Usual military precision!!!
Hopefully all sorted:-
So I’ve bought 6 Chiltern tickets from Brum to Marylebone,
got a decent group discount, works out at £29 each return. I’ll hand out
tickets at Tone’s do.
· Tone, Phil, Chap, you need to catch 9:55 from Moor Street.
·
Me, Ian and Jav will get on at Solihull at 10:04 (This is the fast
train so doesn’t stop at Widney or Dorridge. The next train is a stopper
but it cuts things a bit fine.)
· Arrive at Marylebone 11.34
· Suggest a couple of taxis to St Pancras, I think will be cheaper than buying single tube tickets (£4.80 each!)
· Dave S will meet us at St Pancras (‘The Meeting Place’ statue)
· Need to check in by 12:28 so should be time for a beer.
· Dep St Pancras 12:58 arr Brussels 16:08 and find local train to Antwerp (included in Eurostar price)
· I’ve booked 4 twin rooms with bathrooms at the Hotel Van der Fawlty, breakfast included, about 3min walk from station. Works out at £75.40 each
· Hotel does have Jacuzzis, but as you can see from photos look a bit basic (apparently they’re fed directly from Antwerp docks, but it’s ok as you get your own personal debris net )
· So if those going down on the train could let me have £104.40, Dave S just £75.40.
(Mr Fish - I’ve left things as flexible as I can in case circumstances stage you’ll just have to get a Chiltern ticket to London, as I’ve booked 4 twin rooms in Anters as it was hardly different to 3 twins and a single, so there’s a bed spare)
Sim’s birthday – The Death March tour and the Rise of the Michelin
Men!!
Tone, Chap and Phil got the 9:55
train from Moor St as planned. There was a slight panic with Ian and Javid at
Solihull station as yours truly wrongly thought he had left the return tickets
at home! But the chaps met up and we’re introduced to recruit Javid who I’ve
known twenty years since my Haswell days.
The Chiltern train arrived on
time into Marylebone and the pre-booked taxi arrived only 5mins late, although
they’d not allowed for our luggage so a bit of a squeeze to say the least.
I’d wrongly assumed that by 11:40 the London rush hour would have died down
and this in combination with a taxi driver driving more like Postman Pat than
Lewis Hamilton meant the clock started ticking down to Eurostar check in time.
Decision was made to abandon the cab at Euston and walk swiftly to St Pancras,
resulting in a few red faces and Tone with a bigger sweat on than the Lakes
walk. We met up with Dave as planned and checked in with 5mins to spare.
The Eurostar departed on time,
plenty of room due to the empty seat
for Mr Fish. A kitty was set up and Jav
and Dave despatched to the bar for beers and snacks, Dave duly returned
accompanied by a chicken tikka masala, one of several extra meals he managed to
sneak in over the weekend.
Painless transfer at Brussels
and check in to hotel in Antwerp across the square from station.
A quick shower and out and about
by 17:30. A walk into the old
town and discovery of one of my old haunts the Pelikaan for a couple of
rounds of the local Antwerp brew served in glasses called bollekes! which
even Ian found to be an acceptable alternative to his smoothy ‘bollekes’.
The bar staff were also pleasing
on the eye. Jav and of course
Dave disappeared only to return
with pre dinner kebabs and chips!
Dinner was a decent pizza in a
local Italian which also
served Phil's favourite
spirit, followed by an ‘Irish’ pub with
a live singer with a dodgy ‘oirish’ accent who turned out to be a yank.
We later made our way to
Kelly’s a much better Irish bar nearer the hotel
with decent live music. Yours truly bailed at midnight, knowing his
hangover resistance is not what it once was. I was still cleaning teeth when Jav
and Dave noisily returned, the former sounding worse for where (confirmed next
day with tales of copious barfing)
Rest of chaps returning back by
2 o’clock.
Unsurprisingly breakfast was
slightly later than planned and the team gathered
on the hunt for Tone’s badger hair shaving brush. We made use of the
metro system and through some excellent navigation found Tone’s desired shop.
A tram was caught back into
centre but only on alighting did we realise Jav had been left behind, so Dave
was despatched for a rescue.
Over a beer in cathedral square yours
truly was presented with the cap of
rebuke, a delightful pink pvc tribute to the Rubettes.
A bit a of culture followed with
quick tour of the Reubens masterpieces in the cathedral,
followed by few beers in the
market square and some people watching, note the look of distain from the Rog
look-alike behind Phil.
Chips for lunch at the famous
Frituur No1 and then a tour of what is now a quite compact red light district,
with one road stocked with ladies in various states of dress and some pretty dodgy
characters on every corner.
Some more beers and then a
return to the hotel for a shower and ‘gentlemen’s
half hour’ and then down to Kelly's bar for the 18:30 k.o Villa/ Man City
match, leaving with ½ hour to go
at 2:1 down to get to the restaurant.
A cracking Belgian meal in the White
Eagle was accompanied by some super strong beers although not much in the way of
a wine list. Then back to Kelly's bar
for some huge G&Ts, with the
hardiest of chaps including an impressively performing Ian and Chap staying on
until the bar closed at 3.
On Sunday the Chaps gathered
9:30, with some looking more chipper than others, to be informed with a mixed
response that the planned activity was a 2km walk through the
old underground canal system called the Ruien. Suitably
attired (the Michelin Men) we descended
into the depths and straight onto a wobbly
boat for the 1st part of journey.
Unfortunately no mention was made in the publicity that in certain conditions
the foul sewer overflows into the tunnels and so to say there was a whiff in the
air is bit of a understatement. Plenty of rats and rare
giant spiders but we had a great guide , an ex Belgian
infantry officer who later joined us for a beer prior to retracing our
steps over ground back to the
market, by which time the Antwerp Marathon
was in full swing.
Following a MacDonald's, and for
some chaps additional waffles (guess who) The chaps stocked up on Belgian
chocolates, although further shopping opportunities were limited by Belgium’s
1970’s Sunday trading laws.
After check out we got straight
on to a train which gave us an hour or so to kill at Brussels, happily spent in
the bar across from the station, by which time custody of the pink cap
transferred to Mr Hillas, for
certain overly political comments, (Obviously PC police to be on red alert for
all future chap sessions) Various speculation as to who he resembled, including
Charles Hawtrey, my call being Alan Bennett.
The train back to Brussels from
Antwerp provided another chance for the DD's (Dorridge Dozers) to show their napping
skills once again. before we stocked up on beers for the Eurostar. Arriving in
London on time, then using a mix of taxis (Tone and Chap) and a longish walk
(sorry chaps) to Marylebone for the train to Brum. Unfortunately train was
packed probably with late finishers from the London marathon so standing room
only for many of us. Back in Brum around 10.
Hopefully everyone had a good
time, ‘Simber’s Tour’s’ do tend to involve a bit of walking but by the
time of my 60th we’ll probably be all on mobility scooters anyway.
All the best
Sim
