EuroStar, 7h45 to Brussels from Waterloo



My tickets arrived a few days before my departure. So I wanted to see where I was sitting. So I find the EuroStar website, as my ticket has a seat number on it. My attention is then drawn to their "frequent traveller" program, and I try and sign up, only to have a big red piece of text tell me "you must book a trip for £95 or more" or something. My tickets cost in the region of £80 each, apparently, not good enough for the frequent traveller program. ?????So I go back to finding my seat. Yes there is a nice little graphic on the website, showing seats in the differnet classes. Some seats are at tables, some are on the aisle, etc. But from my ticket number, there is NO WAY to tell which seat I have, so WHAT ON EARTH is the point of having the seat layout on the website?????????



No fuss at check-in and no queue ! (Part of the reason I didnt fly instead).The staff were really friendly today. Several of them greeted me on the platform. Especially friendly, was the catering stewart in the cafe, whose name I saw was Thierry. What a refreshing experience to get genuine, warm service. Then, at my seat, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to use power for my laptop. ( The website says its for business class only - though later I found another page on the website about them updating the trains that DID mention power for all classes). There is one at every row of seats, and I noticed one row had the UK plug, the next row the EU plug, and so on. Seat was big, and comfortable with a nice big table , and I could use that for my laptop. Pity there is no Wi-Fi.

Arrived on schedule 10H55 and caught a small local train to "Leuven" - the country is beautiful! When I travel, I usually try and stay out of the city if I can, - cities start looking the same after a while. I find nature has a calming, soothing effect, and is far more beautiful than concrete.