Today is an early day- be at the tram stop by 9 AM to get to the train station. We had a well laid out plan to be back in The Hague for the cirque de soleil at 7:39. No problem- Dutch trains are said to be the most efficient in the world and are never late!

Better be- the tickets cost €114 each.

Had a great introduction to Antwerp – an hour walk through the old city streets in a sunny, warm day through leaf filled cobbled streets.

We were treated to lunch at a great Italian restaurant – wine and the works.

We walked back a different route and arrived back at the station- the diamond capital and had a relaxed coffee at an outside cafe.

With the Cirque very much on our minds, we went to the train platform a little early and our train notice on the electronic board was red? with a Dutch explanation. Train cancelled due to a technical problem – next train in 1 hour- we could just make it if we ran when we got Bach the The Hague.

The platform became very crowded due to people also stranded from the last train and we wondered if we would even be able to get on it when it arrived. Chaos and frustration grew as the next train started posting delays until finally, the red board telling us that the next train had been cancelled!!!!

The Cirque de Soleil? We managed to sell our tickets via a friend of Diane’s in The Hague – for half price.

C’est la Vie.