On the Way to the War of the Worlds

 

Here I am outside the War of the Worlds Immersive Experience in Leadenhall Street, in vaguely Victorian dress to look the part of someone fleeing from the Martian war machines.

It had been a quite fraught journey to get to this point.

We left in plenty of time to get something to eat before the show, but disaster struck as I got onto the train at Woolwich Arsenal.  I have a little blood blister next to my nose, and it had chosen that moment to start bleeding.  It was still bleeding by the time we got to London Bridge, where my Young Man found the first aider on duty.  He was lovely.  He got me a chair, and then took me to the first aid post and gave me sterilised swabs to mop up the blood.  The only thing I could do was to sit there quietly until the blood stopped flowing, keeping pressure on it all the time.  It turned out that the first aider had gone to school in Cardiff, and we had quite a pleasant chat with him.

When I stopped bleeding, he pointed us in the direction of the station's Boots to get some ointment to put on.

Boots was useless.  No Germoline, or Savlon, or even Vaseline, or any other sort of ointment to put on cuts.  It was self-service, so there was no member of staff behind a counter (there was no counter!) but there was a member of staff sort of lurking around the place, who suggested we try teething gel.  

We did not try teething gel.

The Young Man decided to try WH Smiths on the off-chance they had something, and we found a little tin of Vaseline there.

By this time there was no time to get a meal, so we ate sandwiches outside the station, and took a taxi to Leadenhall Street - where we had a few minutes before we were due to go in to look around.

Across the road is St Katherine Cree church.  According to Wikipedia, it was first built in 1280, but was rebuilt in 1628, making it the only Jacobean church in London.  It is now a Guild church rather than a parish church.

Round the corner, we found that we were very close to the Gherkin:

and on the corner of a nearby building was an interesting plaque:

This was the corner of Holland House, also nearby:

Adventures in London

 I've written on my other blog about my problems with the buses from Hay at the beginning of my holiday.  I missed my train by a whisker so I went to the ticket office to ask what I should do.

"Do you still want to travel?" he asked.

Here I am, standing with my suitcase: "Well, yeah!  I've got someone meeting me at Euston!"

"So, do you want the quickest route or the cheapest?"

I went for the quickest, which got me into Euston an hour later than I was expected.  It's at times like these that I think it might possibly be useful to have a mobile phone - I had no way to tell my Young Man that I was running late.

It didn't help that the station cafe is closed for the duration, and I took one look at the vending machine and decided I did not have the mental energy to work out how to make it give me a bottle of water.

I had enough time between trains at Birmingham New Street to grab a coffee and find a quiet corner where I could take off my mask to drink it and eat the sandwich I'd brought with me.

I saw the Young Man almost as soon as I stepped off the platform at Euston - he'd had a station announcement put out, thinking he'd missed me and I'd gone wandering off into London and he'd never find me again!

He was going to take me to Cafe Rouge for lunch, which would probably have been nice if they were open.  By this time I was really quite hungry, and thirsty - the only way to access the buffet service on the train was by an app, which in my case I had not got.

Next door to Cafe Rouge is Nando's.  "Chicken?" he asked.

By this time I would have eaten greasy cardboard.  Chicken sounded fine.

To get into Nando's the Young Man had to point his phone at the track and trace symbol, and order by app.  He couldn't work out how to do that, so eventually we managed to get a paper menu, and a girl came to the table to take our order.  "The pitta's got coleslaw in it," she said.

I hate coleslaw.  I didn't care.  I'd eat it.

"What is there to drink?" we asked.

They had no tea, or coffee.  Juice was only for babies.

"Look, I just need something liquid!  What have you got?"

"Coke?"

"That'll do!"

I hate coke.  The last time I bought coke I used it as a drain cleaner, which in my opinion is all it is fit for.  I didn't care.  I drank it.

So, that meal was simultaneously the worst I've ever had, and exactly what I needed at that precise moment.  I will never willingly set foot in a Nando's again.

When we left, I was at least feeling a bit more human, so we went round to the Euston Tap for a half of Oyster Stout to take the taste away before we headed back to the Young Man's flat.  The beer was delicious.

Travelling by Train in a time of Floods

My journey home was smooth and easy. I got a lift down to Bristol with my friend, and arrived at Temple Meads station in plenty of time to have a cup of coffee at Bonaparte's Bar, which was even on the right platform for my train. Then it was an easy change at Newport and up to Hereford, just in nice time for the bus home.

The journey out was not quite so easy. It started with the train from Hereford to Newport being 6 minutes late. This was just enough for me to miss my connection. However, the lovely man at the Help Desk gave me a new route which would get me into Stroud only ten minutes after I had originally planned!
So I got on the train to Bristol Parkway and Swindon. After a little while on the train, there was an announcement to say there was flooding between Bristol Parkway and Swindon, so the train would be taking an alternative route which would add an extra 25 minutes to the journey.
The views of Bath were very nice.
Swindon at least has a lot of space undercover. I bought a magazine at the WH Smiths there, and asked them what their charity box was. The chap behind the counter was pleased to explain the WH Smiths Trust to me, which seems to exist to help staff to fund raise for good causes.
The train to Stroud arrived, and I noticed that I would be approaching the station from the opposite direction from my original route.
By the time I got into the station, I was about an hour late, and worrying that my friend would not still be there to pick me up. She was there, but she had also texted my Young Man to ask for my mobile number.
I don't have a mobile.
So then he was worried as well that I had disappeared somewhere between Hereford and Stroud!
Fortunately he didn't have to stay worried for too long.
Next time I'm booking the ticket to Kemble - I can walk to my friend's house from there!

The Ferry Home

I had to get up at the crack of dawn on my last morning, to catch the 7am bus from Westmorland Street to the ferry terminal. The Mortons bus came right on time, but there were hold ups due to roadworks when we got into the port area.
And then the bus stopped at the StenaLine terminal.
The last I saw of the bus driver was him having an argument with a taxi driver who had cut in front of him, and was loudly declaring that the bus driver was from County Mayo, so he hated Dubs!
The Garda, standing nearby, directed those of us who were travelling by Irish Ferries to the next terminal down - we ran for it, and got there with only 10 minutes to spare!
That was a little more exciting than I would have liked!
The café on the Ulysses was doing a special offer of coffee and muffin for E5, so that was my breakfast, and I treated myself to a Trinity College sweatshirt from the shop, since I'd never been able to get to the shop at Trinity College itself when it was open.
Near to where I was sitting, two men were consulting maps of London and chatting. As the ship got close to Anglesey, we got talking. They were from Southern California, and had been at the Con - they noticed my t-shirt, and the older man had been the president of the Heinlein Society (he was wearing a Heinlein Society cap). What's more, he was a physicist, and he had been taught by Gregory Benford! This was like meeting SF Royalty!
I lost sight of them as we disembarked, and the London train was going from a different platform to the one I ended up on - but from there the journey home was very smooth.

A Diary of WorldCon - Travelling to Dublin

I'm an anxious traveller, but I was pretty sure I could get to Dublin with no problems.
So I took the early bus from Hay to Hereford. The first train I could get to Holyhead was at 8.27am, but the bus comes in at 8.25am, so I booked for the following train at 9.08am. It was lucky I did, as the 8.27am train was cancelled that morning due to a train fault. It also meant I had a reserved seat in a very full train (for which they apologised). At Shrewsbury I changed for Holyhead very easily, and at Holyhead you leave the station platforms straight into the ferry terminal, so that was easy.
I like the train journey along the North Welsh coast - I used to stay in a caravan at Pensarn when I was a kid, and the caravan site is still there, though the caravans these days tend to have a pitched roof like a shed, and a balcony built on the front. The big wind farm just off the coast was new to me, and looked very impressive. I like wind farms.
And castles - we passed Gwrych Castle, and right under the walls of Conway. We also passed RAF Valley, with all the jet trainers (Hawks?) parked in a row.
In the queue for the ferry, I met a lady who was going to a Music and Dance Festival at Drogheda, and then going on to Norway.
The ferry was called Ulysses, after the book by James Joyce; the bar was Leopold Bloom's. It was a smooth crossing. Once we were through passport control on the Irish side the buses into the centre of Dublin were right there. I had thought I could get on the bus and use my Leap Card straight away (I sent off for it in advance) but the Morton bus that picks up from the ferry didn't take my Visitor Card because it hadn't been validated in the centre of Dublin, so I paid cash. "I've only got notes," I apologised (in case they only took exact change).
"We won't hold that against you," the driver said.
I got off at Westmoreland Street, which is very close to Trinity College, where I was staying:

This is the main gate. Inside, the staff at the accommodation office were very helpful - I had to go back because I couldn't get the key card to work. Turns out you have to put it in and pull it out quite fast, and then turn the handle - and I'd stuck it in and left it there while I tried jiggling the handle.
This is where I was staying.

It was right by the Buttery, where breakfasts were served. When I booked I didn't think breakfast was included, so I'd been intending to find a nearby café, but a breakfast voucher was included with my key card, and the meals were very good.
The student rooms at Trinity are laid out with a shared kitchen and lounge area, bathroom, and two lockable bedrooms. It was all spotlessly clean and very comfortable. For the first day or so, I wasn't sure whether I had a room mate or not. Then a washbag appeared in the bathroom. I was about to leave a note saying "Hello, invisible room mate!" when he appeared as I was making my morning cup of coffee. He met up with friends in the Buttery each morning and our paths hardly crossed, though we did have a chat about future WorldCon bids one morning.

On that first evening I had plenty of time to wander round and get my bearings. I checked out where the Luas stop was - that's the Dublin tram system, and it is wonderful. I had to cross the bridge across the Liffey, and it was just off O'Connell street - and the Leap Card did work as soon as I touched it to the machine on the platform.
I also wandered along Temple Bar. Live music was coming out of the pubs, and I was amused to hear a tune by O'Carolan the harper followed, at the next pub, by Whiskey in the Jar - just about the most Irish music it was possible to get!
I didn't drink in Temple Bar, though - I found this pub right next to the Molly Malone statue and had my first Guinness there.

Drinks are expensive in Dublin, even allowing for the difference between pounds and Euros - E3.50 for a half!

Trip on the River

The last time I went on a boat on the River Thames, I was eleven years old, and it was part of a school trip to see the Tutankhamum Exhibition at the British Museum. One highlight of the trip was seeing the gold death mask; another was getting lost on the Tube! I don't think we went a long way, but I remember passing HMS Belfast, and taking a photo of the dome of St Pauls.

I was delighted to learn that the river buses are integrated with the rest of the London public transport system, and I could use my Oyster card to pay.
Woolwich Pier is the furthest down the river that the river bus goes, and only when the tides are right. Here's the city clipper Tornado coming in to the pier:

It was a bit of a grey day, but very comfortable on the boat. It's even got a little café. There was some sort of nursery school outing on board, too - I think the children were young enough to travel for free.
We passed the Woolwich Ferry, and went through the Thames Barrier:

We went past the Greenwich Naval College and the Cutty Sark:

The river does a big loop, where we passed the O2 building, and then we were getting more central, around Tower Bridge.
We passed several other city clippers, with names like Monsoon and Jupiter.
We got off at Blackfriars Pier, and walked back to where we wanted to go along the Thames Path.
Travelling through London feels very different on the river - it was great fun!