Day 38 - One day, four countries

Well, we have been here over a month, so time to go visit the relatives. Phil has a cousin in Germany, and as Becca is over for a visit, it seemed like a good time to get the family together. We decided to take the train rather than fly as it would give us a chance to see the countryside. While our selected route did also save us money, it did mean that we would spend about 11 hours in total travelling...but then it was Friday the 13th, so best to keep one's feet as firmly on the ground as possible.

First up was the trip from Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington Station, the terminus for the Great Western Railway (GWR) which is the trainline for the area in which we are living. To me, Paddington Station is what a train station is meant to look like. It has recently undergone a major renovation, but it still retains the beautiful metal arches designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Source: www.networkrail.co.uk

Three days after we arrived, Kate was at Paddington having a
dance with Paddington Bear...just missed her again!
Source: Evening Standard.

Now, the really interesting thing about travelling into Paddington on October 13 is that Paddington Bear arrived at Paddington Station from darkest Peru on 13 October 1958. So, we were celebrating an anniversary of sorts. We are lucky enough to have a signed copy of A Bear Called Paddington which we received on one of our first trips into the station.

For those of you who remember this book with the same fondness I do, there is a lovely new store in the station devoted entirely to all things Paddington Bear. Unfortunately, the author of these wonderful stories, Michael Bond, died this past summer, but there is a nice memorial to him within the shop, very understated in the typical British fashion.

Source: Photo by Darrell Godliman in the Londonist flickr pool.

From Paddington Station it was a short trip on the Underground to St. Pancras Station, the terminus for the Eurostar. It is another beautiful station designed in Victorian Gothic style. With the transfer of Eurostar services from Waterloo station to St. Pancras in 2007, the station was revived with a collection of high-end shops...so you always have something to look at as you wait for your train.

You must clear security and customs (both UK and French, literally one after the other) before boarding the Eurostar. But before we knew it, we were travelling through the British countryside at 300 kph and entering the Chunnel. I just try to ignore the fact that I am in a tunnel for over 50 km, let alone one that is under water longer than any other tunnel in the world. In fact, I fell asleep during this bit.

Our train trip took us up from Calais to Lille, France. As you pass through this area of flat farmland, you can't help but think back to the many WWI battles fought over this same ground. And to the north of Calais, near the border with Belgium is Dunkirk. How many French and British marched across this land in retreat to those beaches?

But today, the sun was shining brilliantly, and the countryside looked beautiful and serene as if nothing untoward had ever happened here.

In Brussels, we made a quick change to a train bound for Achen in Germany. By this point of our travels, it was beginning too dark to make out the countryside. From Achen, we took a commuter train to Dortmund, walked the short distance to our hotel, the Novum Hotel Excelsior, and after munching on the Haribo candies left on our pillows (Welcome to Germany) we were soon fast asleep.