Trains are not adequate forms of travel

Hello World!

It's kind of a funny story. And I would, should you permit me, like to share it with you. Yesterday morning, at 7:30 AM, six of us PKP-ers ventured out into the world of Great Britain. Our mission was simple: Go and meet Jane Austen in Bath, and then see the aliens at Stonehenge. We purchased our tickets on Tuesday, and were completely ready to see the beautiful countryside of England. Cut to last night: It was 4 am, I was sitting in my room, finally ready to sleep after a long journey, and I see the sun starting to rise. Needless to say, it was an incrtedible day. One that I'm sure none of us will not soon forget.

The beginning of our travels was quite successful. I somehow managed to wake up at 7:00 am (it's a complete mystery how I did it) and stumbled over to 1 Fitzwilliam Street, before boarding a train to London. Which was fantastic, because I got a nap in. Now I'm ready to face the day. We get to London with 1 hour to get from King's Cross Station to Paddington. Normally this would not be an issue, however the Circle line on the Tube was closed. Thanks to our savvy knowledge of the London Underground, we knew to take the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus, and then transfer to the Bakerloo line to get to Paddington Station. Well, 6 people walking through a train terminal to buy tube tickets equates to a lot of fumbling and slow moving. And this roundabout way to get to the station means that we missed our first train. By 30 seconds. Which is fine, because we do some quick problem solving, and find tickets to Bath on the next train, leaving us an hour to get some delicious sandwiches (Toasted Baguette with tomato and cheese) and bagels for everyone else.

We board the train. An hour and half, two sudokus, and the ending to one book later, we arrive in Bath.

Immediately we are so thrilled to be there. It is strikingly beautiful, and there are so many great sights. Bath was home to Jane Austen, the Northanger Abbey, and the Roman Baths (Natural springs where the Romans used to retreat to to rest and relax). We explore the city some, take some incredible photos. We are loving Bath. Even I, who had previously no interest in the city, was so happy to be there. I never realized how gorgeus English towns could be.

We have around 2 hours, so everyone gets as many sights in as we can. I cared mostly of the abbey, and really nothing else. We went in, and it was incredible. It was constructed in 1634, but it stands on soil occupied by a church the Romans built around 634 AD. Shockingly, it still stands today even though it was hit by a bomb during WWII. It wasn't reconstructed until 1991, but after it was it continued to be an operating Chapel and tourist attraction.

After the abbey, we went to Sally Lunn's. Sally Lunn's is a Tea House, the oldest in all of Bath. Sally Lunn was a french baker, and when she would serve cream tea (one of GB's greatest contributions to modern society) she would serve it with her own type of pastry: the Sally Lunn bun. We enjoyed cream tea (mine of course with coffee) and then found the bus to go to Stonehenge.

Short story of Stonehenge: It is absolutely gorgeous. Constructed WAY back in the day, we're talking King Arthur's time, the monumental rocks still stand today. From my limited understanding, they built the place as a worshipping ground to their Gods. It could also have served a scientific purpose to help find out when the seasons were changing. Some people may think it was aliens, considering the abnormally large amounts of crop circles in the area, but I think that our Ancestors were smart enough to build a temple from rocks, and be able to identify when the shortest day of the year was (Skeptics don't think too highly of the intellectual capabilities of the early Brits). Either way check out this site. It will help you form your own opinions.

Back to Bath: Dinner at an adorable pub to fortify our journey. Which is a good thing because it was an epic journey. I was thrilled because I finally got salad. Salad does not exist in this country, they simply don't eat it. So it was with jubilee that I ate my feta cheese salad and garlic bread.

Now I feel incredibly blessed that every travel I have taken so far has been a safe one. Travelling across Europe is never safe, particularly when you consider recent events in Norway. So I am so glad that we are all safe. And if you're going to be stuck on a train, I did it with the right people. Here's how it went. We were supposed to get on a train at 8:45 that would take us to London, where we would board a train at 11:00 to take us home to Cambridge by midnight. Well, we got on the train. We headed towards London. About half an hour in, we got stopped. Communications failures and power outages up the tracks that meant that everyone was stopped. After 1.5 hours of sitting here, just outside of Bath, we start moving. Back towards Bath. Past Bath. All the way to Bristol, which is on the far west side of England, almost all the way to Wales. When we arrive at Bristol, we transfer trains (grab some first class seats) and the train starts moving. Back to Bath. at 11:30, we get to Bath. Where we started. We spent three hours on a train and got exactly no where. But, to our surprise, we leave Bath, and start towards London. Now this was an experience.

We played MASH, ate cookies, told stories, and had, in my opinion, a very nice time. As you can see, in my MASH life, I got a few of my choices. Queen of England, a Voltzwagon Bug, living in Seattle, with my dog in a mansion. Not all were so lucky with their futures. But it provided a lot of laughs and made the best of a rough situation. At 1:30 AM, we finally arrive at London. We complain to the train operator, because we have no where to stay in London and were supposed to be warm in our beds in Cambridge, and they pay for the 6 of us plus one old man, Tony, to get back to Cambridge via taxi.

Now Cambridge is not close to London. It is actually another 2 hours away. This meant that upon our arrival at 3:30 AM in Cambridge, each taxi cost 250 pounds (this is more than $800 total for anyone keeping track). This was definite vindication to the train company. And it is how I witnessed my first british sunrise, at 4:45 AM after uploading photos to facebook and skyping my mom. Needless to say I didn't make it to London this morning at 8, which is mostly sad because now I don't get to eat Chipotle. All in all, I loved Bath, Stonehenge, and had an incredible train ride home. Times like these, I'm glad I find laughter to deal with my frustration in travelling.

And this morning, after reading CNN's article on 2 Bullet trains that collided because one was stopped because of a power outage, I feel particularly blessed to have woken up. Thankfullness from me, and prayers to the victims of the train wreck and Norwegian bombings.

More later, love for now, Tess.