Wandering back

No need to get up very early. Breakfast lasts until 10. And Peter is picking us up at 11.

We enter the breakfast room at 8:30. There aren’t many others there.

I give the spread a look over. Surprisingly, there is some warm food. Which is a plus. No bacon. There is scrambled egg. And baked beans. Not bad.

I get some cheese to go with my scrambled egg. Recreating a South American breakfast. I’m so imaginative.

Dolores gets herself a boiled egg and some beans. The egg is rock hard all the way through. And cold. And rather green. She doesn’t eat it. I don’t blame her.

“Are your scrambled eggs warm?” She asks.

“Not really.”

“My beans are cold, too.”

The tea and coffee are warm. Which is something.

We don’t rush. Hanging around until 10, drinking coffee and generally chilling.

Back in our room, we prepare for the train. I create one of my “special” drinks by decanting the remainder of my expensive whisky into a half-emptied cols bottle. 

“That should keep me warm inside.”

“Don’t go crazy, Ronald.”

“When do I ever go crazy?”

“Let’s not have this conversation again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just don’t go crazy with the whisky on the train.”

Peter van der Meer picks us up at 11 on the dot. And is soon setting us down at Essen Hauptbahnhof.

It’s surprisingly busy for a Sunday morning. I notice that the sandwiches are way cheaper than in Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof. I wonder why that is? I suppose they just charge what they can get away with.

I just hang around guarding our luggage and taking in the vibes, while Dolores does some shopping.

The train to Viersen is pretty full. We’re lucky to get seats. Where we’re jammed in with our luggage. This is fun. 

An awful lot of people get off at Viersen with us. That’s not a good sign. As they don’t leave the station. Looks like they’re all headed for Holland, too. Bum.

When the Venlo train pulls in, it looks full. Very full. Triple bum. We have trouble squeezing ourselves in. Looks like we’ll be standing all the way to Venlo. I think that serves a: fuck!

A bloke has his bag on one of the fold-down seats. He takes pity on me and shifts his bag so I can sit down. Brilliant!! I might make it back to Amsterdam alive.

Everyone is bound for Holland. For King’s Day, which is tomorrow. There’s another stampede at Venlo, as everyone rushes to the platform where the Amsterdam train is.

Fortunately, it’s a much larger train than the one from Viersen. We manage to find a coach that’s pretty empty. With no need to use Dolores’s train elbows. Honed on many a Deutsche Reichsbahn journey, when she was a student. 

Now there’s enough space for me to enjoy my “special drink”, which I haven’t touched so far.

“Don’t go crazy with the whisky, Ronald.”

“No need to worry. You know me.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m asking you to not go crazy.”

“You don’t have much faith in me.”

“I’m just realistic.”

“Cynical, more like.”

The train starts to fill up the further we get into Holland. All going to Amsterdam for King’s Day. The centre is going to be packed. As usual. Luckily, I don’t have to go there.

Fortunately, this train isn’t going to Amsterdam Centraal. Just Amsterdam Zuid and Schiphol. Loads of people get off in Utrecht to switch to a train headed for Centraal. Emptying our carriage out nicely.

“Why are you filming fields again?”

“It’s for a video.”

“One of those that forces people to listen to your horrible music?”

“It isn’t horrible music.”

“Then why will no-one listen to it voluntarily?”

Dolores can be very cruel.

The last part of the journey is nice and quiet. Which is how I like my journeys: quiet and uneventful.

We don’t have to wait long for a bus. Soon we’re trundling into our flat. With the children rushing up joyfully to greet us. I wish. Andrew is absorbed by his laptop. And Alexei is upstairs in his room.

“Is the tea ready, Andrew?” I ask.

“Very funny, Dad. Make it yourself if you want some.”

How charming.

“I suppose you don’t want a cup then?”

“I didn’t say that.”

It’s great to be home. 

 

 

A couple of videos about our trip to Essen.