Monday 6th November 2023
Today was a day of travel although it started with a cancellation of the first train. My sister and I weighed up train options but the second train was cancelled too so we sat in the railway Cafe and watched the customers tuck into hearty meals. The hard chairs made us get up and walk around the old high street. My brother in law's sister lives in the marina nearby so we popped by there to say hello.
Our train was rather full due to the earlier cancellation and we ended up chatting to a South African Brit who had just returned from her honeymoon in Cape Town. She complained about the state of British stations, after not usually a train traveller, being scruffy and dirty, I laughed and contradicted her, saying my experience has been quite the opposite after 2 seasons of train travel.
We had a few train changes to make as we were on our way to a long time family friend's funeral on the West side of the country. The landscape changed many times, as did the weather and we watched the daylight disappear rapidly on account of the weather.
By the time we finally pulled into our destination town, we were both really hungry so we grabbed a quick pub dinner before we headed to the supermarket to get some supplies and an umbrella. The rain pelted down on our way into the shop, and of course, the umbrella worked by chasing the rain away by the time we came out of the shops.
Our hotel was a mile away from the station and the South African owners were waiting for us to arrive. In many of the bnbs I've used, there's only a key safe and instructions how to enter the establishment, but I do like having a human welcome and a bit of an explanation of the heating, room and surrounding area.
In spite of spending most of my day sitting down, I feel surprisingly tired and ready for a good night's sleep. Here's hoping...
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