first eurostar from st pancras

This is our Eurostar pulling away,
Here at St Pancras on opening day,
Cameras flash, and visitors cheer,
And Brussels has never quite seemed so near.
Gathering speed, it’s out of the shed:
The sunlight is slanting on the rails ahead.
Deep under London’s hustle and grime,
Stratford already and she’s on time.
Pushing 200 and starting to fly –
Essex marshes go shimmering by.
Free champagne in the buffet queue,
Taking it easy, enjoying the view.
Dartford and Ashford then deep into Kent,
Effortlessly pulling with no relent.

And suddenly plunging into the Tunnel
Trips no longer excite you? Well surely this one’ll!
People on business or out on day trips
Some anoraked trainspotters, some that are hip,
Oldsters and youngsters and middle aged chappies
All types the passengers, all of them happy.
People from London and people from Leeds
Down in the darkness at breakneck speeds
Glad to be travelling on the first train
From St Pancras to Brussels, and then back again.

Out into Picardy, slicing through France
Everyone gripped by this railway romance.
Over the border and Brussels in sight
Nearly at Midi – she’s doing all right.
Anticipation of friends they’ll be meeting
Slide into the platform, and warm are the greetings.

Sincere aplogies to WH Auden fans - here's the wonderful original:

http://www.newearth.demon.co.uk/poems/lyric206.htm

Istanbul

Work this time, visiting our friendly and rapidly growing office for a few days, but I managed to sneak in a free weekend to wander around and get to know the place again. I was here two years ago on a similar trip and it's a great city to throw away the map and just discover things. Buildings of every period and state of repair, spectacular views at every turn and interetsing people too. It feels like a southern European city, but with hints of the exotic - especially the many mosques and in the look of many of the people, often recent immigrants form Anatolia.

The topography is also spectacular (and involves some steep climbs) and means you are always fairly clear where you are going (keep going down and you will hit the Bosphorus) with spectacular distant views to the major landmarks.

I had a great meal on the bridge - lots of great fish here! - watching kids in their shorts jumping into the water to entertain (for a small fee) the tourists. I came across a little mosque where they were putting on a display of sufi traditional dancing in the little sheltered garden. And the bazaar goes on for miles and is impossible to escape without buying a box of saffron or a plate of turkish delight or something leather. Crowning everything the Hagia Sophia, the Roman cathedral-turned-mosque-turned museum that even now looks shockingly daring in its scale and the span of its dome, yet has survived Istanbul's earthquakes for thousands of years. And nearby the elegant Blus Mosque that has served as a model for thousands upon thousands of mosques throughout the country. I didn't visit the Topkapi Palace this time, but I have a feeling I will be back soon.