TO BRUSSELS AND BEYOND

12th / 13th Nov 2022

My transport to Brussels

This will be an interesting trip because after getting to Brussels I'm not quite sure where I will be going. It depends on rail and bus schedules. Stand-by for further updates! I shall add to this as I go along.

I was intending to go to Brussels by EuroStar (train) but, unlike the last time I used EuroStar (several years ago when it was reasonably priced and a regular service), the availability of services was patchy (no trains on Saturday 12th which was when I wanted to travel) and the prices varied enormously depending on time/day. The 2nd Class seats on Sunday 13th cost £180! I gave rip-off Eurostar two fingers and chose to book a bus trip on Flixbus (no, I hadn't heard of it previously either) for £48.

This was to leave London, Victoria Coach Station, at 2230hrs on Saturday night. It was all quite efficient and left on time. All seats on the double-decker bus were taken. Seats downstairs were larger and had tables (all booked). Upstairs the seats were equivalent to 2nd Class airline jobs. I was sitting next to a pleasantly quiet Filipina lady. The seats were comfortable enough but with limited leg-room and not conducive to getting any kip.

The driver was a rather portly Polish chap (actually he was very portly) who turned out to be both helpful, cheerful and a skilful chauffeur. The stop, midnight approx, at the 'Chunnel' entrance involved the UK and French passport checks but at least gave us the chance to de-bus, have a pee and buy some snacks. Back on board, the bus, after a bit of a wait, was loaded onto the 'freight' train (where we stayed inside it) and onwards under the sea to La Belle France. Then a stop at Lille (0400hrs) and on to Brussels North (0745hrs). It was by no means luxury travel, and I got almost zero sleep, but it did what it said on the packet and I have no complaints!

I managed to find and negotiate the Brussels Metro and am now in a relatively cheap Ibis hotel near Brussels Midi railway station. Having said that, it wasn't cheap by my standards but I was too knackered to search for a better deal.

I took a walk around the station area. It was rather depressing. There were little groups of dark skinned gentlemen standing idle with beer cans in their hands on most of the street corners. I could not find a single, what I would call, pleasant bar or pub. Many of the restaurants did not serve alcohol, so no refreshing beer and those that did  appeared scruffy and downmarket and seemed to attract a fairly dodgy looking clientele. I got the impression that there is a large down-at-heel 'immigrant' population lurking here in this city, the Headquarters of the European Dream. I expect there is a much more upmarket area which caters for the expensive tastes of the EU hierarchy.

At around lunchtime I did find one respectable looking eatery, a Steak House situated on a building site next to a 'Purveyor of Erotic Goods', the 'Hotstore Erotique'. The restaurant offered some rather decent looking steaks according to photos outside, but there were two oddities; you had to download the menu on some 'app' or other (inconvenient) and they did not serve alcohol ( I like a glass of red wine with my steak). Neither was it cheap. I gave it a miss. Does Brussels have a problem with alcohol, I began to wonder?

I couldn't resist having a dekko inside the shop next door. There were some fascinating items of clothing and equipment on display; several of which I could not fathom out. It must appeal to those who have rather strange (and unpleasant) romantic intentions.

Left: As with some other 'enlightened' cities (Stockholm and Kyiv spring to mind) there was a proliferation of these 'pick up, ride and drop' e-scooters. They were well used and caused no problems. Of course they will never catch on in UK because a) our citizenry would abuse them and throw them into the nearest ditch/river/canal b) they would not conform to some bureaucratic traffic law or other and c) they would be decreed dangerous and banned by the 'elf 'n safety brigade.

On a more positive note, I visited the large International Railway Information Office in the station. Two of the staff, a youngish chap and lady, dealt efficiently with my complicated enquiries. They were charming, helpful, and answered all my queries. I don't think any of the UK railway stations have such a good Information Office.

Brussels-Midi railway station is vast, with 22 plaforms covering domestic and international destinations, plus a myriad of shops and cafés. It makes London Paddington resemble a village stop-over.

I had a quiet evening and early to bed for a good kip after a total lack of sleep on the bus getting here. Off south-east next......

!4th / 17th Nov

I took the (German) Deutsche Bahn (Db) ICE train from Brussels to go via Frankfurt to Vienna leaving at 8.23am. It was only 5 minutes late departing. Having used Db a few years ago I was confident that it would be a smooth and efficient journey. I was to be disillusioned! After departure we were informed that the train would only be going as far as Cologne. The conductress told me that I should now take the train from Cologne to Mannheim, then another to Munich and change again to Vienna. We arrived 25 minutes late at Mannheim and so missed the connection to Munich! I had to get another train back to Frankfurt and catch a 2.22pm train to Vienna. It arrived, eventually, in Vienna at 9.00pm. What a faff! I was subsequently told by a German friend of mine that Db is now seriously unreliable. They have all sorts of scheduling problems...as I have discovered.

Interestingly, everybody on the Db trains, except for me of course, was wearing the dreaded and useless face-nappies. Nobody commented. It seems that in Germany, unlike certainly Belgium and UK, these anti-social masks are compulsory on public transport (unless you are eating or drinking) and the Germans robotically and unquestioningly follow this silly rule.

Left: On the plus side, the trains had excellent buffet cars which served, table service, a good comprehensive menu. I managed to occupy a seat in one of these on all the trains. They also all had good WiFi connection.

Vienna Hauptbahnhof, another large and smart station had open, even at 9.15pm, a very good international information office. With their help I got information for onwards journeys and even a local map with instructions of how to get, by bus, to my hotel (which was actually quite close to the station). We, in UK, seem unable to provide this kind of service. 

The small Hotel Attaché in Vienna was welcoming, comfortable and very reasonably priced (£42). I had a very good kip!

The next morning a 15 minute walk back to the station and onwards in an Austrian (ÖBB Railjet) train to Budapest, departing 9.42am and which arrived on schedule at 12.15pm. No more filthy face-masks in evidence! At the (Vienna) station were these (right) highly user-friendly ticket machines. You just had to type in any destination (domestic or international) and the ticket was issued (with reductions for old-age). So simple. In fact I didn't need them as I was travelling on an Interail Pass.

On arrival at Budapest I had intended to go straight on by rail to Belgrade but, at their info desk, I was informed that the railway to Belgrade is still not operating. This railway was due to be built/sponsored by the Chinese (they are buying into Hungary and Serbia as everywhere else worldwide). This process started in 2013 and has yet to be completed! So, on advice, I went by Metro to the Nepliget bus terminal and bought (£21) a ticket for another (8 hour) Flixbus journey to Belgrade. This was sold to me by a charming lady who had previously worked in UK for 3 years. She enjoyed having a bit of a chat in English! It left at 4.30pm and via passport controls (off the bus, on the bus twice) at the border and a connection at Novi Sad, we arrived in Belgrade, earlier than scheduled, at 10.00pm. The bus had only been half full and was efficiently driven through, at times, rather foggy conditions. There is also a good WiFi connection on these buses which is very convenient. The main roads/motorways in this part of the world seem very good. There was no sign of the universal and constant 'roadworks' which plague UK motorways and we travelled at a constant speed all the way down.

Due to such a late arrival I headed for a nearby hotel which was rather more luxurious and expensive than I would have normally chosen, but needs must. I write this from here (Hotel Jump Inn!) before a wander downtown and another Flixbus journey onwards.........

It was a short wander, as this was only a 'pit stop'. I called in at the 'tourist info' office in the centre, just to check that trains south were not operating. They informed me that their office only dealt with 'city' matters and I had to go to another office to ask about 'out of city matters'. I did so and they hadn't much of an idea about the rail situation. I decided to stick with the bus option.

Left: Passing by the Republic Square on which is situated the National Museum with a statue of Prince Mihailo (whoever he was) on his horse.

Right: A brief glimpse at the front end of the Belgrade Fortress (Beogradska Tyrdava). The statue in the gardens at the front is called 'The Monument of Gratitude to France' built in gratitude to the French during WW1. It is meant to depict a female form (Marianne?) rushing to the country's aid. It looked to my untrained eye like a fat lady attempting, badly, a bit of Kung Fu.

Left: I passed this group of musicians. They were brilliant and I donated a few Dinars. I took a video, with sound, but for the life of me could not download here. I've managed this feat before so can't work out why not now. I will do so eventually!

Back to the hotel to collect my bag and on to the nearby bus station for the onwards  Flixbus (operated by Fudeks) trip to Skopje, Macedonia (or more correctly 'North Macedonia') for a fleeting visit. It was scheduled to leave at 3.30pm for the 7.5 hour journey. And this is when the day became a bit of a hassle. I arrived in plenty of time, I thought. For some reason you had to buy (190 Dinars = £1.25p) a ticket to get out onto the forecourt. I did not have any Dinars. I had some Euros. I was told I could exchange these at 'Desk 12'. There were numerous desks. There was a queue at Desk 12. Eventually I was told that they could only exchange a minimum of 50 Euros! After much pleading they did exchange a 10 Euro note. I was then told to go to desk 39 to buy the blessed ticket. Another queue! I felt I was sure to miss the bus. I did make it in time, just. 

Off we went (not such a comfortable bus as previous) and stopped at the Macedonian border for customs checks. And waited...and waited for about an hour before debussing to show our passports. Not only that but the Macedonian control made us bring out all our bags to be searched. A very cursory search, but it all took time. We eventually arrived in Skopje at 10.35pm. I had been advised by the hotel where I was due to stay that a taxi should cost between 3 to 4 Euros. I am allergic to taxis and try to avoid them. However, needs must here and, probably because I was tired, I made an elementary mistake! I accepted the offer of a taxi from an unknown bloke meeting the bus. I told him what price I was willing to pay. OK, agreed. Next mistake, I allowed him to put my bag in the boot of his 'unmarked' taxi. I got in and he was joined by another guy in the front passenger seat. As we set off I began to get suspicious. It became apparent that they were going to scam me and asking for more and more money. Possibly with threats. You are so vulnerable in a taxi with your bag in the boot! To cut a long unhappy story short, I managed to escape having paid 15 Euros. It could have been much worse...I could have been robbed of everything. Not only that I was, of course, dropped at the wrong place. Fortunately I met a charming Turkish guy who let me use his phone (mine had no 'roaming' facility) to locate the hotel which, fortunately, was within walking distance. He even escorted me there using his phone mapping. I am so grateful to him. There are some good guys around when you need them. So, something I thought I was wised up to: "Caveat Taxi", especially in a foreign country.

I got to the hotel at about 11.15pm. It was one of those 'remote controlled' establishments where you are furnished beforehand with codes to get in. That was all fine and I now managed to speak by phone (and WhatsApp) to the 'remote' manager. He told me that I had to pay in cash (Macedonian Denar), and leave the cash in the room. I thought I had already paid on booking. Blimey, this was getting tricky and inconvenient. I was beginning to get rather frazzled. As it happened the hotel manager/owner turned out to be a real star. He also spoke perfect English having worked for a few years in London and America. I explained my misfortune and the fact that I needed to get another bus at 9.00pm the following morning. He was sympathetic and even offered to collect me in his car the next morning, pay on his credit card machine for the hotel (which was very good value) and take me to the bus station, which he did. Not only that, he escorted me into the bus station (I had to pay for another time wasting 'entrance' ticket), acted as my 'translator' and I used his phone 'hotspot' to download my bus ticket. This was a service well beyond the call of duty and I remain eternally grateful to him. At the time, in my frustration, I don't think I thanked him enough. All this hassle was, of course, entirely due to my ineptitude. You would have thought I should have learnt by now! If you are thinking of paying a visit to Skopje/Macedonia I recommend the Vanilla Boutique Hotel (+38975811411). Great value and Stevan, my aforementioned saviour, waxed lyrical on all the amusing and interesting things to do in that country. Definitely worth another, proper, visit.

Right: The Macedonian flag. Rather a jolly one.

Much chastised, now onwards again to Tirana, Albania, my ultimate destination. I shall start a new blog for this.

(BTW, I haven't seen a filthy face-mask or any sign relating to 'that bug' since leaving Austria, which is quite refreshing).