To Winslow, Buckinghamshire - April 28, 2012

Saturday

I'm almost as glad to be leaving London behind on this blog as I was for real back in April. The big city isn't for me. That said, there is still so much I missed so it would be nice to go back some day. 

It was raining that morning so that took care of the notion of going to see the Changing of the Guard. It was news to me that it takes place only every second day and not at all in very rainy weather.

At breakfast I sat for the last time with my breakfast buddy, the pleasant older man from New Zealand who had invited me to sit at his table the first morning. His wife didn't want to make this trip and his friend who was supposed to be with him, had a stroke and had to cancel. So here he was on his own, about to tour the country with a 30 day Britrail pass.

I checked out of the hotel in London and took a taxi to Marylebone train station to catch a train to Aylesbury. Why does there have to be two choices on the board? Apparently I want the Aylesbury Vale Pwy one at 11:57 am.

Even here there are Cornish pasties. Don't mess with the English and their pasties. There was such a furor over the idea of taxing them - it was frequently in the news, but I believe that was shot down before I left the country.

Scenery is usually dreary near train stations but before long we were rolling along through the Chilterns (wow, the Chilterns) - green hills, sheep and some yellow canola-growing (rapeseed in England) fields.

At the train station in Aylesbury I didn't feel like traipsing around in the rain to find a bus station so caught a taxi. Negotiated 2 pounds off the price. Driver drove the 11 or so miles to Winslow like a madman. What would the town be like I wondered.