Easter Holidays Part 6: Hamburg to Brussels

Our ICE at Hamburg Hbf

So last night we had a fab night's sleep which meant we were ready for starting our long trip home.  We had showers, packed up and pushed our suitcases down to the bakery at the end of the street for breakfast (Tom: chocolate donut, Matt: cinnamon pastry, me: hard boiled egg on bread) Oh we are going to miss German bakeries, although our waistlines will probably be thankful.  We then got the U3 to the station before the Hamburg Hbf as we had loads of time and Hamburg Hbf is busy and confusing - it is easier to navigate it from outside than inside.

We got ourselves to the food court and bought our lunch and drinks for the journey and then we got our first train, an ICE to Hanover.  We were in a compartment coach again, and shared our compartment with a lovely lady who spoke really good English - think she must have been late 60s, early 70s.  Anyway, she wanted to chat and she was lovely.  We talked about trains, travel, language, family etc - she was heading to Basel to see her son as her grandson was having his first communion on Sunday.  We even talked English health service as she was a doctor and has friends who go to the UK at weekends to work as they are desperate for staff.  She was lovely, a German Hiromi, we were sad to say goodbye and get off in Hanover.

Boys and a train!

In Hanover we got the IC to Cologne.  Not quite as nice as the IC we got to Hamburg - no central table and no friendly travel companions.  Oh well, we ate our lunches (all of us were made up with our choices - cheese and ham roll in cheesy bread for Tom, cheese roll in a pumpkin seed and raisin bread for me and a HUGE salami pizza for Matt), then Matt did some work whilst Tom and I played many many many games of UNO.  The German countryside whizzed past.  We did get away from the flat lands for a while, even saw some nice scenery and Tom managed to spot a hanging monorail - Matt did some research and found it was the oldest one in the world.  The nice scenery gradually left us as industry took over and before we knew it we were back in Cologne.

Porte de Hal

We had a quick stop in Cologne (managed to pick up beer and pretzel to put us on) and then back on an ICE to Brussels.  This train was full.  We were in a compartment coach with business folk, one of whom liked to think he was more important and spoke loudly on the phone, said 'shit' quite a few times very loudly (Tom was sat next to him) and the only time he spoke to us was to correct me when I said that Aachen was very close to the Dutch border - he said no, the Belgium border, so I looked it up on the map and found that it was as close to the Dutch border as the Belgium border and showed Tom in full view of him - funny he didn't say anything after that - humph, I made my point!

We arrived in Brussels on time and headed straight to the hotel (the same one as last time, so we knew exactly where to go).  We checked in, had showers and then decided to try out a restaurant which was nearby and rated number 3 in Brussels on trip advisor.

Le Bistro - superb meal

Wow!  What a find.  It was probably only 10 minutes walk away, located directly opposite a castle which was impressive in itself.  The Bistro was lovely and there was room for us - yahoo!  The building had a lovely atmosphere - olde worlde, staffed by the most attentive staff ever!  We settled in straight away.  Beers were ordered, and then meals: Belgium beef in beer for me, steak kebab for Matt and Lasagna for Tom.  The food was delicious, Tom got served a HUGE hunk of lasagna and dived straight into it.  Now, for the last week or so we have been trying to explain to Tom that if he feels tired / weak / grumpy he is to let us know as he probably needs a snack / drink etc to perk him up.  However, he doesn't and if he goes beyond a point he thinks he isn't hungry or thirsty and just refuses everything and becomes really grumpy (we think this stems from school where they have been doing healthy eating, so he thinks he shouldn't have snacks during the day as they are bad for you - we have been trying to drum into him that as he is skinny he really doesn't need to worry, in fact he needs snacks to keep going as he doesn't have any fat reserves)  We had a blank faced Tom in the restaurant, not that hungry etc.  The lasagna arrived bubbling it was so hot, normally he wouldn't eat something so hot, but once he started he couldn't stop!  He was starving!!!!!!  Arggggghhhhh!  He perked right up and became happy Tom again.

Top notch food and drink

My stew was to die for and Matt was a happy boy with his steak.  We then ordered one chocolate mousse between us, and were very glad as it was very big and very very rich.  It's always nice to end the holiday with the best food.  The service was amazing as well, the waiters (all at least trilingual - ours didn't even have an accent when he spoke in English!) were very attentive and quick to make a joke and make you feel at home.  In short we loved the place.  When we left we all got hand shakes and Tom got a massive hug. Even better, we got chased down the road by the uber-friendly waiter because Tom left his colouring book and felt tips in the restaurant. Probably the best dining experience of the whole trip!

We walked home, popped into the station to get a bed time beer and then went back to the hotel to rest.

A very enjoyable holiday and we have really enjoyed travelling by train.  It might take longer, but you get to see the scenery better, get to meet people who are mostly really lovely.  We are thinking of making this an annual event, and maybe even get a sleeper train somewhere further away next time.   Only wish is that we, well I, have more language ability, I really struggled in Germany, I found it difficult to remember anything: French or Dutch would come out rather than German!

Anyway a good holiday.  Just the small matter of chocolate and beer shopping to do tomorrow before we get the Eurostar and Pendolino home tomorrow...