T-Bird Anni Rides Again

I’m sure everyone else has covered teh basics so I’ll skip the what we did which day bit!

We set out Monday lunchtime from our little local trainstation, a quick 5 minute trip and we were at the main station (takes half an hour by car)  There followed several changes of train and all went really well until the dreaded Clapham Junction.  Not only was it ridiculously busy, making it difficult to hear the anouncements properly, and not only was it a train taht split into no less than 4 different parts further down the line making it essential that you get on the right bit of the 12 carriage long train but there was no indication on the platform to give you any clues on where each bit of the train would stop or even which direction it would go in.  Hence we were at the wrong end of the platform and by the time we fled down teh length of the platform (having just legged it off teh previous train, up a flight of stairs, along the bridge and down on the furthest side of the station from wehre we had got off the last one) the wretched thing pulled away without us despite it being **** obvious that we weren’t sprinting down teh platform for the good of our health grrrr.  Anyway, got the next one instead which only added half an hour on to our journey time.  Will gloss over platform anouncements and  staff who tell you to get onto the wrong bit of the train but will sing the praises of guards who give you much better information and give it with a lovely smile.

So that was Aprilia’s first train journey and it didn’t seem to put her off  

Hostel was lovely.  Food was very lovely.  Company was everything you could wish for.  Beach was drafty but the smallfry seemed to have a great time and the grown ups got to chat so taht was good.  Our beach trip had the added bonus of a trip to Brighton as we were in Jan and Jonathon’s car.  We saw Best of Friends being filmed and admired Brighton Pavilion from the outside.  Shoreham airfield was also drafty and smallfry also had a good time there too.  It was quite amazing to look at several 3 year olds and to think that Aprilia was 3 when we went to our first Melrose.  Seems like a lifetime ago.

Trip home was uneventful apart from me managing to catch a different train from the one we had reserved seats on  but which saved us from waiting on Watford station without heat for 50 minutes and from negociating Birmingham New Street just at the start of rush hour.  It did mean a long wait at Crewe but they ahve a heated waiting room there….

 So, would I go by train again?  Definitely BUT I’d plan much better next time. 1) don’t shedule any changes at or after rush hour, standing up with luggage for an hour (as we did on the way down) isn’t taht much fun  2) check that you have at least 10 mintues, preferably double that, at every change to allow for busy platforms, delayed trains and non-communicative platform staff unless you know the station well and it is small enough that you don’t have to do a route march to get to the right platform.