Weekend in Leamington

I can't say the journey from Bury St Edmunds to Leamington Spa on Friday was the most inspiring re-introduction to the British rail system; my first 'through-train to London' ended up terminating within two stops, at where the connecting train proceeded to stand stationary for over an hour waiting for congestion to clear as emergency repairs attended to a faulty line in Colchester. By some way of compensation the full train received irritating apologetic announcements every ten minutes. Luckily by contrast the trains on the way back were remarkably efficient, and the journey was only interrupted by the self-imposed wait for my reserved connection.

My weekend in Leamington Spa was, however, particularly enjoyable. Simon and I took many a photo, he on his new digital SLR, me excessively commenting on the dramatic skies. It was a little strange to feel I'd lived there for two years during university, and yet had initial troubles navigating the town.

Going from Bury St Edmunds to Cambridge to Royal Leamington Spa - that is, extremely middle class English towns - I'm starting to get a very pleasant view of people in this country. They are certainly far more helpful and approachable than I remembered them to be; not the image of chavs overrunning the entire country that the media like to portray. Annoyingly, I am finding myself unwittingly honing into the conversation of everyone - the mundane teenage gossip, the fast paced business calls, the polite chitchat between strangers on a train. It certainly takes effort to block out nearby voices; I don't need to listen to them just because they're speaking English. Admittedly, contrarily, I found myself somewhat confused when a (what I could only make out to be) Chinese couple boarded the train and I couldn't decipher anything.

Anyway, here are some photos of Leamington.