A fitful night

After exploring Charing, Veronica, Sue and I had a last drink on the terrace of The Oak. Although the weather was a bit chilly, it was sunny and we enjoyed the fresh air. By 6 p.m. it was time for them to leave. They still had over 100 km to drive, so we said goodbye and agreed to meet again in October when they will be visiting Brussels.

The Oak in Charing

Mats had left us shortly after lunch to go to his hotel in Hythe. He had tried to book a room at The Oak too, but the hotel had no vacancies. So I had no other option than to spend the evening on my own. I went up to my room, which was nice and clean, but no more than a cubicle. Although it was supposed to be a double, I could hardly imagine two people moving around in it at the same time. I spent some time reading my favourite blogs, before going down to the pub, hoping to find someone to chat with. Although there were quite some people around, they all kept very much to themselves. I sat around for a while, discretely listening in on some conversations.

The pub

By about half past seven I had had it. I walked over to the bar and asked the landlady to book a taxi for me to drive me to the station the next morning. I also settled my hotel bill, as the staff would only arrive on the premises after I had left for the station.

In my room I took a shower, watched some television and read for a while. It was hardly half past nine when I turned off the light. I needed to get up early the next morning, and I wanted to have a good night’s sleep. Sleep came quickly. However, around midnight I was woken up by a group of people that came stumbling up the stairs after a merry evening in the pub. When everything had quieted down, I heard a very strange noise, like a turning engine. It took a while before I realized what it was. The cooling device of the beer taps in the pub …

The cubicle-like bedroom

It automatically switched on every 3 minutes, turned for 90 seconds and then switched off again … How do I know? Because it kept me awake till five in the morning and I counted the seconds between switching on and off time! I suppose I fell asleep in the end, because I was rudely awakened by my mobile phone alarm at 6 a.m. I jumped out of bed and got ready. At half past six, I looked out of the window and saw a taxi waiting in the road. On my way down I didn’t see or hear anyone. The landlady had told me to leave the key to the room on the bar, but when I came down the door leading into the pub was locked. It was rather dark in the hallway, with just some daylight seeping in through the opaque glass pane above the door. It was all very spooky.

I didn’t feel like going upstairs again to put the key on the bedroom door, so I just left it on the bottom step of the main staircase. When I came out, the taxi driver immediately stepped out of his car to take my suitcase and put it in the booth. The drive was very pleasant, with the driver asking me where I was going at this untimely hour of the day. Of course, he assumed that I was going to Paris, but when I told him what my destination was, he proudly announced that his wife would be taking the Eurostar the next day to visit Brussels and Bruges.

When I arrived at the station it was just over 7 a.m. Perfect, as check-in would start at 7.30 a.m. I found a cosy seat in the entrance hall and indulged in one of my favourite occupations: watching people.