Day 24 - Getting to London

Distance Walked: some,  Time Taken: on and off all day, # Beers: none

I miss Yorkshire.  Below is the view from my window this morning in Robin Hood's Bay.  The second photo is the view from my hotel window here in London.  I'm back in a city full of people and buildings and cars.  Everyone is busy, rushing about.  It feels like my days hiking across the country were a lifetime ago even though I only finished yesterday.

 

 

I tried being chatty to the hotel receptionist when I was checking in but he was all brisk efficiency.  Failure to chat would be so rude in Yorkshire.  Almost everyone I encountered there was friendly and talkative.  Also, they continually refer to other people as "love" or "my lovely".  I know all these endearments are just rote and meaningless but for outsiders it feels very sweet and kind.

After all our farewells last night, we met up again at breakfast this morning.  All the hikers that is.  Paul and Richie the Head Badger were staying at another hotel so we didn't see them.  After we finished eating, we did a round of goodbyes again.  Liz left first, followed soon after by Aaron & Robin and then Mark.  Sue was only halfway through her breakfast so I felt I couldn't leave her to eat alone, so I stayed for another cup of coffee.  Finally I left the hotel.  Only to meet up again with everyone at the bus stop!  Mark, Aaron & Robin were across the road as they were headed for Filey but Liz & Sue were going to Scarborough like me so we all got the bus together.  Also on the bus were an Australian couple we'd met regularly on the trail as they had the same itinerary as us.  When I got to Scarborough I said goodbye to Liz and Sue for really the last time as they were catching a different train to me.

The train trip down to London was largely uneventful - for me.  I had a connection in York and it was delayed leaving by 30 minutes and was almost an hour behind schedule by the time we reached London.  The railway in the UK are run by different private companies.  The announcer for one company just said the delays were due to a trespasser on the tracks.  Another company just plain came out and said it was due to someone being hit by a train.  Both apologised for the inconvenience we were experiencing.  It was nothing like the inconvenience the poor sod who was hit by the train was experiencing.  I could claim back half the (not inconsiderable) cost of my ticket.  However, the only repayment options were PayPal, a UK bank account or a donation to a charity.   I opted for the charity.

It felt a little sad to be sat alone on the train eating my sandwiches and a muesli bar from my packed lunch stash instead of sitting on a rock in a field with the rest of the group, laughing about Aaron's lunch order.  He only got what he ordered twice out of 16 days.  We got along so well, it really made the hike more enjoyable.  We mostly walked in silence and in single file, but it was encouraging to have someone else to pant with at the top of a steep hill or grumble with over a particularly soggy, boggy bit of moor. 

Mind you, I was really lucky with this group.  We just clicked.  I've been on group hikes twice before that haven't turned out so well.  Once was a hike on the Spanish island of Mallorca.  We all got along well enough, but some of the hikers were significantly slower than the rest of us.  This meant we ended up getting to our destination each day so late there was no time to look around the town/village before washing up for dinner.  I never really got to see much of the island.  The other time was a hike in Japan.  Again, all the people were decent enough but we had differing senses of humour which is awkward.  Also, one woman was so very organised and punctual she made me look lacksadaisical.  Another women couldn't stop faffing about to save her life.  Our morning departures were always delayed and often tense.  My group for this trip all had similar senses of humour and attitudes to punctuality.  Perhaps I shouldn't tempt fate and just decide never to do a group hike again.

I'm staying in a hotel near Paddington station as I'll be taking the Heathrow Express early tomorrow morning.  I went for an amble about the area.  It was clearly once a pleasant, even upmarket, neighbourhood.  Now it is all cheap hotels, cheap cafes and restaurants and shops selling cheap tourist tat.  I had dinner at a burger joint I'd eaten at (for some reason) the last time I was leaving London.  I didn't remember anything much about their burgers but I recalled that their tiramisu was surprisingly decent.  Sadly, I must have misremembered as their burger was Harmless but their tiramisu was Dull.  If there was any coffee or marscapone or marsala in it, it was in so small amounts it was undetectable.