty minute queue at the ticket office, I eventually used cash to buy a ticket to Schipol to take my flight to the jewel of the Essex coast; Southend. If the Dutch are serious about attracting visitors, they need to look at their ticket machines.

The take-off time was 18:00, but we left early and at 18:05 or sixty-five minutes later because of the time difference, I was on the train towards Liverpool Street.  I was sitting watching the television with a cup of tea soon soon after seven.

That six o’clock easyJet flight is certainly the fastest way to get back from Schipol to East and Central London, if you have no baggage, as they always seem to be early at Southend. It also cost me less than forty pounds for the ticket and I had a nourishing gluten-free tomato soup on the journey.  Not to Eurostar’s standard but who could serve a meal properly in less than forty minutes. I even got an apology from the stewardess about the soup, as she couldn’t give it enough of a stir. But there were other passengers to serve!

January 10, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Food, Transport/Travel | Brussels, Coeliac/Gluten-Free, EasyJet, Essex, Eurostar, Flying, Fyra, The Netherlands, Trains