Day 2: London to Royal Leamington Spa

hmmm looks just a bit sus

three of my favorite buildings in one view: The Standard hotel, the top of the total alien looking BT tower/ Post Office Tower, and St Pancras Station.

 Had a few hrs left before i had to catch my train. Not enough to really do something, and too long to do nothing. I noticed there was a market near Marylebone station, so decided to make a walk. 


Navigated myself through the morning rush of mostly (Dutch) tourists, didnt even have to check which way to go, and got on the wrong subway :-D (on the right platform though!) 
Not a big problem though, and i got off at Edgeware road, a totally untouristic area. Lots of little shops and restaurants from all over the world, most still closed, and the depressing market, made the walk not really a big succes. Regrets, off to the station asap. 
Sometimes bands say the hardest part of being on the road is sitting around and doing nothing.
I kinda feel that. Sitting and waiting at trainstations (no complaint though, no, im super happy to be sitting and waiting at trainstations, this wasnt going to be a touristic trip anyway)
Feeling totally lousy by now. Horrible headache that also kept me awake all night, nauseaus, annoying belly pain. WELL GEE. First Long Ryders tour in 3,5 years and im having my periods!!! 
I knew it was coming though and ive been drinking gingershots and gingertea ever since i got on the train in Belgium so Im ok. Also painkillers available in every shop and very cheap. Did i really have to mention? oh yeah im not gonna suffer through this in silence haha.
Train ran on time, and was so comfortable!

The UK has bicycle racks RIGHT next to your train at the platforms! 

but look how cute, polite
 and hungry the birds look

i love staring at the window when im train traveling, I saw the Trellick Tower from a far distance, made my heart pound fast, also we passed Wembley Stadion.
Passed lots of cute towns with houses on hills, saw a deer along the track, and many many endless green hills with fields, partly in the Chiltern Hills.
As always im amazed by how polite the UK traintravelers are compared to Belgium or the Netherlands :-D 
1,5 hrs later we arrived in Leamington. Im back!! 
I know you wanna know: the stations bathrooms are the cleanest trainstation bathrooms I EVER saw. 

Way too early to check in, I walked into town towards the restaurant i found on Google. Leamington is really a very nice town. The Parade where all the bigger shops are has long rows of beautiful white Regency architecture.
I never heard of Boston Tea Party before but i had a wonderfull lunch, avocado, salmon and scrambled eggs on toast. Staff was very friendly too. I recommend!

Back to the hotel to check in, and chill for the rest of the day untill its time to go to the concert.

Day 1: Hasselt to London

Finally, after months of preparation, today is the day, the Long Ryders and Fogerty trip started! Been having quiet a dose of pre-travel anxiety (I didnt know it has a name, nor that im not the only one) Robert put me on the train to Brussels and i had to fight my tears untill i was alone, cried the first 10 minutes, silently sobbing in my seat, thank god no one else around!
But, as soon as i walked up that platform in Brussels, i had the biggest insanest grin on my face. Ready for the fun!
After a somewhat uncomforable Eurostar trip (serious, your avarage local train has better seats) I fell out of the train feeling a bit stiff, looked up the location of my hotel and walked out. Deliberately took the exit that gives a full nice view on the superb Standard Hotel

(pictures i took in January)

The streets around St Pancras and Kings Cross where buzzing. Lots of people on their way to fun destinations of all kind, and the weather was great. I tried to check in at the wrong hotel (pro tip: doesnt work) but now im all cosy and settled in my micro room in the Hub By Premier Inn.
Very clever room. Maybe a bit small for two.
All the party people on the streets inspired me to go for a walk. Not having a plan in particular i just walked up the road for a bit, and then turned around. Bought some snacks, and when i got back i found out that i was just a few hunderd meters away from the Long Ryders rehearal space! London is as big as the whole of Belgium... go figure. Glad i didnt run into them to be honest :-D 

Regents Canal with boats, forever a favorite sight

 The perfect moment to restart my blog.

After the spontanious decision to go see the Jayhawks 250kms from here "because we can" (this is related to my 2020 Corona Easter depression) we had to buy tickets by the almighty pain in the ass that is known as TicketMaster.
Robert couldnt log in on his account, tried to get a new password but they never sent him one, so i made an account and bought tickets. So far so good.
The tickets are on my laptop.
I tried to send them to Robert to have them print, failed. I tried to hook up my laptop to Roberts printer and print them, failed. I downloaded the app to show the tickets on my phone: failed: cant log in. 
Finally Robert was able to print a printscreen from my laptop. We have the QR codes and in any other situation i would be sure its ok, but TICKETMASTER, so. 
I want to take my laptop with me with the tickets, Robert says no.
The headache that has taken over is pretty astronomic by now.

Robert is so sure of himself and his print that he just said "Its a 3 day weekend. If they dont let us in, we'll drive to Sweden"
AHA!
there goes my headache. 
The man is serious.
We just fine tuned our backup plan. 
If we cant get in, we'll drive to Malmö, and have a cup of coffee at the famous Folk a Rock 😁

Im going to pack clean underwear and my toothbrush, looking forward to what the day is gonna bring, either Hengelo or Malmö.

And if THAT isnt the biggest ef you to my 2020 corona Easter depression, nothing is 💙💛💙

(if you keep reading older posts from here, good luck to you)