Cirencester – June 12, 2019
Jun 18th, 2019 by rallyadmin
Out of the Vilenza requires hauling bags back up from lower floor room, out the door and down to the street. This is going to be a fun trek to Paddington Station where the train to Swindon awaits. In Swindon the Hertz rental car awaits.
Back down Newark Street for the last time. Up Vallance Rd to the Whitechapel Rd. Cross the boulevard and down the stairs into the Underground. No lift here. On the Hammersmith line to Paddington Station. Up the lift (yay!!) and down the train platforms to ticketing.
B and the boys go off foaging for a snak breakfast. I look for tickets. An information agent brings me to a ticket agent. I ask for tickets to Swindon. He takes out a piece of technology and checks the schedule. He then takes out another device and enters the number of people and the destination. (“Will that be return tickets, sir?” “No, thank you. Just the one way.”)
Finally, another device wakes up and out comes the receipt and the four tickets. Amazing, he’s a fully mobile ticket office provided his batteries don’t fail. “Thank you and which train might be for Swindon?” “Right here, sir, platform #4. It leaves in 15 minutes at 9:15.” “Right. Thanks, again.”
Of course, B and the boys are nowhere in sight. But in a few minutes they show up and we walk down the platform. On the train, stash the bags and grab some seats. In a few minutes, the train whistle and we depart.
The train runs fast. It’s not a bullet train though the engine looks like one and it’s not as fast as a bullet train but it moves right along. An hour and 2 stops later, we’re in Swindon.
I try calling the Hertz office to see if they have a pick up at the airport but I can’t get the call to connect. Out to the street and we pile our bags and ourselves in to the taxi. Pile being the operative word here. A few minutes later and we’re in Hertz lot unloading everything.
I made the car reservation for 12 noon and it’s nearly 11. The bad news is that the car isn’t here. It’s still on it’s way and when it gets here “the boys” have to tidy it up for us. We settle into a corner of the office to wait.
The woman checking us in has a picture on the wall across from her desk of her sitting in a Formula Ford. I ask about it. It turns out to be her husband’s FF and the picture is from a Hertz corporate event years ago.
We chat and the car eventually arrives. I finish up the paper work, we load up the gear and get in. Time to go. Finally.
I haven’t driven a right hand drive car on the left side of the road in years. Actually, the last time was about 8 or 9 years ago when John Alkema and I bought an Astra from Julian Nowill for our trip to Turkey. This will be interesting.
It’ll be interesting if I can actually figure out how to get this manual transmission Skoda Octavia Estate into reverse. Not only is the steering wheel on the wrong side, muscle memory speaking, the gear shift is also on the wrong side, muscle memory speaking.
Push left. Shift up. Let out clutch. Go forward. Nope. Try again. Look at the gear diagram on the shifter knob. Push left harder. Shift up. Let out clutch. Go forward. Nope. Push left AND down. Now push forward. Let out clutch. Go backward. Success!
Set up the GPS to get us to Cirencester. Leave the lot. Turn right. Focus on driving on the left. GPS immediately indicates that we are going the wrong way. Do a u-turn. (More fighting with the shifter position for reverse.) Gingerly follow the GPS map and try to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road with a manual transmission that has the shifter on the wrong side of the driver’s seat.
Through blind luck we make it to Cirencester without incident. The Skoda is actually quite a nice car. Plenty of room for us and the bags. And it comes with loads of automation. Lne control. Following distance control. And some decent pep.
Now we have to find the hotel. So much for the open road driving. Now, let’s focus on driving very tight, twisty streets in an unfamiliar car. Looking for a hotel that doesn’t have a street address that we can find.
We park the car and start searching on foot. A man coming out of a pub tells me generally where the hotel is and I find it on foot. Back in the car and move it to a Tesco parking lot that is right in front of the hotel.
We check in. Schlep the bags up the narrow stairs to the tiniest hotel room I’ve been in since the last Budget Ibis that John and I stayed in. With bunk beds and just barely enough room for us and the bags. It is en suite, though, so there is an upside. But it’s clean and only one night. What the hey.
By now it’s about 6 and we head out of the hotel to get some water and snacks from the Tesco across the lot. And then to a quite good Italian restaurant, the Piazza Florenza for dinner.
Back to our cell, err, hotel room and out for the night. It’s been a long and exciting day. We’re well and truly on the road again.
Obi-wan
