Choo Choo

Trains. I love them.

So today I took the train most of the way home, which is unusual for me. I enjoy travelling by train by rarely get the opportunity. Not that it’s all enjoyable though.

Firstly you have to get to the train station. There is always quite a quandary on what time to leave. You obviously want to be there early so as to ensure you make it onto the train but how early? Ten minutes is about as long as you want to wait but what if the train is late (which there is a high possibility of)? Suddenly your time waiting can shoot up very quickly and stations are not pleasant places to be hanging around. Many are grim and the home of various shady looking characters whilst all the others are packed full of people, many of these businessmen, the worst kind of people. Standing on the platform because all the seats are taken is bad enough but when a baby decides to cry until someone's glasses break it becomes even more unpleasant.

Before the waiting though there is the horrible moment of uncertainty when you arrive. You have to check which platform you need to go to and when you find out which platform you have to get your ticket out and put it through the machine. For some reason they always seem to give you more than one ticket and you have to work out which one you need. I usually find that the ticket goes through the machine but the gate doesn’t open. This seems to happen to me almost every time. I then have to wave my ticket in some official-looking man’s face and he presses a button and lets me onto the platform.

After a few minutes of unbearable waiting the train pulls in. All of a sudden the near empty platform is awash with people, all wanting to get onto the train through the same door as yourself. You squeeze in and then have to find a seat. Just taking a medium-sized bad down the aisle is difficult enough as it is so narrow. Eventually one seat looks somehow better than the rest and you plonk yourself down on it after putting your bag on the ridiculously small shelf designed for such things.

At this point the experience becomes lovely, as long as no-one comes and sits next to you. I like to put my iPod on and have my favourite music playing as I watch the British countryside drift by. The town and city views are usually pretty grim because the train stations are in the inner-city areas but the bits of track running through open countryside provide spectacular views. Going from Winchester to Bournemouth you pass right through the New Forest and it looks stunning, especially on a sunny day. All of this whilst your music is playing and you can hear it better than usual because most train carriages are virtually silent.

So yeah, trains are amazing once you actually get on them. I think the child Thomas the Tank Engine fan in me is trying to get back to the surface. If only trains were still steam-powered: it would be beautiful to see steam trains chugging their way across the countryside again. And would give the title of this post a little more legitimacy.

Now that I have raved about trains, what else is there for me to talk about that happened today? Well we had ICT this morning but I won’t go into that into after out next session. I am now at home having made that train journey and on arrival here discovered my first 3DS game has arrived (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 3D). It’s just a shame the 3DS hasn’t yet but it should arrive tomorrow and when it does I will be ridiculously over-excited. Expect virtually an entire blog on my new Nintendo 3DS tomorrow.

The Easter holidays have now begun! Which is weird because it’s only the 24th March and Easter is nearly a month away. As a university student I get stupidly long holidays. This Spring break I’ve got loads planned so stay tuned to see all the exciting things. Oh and there is a new GIF on the right side of this blog page, enjoy!