The Anonymous Widower

Home Run From Marrakech

I hadn’t expected this trip to be one of my home runs, but after abandoning the holiday in Marrakech, that is how it turned out. So I’m putting up this start page for the adventure.

So now there is a tag called Home Run From Marrakech.

February 11, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

Welcome To Marrakech

This picture sums up Marrakech to me!

Welcome To Marrakech

Welcome To Marrakech

I did see an open-topped tpurist bus, which might have been worth riding, but there was nobody about to sell me a ticket.

February 11, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

A Holiday In Marrakech

The idea was supposed to be very simple.  I would fly out of Gatwick on British Airways, have four nights in a riad in Marrakesh and then fly back on Thursday afternoon. I’d booked through a well-known travel agent and they had arranged everything.

Ten years or so ago, C and myself had flown to Marrakech and stayed for a weekend in the Villa des Oranges and I’d hoped to bring back some happy memories, with perhaps a trip to the Atlas Mountains, taking a lot of photographs and writing my blog.  I’d also checked out that the riad had wi-fi and was rated to be friendly and good for solo travellers.

But everything went pear-shaped when I found that my mobile-phone had been lost at Gatwick. I use it constantly for keeping in touch with the world, but no matter as I’d bought a small netbook computer with me and the riad had wi-fi.

The riad was good, except for the wi-fi, which perhaps ran for a minute or so before it dropped out. I even found it virtually impossible to send an e-mail using my Google account. I think I managed just one short post about my mobile phone. But no matter, as from previous experience there were some nice Internet cafes in Marrakech. But of course, I couldn’t find it and all I found was a grotty place, where the computers were virtually unusable.  These days, who needs an Internet cafe? Only those in trouble.

I should say there was a nice computer for guests to use in the hotel, but it had the most complicated keyboard I’d ever seen. I couldn’t find the @-sign and it just turned me off everything.

I then booked a tour of the historic sites in the centre.  I had been told it would be 400 Moroccan dinars, when I booked it, as I’d have to pay for two people, but in the morning, the guide wanted 400 each for me and my non-existent companion. I also found the tour would be just me and the guide.

That was it! I don’t like being ripped-off and I can afford to take a stand, but others perhaps cannot, so I told the guide where to go in no uncertain terms.

Marrakech was also depressing me, as it wasn’t the place I remembered and i couldn’t seem to find a nice cafe for a drink anywhere outside of the riad.

So as I didn’t want to be trapped there, I did what I always do. I cut my misery and took a taxi for the airport to get a flight home. I had checked that seats were available on easyJet, so perhaps I could be in London by nightfall.

February 11, 2014 Posted by | Computing, Transport/Travel | , , | 4 Comments

I’ve Lost My Mobile Phone

Somewhere on the Road to Morocco my mobile phone has gone missing.

If anybody, who reads this can they please inform O2, as I have no means of contacting them.

February 9, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 7 Comments

Plastic Belt Buckles

I object to taking my belt off in airport security, as because of my gammy left hand, I need a mirror to get it back in again.

At Gatwick, I said could I not and said why, but the guy said you’ll have to take it off, if it beeps in the machine.

It didn’t beep and I kept it on.

In the 1970s I worked for ICI Plastics and there were plastics then, that were strong enough to make belt buckles, that wouldn’t be dangerous or set off medal detectors.

So why don’t we have them now?

If nothing it would speed up security!

February 9, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

Is Meadowhall An Ideal Journey Break On A Train?

yesterday I went up to seeIpswich play in Barnsley. It wasn’t a good match, as the wind made a lot of things difficult and it probably had a part in some of the goals. Since the Nottingham Forest match on the 14th December, which was ruined by wind, I think there has only been one match, where conditions were conducive to good football. I know it’s only a game, but it does illustrate how bad the weather has been, these last couple of months.

As I said because of ticketing issues with East Midlands Trains, I went up to Barnsley changing at Sheffield, but came back via Meadowhall and Doncaster on Est Coast.

I walked quickly down the hill from Oakwell to the station and within a couple of minutes I was on a fast Class 158 train to Meadowhall. I nearly missed the stop, as the weather was so bad, you couldn’t make out the station names, but as it was the first stop from Barnsley, I was pretty sure it was Meadowhall.

It was an easy walk into the shopping centre and you enter by Marks and Spencer, where I just purchased some socks, but I could of course have bought a gluten-free meal. As it was I went further into the centre and had supper at Carluccio’s, which although it was full, was queueless.

The other thing I needed to buy, was a book and Waterstones was hard by the passage to the station.  i also picked up another copy of The Times, as a friend has a letter in the paper and they wanted me to send them a copy.

I suspect that if you’re going to Manchester Airport by train, then to break the journey at Meadowhall might be better than paying airport prices for your last minute purchases, that we always need.

My choice of route was further vindicated, when I got on an East Coast train from Doncaster to London.  The Inter City 225 was so much more comfortable and smoother in Standard, than the dreaded Class 222 of East Midland Trains in First.  I also had two chances to purchase a cup of tea from a trolley, whereas East Midlands there was no at-seat service and they expect you to walk to the bar.

I’ve got to go to Leicester in a couple of weeks and I’ll do anything to avoid going on one of those Class 222s.

February 9, 2014 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , | Leave a comment

WH Smith Go Backwards

I’m a subscriber to The Times and get vouchers to pay for my paper.

Where I live there are two shops that take them and I usually use them, when I’m staying in for the morning. Or I might use the supermarket, when I do an early morning shop.

But when I travel by train, I usually pick my paper up at the station to read on the journey.

Until earlier this week, I just went into the WH Smith picked up the paper and put the voucher in the box.

They’ve now removed the boxes and expect you to use the self service machines. It’s a pain, so now they won’t get my custom.

Usually, when I go to the station, I don’t pass a paper shop that takes vouchers.  So today, I’ll have to walk the other way to the shop that does, before I go to St. Pancras.

I can’t help feeling that lots of people will forgo their morning newspaper or buy it elsewhere.

February 8, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 2 Comments

East Midlands Trains Just Lost A Sale

I’m going to Barnsley tomorrow to see Ipswich play!

Although, I’m going up using East Midlands Trains, I’m certainly not coming back on their trains.

As I’m going to a football match, I can’t guarantee what time, I will be finished in Barnsley.  I might meet any of a number of friends and have coffee and a supper before returning, so I can’t be sure which train, I would need to take from Sheffield. The trip is further complicated by the fact that the only place I can get a gluten-free meal I’d trust is at Carluccio’s in Meadowhall, which is surprisingly convenient as all trains from Barnsley to the South go through the station there. But if you eat in Meadowhall on a Saturday, you can’t be sure how long the meal will take, as the place gets extremely busy.

So as I always do, I buy an Off Peak Standard Ticket for my return journey, as this gives me complete flexibility.  But East Midlands Trains expect passengers to buy one of their keenly priced Advance Single tickets, which for me are not acceptable, as one five minute conversation and a missed train, would mean I had to buy another ticket.

I have therefore booked a ticket from Barnsley to Domcaster, changing at Meadowhall and then East Coast from Doncaster to London.

Going up to Barnsley, I did buy an Advance Ticket and that cost me £36.00.  I’ve also noticed that because of their different way of buying tickets, I didn’t enter my railcard, so I overpaid! We need one standard interface, when buying tickets over the internet!

Coming back, the best price on East Midlands Trains is £47.20. Going via Doncaster has cost me £45.70, which may not be much of a saving, but there a greater number of trains from Doncaster and I’ll definitely avoid travelling in one of those awful Class 222 trains of East Midland Trains.

East Midland Trains have tweeted me, that a Return ticket is only a pound more than a Single. That’s the first I’ve heard of that, but it wasn’t pointed out to me on their web site. I usually travel to football on a First Off-Peak Return, which is the obvious good-value ticket on Greater Anglia and some other companies.

February 7, 2014 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , | 1 Comment

Does Glasgow Need Its Own Rail Hub?

I’ve just been talking to a friend north of the border and he had not heard of the Northern Hub, which finally is getting the treatment and publicity it deserves.

He was unaware of a scheme in Glasgow called Crossrail Glasgow to link the two main stations and make journeys across the city a lot easier.

Reading about it here on Wikipedia, I can’t understand, why it wasn’t implemented before the Commonwealth Games this year.

Crossrail Glasgow and the Northern Hub, are just two of a whole series of projects to improve transport in our major provincial cities, like the Greater Bristol Metro, the extensions to both the Birmingham and Nottingham trams and the reopening of several important commuter railways.

Could it be that the decision on this rail project would have been taken in Edinburgh?

February 7, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Sense On The Northern Hub

The Northern Hub being developed in Manchester is one of the biggest rail projects North of Watford, but it seems to have been ignored by the media until today. The Times had a very sound article and there was this one on the BBC. Wikipedia has a long article, which is summed up by the first paragraph.

Northern Hub is a series of proposed works across Northern England to stimulate economic growth by increasing train services, reducing journey times and electrifying lines between the major cities of Northern England.[1] It is a partnership between Network Rail, First TransPennine Express, DB Schenker, Freightliner, Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Northern Rail.[2] The proposal was first announced in 2009 as the Manchester Hub which entailed a series of upgrades which would cut journey times between cities in Northern England by alleviating the rail bottleneck through Manchester.

I think the area, must be pleased about all the publicity, as it is a very positive story, which must attract jobs and inward investment. It will certainly make some the journeys I’ve done recently a lot easier and much less crowded.

 

February 7, 2014 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , | 1 Comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »