DAY 10: Tuesday, March 18, Eurostar to London

 

LONDON

Not much to report. Via Eurostar, I transferred from my beautiful little room in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam to a weird and soulless hotel in London. The layover in Brussels stretched to five hours. I had planned to take advantage of that time to read Daniel Mason's North Woods. Once again, however, crossing the border from The Netherlands to Belgium rendered my cell phone's data plan inoperative. I could not use my Kindle app. The Brussels newsstand at the station did not carry English-language publications other than British Vogue. I bought it. Ludicrous, really, given the state of my hair and dress. I left the hotel at 5 a.m. and did not feel Vogue-worthy.

Nine hours after leaving, I arrived at St. Pancras International, found a taxi stand, and had my choice of black cabs. I chose well. My driver called me "Love," helped me with my luggage, said all sorts of kind words, and would have hoisted me into the cab if I hadn't found a way to get in. It's still amazing to me that I can't hop in and out of airplanes, trains, and cars the way I used to. 

My hotel, Wilde Aparthotels, has its good points. It is reasonably clean, has a comfortable bed, and is centrally located. I won't need a cab for most of what I plan to do in the next four days. Otherwise, I'm not too crazy about this place. It's too hi-tech, lo-charm for my tastes. It's nice to have a kitchenette, but I can't seem to make anything work without explanation. 

Comfy king-size

Lots of floor space but very little space for hanging clothes

Cute hi-tech kitchen

An elegant coffee maker with no instructions. I guess I'll go out for coffee. It's for the best.

Today (Wednesday) I am going to revisit the National Gallery, where I have a ticket for a special exhibit and then to a play at the Harold Pinter Theatre. More on those in the next post.