Waiting, and waiting...

Kings Cross Station, London

...where I joined the ranks and spent an hour and a half staring at the announcement board, waiting for my train to be announced (see extra). And thereby hangs a tale...

Having paid twice what I normally do for the journey to Ely, it should’ve taken half the time it normally does. But it didn’t...

No seats free on the train to Bath, had to stand. The train from Bath was late arriving at Paddington. The bus from Paddington to Kings Cross got stuck in traffic and took twice as long as it should have. But none of that mattered as when I got to Kings Cross my train showed as being delayed. When it was finally ready to depart, they announced it wouldn’t stop in Ely. The next train that would get me to Ely then also showed as delayed, and the one after that was cancelled. So finally, after waiting an hour and a half, the platform number was announced and what felt like half of London ran (yes, literally ran!) to get a seat on the train. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and I hope never to again, but somehow I managed to fight my way through the rugby scrum and get a seat. I was one of the lucky ones. Just as well, I couldn’t have stood a minute longer. I shall do my best to never make this journey again on a Friday afternoon, especially the Friday afternoon before Easter.

But I made it. Arriving in Ely, M was waiting and the sun was shining. And now the bubbles are in the fridge chilling...

Door to door journey time = 6 hrs 40 mins