Let’s walk across England

Hadrians Wall Path - getting there

This trip is all about walking across England following the historic Hadrians Wall Path. We will begin walking in the village of Bowness-on-Solway and end up in Newcastle-on-Tyne. I hope to walk-on-paths and smile-on-the-earth. Assuming everything goes to plan. 

A mad dash

Today more specifically though is about getting from Dreary ol’Vancouver to Merry ol’ England. We started with the mad dash from work to the airport and then settle in a lounge to enjoy all that Plaza Premium or Sky Team lounge had to offer. As it turns out the former was full and the latter was ready to welcome us with noodle bowls and comically tiny gin and tonics (no photo but trust me it was the smallest G and T I’ve seen…given that they were also bottomless it was an interesting decision). 

I’ll fly away

Given the time crunch finishing up the days work we were pretty soon leaving our comfy lounge to board our British Airways 787 for the ~10 hour up and over the top of the world. The flight was notable for the amount of sleep we both got (an estimated 5 hours each) and the state of disrepair of our seats  One of them you couldn’t recline except as a two person job, the other was missing buttons on the screen to turn it off (helpful for sleepytime) as well as a broken controller for navigating some features of the entertainment system. Im well aware these are in tbe “champagne problem” category  not complaining, just recording the facts as I see them. I’ll balance it out with all the good stuff: we left on time, we arrived early, the staff were friendly, the food was decent and the drinks frequent. One more great thing; we live in a time where I can get in a plane and arrive on the other side of the world in a fantastically short time, in comparative comfort at a price that is accessible to many. Truly, we live in the best of times.

Arrival

Heathrow - other than being really big - was a dream. We were through customs in about 2 minutes. It was really only due to the sheer distance between our gate and where we needed to be that we took any time at all in the airport. It was probably 20 minutes from leaving the plane to sitting on a train and of that we were walking long enough for my watch to ask “do you want to record an indoor walk”.

Planes, trains

From Heathrow it was the tube to Kings Cross Station, a short walk to Euston Station and we were half way through the traditional English version of monopoly railway stations. We had some time to kill so grabbed some refreshments at a local watering hole and in no time we were on our way north to Carlisle on the commuter train. 

Carlisle

Other than jet lag catching up to us both with the gentle rocking of the train car, we were able to enjoy the three hour trip to Carlisle. We don’t know what exactly was going on but I would say there was panic on the streets of Carlisle. I can’t confirm if there was also panic on the streets of Birmingham. What I can  confirm is that I did wonder to myself if life could ever be sane again. Hackneyed references to The Smiths aside, there was actually something going on in the streets. Lots of police and fire trucks to start with and then about an hour later we were walking through the most bizarre hen-do I’ve witnessed.  For the record I’m down for what Carlisle has to offer  I just wish I wasn’t so tired  

We settled in to our accommodations, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it’s nighty night for our weary travellers.

Tomorrow is the start of our walking journey. Stay tuned for the exciting kick off for our 125k journey from the Atlantic to the English Channel. 

  

Sky Team Lounge. 

Train

Arrival

Te photo doesn’t capture the uniqueness of this Hen-do







Comments

Tony said…
Looking forward to following along on your hike. Hope the English weather treats you kindly.
4:37 PM
Anonymous said…
I’m happy “Pando (aka the smallman) found your blog and flicked it on. You truly set the bar for life living and engaging. Looking forward to following along
1:38 AM
Paul said…
Good that you are on the way with few hassles. On the other south side of the globe sunny day, now night and windy
4:45 AM
Anonymous said…
Happy to see this trip is being blogged!
9:59 PM

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