We successfully caught our respective trains, surrounded by girls carrying over-sized (and some under-sized) bouquets of flowers that either way were quite frankly dangerous to be around if you are fond of your eyes - tulips are red, violets are blue, roses are lovely but hazardous too!
We pumped up and down escalators to get to the platforms and navigate our various ways to Leicester Square, where we had been instructed by our ever-reliable ring-in to take the exit near the ATM, turn right, walk 40 metres and enter a pub called the Bear & Staff.
I walked in the door and found myself in what I would class as a classic English Pub. Packed full of people, happy bar staff, pot plants and general mayhem; I spotted my two friends at the bar just about to order drinks - it's like they knew I'd walk in as soon as they ordered! Excellent planning on my part I must say.
We got our drinks and looked around for a table, without success. I then spotted a narrow staircase leading up, and we held a brief vote on whether or not we should venture up based on the likelihood that it led to the toilets and we would find ourselves in the awkward position of standing outside a door holding a drink, greeting people as they came out of the loo.
We decided to chance it, and as luck would have it there was a restaurant up there and a free table with three chairs just waiting for us. We wisely decided to eat there, and it was a good choice! The waitress looked relieved that our trio wasn't another love-struck couple demanding a table at no notice, and she spent a good deal of the evening laughing with us and trying to convince us to order more dessert. We liked her.
At around 10:22 I looked at the time and declared that we should get moving soon because trains would be up the creek (quite possibly literally) and the sooner we got on one going in the right direction, the better.
We all went back to Leicester square station, where I left the other two and legged it down to the Northern line to get back to Waterloo, in hopes I'd be able to catch an Alton train. I arrived at Waterloo, looked at the time, and started checking the notice board. Alas, there had been an Alton train at around 10:40 or so - I had just missed it.
But wait! An announcement was telling me the delayed service to Alton was now boarding on platform 14! Woo!! I hot-footed it to the platform and got on what would turn out to be the last train leaving Waterloo for Alton that night.
I had been entertaining myself and the bloke next to me (watching out of the corner of his eye) for the last half hour or so by watching Dynamo on BBC iPlayer, when we pulled in to Walton on Thames. This struck me as odd, because I didn't recognise the name and didn't think we usually stopped here. I figured I'd probably just forgotten or they'd added a stop, so went back to watching Dynamo.
About 10 minutes later the guard announced something but it sounded like he was calling from the bottom of an ocean on Neptune using a phone wrapped in cotton wool, so most of us just kept doing what we were doing, while others who were possibly on holiday and already lost ran around asking other passengers what was happening.
At 11:45 the guard (whose voice had mercifully increased in volume) came over the system again to tell us that the reason we were randomly sitting at Walton on Thames still was that they had been instructed to pull in here, as there were some problems further down the line due to Mother Nature losing a gasket on the countryside. He hadn't been told much, but promised to keep us in the loop.
At 12:07 he let us know that we would possibly be here for a while. At this point I had finished two episodes of Dynamo and moved on to the last one I had, and decided it was time for a facebook update. I decided that I would do an update every half hour or so, hoping there would only be one update... For a laugh, here is the list of updates from that train journey, bearing in mind we had been stopped since about 11:30pm:
>Well, it's now 00:07 here and we've been stuck at Walton on Thames for about half an hour due to thousand-mile-an-hour winds and heaven only knows what else. Thank goodness for videos and portable chargers.
>00:40 update - still stationary. Winds are picking up, trees are falling down, the train is rocking slightly in the wind. Very disconcerting if you ask me; I expect Thor will fall out of the sky any moment now. That would be ok...
>00:55 update - the train was getting seriously stuffy so I poked my head out for some fresh air. Ghost Town:
>01:08 update - still stationary. Various passengers on the train have begun the transformation from 'human' to 'vampire' and are out for blood. I find myself considering wandering into first class and taking a nap.
>01:38 update - latest news from the guard is that an inebriated passenger is on a train trying to leave Woking (the train that is, not the drunkard - I doubt he even remembers where he's trying to go), and police have been called. Since the entire police force is a bit busy dealing with the problem of London being underwater, it could be quite a while. That train (more specifically, the aforementioned drunkard) is the only thing standing between us and forward motion.
I wonder what it would take to reintroduce the death penalty... You know, just as a once-off?
For the greater good?
>01:40 -
the train was getting seriously stuffy so I poked my head out for some fresh air. Ghost Town:
>01:45-
Hmm, I spy bed potential...
>02:00 update - WE HAVE MOVEMENT!! Apparently someone took matters into their own hands and just shot the guy.
Just kidding.
So far as I know...
>02:36 update - made it to Woking, then a tree fell on the line. Stopped again. The bicycle storage area chairs are a win for an impromptu bed, and thank goodness - it's looking to be a very long night.
>02: 55 -
Proof that when you're really tired, you see beds everywhere.
>03:26 update - "this is, Ash Vale. The next station is, Aldershot".
Thank. You. God.
>03:40 update - "we are now arriving at, Aldershot. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform edge."
>04:50 update - home at last!
