Do you believe in signs ?

So, some of you may have read my series of posts on what happened to my little person on the weekend of December 18th. If not, here is a summary in a few, short words : That weekend was the weekend I was going back to Belgium. It was also the weekend where all the eurostars were cancelled due to the snow. Well, I was stuck a couple of hours in London before we, my parents and I, had to result in taking action. Indeed, I took the train to Dover whilst my father drove all the way to Calais, took the ferry to Dover, picked me up and then drove back to Brussels.

I thought my amount of bad luck had to stop there, but apparently not. Nothing dramatic appeared during the break. Of course, all the snow that was falling down on England got me a little worried, but apart from that, nothing notable. One week before my departure for England, I had a strange feeling growing up in me. I felt overly worried about the journey back and the time of the train. It was so bad I could not sleep one night. The next morning, m mother and I went to the train station and bought an earlier ticket, yes it was that bad a feeling. I do not really believe in signs, but something was telling me that a disaster was about to happen and I just had to get an earlier train. Go figure, on the day of my departure, we drove to the train station and my mother escorted me to the eurostar part of the station. On a TV screen were all of the trains that were leaving that day. I was meant to take the 16:59 train. Well, that train was cancelled. We could not believe our eyes, I mean, how often does that happen. Thank god I had the other ticket. I felt so relieved but at the same time a little weirded out.

Whatever the feeling was one week before, I am very grateful I felt it. Incredible.

By the way, even though the train part of the journey ended up being fine, the rest was a little bumpy. Let me explain : I had overpacked my suitcase to a point where I needed help for taking if on and off the trains (and even the men who helped me asked me what was in it. One guy even joked and asked if I hadn't packed a couple of bowling balls; I can assure you, I did no such thing. Clothes and books only). So, of course, in London there was no way I could manage taking the bus (let's not even talk of the tube) to get from one station to another. Thus, I decided to take a taxi. Well, first of all, there was a massive line for taxis, and then, when I got into mine, we got caught in traffic ... in the middle of a sunday afternoon !!! The taxi fare was £12, and when you are a poor student like me, £12 is a fortune !!! especially compared to a £2 bus fare. So, note to self : never ever take the taxi in London again. After that, I proceeded to take the train to Winchester. I had my ticket in my pocket and everything was fine until I got onto the train.
On the train, I had so much stuff, I just decided to put my magazine onto the seat next to me, just the time to get everything sorted out. I had also put my ticket on top of le dit magazine. Once everything was in place, coat above my head and laptop in a safe place next to my legs, I picked up the magazine and had a major freak out : I could not find the ticket, it had simply vanished. I rose from my seat and looked absolutely everywhere for it. I was even sweating I was so stressed. People were looking at me as though I was crazy. Well, I sort of was as I didn't realise I had put the ticket inside the magazine to make sure it wouldn't fall on the floor ... I hate myself for being so intelligent and stupid at the same time !!!

Oh and when I got to Winchester, I again took a taxi and we got stuck because of some work on the roads ... I mean, what a lucky girl, right !? At least I didn't have as many problems as the way home but still, felt like a pretty hectic ride back. I have now learned the lesson to pack light AND always be careful about where I put my train ticket.

Until next time,

xxx