Returning to Enschede

Author’s note:  This post covers the day of July 16^th.  I wrote it while on the train on July 17^th.

Monday was probably the worst day on the trip so far.  I say that in the understanding that any day on this vacation is still pretty awesome.  I woke up to Smith’s alarm at 7:30.  I REALLY didn’t want to get up.  But I was already running late.  So I threw my stuff into my 2 bags as fast as possible, paid the hotel bill on the way out, tried to grab breakfast at the place we’d gone to on Sunday but couldn’t because it wasn’t open yet, and hurried to the train station.  We snagged some breakfast there and waited for our train to show up on the big board to know which platform to go to.  But our train’s time was changed by 2 minutes, so we were really unsure as to whether to get on the train to Antwerp at 8:20 or one of the 2 trains that left at our given departure time of 8:22.  After a few frantic minutes we were able to learn that yes, the Antwerp/Amsterdaam train would stop in Roosendaal.  So we boarded that one.

This train was laid out differently.  Instead of one long aisle down the middle with pairs of seats on either side, the seats were placed in a series of compartments.  Each compartment had six seats, three facing three others.  This made for a miserable trip.  There was no air circulation within the compartments.  We were full, all 6 seats were taken.  So I was sweating, and cramped with no way to stretch out my legs.  The seats had no recline at all, so I couldn’t sleep.  I read, really just because I needed a way to pass the time.  Fortunately, we changed trains in Roosendaal after an hour in that train.  The new train had a lot of space.  So I slept and read and generally enjoyed having 2 seats to myself.  Just like on the way out, we changed trains in Zupfelt and Hengelo.  We caught a bus from the Enschede train station because we didn’t feel like walking.  Although smelling the kebab we had gotten at the train station and not being allowed to eat it on the bus was almost as bad as walking the 30 minutes.

We got back to Smith’s place.  Ate.  He went to work.  I meant to blog, but ended up sleeping and reading instead.  He got back from work.  We ordered pizzas: mafiosa style, doner kebab style, and with chorizo.  We drank some beer, spent a lot of time online planning transportation and lodging for our upcoming adventures.