Please note that this is the first part of a two-part series of articles on this particular topic. I'd originally planned to publish the entire travel report in one go, but given the length of the original draft, I decided to split it into two parts.
I just recently noticed that my last travel report on this blog is over a year old. This time last year, I was preparing to head off to Providence. So what better time to write a new one than now? Especially given the fact that I was recently over in the UK for the wedding of a good friend of mine. But of course, things weren’t quite as straightforward. I’d known that this wedding was coming for quite some time but had been unable to book due to some uncertainty with regards to my job. It was only when I was somewhat established in my new job that I could finally book the flights and hotel. It was to be a simple trip: Fly out to Bristol on Friday, stay in Swansea for 3 days and then fly back on Monday.
Then, literally 3 days after I’d requested the time off and booked the flights, I got an email at work saying that I needed to be in our London office on both Thursday and the Friday I was supposed to be flying to Bristol. That meant around 100€ of non-refundable air fares had just gone down the drain. Thanks a lot, guys! In all honesty though, I’d had this possibility in the back of my mind and after booking a new flight and a hotel in London, my new travel plan looked as follows: Flight from Cork to London Stansted, one night at the Motel One London Tower Hill, followed by a train ride to Swansea on Friday evening, with the rest of the weekend as planned.
Day 1
The alarm clock goes off at 3 AM – Seriously, someone just shoot me the next time I have such a “brilliant” idea! I take it slow and pack the last few items before hitching a ride to Cork airport with a colleague. I’m already checked in, so I just have to drop off my trolley before making my way to security. Despite quite a considerable queue, and some people who are STILL clueless about Ryanair’s baggage policy, drop-off is done pretty quickly, and I clear security equally quickly. Cork Airport itself is pretty busy, as is to be expected this early in the day, with the morning wave of flights departing.
The time between the security check and boarding passes pretty quickly, and before I know it, I’m out on the ramp on the way to my aircraft. For all you rivet counters out there, it is EI-DCF, a Boeing 737-800 that entered service with Ryanair in 2004, which means it’s a veteran of the Ryanair fleet at 15 years old. Not that you’d see it, the aircraft has clearly recently undergone a major refit, and boasts Ryanair’s new slimline seats, as well as the mood lighting from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boarding is surprisingly civilised, and Ryanair in general gives off a much better impression than on my last flight. Still, I wouldn’t want to be stuck on one of these aircraft for anything more than an hour or two, particularly if it’s as packed as this one is. There’s not a single empty seat in sight.
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Full house on the flight to Stansted
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There's always something magical about sunrise above the clouds.
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| Err, captain? Don't you think you're a bit high for a landing on Runway 22? - Full disclosure, we entered a holding pattern to lose altitude shortly after I took this shot. |
The flight passes tolerably quickly, and before we know it, we’re descending into London Stansted, those of us seated on the right-hand side actually get a nice view of the airport before landing on Runway 22. Speaking of the landing, that was another typical Ryanair landing. Soft approach followed by a really hard touchdown, and equally hard braking action. Does Ryanair get some kind of discount on landing fees if they only use half the runway? Anyway, the taxi to our stand takes almost as long as the entire approach, and we disembark via stairs and buses at what looks like space for another pier at Stansted. Immigration is non-existent, thanks to the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the UK, and by the time I reach the baggage claim, my trolley is already waiting for me. Once I find the belt that is, the baggage claim at Stansted is chaotic to say the least. The layout is completely random, and finding the correct belt is pretty much a gamble.
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That's Stansted Express for you, just your bog standard commuter train.
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| I have to admit, my employer picked a nice spot for their London office. |
Getting to the city is a breeze thanks to the Stansted Express service between the Airport and London’s Liverpool Street station. I’d bought my ticket online, but if you decide to buy it at the airport, like my colleague opted to do, there’s plenty of choices both in the terminal and in the train station. The train itself is nothing to write home about, just a regular Class 379 “Electrostar” trainset, that also works as a commuter train for most of the way into Liverpool Street, so be ready for it to get “cosy” during peak commuting periods. That being said, the WiFi is free and decent, and the chairs are comfortable, plus there are plenty of power outlets around the train. London Liverpool Street station is effectively right outside my employer’s offices. Since this first part of the trip is a business trip, I’m naturally not able to disclose any details. Let’s just say that the classical 19th century façade hides a modern, contemporary office building that at times seems to channel a James Bond / MI6 vibe in some parts. I will say that London at night is truly a sight to behold, and heading out on the town after work with my colleagues alone made the trip worthwhile.
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London at night is definitely a sight to be seen.
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It's hard to get on camera though ;)
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| Motel One Tower Hill - My base in London. |
My base for this part of the trip is the Motel One London Tower Hill, which is almost directly outside Aldgate tube station. If you’ve read my article on my trip to Austria back in 2013, you know that I’ve been a fan of the Motel One franchise for quite some time, and their London branch certainly offers all the hallmarks of the brand. A stylish lounge, small but functional rooms, and a consistent design language. If you’ve been to a Motel One a few times, it’s almost like coming home, you immediately know where to find everything. A note for anyone from the continent. There are European style power outlets in the rooms in London as well as UK style outlets, so forgetting your adapter at home isn’t a major crisis anymore.
Day 2
The first half of the day is taken up by work, and primarily meetings. I did opt for a breakfast at the hotel, which is surprisingly European in style, something that is nice to see in this country of baked beans & mushrooms for breakfast. This turns out to be a rather smart decision, as I spend most of the lunch break wandering around the Barbican, London Wall & St. Paul’s Cathedral areas of London, all areas that I haven’t seen in ages. Finally, in the late afternoon, the time has come to leave London. Whilst my colleague makes his way back to Stansted for the return flight to Cork, I hop on the next available Circle Line train to Paddington Station. I’ll leave London the old-fashioned way: By train. Getting to Paddington is no easy task when you’re juggling your camera bag, a company backpack and your trolley though. Despite all Crossrail-related improvements, the London Underground is definitely not designed for people with luggage.
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| Okay, what country are we in again? |
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| I have...questions... |
Still, I finally make it to Paddington. The station is bright and airy and reminds me of Frankfurt’s Central railway station in parts. There’s certainly no trace of the decades of steam as well as coal and diesel smoke that must surely have permeated the station down into every pore. With about an hour to go before departure, I take advantage of my Firs Class ticket, and head to the GWR lounge. What, I didn’t mention that I’d booked a First Class ticket? Listen, if I’m going to spend three hours on a train, I’d like to travel in comfort. The days of cheaping it out have passed for me. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The First Class Lounge is a bit of a mixed bag. The area right behind the reception is modern, while the areas further off to the side hark back to the glory days of rail travel in Britain, with furniture and paintings harking back to Victorian & Edwardian times. The lounge is a bit small though, considering that Paddington is the main London terminus for Great Western.
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| GWR definitely rule the roost at Paddington. |
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| Well, it‘s Friday afternoon, you‘d expect the station to be busy. |
Before I know it, it’s time to board the train. I’d initially hoped to maybe still catch one of the legendary Class 43 High Speed Trains, but they had been withdrawn from their London operations the previous year. Instead, I’ll be riding on one of GWR’s Class 800 Intercity Express Trains (IET), the pride and joy of the Great Western fleet. These trains were only introduced in the last year or two, and mine, the one which will take me to Wales, still has that new train smell. Also, the First Class section really looks good, they certainly nailed the design part. The seats are pretty nice as well, I end up with a single seat, which is what I’d been aiming for all along. I’m not really fond of people sitting next to me on long train journeys.
We leave London Paddington bang on time and start snaking our ways through London’s western expanses towards Reading. We follow the old Great Western Main Line, a brainchild of that most legendary of British engineers, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Despite originally being built in 1841, its wide curves and gentle gradients, and the generous use of tunnels, cut-outs and bridges are an eerie echo of today’s high-speed lines. In fact, the line was so far ahead of its time that when the legendary HSTs were introduced in the late 1970s, only minimal modifications needed to be made to the line to enable running speeds of 200 km/h, with most of the changes related to signalling. To my everlasting shame, I completely miss our passing over the Maidenhead viaduct, depicted by Joseph Turner in his painting Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway, one of my all-time favourite paintings. As the landscapes of England roll past outside the window, I get caught up with the notes for this article, as well as some other paperwork, though the rail nutter in me can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that I’m travelling on a line that was in many ways the ancestor for all current high speed lines from the Japanese Shinkansen to the French LGVs. The charge points and USB ports at every seat really come in handy for charging both my iPhone and my MacBook. And while the GWR Class 800 trains do not come with a buffet car, the free drinks served at the seat are greatly appreciated.
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| My ride to Swansea. Sorry, I didn‘t write down the number. I‘m not that much of a rail nut. |
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| Free coffee. Now that‘s something every rail company should offer! And yes, those are the rough notes for this blog post. |
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| Power outlets, USB ports, a comfortable seat, what more do you need? |
The sun sets just as our train pulls into Bristol Parkway, having turned off “Brunel’s billiard table”, as the Great Western Main Line is also known, at Woolton Basset. As we head towards the Severn Tunnel, things are increasingly hard to discern outside, and by the time we reach Cardiff, it’s pitch black outside. Consequently, the rest of the trip to Swansea is about as entertaining as falling into a black hole, minus the radiation and extreme gravitational forces. This is more than a little disappointing as the Wales part of the line is the most interesting from a geographical point of view. Swansea at night appears pretty underwhelming. There’s almost no life visible on the streets, and I get a weird Twilight Zone vibe from the place.
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| Well, welcome to Swansea I guess... |
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| My base of operations for the next few days. |
The Dragon Hotel continues the underwhelming trend. Don’t get me wrong, the staff are not just professional, but really warm and welcoming, but despite the reworked entrance and lobby area, it's obvious that the hotel has seen better days. The elevators are tiny and easily overloaded even by just two people. Still, the room is clean, and the bed is comfortable, and by the time I’ve gotten myself, and the notes for this article, sorted, I’m more than ready to hit the sheets.
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