From Amsterdam To Hamburg The Hard Way
You might think that Amsterdam, which is a city of nearly two-and-a-half million people would have a good rail connection to the North German cities of Bremen and Hamburg, which have population of two-and-a-half and five million people, respectively.
But you would be wrong!
- Amsterdam to Bremen is 354 km. and takes 3 hr. 26 min to drive, but the train takes 4 hr. 16 mins with a change at Osnabruck.
- Amsterdam to Hamburg is 464 km. and takes 4 hr. 35 min to drive, but the train takes 5 hr. 14 mins with a change at Osnabruck.
The train to Osnabruck is the same for both destinations and runs every two hours.
I arrived in Amsterdam at 12:32 and the next train left at 13:00, which I didn’t try to catch as I had to queue up for a ticket
So I caught the 15:00, as I had planned, which should get me into Hamburg at 20:14, hopefully in time for supper.
I would need the supper, when I arrived, as I could find nothing gluten-free worth eating in Amsterdam Centraal station. But I did have some EatNakd bars.
The train to Osnabruck, wasn’t one of Germany’s finest and the only customer service was the checking of tickets. I didn’t check, but I got the impression, that the onboard restaurant car had gone AWOL.
There wouldn’t have been anything I could eat, if there had been a restaurant car anyway!
Incidentally, I don’t travel First Class in Germany anymore, as all you get is a better seat, with not even any free coffee.
And you have to pay about five euros for a seat reservation!
The train to Osnabruck wasn’t the fastest either, doing about 80 mph most of the way, which compares badly to the 100 mph typically attained by trains on secondary main lines in the UK like London to Norwich.
There was also an Engine Change At Bad Bentheim.
I’ve had serious delay in Osnabruck before, as I wrote in From Hamburg To Osnabruck By Train.
For a time it looked like it would be episode two, but the Hamburg train only turned up about ten minutes late.
By running at 125 mph part of the way to Hamburg, the train had picked up a few minutes.
So I had a lovely supper as a reward.
Conclusion
I’ve had worse train journeys. But not many!
At 105.61 euros it wasn’t cheap either!
A Delicious Meal For A Coeliac In A Fast-Food Restaurant
When I was diagnosed as a coeliactwenty years ago, fast-food restaurants were all gluten-full and alcohol, especially beer that I prefer was absent.
But look at these pictures of my lunch.
I ate in Leon in Leadenhall Market.
Gluten-free food has certainly changed for the better.
A Fast Food Restaurant With Gluten-Free Beer In An Iconic Location
Leadenhall Market is one of the City of London’s iconic locations.
Leon have an outlet and I was surprised to find that it sells Estrella Damm Daura, a very reasonable Spanish gluten-free beer.
I’ll experiment one day, to see how a beer goes with Lean’s excellent gluten-free chicken nuggets.
The restoration of the market was done in 1990 by students, as I posted in No Budget; Employ Students.
I actually walked through at eleven o’clock on a Sunday morning, and it was good to see the City more open at that time.
In a couple of years, the City will become one of the must-see places to go in London and the best time will be the weekend.
Should We Exempt Low Alcohol Beer And Wine From The Age Regulations
I drink Marks & Spencer ).5% Southwold Pale Ale for four main reasons.
- It is low alcohol and doesn’t interact with the Warfarin, that I am prescribed to control the INR of my blood, so I don’t have another stroke.
- Because it is made with less barley, it appears to be gluten-free to my body.
- It also has the proper taste of real beer.
- It is brewed by Adnams in Suffolk and I started drinking their beers at fourteen under supervision of my father, whilst we played snooker in Felixstowe Conservative Club.
As my GP says, at 0.25 alcohol units a 500 ml bottle, you’d have difficult drinking enough to affect your health.
There is one annoying thing about it and that is buying it.
This morning, I bought three bottles in the M & S store at the Angel, where my family has been shopping since before the First World War.
As I usually do, I used one of the automatic tills and had to wait for a minute or so, whilst the assistant verified that I was over eighteen.
The store was busy and she was helping someone with another till.
I wonder what would happen at the checkouts, if there was no age check on low alcohol beer and wine.
- It would obviously speed up the tills with some customers.
- But would it have the affect of brewers and winemakers, making more quality low alcohol products?
- And would these be purchased by those who knew they should cut their alcohol intake?
It’s probably one of those ideas, that would go down well in London boroughs like Barnet, Islington and Richmond, but how would it go down in places where alcohol was a necessary way of life for many?
How too, would such a drink fit with those of a Muslim faith?
Taste Of Nature Bars
Finding gluten-free snacks was difficult in Switzerland, but I did find these.
I bought this pair at Geneva Airport on the way home.
They were very similar to some Eat Natural bars.
I usually take about two UK bars for each day of travel.
In Piz Gloria; The Rotating Restaurant On Top Of The Schilthorn
I took these pictures in Piz Gloria, which is the restaurant on top of the Schilthorn.
Note.
- During my meal, the restaurant did a complete rotation.
- The food was typically Swiss; reasonable but pricey.
- It was certainly better than any other rotating restaurant I’d eaten in.
- The three prominent peaks grouped together are the Eiger, Mönch and the Jungfrau.
- All the Swiss, were saying that the weather was exceptional.
I think the Swiss couple sitting opposite me, might have been celebrating a birthday or anniversary and they seemed to enjoy the experience.
What Are These Guys Watching?
This group of mainly men, reminded me of the scenes you get in pubs with football on the big screen or in betting shops.
But it was in the Leon in Moorgate.
The wait for my gluten-free chicken nuggets was worth it!
Freedoming – Bebo Cafe In Hertford
I had gone to Hertford East station to take a few photographs of the West Anglia Main Line on the way and check a few things.
Finding myself in a town, I only knew vaguely, I walked towards the centre and found the Bebo Cafe.
It describes itself as a Gourmet Cafe and Coffee … on its incomplete web site.
I think it fills that bill.
Especially, as the very nice sandwich I had, was made on gluten-free bread.
I shall return!
Dalston Goes French
I know that De Beauvoir Town, where I live, is next to Dalston’s Kingsland Road, which is the local High Street, but surely for the local Marks and Spencer to sell sandwiches labelled in French is going a bit far.
What would the Rees-Moggies say of this?
Why Don’t Cafes Provide More Charging USB Points?
Surely, if someone had a flat phone, thry’d stay longer?
I would design a system, so that each USB port could provide so many milli-amps. I’d then adjust the limit, to get the most profit!
The Anonymous Widower 