European Adventures: The Train

Our journey continued as we boarded the Eurostar from London St. Pancreas station. It’s always a little stressful traveling somewhere new, and using a new form of transportation. Pack on top of that, two children, lots of luggage… needless to say we were far from our comfort zone but we managed just fine. The information desk was able to switch our seats so that we’d be sitting next to one another as when we completed the booking, the available seats were all spread out. 
We’d exchanged our dollars for pounds and euros at LAX before we took off so while we waited for the train, we snagged snacks from the shop.
I’ll tell you this, Europe loves some sandwiches. All kinds, it was great (well for me who likes a sandwich) not so great for JT who isn’t a big fan. Nevertheless, he decided on and ate a BLT.
These kids must have had more hot chocolate on this trip than ever before. It was either cocoa, apple juice or orange juice as apparently it’s crazy to gulp down ice water! 

Our first train ride was well and smooth. It takes you under the ocean through a tunnel so our ears kept popping. As we came up on the French side, I couldn’t help staring at the countryside from my window. I literally had to remove the iDevice from my child’s hand and force him to take in scenes from another place! Ah I have a love/hate with iPods for kids. 
The trains do not charge you for nor do they check you luggage. Some people (us) had several large bags but some carried only a small bag. Larger pieces are stored between cars, you load it on and off yourself. Above each seat is an overhead storage bin for carry-on sized luggage, a second and slightly smaller bin for backpacks or coats. Then you have a coat hanger and storage at your feet as well. 
I pulled out a book and settled in for a 2 1/2 hour train ride. Mr. B dozed, I dozed, HeaBug set up a show on the ipad then fell asleep in front of it. The moment we got comfortable, we had arrived at the Brussels-Midi train station. 
Our Belgian experience was whack. Seriously, (brace for a few complaints) it was incredibly cold at the station. The next train we were to catch was the Thalys so we tried as best as we could to follow the signs but it led us to an area that seemed super shady. We gathered all of our things together and I took a seat with our luggage and kids while Mr. B went to see where our next platform was and as we had a two hour wait, if the train was in actually coming. Our biggest fear being that we would miss it. As I sat there with my best, “Do not mess with me” face…. mainly for the guys drinking wine from tiny bottles and listening to old school turkish tunes on his cell phone… Even JT was a little disturbed and didn’t want to let go of the suitcase for fear someone might snatch him.
Here’s my little disclaimer: I want my kids to be perfectly capable and independent. I also want them to have their ghetto sense on (If I have to explain that to you, you don’t have it). We try to teach them to be aware and observant in their surroundings and as adventurous as I’d like them to end up being... a small dose of unreasonable fear is important. Plus I’ve seen TAKEN too many times. 
In his exploration, Mr. B discovered that you must pay to use the toilets. He found another waiting area that had more people (we’d prefer more company than the drunk guys) and a little shopping area. As soon as we crossed the platform into a more populated section I immediately felt a little more comfortable. I saw the Thalys information desk (where Mr. B asked every few minutes when we should board, double checking the platform, where should we board) so we took the opportunity to buy some chocolates, waffles and hot cocoa. HeaBug and JT were watching Princess and the Frog on the ipad while we waited. A little girl (younger than Hea) started watching too. 
Thankfully my sweet kiddos shared happily and the whole of the waiting room watched and giggled as HeaBug and a little French girl talked animatedly about Tiana and Naveen in two different languages, neither one missing a beat.
As Mr. B had been repeatedly assured was right, we went up to our assigned platform 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure only to find it nearly deserted. I asked an attendant where we board and smug face #1 turned to smug face #2 who turned to smug face #3 who says, “It zeems zat yoo are running very late are yoo not?”… Um yeah, dumb punk Thalys information desk guy. 
We had to board right there and drag all of our (big, bulky and heavy) luggage through 2 first class cars, 1 snack car, and 4 comfort class cars before we came upon our seats. 
Ugh.
That was challenging. 
The ride was smooth. We ended up leaving parts of our luggage in between some of the cars we passed through. At each stop, Mr. B would go down and retrieve a piece and bring it closer. When we pulled in to Amsterdam Centraal Station he had to run down a few cars to gather the last of the bags. 
But we’d made it. A short taxi ride later, we pulled up to the Hotel Okura 
which would be our home for the next 7 days.