Journey Home III (written 20/12/2009)

Okay … let's continue our journey going back to Belgium. Last post I was on the train to Dover. Well, I arrived in Dover at 19:27. My mum phoned and I told her I was in Dover Priory, waiting for my dad. I had 1 hour 35 minutes in front of me. I had naively thought Dover Priory would be a big station with shops and a heated waiting room … no no no ! The station was small, empty and freezing. Everything was closed and no one was there to indicate me where to wait or even give me basic information about buses going to the ferry terminal. I had to wait in a freezing cold waiting room with flashing red lights that were actually heatings (although they didn't really help with the temperature of the room). I was told by a woman waiting for her train that Dover's roads were icy and circulation was bad. As a matter of fact, No buses or taxis were going by the station and there was 3 miles of traffic to the ferry terminals. I waited for my dad in the company of an american woman, very nice.

Finally my dad arrived. It took us exactly 2 and a half hours before we made it to the ferry terminal. We then had to wait another half an hour to board. I am now writing on the ferry that is rocking like mad, making me feel quite nauseous. One of the reasons I don't take the ferry is that I hate it with a passion. I can't stand the feeling and frankly tonight is a very bad night. It is nearly one o'clock and I am in no way tired. We won't be in Brussels until late tonight/early in the morning.

The ferry is packed with people and we are sitting in a bar area. I have to admit I was particularly hungry after not eating for half a day and was delighted (sarcasm) to see that both restaurants were closed because it was passed 10 o'clock. I had to satisfy myself with crisps and a very far from good sandwich. Hopefully the rocking will calm down, although I have a feeling it won't. I mean, let's face it: I have had the worst travel day EVER. The boat trip has to be as bad as the rest of the day. Gosh, as I am writing, the situation just got worse. There is even more shaking right now … my stomach does not appreciate at all.

What is quite panicking is that before boarding, I was looking at the information board and P&O ferries announced to their passengers that Calais was now closed due to bad weather. We are on a Seafrance ferryboat and they haven't said anything … which is even more stressful.

Again, as the previous post, when this will be published much time will have passed (no wifi in the middle of the Channel) and probably both post will have gone on at the same time. I will have another post following this one with an update … telling you all I survived and am now back home (hopefully … or in a hotel, it'll depend). Also, before my dad left, he checked the weather forecast and it was planned that there would be a snow storm in France and Belgium over night. Hopefully, we will not be caught in it, fingers crossed.

Journey Home II (written on the 19/12/2009)

Last time I wrote a post, I was abandoning the Eurostar in favour of my dad picking me up. Well … because of the snow in Dover, my dad could not come to London to pick me up in time. The situation being what it was, I went to see a member of staff and asked about the trains leaving in the evening, by luck there was still a couple of seats for the Brussels train of 17:04. So I ran to check-in, got a blue sticker (they had to result into putting coloured stickers on our tickets, indicating which train we were going to board on. The situation seemed to have been resolved until, 15 minutes after the train should have left the station, we were announced that no train would leave London this evening as the weather was so bad, EuroTunnel closed the tunnel. Thankfully my mum called me at that exact time. I burst into tears for a couple of minutes before recovering my common sense. My dad was still in Calais (bless him for not going home, I mean is that fatherly love or what ?!) and was able to get a ticket to cross over. My mum also informed me that my grandmother had put some money on my account on Monday, so I was not moneyless as I had thought. I got a ticket to Dover Priory and am now writing on the train to Dover. This message will not go on my blog until I get wifi, so god knows what will have happened in between, but a message will probably follow this one, giving you an update on the situation. This is like some kind of mini series haha.

So, for the moment, everything seems resolved : I have money on me (I took £40 out) and my dad is meeting me in Diver in an hour. I can tell you, though, that the snow we got in Winchester is nothing compared to what I can see here (I don't know where here is exactly, but it's down somewhere haha … *edit: Here was near Folkestone*) I know understand why the trains have been cancelled and the tunnel closed, it would be taking too many risks in these conditions. I am very happy that there is a Dover train service departing from Saint Pancras and frankly, this is a pleasant journey and the train is actually quite warm, nice change from the freezing cold station (my hands were blue from the cold and I could barely feel my body it was so numb).

This series is probably the most boring one you have ever read … but I need a way of passing time and it is pretty therapeutical to be writing what happened, gives me an opportunity to calm down. I will probably write a sequel to this when going back, but hopefully the journey back will go smoothly and without any interruption like today. I have learned a couple of things today and I am going to share my wisdom with you.

First of all, be aware that Eurostar has very poor communication skills and you won't be informed unless you ask yourself to a member of staff (and even they won't know for sure). Snow is lovely as long as it doesn't interrupt train services (and plane services and boats and other ways of going home !). Always always always have money on your phone (and a full battery !!) and money on you (I'd say £50 so if you have to book a hotel/buy a train ticket/feed yourself you can actually do it). And don't cry in the middle of a crowd : people will mock you instead of trying to help you !! And also, trains to Dover rock !!!