,
Tunnelling towards destinations unknown.
Or was that on the wrong track to somewhere or perhaps
nowhere on an unplanned journey of the completely unexpected kind? Veering off the beaten track was not exactly
what Travel Bud and I had signed up for on our last morning in Brussels en
route to Amsterdam, our meticulously planned itinerary abruptly jolted off the
rails.
Our well-laid plans had us arriving in the outskirts of the
outskirts of Overveen by mid-afternoon, allowing us plenty of time in which to
settle on in, meander and explore for the remainder of the day. But alas, woe was us, for the Mischievous
Gremlins of Travel Disaster had an entirely different sort of agenda waiting in
the wings, gleefully concocting behind the scene machinations to deliberately
slip and trip us on up. After all, what
could be more entertaining than tricking the Clueless Duo into mistakenly boarding
the wrong train, forcing us to disembark at the next stop and whittle the
afternoon away in what appeared to be a long forgotten railway station?
Somewhere. Or nowhere. Abandoned or what? |
Let the games – or better yet – The. Drama.
Begin.
“PRESS THE
BUTTON! PRESS THE BUTTON! WE’RE ON THE WRONG TRAIN!!”
A screech like none other could be heard for miles on end,
ear-shattering decibels of panic and dread guaranteed to wake the dead. The startled look of bewilderment on the
visages of puzzled rush-hour commuters paled in comparison to the image of one pink
sneaker clad ol’ Auntie frantically pounding on the carriage door, knuckles
close to raw and bleeding while her ever so ingenious companion was about to
take drastic measures and pull the Emergency Stop…
What followed next was quite the comedic display of arms a
flailing, luggage a tumbling and feet a tripping, as we free fell our way out
the exit door, landing flat, splat and drop on the concrete floor. So engrossed were we with our non-stop
squabbling and causing quite the ruckus that we failed to hear the conductor’s
shrill announcing the upcoming stop. Ouch! Splat!
An elegant exit this was not!
Now what? Where? Were?
We?
Appears to be a train station. After all, that was the next stop and where
we jumped out.
Empty. Deserted. Abandoned.
No hustle. No bustle. Eerily silent. Do I sense a pattern here?
Yikes! Looking a tad deserted. |
Yikes! It's gonna be a long wait! |
Where are the hordes of stampeding commuters schlepping
cartloads of luggage on a marathon sprint to catch the next train? And, speaking of trains, when is the next one
scheduled to arrive? After all, we’ve a
connection to catch. Check-in at our
guesthouse is at 3:00 o’clock sharp and we were warned to not be tardy.
Stranded in the middle of what appears to be somewhere but
most likely nowhere or just about anywhere, Travel Bud and I were beyond
perplexed, to say the least.
“I’ll stay here and
mind the bags. You go see if you can
find Information and glean insight as to when the next train is scheduled to
leave.”
And off I scampered.
Up the stairs and around the corner I raced, huffing and puffing my way
towards the Information Desk, confident that we would be back on track within
the next half hour or so. Or so I
foolishly thought.
A train station with no Information Kiosk? Or Help Desk?
Ticket booth? Coffee shop? Surely there must be a Gift Shop hawking
tacky ol’ key chains and over-priced souvenirs?
Nothing. Nada. Zero.
Zilch.
You’re kidding, right?
Nope.
Running around in circles, sprinting up and down the barren
hallway, it suddenly occurred to me to search for the exit doors, perhaps the
Information Desk is conveniently located outside the entrance to mysterious
station.
What are the chances?
A light-bulb moment of somewhat foggy clarity. Or not.
Perhaps there’s a taxi stand where we could hail a cab back
to Bruxelles-Midi?
Or, better yet, what about the bus? Cheap, cheerful and not that convenient!
If all else fails, how long do you think it would take to
walk?
Schlepping cumbersome baggage in tow?
There goes a better part of the day. Or two.
Better make that three.
You’re kidding, right?
Well, to make a long story short and not bore you, Dear Reader,
with mundane details of the unexplainable kind, we eventually ran into a maintenance
man, who informed us of the drill.
Appears that the abandoned
train station was only operational during the morning and evening rush hours,
with just a handful of local commuter trains arriving and departing from the Brussel Congres stop. At all other
times of the day, you’re darn out of luck!
What can I say? It's a bit of a long wait.... |
And guess what time we eventually caught the next train
out?
You guessed it. Dinnertime!
Just another setback in the globetrotting life of cuckoo ol’
Auntie Nora and Sidekick Oz. Nothing
like a hitch of a glitch to catch us off guard, trip us on up and derail us for
the remainder of the day.
As for those mischievous Gremlins of Travel Disaster?
It goes without saying that they were rolling in the aisles,
choking on fits of impish laughter and high-fiving one other over the day’s
immensely successful shenanigans of the annoyingly disruptive kind.
Just another day in the life of Disruptive Travel
Gremlins determined to trip up yet another sojourner on the go....
The derailment continues….
Come ride the rails with the Clueless Duo
as we inadvertently encounter twists and turns, roadblocks and derailments as
we journey from Belgium to the Netherlands.
What are the odds that we will be able to escape the behind the scene machinations of
the annoyingly disruptive kind - courtesy, of course, of the Gremlins of Travel
Disaster? Stay tuned!!
Next blog – In three weeks!! Wednesday, June 15th!!
0
comments