Thursday, July 14, 2005
Christopher’s Manchester Weblog - Summer 2005 - Saturday and Sunday - Days 5 and 6 - Travelingman
Days 5 and 6 here…
On the Road Again
Well, Saturday and Sunday were days of travel, so I need to fill you all in.
East Didsbury to Manchester Piccadilly Train Station
I have gotten so tired of being late, running to make things, that I turned over a new leaf on this trip. From now on, I am getting to places early – so there will be no more travel problems (at least that’s the theory). Friday night I packed my bags for the trip (my backpack and two smaller bags, weight approximately 327lbs). Got up bright and early
Saturday at 5am, showered and was out the door at 5:40. My train from East Didsbury to downtown I thought left at 6:26, so I was giving myself almost 45 minutes to make a 20 minute walk. Took a little longer, so I didn’t arrive until 6:05. Realized then that the train didn’t come until 6:39. Okay, more of a buffer than I really needed, but I was safe and
sound waiting for my train.
Of course this would be the first cruddy weather day of the entire week I have been here. Rain, wind, and generally pretty cold. So, there I waited (in shorts like a bozo) in the rain, cold and wind. 6:30. 6:35 (train should be coming any minute). 6:40 (hey, it’s
a minute late, no problem). 6:45 (okay, I can still make my train). 6:50 (come on, come on). Finally at 6:55, the train pulls up. Needless to say I am not voting for whoever is mayor next time – making the trains run on time is a necessary.
Take takes me to downtown (Manchester Piccadilly train station). We pull in at 7:04. Yep, my train has left. And of course, there is this lovely voice that comes on in the station, “The 6:52 from Manchester Airport is late and has arrived at 7:04. We regret any
inconvenience this has caused you.” With 2 pounds and that regret you can coffee at Starbucks.
Got re-routed on another train an hour later. Made this one just fine, but of course it was running late. Pulled into Oxford (I had a get-off, get-on ticket) at 11am, and I popped off. First stop was to the Oxford Backpack club so I could dump about 300 lbs of
my backpack stuff, and then off I went to explore the parts of Oxford I have yet to visit. This meant more museums than you probably want to hear about. The highlight though was the Oxford Museum of Science, where Saturday was “Albert Einstein Day.” Albert was
there (at least the guy had the hair down perfectly), and they have some of his actual blackboard there as well. The equations were easy, in a “yea, and then I created the perpetual motion machine” kind of way. Really cool stuff. Plus the actual bedpans they grew the first penicillin in!!!! Talk about a two for one!
Unfortunately my bronchitis and sinus infection started getting worse and the cold and rain weren’t helping. So after a quick jaunt into Blackwells Bookshop (where for the first time ever, I actually restrained myself from buying a book!!!) to see what they were doing for July 16 – Harry Potter Day (they are having the actor who plays Hagrid there, in
costume, leading a tour) – I made my way to the train station.
Little known fact…both Oxford and Cambridge have very small train stations. This is because both towns dons (who had the power in both towns by king’s decree until the 20th century) kept voting against bringing the railroad to town, so it wasn’t added until much later in the 20th century.
Caught the quick train to London, quick Tube to Islington, followed by the quick walk to the Foreign Missions Club. Quick that is when you remember I am carrying the weight of three full Christopher Morton’s on my back. Needless to say, my toe was in horrible
shape at the end of the day. Though I still had time to walk down to the Chinese Take Away place and pay at least 2 pounds too much for some of the worst Chinese
food I have ever had. Spent all night coughing and hacking. Got to get something for this cold.
Sunday – London to Cambridge
Today I was supposed to meet up with my fried Robert Duerr, who lives in Cambridge. Called Robert on Saturday, and after much back and forth, decided we would meet at Church of the Holy Trinity in Cambridge city center at 10:30. This worked well, because the train track repairs going on meant that there was no way to make it to Cambridge any earlier than 10.
So, again, up by 6, quick shower (the showers at the FMC have to set a record for the least amount of water that comes out of the shower head. No really. Even people from Yemen complain that these shower heads are in drought condition). Out the door by 6:30. Run, and I mean run (only one bag today) to the Tube station. I am supposed to catch a 7:10 train from Kings Cross, so I need to hurry.
Get to the Tube Station at 6:40. Locked! Of course, it’s a Sunday. Not like anyone needs to go anywhere on a Sunday in London! Wait. Wait. Wait. Finally at 6:55am, they open the doors. Problem though, all the ticket machines are down. “Buy your ticket at your
end station” the man working there says. Okay. Dash down the stairs. Run to the platform…just in time to catch the first train of the day. One stop to Kings Cross (for those of you who are uninitiated, that is where Harry Potter catches the Hogwart’s Express), dash up the stairs. No machines to pay. See open door. Exit. Oh my gosh, I have just become a Tube Jumper (the politest name for those who ride without
paying). Cant worry about that now. Its 7:05. No time to worry about breakfast. Still running. Get to the area of the station where my train should be.
Well, right now they take you on a bus as far as Hitchens, where you catch a 6 minute train to Royston, and then take a bus the remainder of the way to Cambridge. So, I get in line for the 7:10 bus to Hitchens. 7:10. 7:15. 7:20. 7:25, the bus comes. The bus breaks down (flooding the parking lot with antifreeze, a great smell).
New bus called. Notice four different people also asking about Cambridge. I pull them together – four women, one from Gemany, one from Ghana, one from The Netherlands, and one from somewhere I couldn’t tell, because all she could say was “Cambridge?” They elect me as leader (clearly people who have not traveled with me before), and I find out what the scoop is. Find out the train from Hitchens comes every ten minutes. No worries about the delay. Finally at 7:45 the replacement bus is here, we load, and take off.
One problem, the replacement bus driver has never been to Hitchens. Actually, I am not sure he had ever been to London either. So, picture if you will, a bus full of foul mouthed, tired, frustrated travelers yelling directions to the lost bus driver. I have had more
relaxing times in my life—like when I died on the operating table. I mean yikes people, just calm down.
Believe it or not…we made it to Hitchens. So we go and wait for the train, me and my cadre. Fortunately, I just had a bad feeling about things. So I go and ask. “Which platform?” “Oh, right” says the train manager, “Because of the repairs, its going to come
across the tracks, on Platform 2. Its backwards today.” So, I grab my group, we walk across the bridge, just in time to catch our train to Royston. Easy ride…get on the bus (almost lost the girl from Germany because she went to the bathroom – told her to
get her priorities right – and to Camrbidge. Arrival time…10:01. Don’t ask me how, but we actually got there on time (albeit it took almost 3 hours for what is normally at 42 minute train ride).
Catch a bus to city center, and go to church. Nice service – Anglican but very charismatic. After service find Robert. He was easy to spot—he’s wearing his clergy collar.
I should fill you in on Robert. Tan and I met Robert back in 1998 at the InterVarsity Graduate Student Conference in Chicago over the new years week. We hit it all great. We also got stuck in the hotel together because of the worst blizzard in the city in 30 years
(I guess this travel problem thing dates back a few years). Robert had been one of the world’s leading conductors of chorals and ensembles. Robert also is gay, although celibate. Great guy. We had exchanged emails and calls over the past seven years, but this is the first time I had seen him since Chicago. At the conference one of the guest speakers, Dr. Jeremy Begbie, who does theology and music at Cambridge saw him and told him to leave his school in Wisconsin (he was studying to become an Anglican priest) and come to Cambridge free of charge. That is how Robert ended up here. He had been a curate and choir master at the big Anglican church in town, but recently quit because
the vicar was completely unsupportive (Robert makes the 5th to quit in 6 years).
We had a great day. We walked and walked. Because Robert has preached in most of the college chapels, he got me past the guards and onto the private grounds of the colleges. Not as cool as Oxford, but still pretty cool. And everyone in this town seems to know him. We couldn’t walk twenty feet without someone stopping and talking to him (really impressive when you remember that Cambridge’s church attendance rate is
about 4%).
We took a long walk (about 45 minutes) along the river Cam (get it-the bridge over the Cam – Cambridge). There are people punting along (little flat bottom boats). People walking, riding their bikes…cows, cows, cow patties, and more cows. It was incredible.
Finally we come to this place called the Orchards, out in Grantchester, a small town outside Cambridge. We have lemonade and water and a snack outside, in this lovely little place where all sorts of famous aethists have visited (I don’t think they are pictured because they are atheists, just all the famous people who have been there have their pictures up, and as it turns out, they are all famous aethesists—Bertrand Russell,
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Virginia Wolf, so on). Great way to spend the afternoon.
We walked back, talking about the differences between Americans and Brits. Robert of course has had a lot of experience with both. He loves England but says the people are hopeless and very sad. We spent much of the walk back trying to smile at people and get
them to smile back. Not a one! Very interesting.
Well, by now it was time to get back to London. This time the trains were working, so 42 minutes later I was in London, back on the tube (paid this time), and to the FMC for a good nights rest. At least I hope so—I bought a bottle of cough medicine over the
counter here that has codeine and chloroform! Did I read that right?
Christopher
