While Dutch Railways is not having such a good day, the ever-reliable Stena Line and the usually more variable UK railway are whisking me home to Staines!
That's all for now - thank you and I hope you enjoyed the trip too!
Sailing away...
With a fair wind I'll be back in time to do my 11.40 Mass at the secondary school, arriving from the east like a tired, bedraggled Magi. Bed ahoy!
As suggested, I decided to try the Stena Plus Lounge. Very nice...
Passports took a while (several passengers were from cancelled flights so had odd stamps from Schiphol), but once aboard, the ship felt like a familiar home.
With flights being cancelled all over the place, I was amazed to find availability via another route - and for a rather better price...
At Rotterdam my last chance to get to Brussels (and therefore London today) evaporated. With five Masses tomorrow (it is the Epiphany), I found cover for the first two. But to make the others, I'll have to take a more expensive option. And it won't be flying...
At Haarlem at half-hourly service heads to Vlissingen. But I'm not the only one with that idea. After letting the first train go, I caught the second.
A train in the platform is worth two in the timetable. Let's go.
Even if I'm not going to, er, Zandvoort am Zee.
Everything is looking pretty in Amsterdam. Except the rail service...
We're off, having picked up some local passengers!
Noticed a train for Utrecht on the screen, so ran to platform 2, only to find it didn't exist. Now we have an ICE for company. So back on board to sit it out. Nice day to play in the snow, mind.
Amsterdam would be handy, but it's London I'm aiming for!
It appears that the weather in Netherlands has not improved and apparently there is in the Amsterdam and Utrecht areas 'a very big problem'. So we will wait here at Hilversum for 'better times'.
There is of course a shower, provided by this wand. It was pretty effective, with good pressure. The floor also dries very quick. Only issue - no hot water.
Goedemorgen! A snowy morning in the Netherlands - there seems to be more snow than there was in the Carpathians!
Time to sleep, but what's this "The German police are conducting entry checks"?
Guess we were spoiled on the Romanian border.
Oh, so that's it. MAV take away my sleeping car without so much as an excuse-me. OeBB text me about rebooking because we left a minute late!
An ominous text? Either it's a typical OeBB notification, like a one minute later arrival into Amsterdam - or we're all getting chucked out in the middle of the night.
I guess with OeBB you'll never know...
It's not the Corona, but the menu was decent and so was the food. Oh, and, my sleeping car was attached.
There's lighting to fit your every mood...
Tonight I am travelling on the Nightjet to Amsterdam - a well trodden route. But because it's Christmas, I'm in the sleeping car!
In Vienna I hot-footed to the nearby-ish St. John the Evangelist for Sunday Mass, conveniently timed for the overnight train to Rome.
But I'm not going to Rome.
Arrived in Vienna only to find EC146 Tisza already there - with a restaurant. I saw the coaches at Keleti when we left - with no dining car! My only guess is that the 'real Tisza' was late arriving from Zahony and skipped Keleti entirely, with the 'dodgy set' running a relief!
It's not Utasellátó but the food was nice. Staff are not as proactive at keeping seats & tables free for those wanting to eat - on the CD Comfortjet they were rather less comproming. Still, with the train full and standing in both classes they'd have their job cut out.
Right, so the first class car (in the middle) will be detached, so we might never leave. So I'll go for the following Railjet. And this time (and with reserved seats unmarked) I'm taking no chances on the catering...
Eurocity 'Tisza' to Wien is backed in. Twenty minutes after departure time it is still here, due to a technical problem. But if that 'technical problem' is the mysterious disappearance of the restaurant car, no amount of men in uniform banging around in an cupboard will fix it.
Time to head back to the station. The scones will be a nice starter before lunch on the train.
After a night in a couchette, a visit to the modern Paskal Baths was a great way to relax.
Breakfast was neither hot nor complimentary, but I made up for it in Budapest Keleti's 'Business Lounge'.
Well, it may not have been quite the luxury I had dreamed of, but MAV clearly put better cushioning in these old German couchettes. I slept pretty well...
