Scotland weather and train snafus

 So we did a train snafu yesterday. Wasn’t the railways fault. So….when you go from Edinburgh to Glasgow or vice versa, there are different routes. Linlithgow is between them two. Not every train out of either goes to Linlithgow. So yesterday we got on the wrong train for the first time. We ended up having to go to the station (Haymarket) before Edinburgh. It’s the only place we could transfer to back to Linlithgow.

The thing is the train we originally got on was the long route stopping at lots of small towns. Took 50 minutes to get to Haymarket to transfer. Then it took another 20 minutes to get to Linlithgow. So 70 minutes for what would have been a 30 minute ride. Oh well. Live and learn.

I miss the sun. I think my brain and body know this time of year is when there should be sun. In the UK, particularly Scotland, it’s mostly cloudy. That gets tiring. In Scotland it is mostly in the 60’s.  

The weather goes from partly cloudy to cloudy to rain and back to partly cloudy all in one day. You never really know what tomorrows weather will be because it will most likely change. We are on an island in the ocean after all.

I miss warm weather, sunshine. It’s like fall here. I love everything about Scotland and I will come back here but I do miss the sun.

Bob Dylan on the train to Edinburgh

 Trains are both fun and not fun.. When things go wrong, sudden changes not so fun. We have (by the skin of our teeth) managed to avoid rail strikes. 

We have taken 3 longer train rides so far:  London to Cardiff, Cardiff to Manchester, Manchester to Edinburgh.  

In London you didn’t know the platform number till about 5 minutes before it was scheduled to go. So there was a mad dash for the train like someone was giving away free ice cream. There are no seat assignments so it’s a free for all . 

So Cardiff to Manchester, there is a last minute change of platform. Of course it’s up a staircase, so bag drag. The train is 30 minutes late. Then 4 stops from Manchester there is an announcement that because of a problem with the train, we have to get off at next station and get on another train. 

Manchester to London train was cancelled. Got new tickets for train leaving about two hours later. Of course train change but no problem. Then at some point they announce only four of the eight cars are going on from the next stop. Everybody else had to move up to the cars moving on. Fortunately we were already in car moving forward so no move.

This is where the trip gets interesting. An old guy with a leather  hat comes into the car and finds a seat across from a young couple. He proceeds to tell them his entire life story for the rest of the trip.

He was a musician in a rock group most of his life playing the guitar. They played everywhere around England and had lots of stories of what they got up to. They never really made much money. He has six kids, 9 grandchildren. He is on his way to watch one of his daughters play in a nightclub in Edinburgh. 

After all of that the conversation turns to football (soccer) of course. He is from Brighton (which he hates). He proceeds to talk trash about the womens hometown club Liverpool and the guys hometown club Newcastle.  They talk about Manchester United. He thinks they are overrated and old coach Sir Alex Ferguson (who is revered) was full of himself.

So we’re almost to Edinburgh and they come around to pick up trash and this guy has can after can of beer to throw away. The guy with the trash was amazed. This guy was blotto.

We saw him later on the platform and he had another beer in his hand.  By the way, you can buy booze on the train.

UK Train fiasco # 129 in which I tear half of my hair out

Sit back and get your popcorn , this is a long story.

 The UK train system is expansive and efficient if you know what you are doing. We don’t know what we’re doing.

We decided to make the 27 mile trip to Liverpool. It’s one of those places everyone has heard about because of the you know who’s. 

So okay, no big deal. We’ll go directly from Eccles to Liverpool. Eccles train station is very small consisting of 2 platforms on either side of two tracks. There is one guy in a very small ticket booth. 

So I had bought what I thought were two tickets online the day before. For some reason I couldn’t get an e ticket so I printed them at another station the day before. I got two tickets or so I thought. Ah,no, it was a ticket and a receipt. Called them and they told me to call another number to straighten it out. I decided to buy another ticket instead and print it at the station. It wasn’t that much money.

So tried to print it and it didn’t work. Went to guy in the booth and he printed it. We asked him what side we go to and he said platform 2. Went that way and there was a “to Liverpool” sign . Great.

Go down the stairs and notice an electronic sign says train to Liverpool is at 11:37 but our ticket is for 11:15. Huh? We asked a person there does this go to oxford road, our first stop and they said no, it’s across to the other side. Well it’s like 11:14, so we rush up the stairs, down the stairs to the other side just as the train pulling in. Turns out our train goes into Manchester before going to Liverpool. 

Now for some reason there are two train changes on this 30 mile trip. First one goes smoothly. Have 9 minutes to make the change. The train is 3 -4 minutes late (ding ding ding warning!) So we come to the next change and pull in late. We get off and notice people start running in the direction of our new platform. So we start moving quickly the half mile(!) to the other platform. As we are coming down the four flights of stairs the train pulls in. We barely made the train.

So okay La dee dah spent a few hours in Liverpool. We have etickets for way home. We go to the place where we scan into the station. Doesn’t work…. Ask staff there WTF? They tell us we have to go to another station a few blocks away. We drag our sorry butts over there. 

It turns out that even though our tickets were from Liverpool Central on the itinerary, we were supposed to walk to Lime street station from Central. Who in the #%~$&@ has walking as part of the ticket?!

We were way early, having had more time because the original time on the ticket gave you 20 minutes to get there to Lime street but it was a 5 minute walk. So we got on this train and there were no train changes home and we lived happily every after. The end.

Moral of the story: look at your tickets closely before using them.

Train travel in UK is not fun

 Man I'm tired. These travel days take a lot out of you. 

Left at 8:30 am so we could get something to eat before the train. Long ways from the air bnb to station. At least it seemed long with a suitcase and a backpack. 

We had no idea how Cardiffs train station worked. Yes we had come in there but we just left right away. In order to get out you had to scan your train ticket. So we knew we had to scan the ticket going in. Turns out the station is sort of like a subway only it's outside. It's has platforms, that's it. 

We went to the right platform and there were lots of people . Uh oh another mad dash like in London? Turns out they were going on different trains. We got there too early. So it's 5 minutes before our train is due and announcement is made : change of platform! Of course it was up another staircase. 

Then train is delayed 30 minutes. OK it’s all good, we`re on the train. Everything is copacetic. The Wales countryside is absolutely beautiful. Lots of sheep. Cows.

About four stops from Manchester, they announce everybody has to get off at the next stop because this train ain't going any farther. We have to get on a new train! So on to the new train, different platform.

Finally at Manchester. Time to find train to air bnb to Eccles. Well we decided to take the "metrolink". Turns out it's a light rail situation. Great. Get on. Proceed to move through downtown at literally 5 mph. It seems to stop every block. As time goes on it seems to be going 2 mph. This was the pace to Eccles. It was bizarre and funny.  It really wasn't funny. We were tired. So five hours later (ha more like 40 minutes) We finally get to Eccles. 

We thought we would be efficient so we bought a week card for the light rail at the station. Cost: $30. Found out the actual train is 10 minutes to Eccles. However weekly cost: $60 for 1 week per person. Can somebody tell me why the UK transportation system is so darn expensive?!!