Mary and I were off the QEII at 7.00am on Tuesday morning. It was raining. No customs and no passport check, which took us a little bit by surprise as this government is supposed to be doing so much to stop illegal immigrants and drugs entering our country. We took a taxi to the station. South West Trains were on strike, so we had to wait an hour for a Virgin train, which took us to Basingstoke, where we had to change for a train to Waterloo, then take a taxi back to the apartment.
It was still raining, the taxi driver grunted words of one syllable, and the fares seem to be more expensive than anywhere else in the world. I must be back in Britain.
It was still raining, the taxi driver grunted words of one syllable, and the fares seem to be more expensive than anywhere else in the world. I must be back in Britain.
5 Comments:
It was a pleasure to listen to your lecture aboard the QE2 on Friday 25th August - most interesting and entertaining. I am looking forward to settling down to reading False Impression which I bought onboard and you kindly signed.
Hope you and Mary enjoyed the day in Guernsey despite the rough return on the tender.
Hello Jeffrey
I am certainly enjoying your blogs(?)..very informative and entertaining. I am annoyed though that I missed you on the QE2...I was on the fortnight before you and did not find the lectures interesting. Cunard do not publish in advance who the guest lecturers are...you only find out once you are on board and you cannot get off!
Best wishes
I've just found your page on Blogger and wanted to add my thanks to you for a very interesting lecture on your time in prison. The main lesson I learned was that whatever happens to me in the future it should be possible to find something positive in every adversity. I particularly liked your quote about most people ending up in life doing the thing that they are second best at. I can't remember who said it originally but it is certainly true for many people. If you get to read this then I would also like to thank you for allowing me to interrupt your backgammon game take a photograph of my daughter and mother with you in the restaurant lounge. You now have two new fans at the opposite end of the age scale - one of 19 and the other of 76. You made them both very happy.
My first attempt at adding a comment failed dismally when I pressed the wrong button and lost the whole thing. I simply wanted to thank you for a very interesting talk on your time in prison. Although much of what you said was witty and informative the gem for me was the statement that everyone ends up doing something in life that they are second best at. It was also clear to me that whatever life throws at you if you look hard enough you will find somthing good in it.
On a more personal level I would like to thank you for allowing my family to disturb your game of backgammon so that my mother and daughter could have their picture taken with you. You now have two enthusiastic fans at either end of the age scale, one of 19yrs and the other of 76yrs.
If you do get to read this I would like to know your views on the Americanisation of the QE2. I was very disappointed to see that everything on the ship was priced in US dollars. I realise that is it now US owned but surely on a trip like this we could be given the chance to pay in our own currency.
Jo Priestly - many thanks, glad you enjoyed the lecture. David - thank you, and to the chocolate man - thank you too. I think it was Proust who said most people end up doing the thing they're second best at.
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