Today is a big transit day. We taxi to Glasgow central station and catch the Avanti West Coast Train to London Euston Station. The weather we were trying to dodge the last week has arrived here with very heavy rains impacting Scotland and Britain. Several earlier trains have been cancelled with passengers being diverted to ours. Very crowded. This might be the longest train we’ve ever been on – it took a good 15 minutes to walk to our carriage. As this was to be about a 6-hour trip, we had booked reservations in first class to ensure seats and a table. Good thing we did!
The heavy rain caused the train to travel at reduced speeds and there was talk of us having to transfer to another train halfway to London. At the Lake District stop, a nice Australian couple joined us at our table and we have lunch together. Luckily, the weather cleared enough we were able to proceed straight to London without transfer although arrival was some 2 hours later than expected.
We needed to transfer from the Euston to Liverpool stations for connections to the Witham stop in Essex. The two choices for the transfer are the Tube (i.e. – Underground), or a taxi. I normally love travelling on the Tube but with all the luggage it will be a pain. Plus, it’s rush hour and really busy. Dick takes pity on me and we get a taxi. Thank You!
It’s about a 45-minute ride from Liverpool to the Witham station. Our friends Shaun and Carol met us there and drove us to their home in Maldon where we’ll be staying for a few days. After a long day of travel, the pre-dinner libations and Carol’s wonderful dinner hit the spot. Great to relax and catch up. We closed out the evening with a wee dram.
So nice to be here.