Notes from the train from London to Berlin
trains>>>>
I spent last week drinking lots of beer in Berlin, which is incredible given that about three years ago I couldn’t stomach the stuff. It was a fun trip, made even better by getting the train there. I wrote down some of the things I saw on the way – God bless the Notes app.
The Eurostar waiting room in St Pancreas is always teeming with people. One guy is on the second page of an 800 page book. He keeps on looking up at the what’s going on around him. We spend 20 minutes in the waiting room, and I never see him turn to the next page.
A young man takes a selfie as he goes up the escalator to the platform. He gets his friend to take a photo of him outside the train too, huge grin. There’s always someone who is very excited to take the Eurostar.
A woman and her two daughters are sat in the seats in front of us. The girls are loud and restless. One says ‘would anyone like to finish my mango?’. The mother replies ‘you’ve licked it all already’. Then they play a game called ‘cheese or font’, which is exactly what it sounds like. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the English middle class.
We drink our coffee as we go through Kent. There’s a huge boat in the middle of a construction site. Not by any water. Just chilling on a square mile of concrete. The tunnel bit of the Eurostar is always less exciting than you think. We emerge in a wet, grey France.
The girls in front of us are fighting. They climb on top of each other and squeal. The mum keeps telling them to stop in a whispered tone and fails. Eventually a woman sat across from them tells them off and it all goes quiet and awkward. Did she overstep a line? Should you tell off other people’s children? The mother and daughter pack up their bags and go and sit in the corridor.
Brussels Midi has very low ceilings. It’s arranged in a grid, but every corner looks the same so it’s very easy to get lost. It’s a short changeover, so we grab lunch from the Carrefour and head to the platform.
The train to Amsterdam is the nicest I’ve ever been on. Blue leather seats, huge and shiny and clean. How do Europeans fund all of this? Wasn’t the UK good at trains, once, about one hundred years ago? When did it all go wrong? Why do we have horrible carpeted seats and not swish ones like this?
At every station in Belgium there is an advert for a burger called Peppery Paul. I really want to try it.
Once we cross onto the Netherlands everything flattens out. Out the window there are square farmhouses made out of tiny brick. A lovely uniformity. The countryside around Rotterdam is filled with huge greenhouses. We pass one that goes on for miles and miles. Orchids, tomatoes. There are campervans parked in a wet brown field for the seasonal workers.
We’re spending Saturday night at our friend George’s house. We get the metro to his neighbourhood: it’s so sleek and modern, which feels funny against the quaintness of Amsterdam. It’s a good overnight stop. We get coffee and ice cream (from Van Soest, get the basil flavour!) and George makes us a roast chicken.
The next morning we do the obligatory bakery and supermarket stock up before our train. When we get to the platform, it’s very crowded. There is a train heading to Paris arriving at the same platform just after ours and everyone is confused about where to go and fielding questions to a very gracious railway worker who can’t really tell anyone anything.
The right people make it on to the right train. There’s a man in the seat across from us who looks a little nervous. As we leave he waves to another man outside the window, who grins at him and mimes ‘call me’, making a phone with his hand. There’s a French couple in front of us, both reading on kindles. One woman is slurping on a Dunkin ice latte. The driver is very perky and makes little jokes on the overhead speaker.
Once we enter Germany everything becomes hillier and leafier. There are more trees, but more factories too. A new person takes their place in the seat in front, and opens up an article titles ‘Using Drones in Nursing Education’. The police walk through the train and ask a lone brown man for his ID. They don’t ask anybody else.
In the Netherlands, all the cows were black and white. In Germany, they’re all brown.
The train slows down: we’re delayed. Everyone has their own way to pass the time. A well-dressed man watches TikToks. He only ever pauses on ones about football, flicks away the rest. A woman watches a TV show on an iPad. It looks vaguely medical. Lots of young people have laptops out, typing away. A man in army camo carries a plastic bag with fizzy water and snacks. I’ll never get used to seeing the military stroll so casually about in Germany.
At the last stop before Berlin, a lady brings on a houseplant wrapped in brown paper.
One hour late, but we make it! Berlin! The first meal in Berlin should always be a kebab.
That’s it for this week! See you next time<3
Freya xx
the falafel looks so good! and i miss train journeys in europe
Enjoyed my Friday lunchtime trip on the Eurostar, thank you