Train to MIM - May 13th

MIM = Moreton in Marsh

Happy Mother's Day to me..... It was great to receive more comments. We chuckled until we read Morgan's comments and then we burst right out laughing. Everyone in the pub thought we may have enjoyed the Shandy a little toooooooo much. Morgan I am going to email your Sussex comment to our Tour Director. He loves making inuendoes in his presentation and I am sure he will enjoy that.

Off to Paddington Station by means of a taxi. We had lots of time to stop and have a coffee after getting our bearings. Drips of something (?) from overhead fell on Leslie causing me to rethink having the lid off my coffee to let it cool, as pigeons flew freely through the station.

We waited, watching the board eagerly.
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford ON TIME
9:42 Hereford PLATFORM 10
And we are off....run run run (sounds like a grade one reader doesn't it)
with heavy bags in tow, running down the platform

the front of the train comes clearly visible: OXFORD !
WHAT! Stopped dead in our tracks. OXFORD? Check the time. Check the platform number. It is 9:36 am. Our train leaves at 9:42. What to do? confusion! brain stopped! No conductors visible.

Oh wait! Here is a station employee.

"Yes, Ma'am. Train for Hereford? Platform 2. It leaves at 9:42 you better hurry!"

Backtracking on the run with 75 pounds of luggage in tow. Boy am I glad I've done the stairs at work for the past 4 months.

Whew! We made it! what went wrong? Leslie thinks, and it makes sense, we were watching the arrival board, not the departure board. Bet we won't make that mistake again.

On the train we sat with Beth and John from Tucson. We had a very nice chat with everyone around us.

While we were watching the scrolling sign board I noticed that Kingham was listed as the stop right before Moreton in Marsh. With this information we were well prepared for our stop. Once off the train we headed left - then changed back to right - then back to left. Gloria-Rose was walking fast, me not so much. When we passed the stairs that led to an upper platform I didn't notice the metal cover in the pavement and as I stepped on it, my foot slid out from underneath me and I was down on the ground. This would not have happened in my picture perfect England where the rain is not falling. Don't worry folks I am okay. No harm done. Pants aren't even dirty, just got a wet bottom.

We arrived at Townend Carriage House, found our way into the courtyard where we met a lady, not our hostess, who gave us our roomnumber, key was in the door. We are not in a room, but rather, in the Clamatis Cottage with two storeys, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two of us. The bathroom on the upper floor has a tub and a bidet (the first we have encountered a bidet). We left for a tour of High Street, stopping a the Bell Inn as the rain began in earnest. Luckily, it serves sandwiches and Shandy and has internet access. yeah! what more do we need?

We are looking forward to getting our proper itinerary from our hosts when we return to the Carriage House. It would be nice to have a look at the trail that leads to Burton-on-the-Water, but for now we are staying warm and dry at the Bell Inn Pub.

There is a 100% chance of rainshowers today and a 76% chance that Leslie will be in denial that it is happening, even as we wade through puddles that come up to our ankles.

Until our next encounter of the internet kind....cheerio!