Blackpool!

Jamie and I decided that we would take a day trip up by train to explore Blackpool. Sadly the weather was very crap and the sky was grey and sad. We were delayed in Kirkham and Wesham by an hour when we wanted to switch trains to get to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We ended up just getting on the next train going to Blackpool North and walking to the pier and boardwalk. The walk was not that long from anything so it we should have just stayed on the train to begin with but then we would have never had the interesting wander through Kirkham and Wesham.

We walked along the seafront and out onto the pier. With paint peeling and colours fading it seemed that the golden days of Blackpool were a thing of the past. I know I would like to return for the Blackpool Illuminations. Stocking up on fudge from one of the little stores on the pier before we headed back to dry land. We wandered along, purchasing Blackpool Rock which I remember having as a kid. Now here I was in Blackpool with the same rock candy.  

One of the main attractions to Blackpool besides the Illuminations is the tower. We both had no desire to go up it. It might be nice if the weather was blue skies and sun but the grey gloom above did not appeal to us. Walking along we found ourselves being harassed by a guy handing out pamphlets. Just because we ignored his questions of "Where are you from?" etc. He got rude and that put a bit of a damper on our afternoon as we could not understand how he could be so rude to complete strangers. Refusing to let him ruin our day, we headed onto a second pier and I watched as Jamie attempted to win a prize by throwing a ball into a barrel. It looked easy but the guy let me try for free and I was miserable at it.

After more wanderings we enjoyed an ice cream before heading to catch the train back to Liverpool. All in all I think it was an interesting experience to see Blackpool. Wish the weather had been nicer for us.

Off to Leeds I go

I woke around my usual time and got my bags packed before having a small bite to eat. I decided yo try for an earlier train to Leeds and got on the train to Lime Street at 9:41 am. Arriving at Lime Street, I switched onto the 10:12 train heading to Newcastle that would stop at Leeds. Wishing I had purchased a snack or food I headed East towards Leeds passing through Manchester.  Arriving in Leeds around noon, I wandered around the shopping area which is very close to the train station.

First day of Work

I had my first full day of work on Friday. My schedule for work will be Monday to Friday 11am till 3 pm but since I needed to be till trained I would be working an additional four hours on my first day.  I caught the train into town at 8:06 am to be able to be there for a little before 9 am.

I went to the HR office as instructed and one of the ladies led me down by elevator and introduced me to my supervisor. She was super nice and trained me on the tills. She did a really good job as I did not feel confused about it at all. Of course there is a learning curve and remembering everything is a bit hard when you get so much information.

I stood back and watched one of the lovely ladies serve customers for a while before switching to another lady. I hung some shirts for a little while before observing some more.  After a while they got me started on my own till serving customers with the help of another woman bagging the items for me. I got the hang of doing the process and was able to go solo on the tills for about four or so hours. I lost track of time with the fast pace of serving and the amount of customers that were in the store. Before I knew it it was 6:30 pm and time to go home.

I am super happy with my first day. All my coworkers were super nice and very helpful if I had any questions. The supervisors were very quick to help in situations where I needed a hand. The customers were great too. Everyone was in a good mood despite the heat and how busy it was because of the Giants Spectacular happening in town.

After work I headed towards the train station stopping in the Lobster Pot to get some fish for dinner. By fish I mean like fish and chips kind of fish. Heading up to the train I never had a thought about how much of a nightmare getting home would be. Reaching the train station I came across a massive queue winding outside the station and down the stairs. It was crazy.

I thought the queue was just to the side doors but I was wrong it passed the side entrance before winding around the car park where they had signs splitting you off into the direction you were heading. I found Mossley Hill and slid into the queue. I knew the train was going in ten minutes so was getting quite nervous. They called for the train on the loud speaker but my line did not budge. The next train was in an hour and I did not know if I would even move in an hour. The guy behind me was also going to Mossley Hill but he seemed a lot less stressed than me. 

Giving up on being polite, I managed to work my way out of the barriers and slid between three queues and ran past all the police lined up outside them. Giving them wild crazed looks I told them "I'm going to Mossley Hill" as I ran past them. I said it to whoever I had the chance to before running unstopped into the train station and hurried onto the train. I made it with a few minutes to spare squeezing onto the door. I happily stood sweating with the rest of them for the two stops it takes to get to Mossley Hill. I was so relieved to catch the train home and not be stuck in that queue going nowhere. 

Could not have been happier to see this sign as I got off the train and headed home just as it started to rain. I enjoyed the Smarties I had picked up at work after finally relaxing at home. My feet hurt after a long day on them and I was looking forward to Saturday for a sleep in and the Giants.

Barcelona to Cadiz

Waking up early, we caught the metro in Barcelona for the last time. Heading across the city to the train station where we would depart for our day long adventure across Spain. We we're catching the 9:04 am train all the way to Sevilla where we would switch and get on another train. Eventually finding ourselves in Cadiz at 10:23 pm. Yes. We were looking at around 13 hours on trains. Lucky us. 

I had no idea what our train would be like so we had packed some tissues which is always recommended when travelling. You never know when there will be no toilet paper or you spill chocolate on yourself. Better safe then sorry. We also brought along baby wipes just in case the situation was less than sanitary. 

I was happy to find out that our train from Barcelona to Sevilla was going to the probably the most comfortable journeys I have ever taken. We found our seats and double checked they were ours before sitting down. We had more leg room then a plane. The train was quite empty so it was nice and quiet. The seats moved and slid into recliners. It was amazing.

Barcelona's Estadio de Fran train station.

Our ride below. It was a very long train and we had to walk quite a bit along it in order to find our seats.

Jess and I were both determined to make this the best train ride of our lives. We slept, talked, enjoyed writing funny stories about really weird princesses and babies. We enjoyed the candy we had purchased in Barcelona. I crammed by box as full as I could when we had purchased them. It was quite dense and full of deliciousness.

We were quite wrong about the bathroom situation as well. There was a toilet at the front and rear of each compartment and it was clean and had lots of toilet paper. Lucky us.

Finally reaching Sevilla, we got off the train and headed through the station attempting to find which train was ours. Jess attempted to get any sort of wifi in order to contact her dad but had no luck. We finally managed to find which platform our train was on and hurried over to it. Finding our seats we slid into them and sat back for the last leg of our journey.  It was about an hour or so from Sevilla to Cadiz and we attempted to plot our route to where we were staying.

Arriving in the dark is something I don't like doing but we both hustled along through Cadiz and we looked around in attempt to find where we were and where we had to go. Passing a Burger King our stomachs reminded us of how hungry we were but seeing the line going out the door we hurried on past it. Taking the wrong street, we ended up a bit father from the hotel and had to re-route ourselves. Finally finding the correct street we found the address but nothing seemed right. There was nothing indicating that this was even a hotel. We stressed, trying to get on email to find which buzzer might be Jess' dads but email was not working. We confirmed with a woman on the street that was indeed the right building. We yelled "Steve!" up at the building at around midnight. Jess finally resorted to pressing all the buzzers. Luckily we got the right one and Chico answered. Soon Jess' dad appeared and unlocked the door for us. Leading us up into the apartment.

We did not stick around long though, our stomachs drove us out of the apartment and we wandered around for a little bit before finding a pizza place down a random street. Boy, was that pizza good. The place is called Ristorante Pizzeria Osare and is located on Calle Rosario 27. One of the best pizzas I have ever had. Might have been because I was starving but Jess and I devoured it.

After filling our bellies, we headed back to the apartment to get some rest. After such a long journey, it was nice to be in the same spot for a while.

The long road to Domodossola.

As mentioned in my previous post I woke up several times during the morning of the 2nd before giving up on sleeping and headed out of my hostel as soon as I could. After checking out I walked the 10-15 minutes to Picadilly Train Station.