I am on a train. A very special train. A train I wanted to be on ever since the service was started in 1997. Numerous times I have looked up the service on the internet and dreamed of taking this train. Now I am on it. And I have a window seat. And I am traveling 'sense de marche' (facing forward). And it has Wifi, as you can see. It is 8:15 and I am travelling in the Thalis TGV from Paris to Cologne. In 3 hours I will be in Cologne. As an extra bonus, the train will hurl me though Brussels. And all for 119 Euros. And why not: This year's motto seems to be: See the capitals of Europe by way of rock concerts. The 2 Neil Young concerts in June July will get me to Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Zurich and the Peter Gabriel concert in October will get me to at least Vienna and Budapest. .... who am I to blow against the wind ?
Anyhoo, back to Thalys. The outside is a nice burgundy and the inside is all kept in black, purple, and red. Very classy in a bordello sense of style. I like it ;-) If I had travelled first class, Wifi would have been free; here in second class (trust me, I can't tell I'm in deuxieme), the Wifi for the whole trip cost me 13 Euros.
It's 10 am? Then this must be Belgium! I step on Belgian soil (for the first time ever, I might add) when Thalys stops in Brussels, to have a cigarette break. A strange mixture of French and Dutch, Belgium never really never appealed to me. My camera catches a tiny part of the Atomium and then it's time to get back on the train, to be continue hurtling East, and it doesn't take long until serious rain develops.
... to be continued until I arrive in Cologne ;-)
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