A LITTLE LUXURY TO START

Near the English Channel on the EuroStar

I begin my Camino on Sunday.  But  I did treat myself with a little luxury to start with.  I used frequent flyer points to fly first class to London.  And it was worth every point ...almost like having a private room.  It was a daytime flight, and that helped with the time adjustment.  After an overnight in London I took the Eurostar - premier class - to Brussels. The train station -St Pancras is a destination itself.  A real hub of activity, shops and restaurants, not at all like the British rail stations I remember in 70's and 80's. Then there is the train- assigned seats,'wireless connection,

Premier Class - single seat with table

and food service at your seat....with a tray table.  A quiet SMOOTH RIDING TRAIN. A light lunch was served that included  a rice and dried apricot salad with a mint dressing, generous servings of a stilton and a cheddar cheese, a small green salad and a strawberry flavored mouse. And wine as well as coffee or tea were available.  I booked my tickets through RailEurope.com, lots of good information and accurate schedules.








Nephew Ioannis was waiting for me at the Brussels Midi station. I Spent a wonderful evening at his home meeting his wife and
children.
On Thursday I met  Ioannis at his office and a colleague of his - Dirk - joined us for lunch.  Dirk walked the Camino in 2010.  BUT he started his journey here in Brussels then to Namour and then through France, Lourdes and on to Santiago. He walked about twice the distance I hope to achieve in 100 days.  I plan to follow Dirk's good advise, "Don't rush, no deadlines."

Today I went to the Magritte exhibit at the Beaux Arts Museum. Search out this title on the internet It will be in my thoughts as I walk.  LE MODELE ROUGE.
 Buen Camino!