The Great British rail sale and I booked train tickets from Hayes and Harlington to and return to London Paddington for 23 GBP on a Tuesday, market day.
I was on time, at the train station but my connecting train got cancelled. The brand new Elizabethan line had opened and the trains were experiencing several delays. Without wasting a minute, I enquired if there was a cycle space on 11.04 am train and got my cycle 😊
I arrived at Marsh and skimmed through the small market. There was a Bell Inn with a big bell, which seemed to have inspired was a building in Lord of the Rings. Bought a fish and chips for 8.50 GBP for lunch.
All fueled up, I decided to cycle a couple of miles to Bourton on the hill. My cycles gear was good as gone. At long stretches, peddling was so heavy, that I got off the cycle and walked. A few people might have been amused. Suddenly, it started raining. I stood under a tree. Again the day cleared and I walked up to reach the old church
of St Lawrence with a nice, well maintained cemetery. The view of the green meadows from the top was beautiful.
I cycled downhill like a breeze. It was a mile or so from the main road to the Batsford Arboretum. It has a private collection of trees but I was more interested in hot tea and an almond and cherry cake. I sat on the terrace enjoying my hot cuppa and it started to drizzle. Then poured like a typical English weather. There were hails too in this rain.
By the time I reached the cycle, the seat cushion was all soaked. I opened my umbrella and started to walk the mile, which had lovely cultivated land on both sides. The rain soon stopped and I rode my bicycle. Somehow, the cycle seemed to race through the fields to the Marsh town. The town center had a few pet saloons, a few confectionary shops and tourist curio shops. Before I got into the small railway station, it poured again. What a weather!
In the train, I could not help but observe the number of likes people used in their daily conversations. Example- I went like to
meet her and like she was like busy but I asked like what was she doing and she like responded that she can meet like around 4 pm. I do not like it.
From the train, I was excited to see wild deer without horns. At London, I went for a Thai dinner. However, visiting after 3 years, the prices seem to have been hiked with an exorbitant service charge. The mango and sticky rice dessert was good but the mango variety was not the lovely langra variety, I had eaten the last time. I cancelled my plan to watch a play as it was very cloudy and it drizzled again!
That night, I slept well but did wonder about the end of life of my old bicycle. It has served me well, covering long distances, saving time and effort.
Meanwhile, smelling the wild flowers and soaking the beauty of nature had made alive to face another wonderful day. More please.
