Destination Valkenburg

Unusually this holiday started with me going to work. It had been organised by my union, so the coach was waiting for us outside the front door of the main office. I’ve been on several of these long weekends, visiting some of Europe’s Christmas markets. Last year it was Bonn, the year before it was Brussels. I’m not so interested in the markets but just like the opportunity to get away with friends and colleagues.

We clamber onboard our rather impressive split level coach. The bottom level has already been taken over by our rep and her family. Mind you they will be sitting very close to the loo, not something I would really want to do! We head up the very narrow staircase to the upper floor. The coach is only half full, so we have all spread ourselves around. If I wanted to I could have a whole seat to myself, but I don’t think my friend would be too impressed with that! Still it gives us plenty of room to spread out stuff around in.

Finally we discover where the locals are hiding. There’s a good selection of pubs and clubs in full flow and this seems to be spilling out into the street now.

The only problem with trips like this is the excessive amount of travelling. I can’t say I really enjoy it. However we spend plenty of time chatting and catching up with each other’s news as well as wondering about the coach driver’s rather unusual choice of route. Another tradition of these trips is the quiz organised by one of our fellow travellers. This always keeps us entertained although it does give me a bit of a problem, I always feel sick if I try reading in a car or coach. To get around this my friend tries to read out the questions, but inevitably I end up sneaking peeks and then regretting it. Today’s puzzle is a series of cryptic clues to towns and cities within Britain, for example “nothing consumed” translates into Nuneaton. Some of them come really easily, some are extremely irritating! It certainly keeps us going for the main haul down to the M25 services, Clackett’s Lane.

We stop for a brief break and I spend most of it queuing up at a Costa Coffee kiosk. I had thought initially that the queue was quite short, but I hadn’t banked on our union reps buying drinks for all their favourites. This takes about 15 minutes as they order coffee after coffee. When I do eventually get our drinks I can’t find my friend. I wander around the building several times before stashing the drinks so that I could get some money out of a nearby cash machine. After that I head back to the coach, hoping that she has had the same idea. I’m welcomed back with “Where have you been?”. She was just working herself up into a good panic! Still it briefly took her mind off worrying about her kids, brother and dog.

I should explain that my friend had just been given her first mobile phone. She had been resisting it for sometime and normally leaves all worries behind when we travel, because there is nothing she can do. However now she has the phone, her worries can come with her. Will her brother arrive in time? Will her daughter leave in time? Does her daughter have any money for today? Will someone walk the dog? Now all of these worries can be expressed by text message. However this brings more worries. Have they got the message? Why haven’t they responded? How do I type a question mark? Bearing in mind we haven’t left the country yet I may be forced to confiscate the blessed thing or I’ll never get any peace.

Our stay at the services was very brief. This was to give us plenty of time to reach the docks at Dover. What I had avoided telling my companion (in case it worried her!) was that there were problems with freight travel to Calais. I’d heard this on the news before leaving home this morning and now our driver confirmed it. Operation “Stack” was in full swing with lorries being parked along the M20. This meant that we had to find a different route into Dover, avoiding any motorways. We were going to be pretty lucky to get there an hour before our 1pm sailing.

In fact the rest of the journey is quite quick and we arrive at 12:45pm. Not only that but we have made it in time to join our ferry, because it is running late itself. In fact it is closer to 1:30 before we get onboard. At this point my friend informs me that she had watched the documentary the other night about the Zebrugge ferry disaster!

In despair I asked “Why would anyone about to travel on a ferry watch a program like that?”

“Well I was hoping it would have tips on how to survive a similar situation.”

“And did it?” I asked.

“No not really”.

In the end we were more or less the last vehicle on the ship and we saw the doors begin to close behind up. So fairly safe in the knowledge that the bow doors were closed, we headed up to the restaurant and what was supposed to be a fairly bumpy crossing. Luckily I had learnt my lesson from our cruise earlier in the year and I had already taken my motion sickness tablets. Nothing was coming between me and my dinner!

We join a rather long queue for the self service restaurant. However we’ve been here before and know that it’s going to get much, much longer. The last time we went by ferry the food had been excellent and we had avoided all of the queues by going for a curry. This time we don’t have that choice but it’s not bad. My chicken and chips looks a bit like school dinners, but my friend’s steak is sublime. This is because it is freshly cooked for her and brought to our table by a waiter.

After dinner we do a bit of exploration. We also go for a wander on the deck, which is surprisingly pleasant. Presumably because this is the back of the ship and we are protected from wind by glazed buffers. We watch masses of black backed gulls and a few gannets tumble from the dark forbidding sky into the boiling white wake behind us.

We make really good time across the Channel as we are on one of Sea France’s newest ferries, the Rodin, which only takes an hour to make the trip. Unfortunately with the rough seas and problems at Calais, we end up waiting outside the port for another half hour. I’m used to the idea of planes being stacked, not ships. We spend the next half an hour rolling in the swell of the sea.

Eventually we clamber back onto the coach and head off into France. Now we are running late. We had been scheduled to arrive in Valkenburg at 7pm in time for dinner at 8pm. Now it looks like 9pm will be closer and that depends on how clear the roads are. To make up some time we only make one stop to fill up on fuel. This gives everyone 10 minutes to raid the adjacent shop. I manage to get a quick coffee from one of the vending machines and a few rather unpleasant waffles snacks.

The rest of the journey passes in darkness with me listening to my MP3 player and my friend listening to her radio. The only highlights are the lights sparkling on a wide river outside Maastricht and a radio phone in on an American Forces station. The agony aunt is a suitably brisk and plain speaking woman who takes no prisoners. It’s more like an interrogation, perhaps it’s preparation for war!

Eventually we reach our turning to Valkenburg and catch tantalizing glimpse of the castle in its centre. The driver jokes that now we just need to find the hotel. This is a sore point with most of us as we can remember a similar trip to Brussels where it took us an hour to find the hotel – and that was down to us not the driver! In fact he does a great job and gets us their straight away.

We drag ourselves off of the coach, grab our bags and tumble into the hotel. Here we have to fill in a form with our details before being issued with our keys. We are on the second floor and my friend makes for the lift … along with everyone else. Now I’ve done enough coach trips to know I really can’t be bothered. It’s generally much faster to climb the stairs than push and shove your way into a lift with 40 other people. I’ve even done this when I’ve been on the 5^th floor. I just go for it with suitcase and all.

When I get to the right floor, I realise that my friend has also given up and followed me. Now we just need to find our room. This isn’t a very straightforward task. We have to head down blind corridors, round corners, down another set of steps until we are almost ready to give up. Somewhere along the way we are joined by a couple of elderly ladies who are similarly lost.

Eventually we find our room (and the ladies) and open our door with a great deal of relief. This doesn’t last long. To our horror the room contains a double bed! We look at each other and both agree that whilst we are very good friends, there is a limit! Now we retrace our steps, determined to have words with Reception. We know there will be at least one empty room as a couple who were due to come with us had cancelled at the last minute. If needs be, we'll have that room too! As we head downstairs we pass another member of our group. They also have a double bed and we stop to exchange horror stories. They however have delved a little deeper and have realised that hidden under the double bedspread are two singles. Whoops, saved from a really embarrassing conversation, we head back again to check. Sure enough there are two beds and we make sure they are as far apart as we can get them!

We quickly change before heading back down to dinner. On the way we discover the same ladies who are now struggling to find their way out. We’ll have to keep an eye out for them otherwise they’ll end up wandering about the hotel for the rest of their days.

At dinner we share a table with a mother and daughter (the latter I know from work) and our coach driver. All are very well travelled. Our driver seems quite unusual in that he is genuinely interested in the places he visits. He seems to love travelling and relishes visiting new places. We eventually realise he’s an ex-soldier, which might explain his interest.

We were rather surprised to find out that our stay was going to be half-board, however it saves us looking for somewhere to eat. The food itself is OK but not nothing to write home about. However the real surprise came with the pudding – three large bowls of moose have been supplied! We seem to have mint, raspberry and coconut to choose from. It brings back vivid memories of Angel Delight. I just hope it doesn’t bring back the stomach ache that used to go with that!

After dinner we decide to do a bit of exploring, particularly as the rain seems to have eased off. We discovered that the hotel is bordered by a small river on one side. That explains the noise we could hear from our room. We follow the river into the centre of town. Along the way we pass a small bridge with a rather voluptuous naked women perched on an ice bucket. Luckily she isn’t real but a cheeky full size sculpture. She is leaning on the bridges hand rail, but can’t quite reach – hence the bucket.

We follow the tree lined river up to what looks like the main street. Finally we discover where the locals are hiding. There’s a good selection of pubs and clubs in full flow and this seems to be spilling out into the street now. We take a quick spin around the town, finding various interesting old buildings before heading back in the direction of home. Back at the hotel we have a quick drink but don’t stay in the smoke filled bar. We sit in the foyer instead talking to a couple of ladies on our trip. One of these turns out to live just round the corner from me at home! Finally we head off for bed, having made our decision to join tomorrows extra trip to the German town of Monschau.