TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT !

Take the train and not your car !

I rarely take public transports, but sometimes it's better especially when you are going to a town where you are sure that you have to drive around for hours to find a parking place.

I wanted to go to Antwerp to take some pictures and also go to the Zoo. I wanted to see how my ancestors looked like. Together with a friend we took the train at Waterloo Station to go to Brussels South and there take a direct train to Antwerp. When we arrived at the platform a train just arrived. My friend ran and jumped in. What should I do, I followed her and did the same. In the train I asked "Are you sure that this train goes to Brussels South" and she answered, of course, all trains are going there.

Suddenly I realized that we were in a tunnel, but on the way to Brussels South there was no tunnel. I told her. She looked at me in horror and said "I think we are in the wrong train" That really was a discovery because when she asked the lady sitting besides us she just confirmed. We were on the way to another town, far away from South Station and far away from Antwerp too. So at the next stop we jumped out and looked for a train to South Station.

We looked at the timetable and yes, there were even two, one in 5 and one in 10 min. We ran over to the right platform and I sat down to wait for the train. My friend instead saw a train standing there and was convinced that it was already the right one, she hurried over to ask and just when she arrived the train started to move and was gone. Now she got really nervous and thought we would never arrive. But the right train arrived and we finally got to the South Station.

Again we looked at the timetable to see at what time the train arrived for Antwerp and also which platform. It was n° 19 and in 7 min. We sprinted over to n° 19 and arrived breathless just 5 min before the departure. The train was not yet there. Suddenly a voice from the loudspeaker informed us that the platform n° had changed and the train would arrive at n° 21. We ran again, down steps, up steps to the right platform. The train wasn't there. We gathered our spirits and waited anxiously for it's arrival. Suddenly the loudspeaker told us that they were sorry but we should please go to platform n° 19 ! Ready for a nervous breakdown we jumped down and up the steps and arrived again at n°19 where we had been at the very beginning. Now it was really time for the train and suddenly we saw it coming but not on our platform 19 but on platform 21 ! That was new. So far we had twice 19 and once 20 and now 21. As sportif as two snails we quickly ran over to platform 21 and had just time to jump in the last wagon.

We both looked as if we had climbed on the Mount Everest. When I got my breath back I noticed that I badly had to go to the restroom and before settling down for good I looked around. Fortunately there was one just behind me. Sighing with relief I opened the door and .... the train driver was sitting there not on a toilet but on his seat in the driving cabine !

But there is a happy end ! We arrived finally in Antwerp only half an hour late and there we only took twice a wrong tramway ! And last but not least could admire my ancestor