And off...

Day 1: London to Cologne

3 trains: Streatham - St Pancras; St Pancras - Brussels; Brussels to Cologne. Approx 540 Km or 325 Miles

I stayed with my sister for my last night in London before setting off. I'd packed up everything in my flat so staying with her was much easier. Her partner cooked us a lovely breakfast and then she came with me to St Pancras to see me off. Three trains, all on time, so a very good start to the trip!

I had several hours to wait in a sweltering hot  Brussels station. My blip is of an enormous picture of Tintin on the wall of the station. There was a very visible security presence at the station with lots of armed police (or maybe army, I couldn't tell) walking around. Not surprising given what happened here just a few months ago. You can just see their vehicles parked outside on the left of the photo.

I arrived in Cologne around 8.15pm and my friend Alex met me. It's quite appropriate that I'm starting a big trip by visiting her. We met in a youth hostel in Quebec many years ago when I was on another trip.