Britrail - Greg Joins the Fun

On the telephone Glen asked us if we are really having as much fun as it appears we are having.

I didn't know the answer to that question, so I went to look at some of the photographs and do a little research.

Afterall, would a picture lie?

Even a picture that was staged?

Wyona had called Greg from Carlisle asking if he wanted to join us on our last day of the BritRail Pass. He signed on with us.

Here we are at 8 am, standing by the statue of Brunel the architect who designed Paddington Station.

Actually we are here 40 minutes early for we don't want anything to go wrong.

Greg's ticket is "term certain" for want of a better phrase.

He has to get on the 8 am train for Penzance. He has to be on the 5:20 pm train returning from Penzance.

Wyona and I can catch earlier trains, catch later trains, miss trains, and change our itineraries at will. But it is worth having a plan and working the plan to have Greg along with us.

I looked at the ceiling in Paddington Station that day and remembered that there is one train station we didn't leave from. I love the Paddington Roof. I will have to take a look at Charing Cross another day.

All of the boards that post the platform information look essentially the same, yellow on black, and we are quick to read them and then dart for the right platform.

But this day there was no need to run, for we now know how to book a seat reservation so that the thrill of the run was not part of our last day's exercise.

They sit on one side of the train and I sit on the other. At least that is how we start the journey. By the end of the day, the three of us were sitting on the two-seater side of the coach, squeezed together, looking at the picture Wyona had taken out of the train window.

To prevent the reflection of the window glass on the images taken through the window, Wyona discovered she could go to the back of the coach, open the window to the door, and take picture that way. "The only downside is that you can't see what is coming up to photograph unless you hang your head out of the window, a sure formula for an ear ache if done long enough", she said.

When the train manager passed through an otherwise empty coach and saw three of us side by side on a two-seater bench he said, "Please don't let management see that you can put 3 passengers in the space for two, or they will start crowding these coaches 3 on a seat instead of 2."

Love,

Arta