Durham is way up North, almost in Newcastle, which is almost in Scotland. It was an early meeting that would have involved getting a 6am train from London. So a better idea was to go up the night before and stay in a hotel up there.
But the night before was the night of a work trip to Lords to watch some county-level Twenty-20 cricket. I wasn't about to miss that! So my colleague and I went to the cricket. An innings and 4 pints of lager later, it was time to head to Kings Cross for our train.
We found our way there, stocked up on more alcohol, bought some greasy dinner and boarded our train.
The next 3 hours was spent drinking on the train. Once we arrived "up north" at about midnight, we battled the rain and caught a cab to our hotel.
The hotel had already given away our rooms and offered us a drink to make up for it. By this time I had had certainly enough to drink, but surely I cannot say no to a free drink. After all, it was to make up for the inconvenience of losing a hotel room! "A whisky and coke, please," my colleague led.
An apt summary was this email I wrote while I was there:
My trip has been eventful. When we got here last night our hotel had given away our rooms. So they drove us to another hotel which wasn't anywhere near as nice. They did give us each a whisky and coke to make up for it though.
This morning our cab driver didn't know where he was going and we drove around looking for where our meeting was. Eventually I pulled out my iPhone and guided him with GPS.
But in the process I managed to drop my blackberry. Realised just a bit before getting on a train back to London. I called the cab company and they said they'd drop it off back at the hotel but when I got there he hadn't come yet. Apparently it will be an hour till he does.
So Colleague and I are sitting at a cafe waiting, watching the world go by.
Yes, it was an eventful trip. Durham, overall, was a very picturesque little city. It was a great place to spend a few hours just sitting around!
Hello Daniel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your trip experience. Have you eaten at restaurant, during trip? Actually, we want to know about worthwhile restaurant of Durham so if you have experience please share with us. Furthermore, you didn’t mention the hotel’s name, where you stay.
Best Regards,