It’s Saturday, I’m on the train again. Since my last post, I’ve remembered a few things I could have written about my stay in Wales, so here I am, writing another post.
The end of Friday
On Friday we went to the sea. It was in a very nice area and was right on the way to the restaurant where we wanted to spend our last dinner. You can see from the place that many people go here. There were others here with us, even in the water. But there were some who just lay on the grass and enjoyed doing nothing. We just looked at the place, and then we went on. to the restaurant.
In recent days I have been in a car in many places, sitting on the side where, according to my habit, the steering wheel is usually located. It feels very strange that they drive on the other side of the road here, than where I have been used to my whole life. It is strange, for example, that I do not see what I should see in the mirror. The roundabouts are still difficult for me to interpret after days. Also the turns onto another road. After a few days, the situation is somewhat familiar, but I think it takes some practice to get used to this system. Not to mention that the roads are extremely narrow and in many places the roads are impossible to see. According to my friends, this is compounded by the fact that many people who drive have little experience, so reversing can be a problem, for example. And, if that were not enough, there are extremely steep streets in Abertillery and the surrounding towns. Based on this, I think that driving a car here as a beginner on the left is a real challenge. I was in London with my daughters last year, when we discussed renting a car. So in retrospect, I think it was a good decision not to do that.
Anyway, I wasn’t driving, so there were no problems on the road. We walked a bit before arriving at the restaurant. The Welsh towns are very atmospheric. The restaurant was typically the kind you see in movies set in England. In England, it is common practice for everyone to order online at a restaurant. On the tables there is a QR code that leads to the restaurant’s ordering system, with which we can order food based on the table number, and we can even take advantage of order discounts immediately.
We managed to order some incredibly delicious food. Along with the appetizers, we had a very substantial dinner. My friend wanted to enhance the many experiences with another shake. I asked for a green smoothie. I immediately felt at the first taste that I didn’t have to regret it. It was the most delicious smoothie of my life. It had spinach, cucumber, mint, banana, ginger and pineapple juice. If I see one like this anywhere in the future, I will definitely drink it.
The other culinary experience that I encountered here for the first time was the vinegar-salted chips. Now, while sitting on the train, I bought one. This also gives me a special taste experience that I haven’t even seen at home. So, despite the fact that “The gastronomic revolution eluded me”, I can enjoy these special experiences. After the substantial dinner, we also ate an excellent ice cream that a Ukrainian lady makes in her own shop in the city. It would have been a shame to miss this one too.
The rest of Friday was spent relaxing. There was reason to believe that I had beautiful dreams that night.
Saturday
I’m slowly getting used to waking up without a clock. Not to mention that English electrical sockets are not the same as ours. So at my friend’s house I could only plug my charger in the living room, meaning my phone hasn’t been resting where I am at night for days. So I was able to achieve without any problems that I don’t check my phone before falling asleep. Although there was an alarm clock in my room, I didn’t even think to use it. So I always woke up on time.
After we all woke up, we discussed the plan for the last day. One last breakfast, a visit to a museum in Bristol and goodbye.
We had a typical English breakfast at one of the Wetherspoon restaurants. I’ve had English breakfasts many times, for example in London last year, and on board the Nomad Cruise several times. The good thing is that there are no surprises. Nevertheless, the surprise was successful here, because my friends asked me for a black pudding, which is not made with rice here, but – if I remember correctly – with barley. In addition, I tried a few sauces for breakfast, so overall I still managed to experience some unknown and good flavors.
This is the second time in the past year and a half that I have been to England and only today did I encounter English rain for the first time. So I hear that it always rains here. I didn’t experience that. Today’s rain didn’t cause any problems either, it was actually just a gentle drizzle. Anyway, we got in the car and went to Bristol together.
Bristol Aerospace
I read this about this museum beforehand:
It would have been a shame to miss this exhibition. It was fascinating to see the history of aviation in a place so closely intertwined with aviation. I had the opportunity to learn new historical facts. I was able to try on a flight suit from the time. I listened to a propaganda speech that made me understand what an important job I could do in the aircraft industry if we were to be preparing for World War II. And the Concorde is a truly impressive aircraft.Visit Aerospace Bristol and journey through over a century of aviation history discovering aeroplanes, helicopters, engines, space technology and more!
You’ll have the chance to step aboard the world’s fastest passenger jet, Concorde Alpha Foxtrot, the last of the supersonic jets ever to be built and fly! Glimpse into the cockpit and walk through the passenger cabin to see how Concorde passengers would travel in style.
Aerospace Bristol offers a fun family day out for all ages with interactive exhibits, children’s trails and a stunning audio-visual show projected onto the outside of the iconic Concorde. Don’t miss out!
The train station was not far from here, from where I could take the familiar route back to London. Here I said goodbye to my friends, saying that, quite by chance, we would meet again in Hungary in a week and a half.
Direct route to London
It could have been direct! But in the end it wasn’t…
I got on the wrong train in Bristol. What happened was that I arrived at the right track when the train arrived. They told me where it was going, but because I don’t know the area, it’s as if they hadn’t told me anything. I got on. Then, since it left immediately, it took me a few minutes to realize that it was too early.
Then it turned out that I wouldn’t be able to get to Paddington with this train, but I could get off in Cheltenham instead, in half an hour.
I immediately contacted the conductor, who was extremely helpful. He helped me figure out what to do. I would have to get off in Cheltenham, from there I would be able to get to Paddington. I had already seen the time plane.
I think I have a chance of missing my plane for the first time in my life. If all goes well, I will be at Luton Airport Parkway by 7:15 PM, from there I will have to get to the airport in a short time, where I will have to go through security and photo ID. I have until 7:45 PM to get on the plane, so my time is pretty tight.
I went to the information desk in Cheltenham, where I explained what had happened to me. It was a cheap consolation that what had happened to me often happens even to locals. In any case, the ladies were very helpful and understanding. They almost held my hand, we agreed on how long to meet, because unfortunately I still had some idle time until the next train left. It was as if the plane was waiting for me… As time passed, we went to the train manager together, who was understanding of my problem and assured me that I could safely board the train. Now I am sitting here, waiting for us to arrive in Paddington.
I don’t want to think about what will happen if I miss the plane right now. If that’s the case, I’ll have to work out Plan B there. This – I think – is a good practice in real life for what can await me during my upcoming travels. There’s no tension or worry, somehow I’ll definitely get back to Hungary. Even if I don’t want to.
Did I catch the plane?
After such a question, I hope everyone is anxious about whether they finally managed to catch the flight home or not.
I don’t want to break anyone’s nerves in a way that is incompatible with life, so I will tell you that I will finish these writings that I started on the train while sitting here on the plane. It didn’t take much, but I finally managed to miss the experience of being late.
The train arrived in Paddington on time. It was an interesting feeling to arrive at a train station for the second time in my life, where I now knew exactly where I had to run. Literally running, because I knew that in this game everything probably depends on minutes. I didn’t want to make a mistake, so as soon as I saw an employee, I immediately asked for directions. I was lucky, this time it proved that help is close at hand in times of trouble, and that people in this country are really nice. When I told the guy I spoke to that I was in a hurry, he pointed me to another subway line that would take me to the next station faster.
After the subway ride, a long train was waiting for me. I felt the train was moving slowly enough to feel that success would really be a matter of minutes in the end. On the train, I had time to rest and see the colorful bustle of suburban life. I had the opportunity to observe all kinds of people, and I enjoyed the trip.
I was happy to experience that I managed to maintain my composure throughout. I wasn’t nervous about missing my plane. I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to do at the airport if I had to stay there. I wouldn’t have been happy at all if I had to buy another ticket, but I wasn’t worried about it for a moment. All I really had in mind was that if I missed my flight, I would find a solution after a short rest. But until then, I had nothing to do.
So the train was moving quite slowly. But the airport was within sight. The penultimate stop on the line was Luton Airport Parkway, which I already knew, and the last stop was Luton. Seeing this, I was a little happy that I could go straight to the airport, but the routine had already worked in me. With the help of ChatGPT, I found out that the final station of Luton is not the same as Luton Airport. So in the last quarter of an hour of the train journey, I decided to buy my ticket for the DART line in advance, in order to save time after landing. It was a good decision, I feel, because I had to press my phone quite a lot before I solved this task. After using an unnecessarily downloaded app, I finally managed to buy the ticket online. This made me feel prepared for the final rush.
I almost bled to death getting off the train. In England, you can’t really flash the train or the Tube. You can get in and out of the station using a ticket. So, if you want to do tricks, it’s not enough to get on the train, you can also bang your ankle on the way out by not being able to open the gate. And the security guards are there at every gate. Of course, they don’t just guard it, they also help. So, I almost couldn’t get through Luton Airport Parkway because I wanted to use the DART ticket to open the gate there, even though the train ticket was still required at that gate. 30 meters later, at the next gate, I already had to use the DART ticket.
From there on, my luck really depended on luck. The DART train was standing there as I jumped on it, and it was already leaving. Luckily, I knew the way to the airport. When the train arrived, I still had 12 minutes until the gate of my plane closed. I had already booked it here that I had managed to miss the plane, but I didn’t give up. I wanted to fight.
Luckily, everything is well signposted at the airport. So when I ran from the train and entered the door, I immediately saw where the security check was. And they were barely there. So, panting, but within a minute, I was throwing my stuff into the inspection box. For some reason, fate wanted to teach me patience here, because they took me out from behind the scanner and I had to play the living statue in all kinds of poses so that the security guard could grope me around and measure me with a hand-held scanner. At times like these, I know there’s no point in getting hysterical about me being in a hurry. I realized that I was running out of time. And lo and behold, they suddenly signaled that the track was mine. I didn’t have time to put my belt back on, so I had to keep running by constantly pulling my pants up with one hand while running. It was a lot of fun. And I was so happy, because even though it was already written on my plane that my gate was in “last call” status, it also became clear that it wasn’t on the other side of the airport. It was relatively close, but to get there, I had to sprint through all sorts of duty shops, then worry about not messing up a single turn in empty corridors. The gate was open until 19:45. So, when I turned into the finish line at 19:42 and saw that there were still two people at the gate, hope was already shining. They also saw me running and were waiting with a smile. So 2 minutes before the gate closed, I heard the words spoken with a smile: “You made it!”
I didn’t have to wait for anything to get on the plane. Sweating like a horse, I was finally able to sit down calmly.
I took a nap after takeoff, and I’m finishing this article with a lot of good feelings. It was great to be in Wals, it was a great experience to spend time with my friends. I’ve gathered a lot of positive energy again, and I’ll arrive home satisfied. At midnight I’ll be sitting in my car and smilingly thinking back on today.