The Cost of Living

Just back from an early Saturday morning walk down to the local supermarket in Dover. Here’s what cost what on Saturday 27th September 2008 (All figures represent UK currency, pounds and pence).

First Cape Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, Two Bottles @ 3.99 each 7.98
Bold 2 in 1 Washing Powder One Box 950 g size 2.46
I packet of Mature English Cheddar Cheese 250 g 2.14
6 Smoked Back Bacon rashers 190 g (Two packs @ 2.50 each) 2.50 (Half Price)
6 tomatoes 1.00
A cucumber 80
A bunch of spring onions 70
Somerfields Blackcurrant and Rspberry smoothies 2 @ £1.79 each 2.50 (reduced)
Smoked Pork Sausage 1.59
6 Large Free Range Eggs 1.52
2 tins of Broad Beans @ 69 each 1.38
A jar of pimento stuffed olives (drained weight 198 g) 1.05
Seafood cocktail (mussels, prawns, squid) 200 g 2.69
Carribean King Prawns 125 g 2.10 (Half price)
Pack of 4 frozen Crispy Chicken pieces 2.46
Supermket own brand Potato Crisps (Cherry Tom & Basil flvr) 150 g 2 @ 64 each 1.28
2 packets of 2 extra large frozen fish fillets in batter @ 1.85 each 3.70
A pack of Sesame seed crispbread 86
A Matured Chorizo pizza 1.80
2 pastie slices (Chicken and Mushroom and Minced Beef and Onion) @ 1.00 each 2.00

Total bill came to forty two pounds and a penny. (And being a good boy I took my own shopping bags with me).

Now, before you ask I already have bread, potatoes, frozen chips (french fries) green tea, tea, coffee and associated dressings and oils in the larder. Oh, and some gin in the fridge with orange juice. This little lot should keep me going quite contentedly for the next week or so. And I do get my weekly exercise walking to and expecially from the shop.

I hope this is not too crashingly boring!! How does it compare to your tastes and costs?

Evening (from Home)

Haha!! And in stark contrast to the front view from the flat this is the view from my bedroom window!
No zoom on this one either. A major railway station, the station car park (but both provide me with so many of my voyeuristic shots!) and further away Elms Vale and the hills of Clarendon, Maxton and West Hougham. Is it noisy(?) you may ask. Well as regards the trains, no. You may hear a faint rumble but nothing more. You may also hear station announcements but only faintly. There is a pub just out of sight to the left which, to my dismay, was granted a 24 hour licence (one of only two in the town to get one). They have a karaoke night on a Saturday and you can still clearly hear drunken people singing at two in the morning. However, earplugs eliminate that problem and the pub could be a lot worse. It is an Irish pub and really quite a friendly and amenable place. It does have the occasional raid for drugs etc but that’s because of the area which is not exactly Utopia. Even the less posh of my two sister in laws commented to me recently after we paid a visit there that she had never seen so many women with missing teeth (presumably through fighting).

As regards convenience for someone without a car this is the perfect place for me. From home to the station, on foot, in under two minutes. Four trains an hour to London. Not to everyone’s taste but it suits TMC (and I have lived here nearly eight years as a testiment to my satisfaction).

Morning (from Home)

This is the view from the living room when I get up in the morning (and often I find that I am unable to sleep in after 6 am for some reason. But I like early mornings. I like to go out early in the morning as well when you have several of the streets to yourself. (My own road tends to be busy even at that hour because the commuters use the street to park their cars before their two hour journey on the train up to their offices, poor souls!). You can see Dover Castle, of course, and the sun is rising in the east (it would be a worry if it didn’t!!) over the Eastern Docks (appropriately enough). Of a night the castle is floodlit and the glow of the arc lights over the docks lights up the right hand side of the picture. I like this view. When I sip my coffee and eat my peanut butter on toast for breakfast I like the different moods and colours that the weather conditions force upon the view. Sometimes the castle is completely pink or yellow. At other times it is completely obscured by sea mist. Whatever, the view sold the flat to me as you can probably understand!

The Continental Overnighter (9)

The train to Calais was heavily used but I was able to get a window seat nonetheless and was frustrated in trying to get a good picture of the stationmaster at Hazebrouck. He managed to escape me! At Calais I was pleased to note that a ferry terminal bus was due within ten minutes and that P & O the ferry company were willing to change my ticket for an earlier sailing with no fuss or surcharge.
The “Pride of Calais” vessel awaited me on the 16.30 hours departure and being able to purchase two litres of Gordon’s gin for twenty quid was a real bonus!! The ferry is a gentle way to cross the channel with a real feeling of going, or returning from, abroad. The only downside is that they literally pack you into transfer buses at the port if you are a foot passenger. And I mean pack. Health and safety is completely disregarded and it feels very third world. Shame on P & O and Sea France for their appalling treatment of foot passengers at ports. Sort it out!

The picture shows the South Foreland from the ferry as we were a few minutes out from Dover.

That’s the end of the Continental Overnighter series. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did!

The Continental Overnighter (8)

From Brussels Midi I took a train which was considerably less well-appointed than the ICE but which was almost empty so I had the whole carriage to myself. This took me via Tournai to Mouscron which is on the Belgian/French border.

Changing trains at Mouscron I had to transfer to a train which was, it seemed, full of teenage kids without any adult supervision. Hence the journey into Lille (only about half an hour, thankfully) was a rowdy affair with loud music from various quarters trying to outdo one another, races down the aisles and other disturbances making the journey seem much longer than it actually was. On the approaches to Lille I noticed a gypsy encampment situated between some railway sidings and a multiplicity of motorway over and underpasses. The accommodation in caravans looked mean beyond belief and the visible occupants, including a child too large and old for the buggy they were occupying, seemed hardened and unkempt (from what I could make out at a one minute observation). Yet the male inhabitants clearly held their motor vehicles in higher esteem than their kindred because there were numerous good cars parked there, all in immaculate condition. Hmmm.

At Lille there was the opportunity for another visit to the excellent Flunch restaurant before taking the train, a double decker, to Hazebrouck. This was just a changeover point but gave an opportunity for photography when the Calais train arrived half an hour later.

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After what had been, effectively, an eleven hour journey from Dover to Cologne on the Tuesday I had determined to return somewhat more briskly on the Wednesday (although still allow plenty of time for en-route photography etc). The extremely helpful lady at the Aachen information office had told me of the ICE train from the Cologne to Brussels ay 08.44 hours. Now, for the uninitiated an ICE train is one of the German High Speed Inter-City Expresses. There is also a branded non-German train service from Cologne to Brussels called Thalys which I have used before and which charges a supplementary fare. The ICE train did not even though it is just as quick. So after my excellent breakfast I walked across to Cologne main station and tried to find a departure board so as to locate the right platform. There was no main departure “hall” with electronic departure board (not that I could find, anyway) but the German railways display numerous Abfahrt posters in yellow (departures). The first one I encountered had the letter S embossed upon it and I knew from experience that S meant S-Bahn and meant that it detailed suburban (Ruhr/Westpalia) departures ONLY – not the Inter-City. I soon found another which detailed the train promised and I made my way to Gleis 5 (platform, or track, 5). I had several minutes until my train so I took a few pictures of the nearby Hohenzollern Bridge which was comprehensively wrecked in the war but was rebuilt in agreeably traditional style. A statue at the Cologne main station end must have survived the bombing but was probably one of a pair – the other presumably succumbed to high-explosive in those grim days. A Bratwurst stall kept attracting me but as I had just eaten breakfast that would have been unforgiveable gluttony so I resisted. All seemed to be going well and then, suddenly, with five minutes to go until departure – shock, horror!! An ICE train arrived but the destination indicators on the platform flickered into life to reveal that THIS train was for Amsterdam and would be leaving four minutes after the advertised but non-existent train to Brussels. I flew downstairs to find a “live” departures indicator which still said that the train to Brussels would leave from platform 5. My brain clicked into “emergency” gear and I sussed out that perhaps the train DIVIDED with one half going to Amsterdam and the front bit going to Brussels. I sprinted up the stairs again and hurried down to the far end of the same platform to find that THAT indicator did indeed show Brussels. Relief. I had no seat reservation but the train was only moderately busy and I was much more impressed with the ICE train and its spacious and immaculate presentation rather than the Thalys which tends to be a little cramped. My only criticism is that no water came out of the wash-hand basin taps in the w.c.

The train has on-board screens n the vestibule areas showing the current speed and the general feel to the carriage interiors was restful and spotless with headrest pillows even in second class and polished wood veneers and green deflected lighting in the vestibules. Lovely! And cheaper than the Thalys. Even my fellow passengers seemed of a better class. Two men were playing chess on the table across the gangway and the guy sitting opposite me was of a nodding, smiling but agreeably non-communicative type. Nobody played their “personal” stereos loud enough to interfere with anyone else and, all in all, it was a most CIVILISED journey of a little over two hours to Brussels Midi station.

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The hotel Breslauer Hof Am Dom was a hotel booked over the internet after checking out Tripadvisor (which I always use to vet potential places to stay based on other people’s experiences). This one rated at 36th on the scale of about 275 hotels in the city. At a price in pounds sterling of between thirty and thirty five pounds for the night single room, en-suite with breakfast it was by no means expensive. Front desk service was good and the breakfast included that gorgeous Black Forest Ham (which is in effect raw smoked bacon) which is lovely, excellent coffee and other meats and cheeses and yoghurts and cereals in a spotless breakfast room.

Someone recently commented to me “oh, you’ll always get decent hotels in Germany.” A gross exageration as I pointed out to them. Three years ago after an excellent stay at a hotel in Parma, Italy, I had booked a two night stay at a three star tourist hotel in Munich. It was a place which had clearly been taken over by new owners who hoped to live on the reputation it had enjoyed in previous years without doing any of the work. The room smelt sweaty, the shower curtain was of heavy rubber and needed chucking out and the toilet was unmentionable. I rang down for some pillows for the twin beds in the room but on closer inspection of the duvet covers (don’t ask!) I spent the night in a grubby chair. Breakfast the following morning was in a sweltering room on the top floor and even the orange juice was warm. I checked out never to return.

Fortunately the Breslauer Hof Am Dom had no problems. Recommended for location and convenience.
However, remember that this establishment requires you to settle your bill in cash (the nearby cashpoints at Cologne main station has an English language option (thank goodness!).

The Continental Overnighter (5)

The departure from Aachen was on one of those double decker German trains. In England a double decker bus is the norm but a double decker train is almost unheard of, certainly nowadays. I took a comfortable seat on the top deck and watched a mixture of rural and undustrial scenery roll by. I was on the last leg of my journey, on schedule (I had e-mailed my Ruhr friend and explained that there were two options, this was the later one) and I was pleased at the imminent prospect of German beer, bratwurst and Cologne. The Dom of Cologne came into sight and upon arrival at the magnificent Cologne Main Station (which escaped the worst of the damage during the war because of its close proximity to the cathedral) my friend, Mike, met me on the platform. His first comment “You are late man!” Mike is very “to the point” and when I first met him nearly ten years ago his German bluntness came as a shock to me. I soon learnt to see beneath the surface and, do, in fact, find him magnficently dry and entertaining. I checked into the hotel which was literally a stone’s throw from the station, clean and functional. There was a smell of cigarette smoke in the room but as I had neglected to request “nicht rauchen” what could I expect? An open window soon cured that. Now we went out on the town. I was surprised and slightly peeved to note that in Cologne there is a universal brand of beer called Kolsch. It is served in glasses that contain a fifth of a litre and sells for about one euro fifty. To a person who is used to a pint this was kids stuff! And don’t try to drink any other brand of beer – it’s a closed shop. We did, however, try two or three establishments, catch up on news and generally enjoy the atmosphere of Cologne at night. The ultimate for me was to sample a bratwurst at Cologne Hauptbahnhof with fresh bread and German mustard. I love this! Only the German’s can prepare this brand of fast food so superbly. It’s lucky that I don’t live in that country otherwise I would be having one daily!

I retired to my hotel bed wondering if the central location would keep me awake. No chance. Good soundproofing and a helpful dose of alcohol ensure that I was out like a light…….

The Continental Overnighter (4)

Liege Guillemins station is a busy place. Upon arrival I walked up onto the footbridge and was immediately engulfed by a swarm of people en-route from one platform to another to make a connection. My connection didn’t go for a while so it was possible to admire the modernisation of this station that was still very much under way. The architecturural style adopted reminded me of the road bridge over the river just outside the station; lots of straight vertical and horizontal lines. By this time of the journey I was feeling peckish again so called in at a food outlet and the station where I enjoyed a hot panini containing mozarella cheese and tomato and some delicious seasoning. Taking photographs of the railwaymen is always entertaining for me and sometimes something of a challenge. There were opportunities here and I took advantage of them.

Eventually it was time for my connection for Aachen to leave and I boarded a crowded train at half past five. An old-ish red electric train that are nicknamed “cherries” with upright seats very definitely utilitarian in style. But the “cherry” was nifty and this was my train for the most scenic part of the journey through the forests and crags of the Ardennes region. We called en-route at a pleasantly canopied station called Pepinster and I made a mental note to return to this region at some stage. The passenger numbers thinned out and eventually I was the sole occupant of the carriage apart from what appeared to be some hooded “ghetto bros”! I remember thinking that it would be extraordinary to be mugged at this stage of this long journey. My momentary fears were turned to ridicule of myself a few seconds later when one of the “bros” got out his laptop and started doing a spreadsheet. Just goes to show that one should never judge by appearances. (I did not choose to consider whether the spreadsheet may have featured “Heists for the month of September 2008″ hahaha!!!). The train arrived at Aachen and, after France and Belgium I was now in Germany. Keen to establish a quicker way of returning the next day I went down to the clean and functional information desk which had five counters open even at seven in the evening! With typical brisk German efficiency they gave me a printout of options to return by the next day. I was now almost at my destination…..

The Continental Overnighter (3)

When my train rumbled into Ghent St. Pieters railway station I was pleased to have the opportunity of a few minutes here before my connection. I stayed in Ghent for nearly a week over ten years ago and was very impressed by the place. Although it lacks the immediate appeal of Bruges because it is much larger and there are tower blocks on the horizon it has a fascinating historic centre with canals and a river and wonderful, wonderful architecture. All this nicely weaved together by a tramway network operated by De Lijn which is the well-integrated national local transport company.

It is a student city and, as such, has a vibrant atmosphere. Bruges on the other hand has much more of a “chocolate box” – for the tourist – kind of appeal although it would be madness to miss it.

My only concern on this visit to Ghent was that workers seemed to be carving out an enormous cavern next to the railway station. This was on such a large scale that I felt sorry for the occupants of the old buildings on the edge of this crater.

Sadly, my time only allowed me to take a breather outside of the station and take a few pictures before returning to the platform and taking the Eupen bound Inter City express to Liege Guillemins.
This train was long and spacious and, although busy, there was plenty of room for everyone. East of Brussels a new high speed line allows the train to run parallel to the motorway and there is something very satisfying about eclipsing the speed of high performance vehicles running alongside you. Eventually the train slowed down and an onslaught of graffiti tags indicated arrival at Liege.