Victoria Hotel

Last day of my stay at the hotel. Breakfast at 8.00 am.. Steve and Keels picked me up and took me back the the station at Berwick on Tweed. We dropped Keeley off for a little retail therapy. There was an icy wind on the platform and we were both grateful when the train came.

Once I was settled the train soon picked up speed and I started to catch up on the news in the paper. After about half an hour a young lady, with no pre-booked ticket, asked if she could sit next to me. As you know I'm not one for keeping quiet and we soon dropped into a conversation that lasted almost the remainder of my journey back to New Street ! Charlie told me a great deal about herself. The Christmas trip to Edinburgh to visit her dad. Also named Tony ! She was truly excited about her interview before Christmas leading to a placement as a Civil Engineer in Bury St Edmunds. She related a long story about the volunteer work undertaken in Central Africa and the many trips made during her stay there - including a free ride on a yacht off the tip of South Africa and saw splendid views of Table Mountain from the seaward side. We even managed a brief exchange in Swahili !!

All this seemed a fair swap from reading my book !! hahaha

The train slowly filled up and eventually the were many folk standing !! A great number got off at New Street. I bade farewell to my travelling companion, she continued her journey to Plymouth. The last leg, from Taunton, would have to be by coach transfer as there had been many landslides, south of Bristol, washing the track away in places.

Gosh, I was grateful for a hot cuppa on arrival home. All that chat was thirsty work !