It was 7am on Tuesday 8th April 2025 and we were at St Pancras International meeting our travel guide for our ‘Battlefields and Bulb Fields’ holiday with Great Rail Journeys. We had come down the day before from Lichfield and stayed at the Premiere Inn just opposite the station due to the early start. We had eaten at the Marco Pierre White Grill restaurant in Islington (about 20mins walk) and had a very pleasant evening. Now for a ‘simple’ journey on the Eurostar to Amsterdam. We went through the ticket barrier and our seat numbers were issued with new automatic tickets: we were now in different carriages! Me in 15 and Neil in 16. The desk clerk was unable to help as the train was completely full and neither could Michael, our guide. We were told to wait and it would be sorted out on the train. Enroute to board I spotted two staff standing by the train, and the conversation went like this.
Me “Excuse me, is one of you the train manager please?”
Train manager “Yes , can I help?”
Me “I hope so, our tickets were changed at the barrier by the machine and my husband and I are now in separate carriages”
Train manager” Hummm let me look” checks her tablet, “Hum we are full, let me see, I can offer you a free upgrade to business class if that would be acceptable and you will be together.”
Me, ”Thank you , that would be perfect.”
Train manager, “Just make your way down and I will tell them to expect you and show you your seats.”
We texted Michael , our travel guide to let him know where we were and enjoyed our journey to Brussels where we were due to change for Amsterdam. However due to industrial action in the Netherlands our connecting train was cancelled and after much toing and froing Michael eventually got us on a later train and we were several hours late into Amsterdam. To be fair Great Rail did give us £25 refund each for something that was not their issue and overall it didn’t spoil the holiday, more a nuisance at the start.
We boarded our ship, the Amadeus Star, for our weeks accommodation. The ship was very comfortable. The cabin layout was good and our big suitcase was already there having been collected a week before by ‘Baggage Man’ and delivered to the ship. Cruising was minimal on this trip as we were spending some time in Amsterdam and then visiting the Battlefields of Ypres, before returning to go to the Keukenhof gardens. The activities for the week were coordinated by Rob and his assistant Deb, who worked tirelessly and overcame issues that arose with tenacity and care. If you enjoy a quiz, which we do, there was a daily general knowledge quiz and every evening there was a different quiz in the main lounge after dinner, which he very ably hosted and masterminded.
The first morning was a canal cruise in Amsterdam and free time to wander the city before we left to cruise overnight to Ghent. An unusual memory were the coots building nest from plastic and other debris floating on the canals.
The next morning we met our Battlefields Historian, Peirs Storie-Pugh OBE, who proved to be a mine of information which he put across with aplomb, we couldn’t have asked for a better expert. We had a local guide that afternoon on a walking tour of Ghent, a city I would heartedly recommend. Piers then took over and over the course of the next two days took us to Tyne Cott Cemetery, Hill 60, Sanctuary woods, The Airbourne Museum at Hartenstein, the bridge at Nijmegan, and the Oosterbeek Cemetery.
Another overnight cruise back to Amsterdam and we then went to the Medemblik Steam railway and through the bulb fields, returning to have more free time in Amsterdam. Our last day was a trip to The Keukenhof Gardens for the annual Tulip festival. That was quite amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed our day, though I will admit to being “tuliped out” by the end; who knew there could be so many different sizes, shapes and colour combinations of tulips, interspersed with an orchid house and sets of daffodils and other bulbs!
Our journey home on the Eurostar on 15th April went according to schedule and we caught a train back to Lichfield, as planned late that afternoon.
My one area of disappointment was the evening meals. The quality was outstanding but the quantity was small and the waiting staff soon picked up that I would request extra vegetables and sauce. I heard several other passengers with similar disquiets but it was managed well by the staff even if at times I felt like Oliver from the Dickens novel.
Overall it was a good weeks cruise and one I would say go on if you want to combine bulb fields with battlefields!
