Don’t worry Flobs, I am sure the trains will be fine.
London Underground is are doing alot of upgrading with trains and tube station renovations installing lifts. They are are supposed to bring eight new trains on the piccadilly line this month.
They made a few mistakes with the Lizzy (Elizabeth line). For example, the gap between the train and platform is huge (at Ealing Broadway). If i slipped i could go under the train, the gap is so big. I have to do a flipping olympic level long jump to get to the platform
I’ve just returned from my day trip to the Netherlands (Apeldoorn). I couldn’t believe how well I actually spoke Dutch. The Dutch were full of praise for me; some even complimented me on how well I speak Dutch. Unfortunately, however, I wasn’t able to express every point precisely (which is why I sometimes use ‘DeepL’ when I write in English).
This is probably going to be a bit long and is more a what happened story of my weekend visit to my Dad in England.
Booked flights just after the air control flop in UK so tickets were over twice the price. Found out about this problem so had the worry it might spill over to the weekend.
Booked accommodation and car rental and contacted them to confirm they would be able to reception me. They confirmed so in theory no problem.
Set off Friday evening to my son’s bought pizza, scoffed it down and headed to the airport. Everything was going well until they called the flight, a long snake of passengers formed all around the waiting hall (they call 3 flights at a time ).
Managed to get through to the gates saw London and stood in queue. Noticed it was Ryanair not EasyJet going to Stansted not Gatwick. Ran to find Gatwick flight, ran straight past it as it wasn’t signalled in anyway and had to run back.
Got on the plane only to find out it would sit on the tarmac for 40 minutes doing nothing (ended up leaving after the Ryanair Stansted flight that was scheduled to leave over half an hour later than us).
Made up some time in air so actually got to the car hire at the time we had predicted (got through Gatwick very quickly). So 00:30 went to pick up the rental car (which we’d paid £100 to guarantee being receptionned just half an hour after it closed). Noone just a couple of Italians in the same situation as us. Tried phoning but nothing.
Change of plan, Premier Inn no room, Sofitel no room, Hampton Hilton rooms so £250 for a twin room with creaky bed and too soft, breakfast the same as a Travelodge but stale, at least served from 04:00 so we could get to the car rental for its opening at 07:00.
At 07:00 a bloke arrived at the car rental however he didn’t have access to the computers (just the ‘mechanic’. Half an hour later a lady arrived, I have no idea if her reactions were feigned or genuine all I wanted was a car and get to my RDV with my brother and sister for lunch. One thing for sure she was an idiot, she assured me that the circulation was fluid, I thought, ‘have you ever driven to Devon during the day?’ FFS that’s why I wanted the car last night. I was offered an upgrade to cover the inconvenience. Still as my bank card had debit written on it and they wouldn’t accept my son’s credit card I had to pay for extra cover £150. They also added my son as driver for free. Then the car report from the mechanic came in, the bloody tank is empty (they stressed that I could do 43 miles but it’s the same thing) they kindly offered that I could bring the car back empty.
So at about 08:00 we had a 4 year old (my brother calculated that from reg plate or something) Nissan Quashquai petrol automatic and very nice it was as well even if not practical for Devon lanes Motorway imposed. Got petrol then headed off M25, M4, M5 with loads of jams particularly around M4, M5. I broke the speed limit to make up time from Bridgewater onwards and arrived on time.
Nice lunch with Bro and Sis. Went to see my Dad chatted for hours. My brother and sister left us to get a prescription for my Dad they were gone for 2 hours. My son, who is a pharmacist, and I were shocked, how is it possible to take 2 hours to fulfill a prescription on a Saturday there would be riots in France over that. It was great to catch up on my family. My Dad was elated despite having been ill that morning he really did well and made so much effort it was adorable.
Day over we went to our hotel in Torquay for our remaining night, a bit shabby for a Travelodge and some smells but that could have been our farts. At least the main bed is very comfortable. Walked into Torquay for an excellent Indian that alleviated any constipation. So we left the hotel room more smelly than when we arrived. Nice walk around Torquay and some vague memories and I mustn’t forget to mention the local lad insulting all and sundry from the safety of his car.
Had breakfast same as the Hampton Hilton but fresh (at Stansted when I missed my flight they did fried eggs both Hampton and Torquay only did scrambled). Set off an hour earlier than we had planned which was a very good idea as we had even more jams than can be humanly imagined for a Sunday. Dropped the car off at the hour we had planned and arranged.
Went through Gatwick with no problems except for 2 miles if duty free, aren’t you ashamed of that?
A French bloke got thrown off for saying ‘fils de pute’ to a member of staff. I was very close to this little event and never heard him say that. It was a dispute over bag size his was too big so had to pay extra.
Flight was delayed, again, this time due to paper work (more likely drawing with a crayon). Still arrived at Marseille on time. I had a heart attack as I couldn’t find my passport (which I had switched place going through customs security check at Gatwick).
Back to my son’s to get my car and drive home.
The car hire I used is DRIVALIA it offers pick up after hours however you should know your taking a risk. In my case the fact of only arriving half an hour after they close imo makes the fact noone was there completely unacceptable. If it was 04:00 then it could be excused to an extent. They obviously don’t pay their staff enough for this service which the customer pays £100 for.
Also EasyJet staff were on strike for our return journey however we didn’t suffer any inconvenience.
One of those “it never happened” stories.
Supposed to be a savvy online content influencer, but not smart enough to check Google maps instead of giving a yokel £50
).
.