Travelling England (2)

Friday, July 16, 2010:

Chester, Queen Hotel, room 1103.

Very luxurious even for a four star hotel. My room is large, very large, and named after king Duncan I of Scotland. It's well furnished, equipped with a desk, a CD player and LCD television set, but surprisingly it hasn't got a minibar. The airco was on 17º Celsius, which I immediately turned up to 22º. It's windy, chilly and cloudy. It looks like rain, like in Harwich, but up to now it's dry. My window overlooks the garden where a wedding party is going on.

First of all I took the train to London this morning. I could have done myself a favour sailing from Rotterdam to Hull, from where it's a relatively short train ride to Chester, but I wanted to repeat the traditional voyage we used to make when I was a child: Dordrecht - Hoek van Holland - Harwich - London - Chester. Though in the old days it wasn't Chester, but Manchester, and from there to Newton-le-Willows. On the train I met Pete, an American from English descend, who's touring the world on his motorbike and thinking of writing a book about it. He visited relatives in England, while his bike is on its way to the States from Rotterdam by boat. We talked for a while, mostly about the Great War, until the train got crammed with commuters.

Once in London a had a dreadful trip on the underground. I had to change at Moregate which meant no elevators and negotiating an endless number of stairs during the rush hour while carrying a heavy suitcase. Never again! Next time I'll take a cab. Exhausted and covered in sweat I arrived at Euston station. I got on a direct train for Chester, but once on our way I found the airco wasn't working which made the ride rather tropical. The guard seemed unable to do something about it. I arrived in Chester just after twelve and was happy to find the hotel right across the road from the station. After a good shower and checking my e-mail on the computer near the bar (free of charge) I took a walk to the city centre. John H. sent a message that cousin Brian will be moved to Birmingham to be operated on his pelvis on Monday, which means I'll take a train to Earlestown tomorrow to visit him in the Newton-le-Willows Cottage Hospital. Depending on the weather I may take a trip to Llandudno on Sunday. A day trip to Llandudno by boat from Liverpool used to be one of the highlights of our summer holidays in England. Last time I went there was in 1995 together with Stella in the only summer we did not spent in Greece during the twenty years of our marriage. I'll probably feel sad walking the Great Orme on my own, but somehow I believe it will be a soothing experience as well.

Public transport is unbelievably expensive. I paid £ 90,= for a first class single ticket, the equivalent of € 120,= for a distance, more or less, from Dordrecht to Groningen. It would have been cheaper bringing the car along, but I didn't want to drive without company and certainly not drive through London.

I walked the Roman walls and noticed that the small cafe where I once had lunch with Stella, is still there. We were surprised it didn't have any toilets. I wonder if that's still the case. I sat down at a place called The Cheshire Farm, run by two lovely looking young ladies, for a sandwich and a beer and later on smoked a pipe sitting outside The Staffordshire Arms, near the cathedral and the town hall. A very friendly publican but a few too boisterous fellows around. After a while they moved on. I heard them saying they were off to The Cheshire Hangman. A place to avoid tonight.