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) and headed to the Grand Place. A hand ball game was in action. We dived into a tourist trap restaurant to do Moules or Meatballs with frites. Belgian beer was nice. Then a stroll around Brussels, grabbed a waffle/chocolate and headed back for our 16:25 train to Köln.

On way to train station we stumbled on a slightly weird play ground area with some kind of love tryst between a young man and two OAPs all while playing football. Then the kids had a great time on a fairground ride before we grabbed the rucksacks.

The train to Köln was busy. No seat reservations and we twice had to move with all our luggage. Found seats right at the back of the train which has been noted.

All pretty tired on arrival so after a quick look at the Cathedral we hopped on metro/tram and found our hostel. Clean and tidy although hot in the room. Evening stroll round local area and dinner in a bar before getting soaked in rain on way home.

Tomorrow we move again.