This morning I went up into central Brussels. I love it up there!!! I spent some time up there last night as well and really enjoyed myself, but it was dark and difficult to see much. I had planned on leaving for Luxembourg later this afternoon, so I took off for a few hours and went exploring. I made it back to my place around noon. I got thinking – why not do more than just go to Luxembourg today? I have a Eurail train pass which gives me 6 days of unlimited travel anywhere in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany, I may as well get some use out of it on the days I am using it. I looked at some maps and decided that I would go over to Liege, Belgium. It is a cool city and I thought I would spend the day there.
As I consulted my travel information that I received with my Eurail pass, I found that I could catch a 1:30 train to Liege, spend a couple of hours there, then catch a train around 5:15 to Luxembourg, putting me there between 7:30 and 8pm. I took off, everything was going well. I had a bit of trouble finding the Liege storage lockers, they were hidden, but then I set out. I went and wandered for a while, got a bit lost – thank goodness for signs pointing back to the train station. Then I headed back to the train station with time to spare. I grabbed a bite to eat, looked at the departure board – my train wasn’t there. Strange. I checked the info kiosk; sure enough, there was my train.
I waited patiently with other expecting passengers at the “gleis” (sorry, don’t know the word in English….the boarding area) about 5 minutes after the scheduled departure, I gave up. I consulted the cancellation list to be sure, nothing there. Trains here are never that late without posting something saying that they will be late. I walked back into the station and looked for the next train back to Brussels. I knew when I could get a ride from Brussels to Luxembourg. Looking, looking, looking; the next train to Brussels Midi was scheduled to leave at 5:42. It is an hour ride. My train to Luxembourg was scheduled out of Midi at 6:33. No way. I would have to wait an extra hour and catch the 7:33 train; Luxembourg around 10:30. Then finding the hostel where my reservations are.
My only hope? The train from Liege-Brussels also stopped at Brussels Central station. I arrived at Central at 6:32. If the train at 6:33 from Midi stopped at Central afterwards, I could still make it. I took a leap of faith? Luck? Determination? Whatever you want to call it, I stepped off the train onto Gleis 4, looked at the departure board, and lo, 6:37 to Luxembourg, on Gleis 3. I didn’t even have to change piers, I walked across, had about 4 minutes to wait, and boarded the train to Luxembourg. I am now on my way, enjoying some countryside, praying that the hostel will not be difficult to find, and trying not to smell cigarette stench of the guy next to me. Ew. Stop smoking Europe.
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