Friday, July 28, 2006

Argh....trains!

Well, the journey on Tuesday went ok, it was very hot and we did end up spending time sat by the doors, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been. The journey home on Wednesday was a nightmare however. If all trains had been running on time we could (just) have made connections to get home at about 5:10pm, as it was it wasn't until 7:45pm that we pulled in! We were pushing it to be able to get the connection we wanted at Peterborough, but if the GNER train had come in on time we could just make it as I knew what platform to go for and how to get there onb the ramps. However the train arrived 5 minutes late, so that was one train gone. We had an hour long wait for the next train so we settled down in a shady spot to feed the munchkin and get some rest. Just before the train was due I went to look at the departures board to check it was running on time to see that it was cancelledd, as I saw the screen the platform announcer confirmed that it had been cancelled at Birmingham. Why did it take them so long to announce that? If they'd said it sooner I could have gone for a Stevenage train and got home sooner. Grrrrr! We had another hour long wait for the next train, which arrived 10 minutes late with only 2 carriages rather than the usual 4! It was only due to people being kind and moving suitcases that had been dumped by the doors that I was able to get the munchkin's pushchair onto the train. It was such a crush, not a pleasant journey, particularly in this weather. Standing behind me was a man with rather dubious personal hygiene, I ended up leaning over the munchkin's pram a bit to avoid the smell....

Ok, rant over....

We did eventually get home, but it was so much later than planned that our plans for a nice dinner to celebrate our third anniversary went out of the window :-( I was too tired for anything nice and ended up sending Mr H out to the chippy for a quick junk food fix. I did enjoy sharing presents with Mr H however. I was really impressed with him, he gave me some watercolour pencils and some pastel pencils as well as some paper and brushes. I just need to get my bureau sorted out now so I can get creative!

Spent most of yesterday recovering from our travels, didn't get a lot done apart for watch a phenomenal storm. Huge amounts of lightening very close to us and (finally!) a lot of rain. Don't get me wrong, it was worth going up to see R before she goes, but it was draining. The munchkin took a dislike to the travel cot Mum and Dad have....she had a grand total for 7 hours sleep in the 24 hours we were in Bradford! Mum ended up getting up at 6:30 on Wednesday to take the munchkin for a walk in a effort to get her to sleep.....some hope!

The plan for today is to head to to a local village on the bus (first time down here!) to go and meet my parents, sister (and her fiance and 1 of their insane dogs!) and two of my parents friends as they're going on a narrowboat holiday from there. It'll be good to see them again, hopefully we'll meet them for dinner in a couple of canalside pubs next week. They'll be in central London over the weekend, but are then coming back past us and up to Bishops Stortford. I'd love to go on a narrowboat in central London. Dad has his boat master's license so can actually take the boat on the Thames. If you're in London on Saturday/Sunday and see a narrowboat on the Thames that'll probably be them!

Anyway, I need to go and check bus times then get the munchkin ready to go out. Have a good weekend....bye!

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