Selenay's Ramblings

Yesterday's fun with steam trains went very well :-) Met terrylbirch about fifteen minutes before our train was due, which turned out to be an excellent plan because our train pulled in just as we got to the platform and we would have missed the photographic opportunity otherwise.

My poor, crippled father had given instructions that I had to take as many photos as possible because he had to miss out on the fun :-(

The train made appropriate choo-choo noises, which made T and I very happy. We had great fun waving at people out of the window :-) There were a lot of kids (and not so kiddish people) out on the route to take a look. I think that was one of the things that made the day special - the enthusiasm that people were showing for the steam trains and how much the kids were enjoying it. For many of them it was probably the first time they'd ever been on a steamer.

The trip to London was lovely - there's a very distinctive smell from a steam train, an odd combination of smoke, metal and steam that's utterly unique and conjures up all kinds of images. To think that people a hundred years ago travelled that way and smelled that smoke.

London, of course, meant visits to Borders and Foyles to admire books. Neither of us resisted the temptation of new books well :-) And we finished the day with tea and cakes (er, coffee and cakes) in a posh tea shop/patisserie that T knew. It was one of those things that I've always wanted to do and it felt really special. Then, of course, we had the trip home but it wasn't on a steam train this time :-( But we did pass one of the steam trains, which was nice.

Now I have to make a decision about whether I can make it into work and call my boss to talk about it. On the one hand, it's my busiest day and I need to do the work. On the other hand, it's starting to get very dodgy as to whether I can get home and what state I'm in for a large part of that journey. Hmm. Guess I need to make the phone call and see what we can work out.