trains, trains, and more trains

So I was in a total of six different train stations in the last 24 hours! How cool is that. I think my favorites were Gare du Nord in Paris and St Pancras in London because there were lots of interesting stores and cafes. By the end of the day though I was definitely feeling like Tom Hanks from The Terminal. There's just only so much you can do in those places and they don't all have free wifi AND a plug available. It seemed to be pretty much only one or the other. I did get about halfway through reading Mrs. Polifax on the China Station and I watched Fellowship of the Ring and about an hour of The Twin Towers. That helped keep things interesting. I also popped into the British Library which was between St Pancras and Euston stations (I walked from one to the other). They had wifi AND plugs but I didn't have the right converter with me and by the time I went to get it and come back the library was closed.

I ate a ham quiche for lunch, a jalapeno chicken wrap for a snack-ish and then for late dinner I had my first pasty. I don't know what was in it but potatoes for sure but it wasn't what I ordered because I asked for bacon and cheese and there was definitely no bacon. It was pretty yummy though whatever it was!

While I was online Luke popped up for a chat and quoted "London" by Brandon Heath to me. I guess I'd never heard that song before and had him send it to me. I then proceeded to make a playlist of homesick songs and had my iPod going all evening repeating those songs. It was fun in a melodramatic way to wander aimlessly around the train station singing that song and "Home" by Michael Bublé. :)

So finally after a long day I got on a sleeper train to ride to Scotland. The original plan was not to do this until Saturday and to only have to go from Cumbria but an unexpected hospital visit for my London friend meant I needed to go straight to Scotland. It's a long trip from London to Cupar! I spent the first 45 minutes watching LOTR on my laptop and charging my phone until my laptop battery died and then got all comfy and went to sleep. I dozed off and on waking whenever we came to a train station because I wasn't sure what time it was or when we'd make it to Leuchers which is where I needed to get off and catch a train to go BACK to Cupar (we would pass through to get to Leuchers).

Finally we got there and I hopped up and grabbed my stuff and plopped onto the platform. Only two other people got off at that stop with me. The first thing I noticed was the wind was VERY cold when it blew so I pulled my sweater out to layer on top of my hoodie. Then I looked at the board trying to figure out when the train would come through. Apparently whoever was supposed to be opening that station was late because the doors were all locked so I had to wait out in the cold wind. I was so very glad to see the train stop to pick us up!! Then the sixth and final train station in my trip, and Sheila picked me up and brought me to her adorable cottage where I took a shower and changed clothes and felt human again!! I hate sleeping on planes or trains. :P She also had an amazing little breakfast ready when I got out.

After that we set off to see what we could see! I put up pictures again in Picasa but I've seen two castles, a windmill, and had fish and chips already. :) I love even just driving through the countryside, it's so beautiful!! It's pretty much everything I imagined and more. :) God is so awesome, I can't believe He gave me this opportunity!