Saturday, June 26, 2010
300 Kph
It's viscerally thrilling to blast across the Belgian countryside at 300 kilometers per hour. The scenery, towns, buildings and people whiz past in blinding fury while we're comfortably ensconced in first class comfort aboard Thalys 9339 on the way to Amsterdam.
Our journey started this morning on Eurostar 9126 out of London's St. Pancras International station and it's been a high-speed fury ever since. On the EuroStar as we passed through underpasses and tunnels, the buffeting from the train increased the cabin pressure causing our ears to pop.
Like the Shinkansen in Japan, trying to watch the landscape whiz by you is an attempt in futility. Perhaps you can watch something in the far distance but anything nearby flashes by so fast that you end up getting dizzy as you try to lock in on the subject, follow it past and then retarget another subject.
The blog has been quiet this week that I've been in London because it's just been mad partying, long nights, early mornings and lingering jetlag. Needless to say, London has been a bit fun but we haven't explored all the bits I was hoping to visit. Once again, a trip to London has been exclusive of Curry Chips and no definitive example of traditional British or Indian cuisine.
A quick thought about London: it's a bit more inhospitable than one would expect of a place renowned for English Hospitality. Almost no one seems to get the notion of basic courtesy or service here. Of course, my ideas on service perhaps are just not in sync with the mode of British living. Or maybe I'm just not Anglo...
More to come when I have a little more time and a larger room. Meanwhile, we'll be visiting Stumptown Amsterdam in the morning if anyone else is in town.
- posted from Thalys 9339 proving that I didnn't lose those paper tickets.
Our journey started this morning on Eurostar 9126 out of London's St. Pancras International station and it's been a high-speed fury ever since. On the EuroStar as we passed through underpasses and tunnels, the buffeting from the train increased the cabin pressure causing our ears to pop.
Like the Shinkansen in Japan, trying to watch the landscape whiz by you is an attempt in futility. Perhaps you can watch something in the far distance but anything nearby flashes by so fast that you end up getting dizzy as you try to lock in on the subject, follow it past and then retarget another subject.
The blog has been quiet this week that I've been in London because it's just been mad partying, long nights, early mornings and lingering jetlag. Needless to say, London has been a bit fun but we haven't explored all the bits I was hoping to visit. Once again, a trip to London has been exclusive of Curry Chips and no definitive example of traditional British or Indian cuisine.
A quick thought about London: it's a bit more inhospitable than one would expect of a place renowned for English Hospitality. Almost no one seems to get the notion of basic courtesy or service here. Of course, my ideas on service perhaps are just not in sync with the mode of British living. Or maybe I'm just not Anglo...
More to come when I have a little more time and a larger room. Meanwhile, we'll be visiting Stumptown Amsterdam in the morning if anyone else is in town.
- posted from Thalys 9339 proving that I didnn't lose those paper tickets.
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