Saturday, April 3rd, 2004
Threatened rain and chilly (50º), very windy at times
Woke up too late for my "English" breakfast. A buddy sent me an email yesterday
saying that he was free Saturday. So I decided to go to King's Cross and take
the rail up to see him. I bought a 2-way rail ticket to Grantham. Gareth lives
near Sleaford, which is east of Grantham. The grumpy old ticket man had never
heard of "GRANT-ham" and he gave me a hard time so I had to describe that the
town was north of London in the Midlands. He finally comprehended my American
accent and suggested gran-THAM. After purchasing the ticket I called Gareth. I
got his voicemail so I got lunch in the terminal. McDonald's in England has a
sort of upscale look. The employees are clean- no grease splattered shirts- and
you could touch the counter without sticking to it! This was more than just the
cleanliness of London. I never thought fast food was clean anywhere!
After eating my Southwestern burger in the lounge, I phoned Gareth again and
left another message. I got on a train bound for Grantham and was nearly
knocked over by the intense smell of food. Phew. There were some Oriental
people eating something that smelled horrible. The train itself was clean so I
settled into a seat and read my
Walking Haunted London
book.
A picture I snapped as the train sped north. I would guess that the train's
speed was 60 or 70 mph. And look at that wonderfully narrow road! I wish my
MG
was here!
I arrived in Grantham after about an hour and a half. Grantham is roughly 100
miles
north of London. I have little experience with rail stations but this one
looked like the ones I have seen in Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. I phoned
Gareth again and left another message. Then I waited half an hour watching
people.
The British are quite different than Americans. It seems that the
Britons strive to not stand out in a crowd. Many wear similiar cologne and
perfume and they all look and dress alike. I don't mean that they are all
brainwashed or in uniform. No, I just did not see too many different types of
people like in London or in America. Most, if not, all of the women wear their
hair long: shoulder length or longer. I saw no women with boyish haircuts and I
didn't miss it! All British people tend to speak quieter than I am used to. All
life is toned down from American life.
The blue line indicates my path from London. Sleaford, where Gareth is located,
is two stops to the east of Grantham. I have labeled the York stop, too. I may
go to York tomorrow.
I phoned Gareth again and got the voicemail. I gave up on him and decided to
take a picture of Grantham before returning to London. It was downright cold in
Grantham so I was happy to return to London.
I boarded a train bound for King's Cross. I wondered if I got on the wrong
train for my ticket because other riders were looking for their seat numbers. I
also hope that I did not take anyone's seat. Oops. Would the conductor throw
me off? I have never been hurled off a fast moving vehicle. This train was full.
I asked the girl who sat down in the seat next to me if she thought my ticket
was valid for this train. She seemed to think that it wasn't a problem. Her
name was Victoria and she was a university student returning to London after
studying geography at a
college in the north. She was cute and kind. I was surprised that she didn't
know any of the British sitcoms that I had seen. She had not seen the fairly
recently zombie film
28 Days Later
or the two latest Matrix movies. We talked about the differences between
Britain and America. I was amazed how uncorrupted she was. Granted she was a
second year college student (20 years old, I would guess), but her American
counterparts would be well jaded. You know "seen that, done that." And it was
good to speak to someone, I had not spoken with any for anyone length since
arriving in Britain!
I arrived in London during the late rush hour and took the tube to Gloucester
Road. On the walk back to the hotel I stopped at Sainsbury's and picked up
dinner. The supermarket was swamped but people were considerate. Well, I
thought they were considerate. Some other people were getting visually angry.
Yes, I had to wait but no one purposefully used his or her shopping cart to
block an aisleway. No one intentionally got in someone else's way.
On the walk to the hotel, I saw a Ferrari 308, Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari 360,
and an Alfa
Romeo. Note that my walk along Cromwell was half a mile long. Back at the hotel
I enjoyed my Doritoes and London Pride beer and watched TV programs and movies.
Movies do not have commercials but programs do.
I traveled an estimated 200 miles today.
