When we got to Pool Valley, where the coach was to pick us up, we met fellow travelers. The instructions about exactly where in Pool Valley the coach would stop were unclear, so we all raced around looking for a likely bus stop. When the coach arrived, we were flushed with running around and we had gotten to know each other a little.
We drove a couple of hours to the Chunnel, where the coach drove into an enormous train car - the largest ones in the world, according to Wiki. The train car held our coach and two cars, one in front, one behind, with similar cars stretching in either direction. This was taken from the back window of the bus.
We were able to get out of the coach for the 35 minute (25 mile) trip from Dover to Calais. It was crowded. with only a couple of feet on either side of the bus. It was such a weird experience because you couldn't tell you were moving very very fast. The windows were black outside, so no visual suggestion of speed and because we were inside another vehicle the only motion was a slight rocking underfoot. It was very quiet.
Once in Bruges, they dropped us off outside the main center of town around noon, telling us they'd meet us back there in 5 hours. We crossed a canal into a small park called Minnewater Park. I felt right at home - Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnehaha, Minnewaska etc.
Bruges Part II is next.
1 comment:
The trip sounds like it was half the adventure: the early start, the uncertain bus stop, the dreamland of the chunnel, even Minnewaters which looks it could be in MN.
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