Up, packed, supermarket shop, breakfast, metro and away from Cologne on the 9:25. Don't remember us being this sprightly last time round. More nimble movement meant we sat all the way to Berlin, 4.5 hrs. Kids very well behaved. Backpacks in a locker and a walking tour of the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and the park. 1st sulker storming off. Found a playground with a zip wire so peace broke out, temporarily. Great dinner of meat and beer. Then to the night train...

Day 1 of the trip and we got back into the swing of it. 4 of us made it peacefully, strolling to the tube station just before 7am. The other one arrived sweating in an Uber due to a not lost purse. Arrived at St Pancras International with plenty of time to spare, which was lucky due to queues at passport control. We departed on the Eurostar at 09:01 and our adventure began. 1st stop was Brussels arriving at 12:05. We found a bag drop place (back of a restaurant)...