Day 17 – Brussels

Well the last day of driving around Britain is upon us, only a 1 hour drive back to the airport to drop off the hire car is left. The day is quite good as we head down the motorway, the traffic is playing ball and no delays are experienced as we arrive at the airport. With the hire car safely back it is a small bus ride to terminal 3 to get the underground to St Pancreas station.
The train trip up the piccadilly line is a bit slow in parts but the train is not crowded and we arrive with 1 1/2 hours up our sleeve. The tickets that I reserved online were easily printed from the ticket kiosks, a very easy and fast system of getting a ticket.
The 12:57 euro rail train to Brussels pulls out on time and it is not long before we are streaking through the Uk country side heading for the tunnel. Plunging into the darkness it is a 20 minute trip through the tunnel, the time passes quickly with only the tunnel lights whizzing past the window breaking the darkness and giving a sense of speed. Bursting into the sunlight and onto French soil, the farmers are seeding there fields and flocked of sea gulls are having a free feed.
It is not long and the train is pulling into Brussels Zuid station, a quick connection to Central Station and it is then a short stroll to our hotel.
As we venture out to get the evening meal the dark clouds that have built up finally break into rain and a mad dash from awning to awning begins, safely back at the hotel, a little wetter than when we left, it is time to retire for the evening.