With 3 days of Paris behind us, Paul and I met up with Sujay right before our 3:12pm Eurostar train to London. But seeing as Paul and I got there at 3pm, it was still too late to make it in time for passport processing and check-in. Dammit Brexit!
So we rebooked for the next train at 4:12pm for a €50 penalty.
It blows my mind how after political machinations such as Brexit would lead to these arbitrary structural changes in a train station to make the whole process feel as if we were in an airport.
I recall when traveling internationally on a train from Lithuania to Belarus, we boarded normally and had our passports stamped in while on the train, or when we traveled internationally from Spain to Morocco, we went through the whole process while already on the ferry as it was crossing.
From the departures lounge they announced our train formally just as if it were a flight.
And once settling in, we passed out on the 2 our train ride across the English Channel to London.
At least the arrivals lounge before customs comes off as pretty epic:
From St Pancreas station, we then took the tube on the Paddington line to Russell Square where we’d find out after the fact that the station here probably was once a fallout shelter (it literally is 176 winding steps without any escalators).
Paul and I swore never again after that rude discovery. Take the elevators at Russell Square Station when you arrive!
Knowing all too well how expensive London is with accommodations, I took advantage of my free anniversary night with IHG through my Chase credit card at the Kimpton Fitzroy:
After settling in for an hour, Paul and I rendezvous’ed with my huge group of monsooners and friends in London at Julian’s splendid choice of Indonensian fare at Toba – Corinna from Libya, Michael from Angola, Julian from high school, Nishant and Evan from Afghanistan among many many other monsoons, Evan’s partner Tammy, Morgan from NYC and her partner Kris…y’all so swell for coming out for me without knowing one another.
I hope y’all become good friends in London after I leave!
As I lazily stayed in the next morning enjoying my time at the Kimpton, Paul invited me to have coffee with his own friend based in London, Zorine, (whereas I invited Corinna and Nishant to return as well).
After a few hours of chatting, Zorine stayed behind with me and Nishant while Paul left with Corinna to get ready for a party.
By 3pm and after a Greek lunch with Zorine and Nishant in the area, I said my farewells and hopped on the one hour long Picadilly tube line for London Heathrow Airport. From there I boarded my flights home, beginning with a 5:50pm flight from Brussels to London.
Then with another overnight in Brussels, I checked out the new “The View” lounge at Terminal B of BRU airport:
Then I boarded my first ever business class flight with Air Canada.
I must say, I am impressed with AirCanada: Their onboard WiFi is the fastest I ever experienced, their dining (and even the coffee) sublime, and the service impeccably flexible and gracious. I am a new fan.
From Brussels, I landed nearly an hour early in Montreat, from where I worked a little bit at the airport and made a few phone calls for my Zermatt monsoon before finally boarding my last flight home from Montreal to NYC.
- At time of posting in London, it was 14 °C - Humidity: 77% | Wind Speed: 3km/hr | Cloud Cover: drizzles and sun