It is kind of weird, that 20 minutes that you're inside the channel tunnel. It's best not to think about the fact that you're actually under the sea. I busied myself with my ipod and the time flew by, along with the countryside. One thing I did discover is, if you try to look at things close to the tracks when you're travelling that fast, it makes you feel travel sick quite quickly. It's best to focus on the wider landscape.
There was a little less legroom that I was anticipating, but it's still a damned sight better than travelling by budget airline (boooo...). You don't have to worry about how big your bag is or how much your suitcase weighs. As long as you can lift it onto the train, that's pretty much it. It's very civilised really.
It only takes about 2 1/2 hours for the entire journey too. If we'd flown, we'd have wasted nearly that long being at a bloody airport ridiculously early. Plus you have the added bonus of trains ending up IN the city you want to go to, rather than 20 miles or more outside, which many airports are.
Our Eurostar tickets also gave us free onward travel to any station in Belgium, so when we arrived in Brussels, we hopped onto another train to Antwerp. It was only a local train, that stopped at pretty much every station, but hell, the Belgians know how to do public transport! I initially thought we'd got into a 1st class carriage. The seats were big and comfy. Awesome. The ride is noticeably smoother on the continent too. No bumping around or squealing rails in Belgium, hell no.
Antwerp central station - not too shabby.
Our hotel in Antwerp was literally across the street from the train station. Really nice spacious, comfy room. Schweeet! It was already late afternoon/early evening by the time we got checked in, so no time to wander around the city straight away.
After some faffing around we found a very nice woman who helped us make sure we got on the right bus for the venue, Trix. She was just the first of a whole host of super-friendly, English speaking people who made our trip so much easier and stress-free. We got on a VERY crowded bus and headed off into the night (without paying).
After about 10 minutes, she realised that we'd gone past our stop - not her fault, the bus just didn't stop there. D'oh! So we had to get off at the next stop and walk back the way we'd come to find the venue, Trix. It wasn't the nicest area I've ever had to walk through in the dark. It was pretty dodgy looking, so we kept our heads down and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. We got a little disorientated, so I stopped a couple of guys to ask them directions. It turned out they were heading to the show as well, so we walked with them. More nice people! So far, me likey Belgium and Belgians.
When we arrived at Trix we could hear the guys sound-checking inside. They'd got caught in traffic and had arrived later than expected. The doors opened and there was quite a queue to get in, which is always a good sign. We got to the entrance and told them we were on the guest list, which confused them slightly, as they hadn't been given the list. The guy let us in because "You're the first people to ask, and you're English, so it must be true." Ha!
Just after we got in, Ken rushed over with the guest list, looking flustered and busy. :-)
The place filled up nicely and there was quite a buzz in the air. I tried to buy a couple of drinks, after queueing at the bar for a few minutes. Only then was I told I had to join ANOTHER queue to buy drinks tokens. WTF! Apparently, that's how they do things in Belgium. You can't pay for your drinks at the bar, you have to buy tokens in advance, then hand them over at the bar. A token is 2 euros. One token = one drink, which is great if you want a beer. It's a pretty bloody expensive way of buying a glass of water though, as I discovered. Yikes!
A great set followed.
After the show Jon and Ken were positively mobbed by people clamouring to buy the new cd. It seemed to take forever before we even got a chance to say hello. We had a quick chat with the boys, met a lovely new friend, Martine and then called it a night as we weren't sure what time the buses and trams stopped running. When we got to the nearest bus/tram stop it looked like it had shut down for the night already, so we started walking back towards town. It was rubbish night and all the streets were piled high with stinky unspeakables. We got about a third of the way, when we saw a bus, so hopped on it back to town. It was way too far to walk that late at night and after such a long day of travelling. We were knackered. Despite being very tired and the comfortable room, I barely slept a wink.
Next morning, we had a little time to kill, so we wandered around the town for a couple of hours, took a few photos and found a supermarket to stock up on essentials, like orange juice, fruit and water. Then we packed up and checked out to catch our train back to Brussels for the next gig.
Photos from Antwerp
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