Day 5 - heading north

 My trip to Knaresborough left from Kings Cross Station at 11.27,  and with a tube strike planned for 4th October, I thought I would be ready super early so I could snag a taxi to the station. The underground strike was called off, so I made my way to Leicester Square station. No lifts or escalators, so I had to schlepp my enormous bag down 3 flights of stairs to the platform. The tube was pretty much deserted, I guess a lot of commuters had already made other plans, and I arrived at Kings Cross with plenty of time in hand to get a coffee, a cinnamon bun, and people watch until my train left.

Of course there isn't nearly enough space on the train to stow luggage, and the area at the front of the coach was already full except for the top rack. Rather than try and lift my enormous bag on my own, and being unable to fit the bag down the aisle between the seats, I hoofed it off the carriage and went to the other end to try my luck there. Plenty of space. Now to make my way to my reserved seat. The aisle was blocked by a gaggle of tourists, all just standing there. I waited for what felt like ages, but no-one showed any sign of moving to their seat. I asked a little assertively where they were going, and that eventually prompted them to start inching towards their seats. 

I was at last able to make my way up the aisle if the train.  My impatience was punished when I caught my foot on something, a bag strap, or a foot, or maybe I was ankle tapped, and I went sprawling onto the floor, catching my knee on an armrest on the way down and earning myself a hearty bruise to add injury to embarrassment. There was a collective "oooohhhh" from the other passengers as I hit the floor 🤣

We left on time and made it to York on schedule. 

Things unravelled a little at this point, my connecting train to Knaresborough was not displayed on the board. I found the lift and made my way via the subway to the ticket office, no trains at all today don't ya know, the drivers are on strike. Since I didn't fancy walking the 31 miles to Knaresborough, I went to the taxi stand to get a lift. £46 later I was deposited outside Fionas house. 

We chatted a bit as time and work demands permitted until 5pm when she finished work for the day. She cooked a delicious dinner of roast chicken and we cracked a bottle of NZ Sauvignon blanc and yakked our heads off for the next few hours, talking shop and catching up on the last few year's worth of gossip.

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