rants

My journey home

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Travelling in Britain when there are a few inches of snow is a good way to remind yourself why you are living in Spain!

What happened?  How was my journey?  Don’t read unless you want to know – here it is!

  • Monday morning receive text from Easyjet saying plane will be delayed two hours till 18.05
  • Decide to leave early anyway because of possible train problems
  • Get to Cambridge station early to catch 11.15 to Kings Cross
  • 11.15 to Kings Cross ‘delayed’ – no other information
  • Hope rises with announcement that 11.15 will leave from Platform 7.   Lug case over there.              Who would think that 16 kgs would be so heavy. It’s the haggis I suppose.
  • Platform 7 already has a crowd of people and a silent waiting train bound for Liverpool Street
  • All trains to Kings Cross cancelled because of an accident.
  • There is no-one giving information in person so we all try to intuit what is the best way to get to London. Much frowning and jumping on and off the quiet train as it waits for a driver to arrive.
  • Eventually we all set off  for Liverpool Street on this train.
  • Slow gentle ride to London stopping at all stations on the way. How pretty the snow!
  • Tube journey to Kings Cross and a short walk to St Pancras – how do old or disabled people manage with all these stairs?
  • Train to Gatwick is ‘delayed’.  There is still no-one giving information. But there are a lot of people with suitcases. We scan the departure boards anxiously. After the Cambridge experience I no longer trust the word ‘delayed’ which might without warning change into ‘cancelled’.         This is when I get that feeling of hatred for public transport in the UK. That sort of reaction I normally judge in other people. That ‘what is the matter with this bloody country I can’t wait to get out?‘ sort of feeling. Then there was one of those wonderful tannoy announcements made famous by Jacques Tati in M Hulot’s Holiday which was was like someone gargling under water and totally incomprehensible.  I began to laugh and felt better.
  • Should I wait patiently or go to Victoria for Gatwick Express? Yes No Yes No …….ah, the train arrives.
  • Slow gentle ride to Gatwick  – no toilets. But how pretty the snow!
  • Arrive Easyjet check-in 45 minutes before original flight time. The check in desk said  ‘No, there is no delay! The flight will leave on time’   She looked surprised that I had thought otherwise.
  • Departure lounge – no gate details yet so I go to the loo – at last!
  • Coming out again I look up and it says ‘Gate 46 Easyjet.  Gates Closed’!
  • Nightmare run along endless corridors alongside a hundred other panting and panicking passengers. Our gate is at the furthest end of the airport. No time to buy a paper or coffee or water.
  • Gate 46 – two bored Easyjet staff smile at us as we arrive sweating and dishevelled.  ‘No that was a mistake – the gates are not closed. Please take a seat!’
  • There is a vending machine – I lose £1.20 trying to buy a bottle of water.  So does another woman.  After that we stand guard to warn people off.
  • Sitting down, tired, hungry, thirsty and confused we all receive another text message telling us the flight is delayed and offering food coupons.
  • We get on the plane which leaves exactly on time – at 16.05
  • Lovely Barcelona airport.
  • I have a strong coffee and a potato omelette roll.
  • The walk to the train is so easy. There are escalators. The journey takes one hour and I am home.
  • Lovely welcome from dog and man.

8 Things That Annoy Me – or used to

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

It’s funny how even on a lovely day you/I can get irritated by small things. Today I tried to notice what these things were and laugh at myself a little – life’s too short for all that but sometimes you can’t stop that silent gritting of teeth.

  • people who try to open the toilet door even when it says ‘engaged’ or has a red line
  • shop keepers who give you the change with the coins on top of the notes so they slide off as you try to put the note in your purse
  • people who stand on either side of a narrow lane when you are trying to drive past

We had an amazing lunch today in the Porthgwidden Beach Cafe in St Ives. but while enjoying grilled sea bass with a roast potato cake and two delicious sauces – one green and one red……. I couldn’t stop myself thinking of three things that annoy me in Catalunya!  I know it’s better to live in the present moment but instead I had a mini rant about –

  • how hard it is to get vegetarian food in Catalan restaurants
  • menus that always have more or less the same set of dishes instead of experimenting
  • the lack of awareness about organic produce and free range meat and eggs

To balance things up I need to record the really annoying thing about ticket machines in the UK

  • for some reason they never give you change. They normally inform you with a little message ‘This machine doesn’t give change’  Why not?  If they can do it in Catalunya then why not in the UK?

And for my eighth thing here is one that used to annoy me a lot and now doesn’t bother me at all!

  • men leaving the toilet seat up. What a liberation – this used to infuriate me but I can honestly say that I have let it go. Totally. No tooth grinding at all!

Today was a lovely day – apart from one of the best lunches I’ve had in years – did I mention the cheesecake? We also watched 6 or more dolphins swim across the bay just offshore from the beach.
Magical.