The Journey Continues:
On the road from London to Penzance
At the risk of sounding like a tacky old Willie Nelson song (yikes!), I’m on the road again. This will be a travelling day, with a train taking me from Paddington Station in London to Penzance in Cornwall. Penzance is the base town for our Cornwall photo tour group and I will be meeting them there in a couple of days.
Before I checked out of the Cardiff Hotel in London, I had to get a shot of the interesting mural someone had designed on the wall of my room:
I checked out of the Cardiff Hotel and proceeded to Paddington Station to catch my 12:03PM train to Penzance but, quite typical of the British rail system, there was a hitch. I could NOT find the first-class carriage I had been booked into, carriage E. There was NO car E as I found out by running all the way to the head of the train (which was car K) and back again. Near frantic, I finally found a GWR rep who could help and he said that coach E had been removed from this train > nice of them to tell everyone. I eventually found out that the replacement First Class car was K, so I had to race like hell with 3 heavy bags to get to the very start of the train about a minute before it pulled out (British trains wait for NO ONE and usually run ON TIME!). I found car K and flung myself into a seat, sweating, exhausted and jangled – not the way I wanted this journey to begin. Oh well, who cares – we’re off to Cornwall!
We pulled out of London’s Paddington Station right on time and for the next five and-a-half hours the English countryside unfolded before me (note: a few of these shots are not the best; it’s quite tricky to achieve sharp images when shooting from the window of a fast-moving train):
While all of that lovely scenery unfolded before me I enjoyed some quintessentially English treats: English Breakfast tea, Tyrrell’s crisps, Pullin’s Bakery Jam Star Biscuits and a Chicken Salad Sandwich (OK, so that last one is not so English):
On board the GWR (Great Western Railway) First Class coach:
We rolled into Penzance at about 5:45PM:
I left Penzance railway station and, with the help of Google Maps on my phone, found my hotel – Warwick House, my temporary home for the next two nights.
I was met by a wonderful woman named Julie, who showed me to my room and gave me lots of information on the local area, where to go, what to see, etc.
This is my single room at the Warwick House. Not enough room to swing a cat, as you can see, but it’s lovely, charming and quiet…
Well, I’m beat, so off to bed in my cozy little room. Tomorrow (Thursday) is a free day for me so I will probably explore Penzance a little prior to meeting my photo tour group on Friday.
Signing off for today from Penzance!
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