Saturday 3rd October 2015

Friday

And this is what I am in Newcastle for; a five hour meeting at which I will be the one doing most of the talking. But before then, there is time to get ready, have breakfast and meet up with the others.

I open the curtains and am greeted by the High Level Bridge to the right with the river down below. But, no time to admire that, time for a shower, make myself look lovely (!), pack and head down to check out and have breakfast. Breakfast is a bowl of All Bran and then a small fry up, with a choice from the hot plate of what to have, but I somehow select the vegetarian sausages rather than the emulsified offal tubes I had wanted (old Yes, Prme Minster joke there). Anyway, it was all good, and as I am having my 4th coffee of the morning, the others arrive so we are on schedule.

They have a car, so are driving me to their office, which means I get to see and look at downtown Gateshead and then the stunning landscapes between Tyneside, Wearside and County Durham. Traffic into Newcastle and Sunderland is heavy, but we are travelling in the other direction, but still manage to catch each and every set of traffic lights!

We reach the office, then comes the signing in, the health and safety briefing and finally, the battle to make the visitor's wifi work. And then, Showtime!

I won't bore you with details, but I have to talk for some four hours, and I think I did ok. But the upshot is that we have finished two hours early, so I can head back down south earlier and so be home before dark, if I'm lucky.

They arrange a taxi to pick me up, and once he arrives, we swap footy stories as he drives me to Durham station. He's a Newcastle fan, and still hopeful the season can be turned round. For me, I I am also positie, saying we will always score. But also concede, but we shall see. Always good to meet another fanatic. He drops me off, and even better, someone else has picked up the tab. Walking onto the station, I see I have half an hour to wait for my train, and then comes the scramble for a seat, as my reservation is on the strain two hours later. Still, should be ok.

Anyway, after snapping a couple of trains, I take a seat in the warm sunshine and take in the air of someone who has finished for the week,a nd can now relax and enjoy the journey back home.

The train arrives, heading into the station along the mile long straight, we see it through a heat haze. There is a scamble, and once on the train we are greeted with a field of reservation tags on almost every seat. But I get a seat beside another business chap, so settle back as the train accelerates away, and hopefully, somewhere like York, there will be more folks getting off and I might get a seat to myself.

he train is crowded, but not so bad that people have to stand, and the train speeds south, stopping every half an hour or so to drop people off, pick new people up. But there are seats to spare, and I move to a window seat at York, and so can enjoy the sight of Yorkshire and then Lincolnshire slipping by. I get a sandwich and a Coke form the refreshment trolley, I let the company pay, as I'k still at work, and it tastes good. Back through Newark, Peterborough and then the final dash into London.

It is rush hour, but I know I have twenty minutes for my train at St Pancras next door, and if I time it right, I will get there as the train arrives, get a seat. Which, is pretty much as it panned out. I am sitting on the 'wrong' side, but have a window seat. I call Jools to get her to be at the station when I arrive.

Warm evening sunlight bathes the land in golden light, it is glorious, but soon enough these Indian Summer evenings will come to an end, but not quite yet. The train is full once we leave Stratford, but I can relax and close my eyes as we thunder under east London and into Essex.

Jools is waiting for me at the station, she has come from Tesco, so has fresh food for us to dine on, and as I don't feel like cooking, we have insalata caprese. Again. But it is healthy, tasty and so good. The cats fuss round us, bring is mice through the evening, even though we have only just eaten.

But that means it is the weekend. Hoorah!