I’d arranged to meet Merlin at Oxford Circus tube station to do some shopping. Now, for those of you who’ve never been to Oxford Circus, it’s a very crowded place, day or night, seven days a week. Like many places in central London, a large proportion of the human race finds themselves there, arsehole to ... [More]
Category: Travel
It was late by the time my Uncle Hew and I got up – somewhere around 10. At least, late by my usual standards. My boss wouldn’t be too impressed if I waltzed into work at 11am, but thankfully on this occasion I was many thousands of miles away from work, on holiday. After breakfast ... [More]
The train from Inverness pulled into London just a few minutes late, depositing me at Euston Station. It was 8am, and the place was buzzing with commuters. I managed to manoeuvre myself and my backpack through the station without hitting too many people and found the Left Luggage counter, where, following the tradition, I left ... [More]
My mission for Thursday was to get from Inverness to Plockton and back in time for the 20:30 overnight sleeper train to London. Why Plockton? Two words: Hamish Macbeth. If these two words mean nothing to you, then perhaps the following thirty-nine words might help: Hamish Macbeth is a TV comedy/drama series starring Robert Carlyle ... [More]
After packing my pack, I strode purposefully out of the hostel and down the street to Edinburgh’s Haymarket station. Okay, so “strode purposefully” is probably an unfairly muscular-sounding description. But “staggered” wouldn’t be fair either. It was probably something between the two. Perhaps just “walked”. Anyway, I boarded the 09:44 train bound for Inverness, some ... [More]
According to my Tour Of Bits Of Scotland Masterplan, I had a full day to explore Edinburgh. The first stop after breakfast was Edinburgh Castle. I walked back the way I’d come the night before (did I mention I passed a street called Spittal Street?), gazing up at the castle as I approached. The castle ... [More]
It’d been ages since I’d spent a night in a YHA bed, and it was surprisingly comfortable. I awoke not particularly bright, and not particularly early, and prepared for the day, chatting with my room mates and rummaging around in my backpack trying to find things. Then I showered in a cupboard-like shower – wearing, ... [More]
Categories
Travelling north
It was Sunday morning, and time to say goodbye to my grandparents. We did the customary photo-taking in the garden – it’s compulsory for everyone who visits to come home with a picture of themselves plus Grandad and Gran standing in front of the house. Then we drove to Bognor Regis station so I could ... [More]
Saturday arrived, and with it the chance of some time with my uncle Kevin, his wife Liz (does that make her my Aunt-in-law or something?) and my cousins Sarah and Luke. Kevin was actually working in the morning, poor soul, but I headed over to their house in Bognor Regis in the Grandad-Fiat-o-mobile early for ... [More]
On Friday morning we headed for Littlehampton, a town not far from my grandparents house. My grandad has an orange Disabled thingy for his car, which allows him to park it apparently virtually anywhere, with the possible exception of the Buckingham Palace lawn on top of a Corgi. On this occasion he parked in a ... [More]
I don’t really know what time my Grandparents usually wake up, but I’m guessing it’s pretty early, because when I awoke sometime between 8 and 9, they gave the impression they’d been up for a while. I had my first shower and shave in a couple of days, and discovered that I don’t think I ... [More]
Categories
Arrival
The plane touched down at some ungodly hour of the morning (I’m not sure exactly when; my brain doesn’t quite grasp the concept of time before 6am). There had been a terrific view of London from the plane – but only for the people over the other side. And trying to get a glimpse out ... [More]