No.307 Of Journeys Past and Very Recent

I'm just back from a four day trip to London. I'm exhausted but I shouldn't be. I guess it's something to do with the fact that courtesy of a volcano with an unpronounceable name the return journey to the big smoke involved a longish car journey, a ferry, a longish train journey, a tube, a taxi, another taxi, another tube, another train, a plane and two taxis, followed by the same longish car journey back. By the end of last night I had tickets, receipts, currency and booking reference Nos streaming out my pockets.

Everything was a mad scrum on the trains and the ferry. It reminded me of the pre-budget airline days, when I was just beginning to travel aged 17 and you queued for everything and if you got a seat you got lucky. Birmingham Bull Ring (a major coach intersection a bit like the Crewe of the railway lines) was always the worst. It was complete pandemonium and a passenger /bus free for all. There were no stands and it was never clear whether your coach had arrived and if it had where it was and usually the driver was so grumpy or irritated by the place that you only ever asked him as a last resort.

I suppose we shouldn't complain too much when the planes are grounded. At least most of the time we get a seat, we are up in the air pretty quick and we arrive more or less stress free and pretty much on time within about an hour. Can't be bad.