The Most Depressing Day of the Year?

This is what it looked like at London Bridge station last night

Back to England yesterday.   A weary journey.  Two ‘incidents’ brought trains to a complete halt between Gatwick airport and Victoria station London, resulting in extreme congestion and delays on the remaining services.  Forcing our way through crowds - like a riot, or sale day at Harrods, having station gates slammed in our faces because there were too many people on the concourse for safety.  Then missing the main line train we could have got on because the doors were locked just as we reached the train (still 2 minutes to departure)  Policemen patrolling the station in threes with AK47 assault rifles in their hands and other weapons slung about their persons, accompanied by sniffer dogs.  This isn’t an England I recognise, but fear I must get used to.

It took less than 2 hours on the plane from Pisa to Gatwick and another three and a half to get from Gatwick to London (normally 30 minutes) then another three to get out of  London northwards.  Hungry, tired, cheated of an evening with my children and grandchildren, I wasn’t in too good a mood by the time I arrived in the midlands.  But thinking about the suffering of  the families of the two people who died after throwing themselves under high speed trains put it all into perspective.   England isn’t in great shape right now.

And maybe it had something to do with the fact that the third week in January is statistically supposed to be the most depressing week of the year, and Monday, 'Blue Monday', the most depressing day.  Obviously Tuesday wasn't good either.

Happy Travelling!

Finally made it home, travelling Pisa to Glasgow and then three trains and a bus to our home town.  It took all day, but at least it's still possible by public transport.
You can tell the passengers who are travelling by Ryan Air - they're the ones wearing three jumpers and two coats, with shoes bulging from the pockets and a couple of books stuffed down their trousers.  You can't get away with baggage even a centimetre over-size now and anything that looks remotely heavy is weighed before you get on the plane.  Saw two distraught Italian girls sitting on the airport floor hysterically throwing away their clothes because neither had the money left to pay the 35 euros it costs to put your cabin baggage in the hold.
I found this card in New Zealand and it says it all.  Theyre created by Cecily Allison and you can find more about her on her website at http://www.cecily.co.nz/      I really like her sense of humour!

Now there's only the washing to do, and the garden is a foot high with weeds.  Back to work at the university on Monday. 

Travelling Jazz

This has been a very busy week, with no time for blogging at all. On Monday, authors Wendy Robertson and Avril Joy  (both wonderful bloggers) came over to interview me for their excellent new writing programme on Bishop FM. I was so nervous I forgot to take a photograph, but we became engrossed in talking about writing and books over lunch and it was a lovely afternoon.

On Tuesday I headed off to Italy by air to meet up with Neil, pick up all our belongings and drive the car north through Europe, back to Cumbria. We stayed overnight in Dijon, in the heart of the Bourgogne wine country. Unfortunately, there’s a limit to how many wines you can taste in one night! (In my case, about two)

Bit of wishful thinking in Dijon

Back in England we queued for hours on the M25 (for non-brits this is London’s orbital parking lot), aiming for Herefordshire and the Titley Jazz Festival, where some of Neil’s friends were playing. Neil used to organise the now legendary Appleby Jazz Festival, until funding fell through, so he has frequent cravings for a jazz fix, and Titley proved a convenient stopping off point on the way home. It also has a small steam railway, and the festival takes place in a marquee almost on the platform.

We were lucky to find a bed and breakfast cancellation for the night, but last night we spent in the car driving north on the motorway, arriving here at 4am. Just time to throw the washing in the machine and the rest of our clothes into suitcases in order to leave for New Zealand tomorrow for the book launch. I’ve done about three thousand miles already this week, only another eleven thousand to go!!