This trip report started with the mess the government made over the running of the West Coast Main Line, the train that takes me to visit my Dad, Step Mum and half Brothers. After a trip last year I felt like giving it a bit of a FT style write up to say good-bye to Virgin Trains and the great value 1st Class upgrades that I would most likely be saying farewell to. Whilst the UK is rightly known for some of the most expensive train fares in the world it also has some of the best bargains, one of which I thought I’d share with you in this simple trip report.
No Family trip for me would be complete without the customary banter of football, food or music that we engage in.
With all bar one of the men in the family Chelsea supporters what better way to start my trip than spending some time at Stamford Bridge watching the boys in blue demolish another set of willing victims, after all we’d just beaten the same team 5-1 barely a week ago, what could possibly go wrong…
Unfortunately quite a bit did and for the 2nd Wednesday in a row rather than a night it remember it was a night of frustration, disbelief and the long, silent walk to the bus stop after another disappointing result.
At least tomorrow I’d be sitting in a comfy first class seat whizzing northwards for a couple of days of family bonding over food, football and the PS3.
I set out around lunch time on a cold and sunny West London day where even the transit vans somehow had an ethereal beauty about them, especially when my headphones masking the sounds of the street.
With snow, the threat of snow and even the just the word snow ready to play havoc with the UK, the tube station was already gritted, or perhaps just very, very dirty in anticipation for the snow.
Without the rush hour crowds the tube journey from Ladbroke Grove to Euston Square is actually pretty pleasant, you have a seat, or even a couple of seats to yourself, plenty of leg room and there’s nobody falling into you, stepping on your toes or enfolding a newspaper into your face as if you didn’t exist.
We trundled along and in no time at all we arrived at Euston Square. The good thing about Euston Square station is that it prepares you for what to expect by the time you arrive at Euston station for the “big” trains! There are many historic and beautifully restored stations in London, Euston Square is not one of these. It always looks grey, dirty and badly lit, a bit like the RER stations in Paris. Anyway, trudging up the stairs, through the slam of the ticket gates looking in vain for some sunlight I stagger out on to the Euston Road past the Welcome Building and on towards Euston station.
