In Cologne, Briefly

I am now in Cologne.  I'm staying in an inexpensive place (US$39 for the night).  The kid who lives in this apartment is a student, I would guess.  To get to the apartment, we walked up five floors; there is no elevator.  It's about a 25 minute walk from the train station, which I need to get back to first thing in the morning to catch a 6:19 train to Frankfurt, where I change to another train that will get me to Ljubljana at 6:31 PM tomorrow.

Since it was getting dark as I arrived here, I don't have many pictures.

Cologne main station (Hauptbahnhof)

The cathedral, just outside the station.  I walked up to the top once.  There won't be time this trip.

The station in Cologne.

My ride to Cologne (before leaving Brussels).

Brussels Recap

I have now arrived in Cologne, after having been in Brussels for the past two days.  I stayed in a room in a huge, and very nice, apartment with great hosts.  My room was all the way towards the back of the apartment, so we were not in each other's way at all.  As soon as I arrived I did laundry - something I am going to need to do again tomorrow when I arrive in Ljubljana.

The view from  my room

The neighborhood where I stayed is near the Gare du Midi station at the southern end of Brussels city center, about a 15 - 20 minute walk from the center of Brussels (and also near a Metro line that goes directly to the city center, though I only used it once).  The apartment is in a nice street.  When I walked to the city center from there, I would pass through a neighborhood closer to the station that is mainly an immigrant community with lots of people from Middle Eastern and African countries.  There are lots of cafes where Arab men were sitting around talking and drinking mint tea.

Brussels has a reputation of being a dull city, but I don't find it that way at all.  To start with, the Grand Place is stunning.  It has lots of cosy little cafes and bars.  The food is okay.  I had some good, and inexpensive, Vietnamese the first night I was there.  It's not Paris but it is charming.

Grand Place, Brussels

Grand Place

Grand Place

Grand Place

Some meringues and other stuff in one of the many candy stores.

Neuhaus - the best.

A store I saw that sells just honey.

This was in one of the grubbier areas I walked through.  I think it looks like it has braces.

Grand Place.

Grand Place.

Grand Place.

Grand Place.

The Mort Subite - there is a brand of beer that takes its name from this place.

I like how, when you order coffee in Belgium, they bring you a little biscuit with it.

The Rest of the Week in London

On Wednesday, I went to visit my former next door neighbor Caroline in Kingston, Surrey.   Caroline and her family used to live next door to me in Richmond.  They moved to Kingston because with two kids they needed more space; the neighborhood in Richmond where we lived was all tiny houses.

London suburbia - some houses in Caroline's new neighborhood.

Norbiton station (near Caroline's house) waiting for the train back into London.

Early Wednesday evening after getting back into town, I went to the Tate Modern for a while.   One thing that London has in common with Washington is excellent, free museums.  I got some good pictures of London from the Tate Modern and the area around it.

This was in the Tate Modern.

From the river bank just outside the Tate Modern.

St. Paul's, from the Millennium Bridge (a.k.a the Wobbly Bridge), a pedestrian bridge that goes from the Tate Modern across the river to The City.

The Shard.

Tower Bridge off in the distance.  London Bridge is the closer bridge.

After going to the Tate Modern, I met some of my old IBM UK colleagues for drinks at the Mulberry Bush, a pub across the street from our old office at IBM Southbank.  Then we went out for a meal at Pizza Express before we all headed home.   I got the Bakerloo Line up to Marylebone and waited for the train back to Larry's house in Seer Green.

Having one more for the road while waiting for the train, Marylebone Station.

Yesterday (Thursday) I went out to Richmond, Surrey, where I used to live.  I met up with my old manager Brendan Blake and his wife Teresa.  Brendan and I took a walk up to Richmond Park and along the river.

Before heading back into London from Richmond so that I could get the train back out from London to Seer Green, I did some shopping and got the ingredients to make shrimp creole.  When I got back to Larry's house I made shrimp creole for Larry and for his girlfriend Lorraine.  It was a good think I bought frozen shrimp because it took me nearly two hours to get back there.

Right now I am sitting in a coffee shop.  I will shortly be heading to St. Pancras station to get the train, through the Channel Tunnel, to Brussels.  I will arrive in Brussels this afternoon.  I have a place booked just a short walk from the Midi train station in Brussels, which is where I arrive.  It looks like a nice place.  I'm looking forward to being in Brussels tonight.

In Seer Green

Sunday afternoon I moved out to Seer Green to stay with my friend Larry.  Larry and I used to work together in IBM in the UK from 1990-93 and we had a business venture together from 1998-2001.  Seer Green is out in the country in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, about a 25-35 minute train ride from London, depending on which train you get.

Seer Green station

Just outside the station

Seer Green 

Larry's neighborhood

Walking to the train station from the village

I've been heading into London to spend the day while staying in Seer Green.

The Bar Italia in Soho.

Another coffee place in Soho.

Lights in the entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

The former Michelin factory in South Kensington.  Now this building houses a restaurant called Bibendum, and the Conran Shop.

Last night Larry and I went to an open house night at the Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, a nearby town.  For just £5 we could buy two beer tokens and they had a barbecue too.   They the let people look around the brewery too.

Just inside the shop that they have at the entrance to the brewery.

Prices for buying beer to take home.

Part of the brewery.

Weekend in London

This past weekend, I spent a lot of time walking around London.  Here are some of the things I saw:

Neal's Yard Dairy, Covent Garden

Foyle's book store.  This used to be the most confusing book store in the world because it was organized by publisher.  The fixed the store sometime in the 1990s.  Charing Cross Road, where this store is located, is still a great place for books.

Patisserie Valerie, Old Compton Street, Soho

The teas in the shop window of Algerian Coffee Stores, Old Compton Street, Soho

Decorations still up in Regent Street

Store in Chinatown

Camden Passage market, Islington

The street where I stayed, Islington

Islington

Colorful Brazilian restaurant, Islington

In London

I was only a few hours late getting to London, after taking off during a snowstorm in New York.  I was just glad that the flight wasn't canceled.  After getting through passport control and customs,
I used Skype with the free WiFi in Heathrow to call my Airbnb host, Loic.  I let him know that I was on my way.

My first Airbnb experience is working out fine.  I'm staying in a nice area very close to central London, for not a lot of money.  I have a perfectly nice room.  I think this is a two bedroom flat, and I have one of the bedrooms.  There's only one bathroom for the whole flat but that's not been a problem.

Yesterday was a typical London winter day - sun shining one minute, raining the next minute.  When you look up at the sky during the winter here, you can see that the clouds are moving very fast, which keeps the weather changing all the time.

Last night I went to have some sushi at a conveyer belt sushi bar that I used to go to when I lived here.  It's on Brewer Street in Soho, where there are lots of other little Japanese places.  It's still good and not very expensive.

Today is a gray rainy day.  After sleeping until after 10 this morning (it was good to get some sleep), I went out and got a newspaper (sticker shock - £2.30 for The Guardian) and had some coffee.