Thursday, August 28, 2008

Panic Stations at Kings Cross Station

I thought I'd organised everything so well - the clothes; the relevant bits of paper; the tablets and the taxi. All went well until we got off the first train at Waterloo. I went to my wallet to get out my gate pass to go through the automatic ticket barrier, and it had disappeared. Had I dropped the ticket together with my discount card when I hunted out the tickets for the conductor on the previous train? Or had I dropped them in the station forecourt when I took the change from the taxi driver? Whatever. They weren't in the right place. While I was hunting for them, M took off at speed, , leaving me behind, despite the weighty suitcase he was dragging behind him. I couldn't even see in which direction he'd gone. With only forty minutes in hand to get to Kings Cross, I rushed through the barrier showing the main ticket and eventually found an irate M at the underground platform. I was convinced I'd lost the pass and card but the main problem would have been having to pay the difference, if necessary. I didn't think they'd refuse me access to the train and I was right.

Once ensconced on the Glasgow train and having had a much needed cuppa, I went to my holdall to get out a book, and lo and behjold, there was the pass and the card. Relief all round. But it took a while to convince M that I was not a disorganised ditherer.

The rest of the journey was totally relaxed. We bought sandwiches and tea, read and looked out of the window. I was too late too take a shot of a part of Hadrian's Wall at Berwick upon Tweed, but made a mental note to do that on the return journey. Similarly, I missed a shot of the impressive entry into Newcastle and the Tyne, but caught the rock rising up from the station at Edinburgh. Newcastle was a far bigger town than I'd envisaged and I took a photo of the station itself, and also the tower that we saw as the train pulled out.

Uncharacteristically, on Friday morning, M wanted to buy a cheap teeshirt and pair of trousers he'd spotted the previous evening. After we'd taken them back to the hotel, we walked to George Square which is a bit like Trafalgar Square, though not so impressive. There we got on an open topped bus for a tour of Glasgow. This was very successful, and we got on and off a couple of times - that's the benefit of these on/off bus tours. I was frustrated that I'd left the camera back in the hotel, and after the walking we'd done already, I didn't want to go back for it. So I have no photos of Glasgow. I was particularly sorry because we crossed the Clyde to get to the Science Centre and afterwards, we went up the Glasgow Tower with a panoramic view of the city. From there, we walked along the towpath towards Glasgow Harbour. We didn't see the Tall Ship because a bus came along and we ran for it. From there to the Transport Museum, which M thoroughly enjoyed (the Science Centre was more geared up for children). Our walking had tired us out, but I would have liked to have done the tour again another day, with more emphasis on some of the other museums. We didn't have another chance though. That night we dined with our friends and others, and various things were happening over the next couple of days, including the wedding itself.

1 comment:

Amanda said...

Hi Jackie

I always get in a panic when I'm about to catch a train or a plane -I check for my tickets over and over!
Glad you got to Glasgow OK in the end. I've never been - I really must go. I like those on off bus tours for seeing cities - we went on one in Dublin, which was great.