16 Years Old Yesterday

It was a spontaneous idea on Friday night - why don't we go for an overnight to London during the weekend.

So, early yesterday morning (at 3 am!) we set off to Calais for the EuroTunnel. Being early, everybody fast asleep in the car, and the road very quiet, it was an easy drive taking 3 hours to cover about 340 km of road from Holland to the France side of the Eurotunnel. The only hitch was the light fog which covered most of Belgium and forced us to drive around 90 to 100 km/hr.

Apparently for the EuroTunnel, if one were to go overnight, the one way ticket price for the car and whole passengers is only 30 Euros, far cheaper than the 180 to 240 we normally paid for a couple of days or for a week stay. The return leg is 37 Euros. But these apply only for an overnight trip. We were wondering why such a vast difference in cost.

We had a stopover at Maidstone Service station at around 8 am UK time, just as it was sunrising, to see our car really blackened by thick grime of salt and dirts during the drive. It was quite cold as well, up to minus 12 Deg. C in Belgium with flurry of snow now and then. At 9 am we were already at Paddington, just in time for breakfast at Bonda Cafe. Surprisingly London was also cold, at minus 3 Deg. C.

Yesterday, our 'little' cherish one turned 16. So the trip to London. Teens nowadays are into this AberCrombie & Fitch line which is catching up fast with teenagers. The only shop in UK is at Burlington Gardens along Regent Street. From outside the building looks like an office, but once you walk inside it has 3 floors of shops, enough to make teenagers smile.