Travelling Fletchers

We travelled first class on Friday – all our Interrail is first class – which meant we could go Eurostar Plus. The perks were a meal onboard and extra space. For those of you who haven’t eaten onboard Eurostar before, it’s not like airline food and is far nicer. The glass is real to start with, not plastic. And nothing is covered in crazy foil.

The train was a smooth ride, though quite a bit in the dark which could only mean one thing – the Channel Tunnel.

After a quick stop in Lille – only half an hour from Brussels. We arrived in Brussels to find our sleeper train and took a quick photo.

This was the only time we will travel second class as we wanted all four of us to be together overnight. The carriage looked like something out of the Harry Potter films – just in blue.

Four of us fit rather cosily in the compartment and I’m glad we took the advice about not bringing suitcases – they would never have fit under the couches.

Making up the beds was interesting. The seats convert into beds but are a bit like Velcro – everything sticks where it lands and moving anything is a workout. Getting into the sleeping bags was its own comedy. They’re like cotton sheets sewn together. The only way I managed was to sit on the side of the bed, climb in, and wriggle up as much as possible. At that point, I’d become a mermaid – one tail instead of two legs. Then I found I’d wriggled too far down and couldn’t stretch my legs out fully. If I needed rocking to sleep, the train certainly provided it.

We arrived in Berlin at 6 am – far too early for the city to be awake. We’d already been to two cafés before 9 am. This gave us the perfect chance to visit Checkpoint Charlie and see some sections of the Berlin Wall before the crowds.

We went into the museum there – once in the space between East and West Germany. We read story after story of people escaping, or trying to escape, from the DDR side to the West. Some hid in false panels in cars after the engine had been moved to make space. Others studied aviation so they could build aircraft engines and attempt escapes by air. Two families even tried hot air balloons – the first attempts were shot down, but a second balloon succeeded. Some hid in old stereo units. Others dug tunnels. Tunnel 57 was dug from West to the East!

One account was from a man who escaped when he was just seven. To him, it was exciting – not only riding in a car but hiding next to the engine. His father was more nervous, worried his son might scream from excitement. He spent the whole journey with his hand over his son’s mouth. The most chilling part was realising, after a quick calculation, that this boy is only five years older than me. Sobering – and it brought the whole history closer to home.

Moving on we walked through the Brandenburg Gate after passing the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Not sure if it’s impressive or oppressive – but certainly something that should never be forgotten.