I made the mistake of going out to Watford the night before, and didn't get home to 1.00am on the morning of 13th June. I was determined to get to Stansted Airport using public transport only, which meant leaving the house at... 0245am. So with about an hour of sleep I ventured out in the warm, clear night.
There's something very reassuring about a bus timetable that is so specific that it says that the bus will arrive at 0257hrs. And it's doubly nice when, at 0257hrs, a bus appears. I don't know why that is, but it gives me a warm glow. The NightBus was only to get me as far as Brixton Hill, where I would catch another to Liverpool Street Station, and that connection worked too, the N133 being seconds behind N137 that I was on. The journey to Liverpool Street was as expected - full of revellers and drunks and clubbers, all very good natured but a bit loud. The journey was uneventful and I got to Liverpool Street at 0400hrs, for the 0410hrs non stop to Stansted Airport.
Some observations - the ticket machines at Liverpool Street are bamboozing to most people, who don't know about the seven thousand possible fares to Stansted.
There was a man at the barriers selling tickets too, but the barriers were open anyway, and there were no ticket checks at any point. They decided that the best place for the 0410hrs train would be right at the far end of the platform. The train was busy. Usually about now, I would post a picture of how dirty the train was, and you're probably thinking 'He's forgotten. Or maybe it was clean?'.
No, on both counts.
The first train from Liverpool Street
We got to Stansted on time (the express taking 50 minutes, for some reason) and there we joined the queue for security.
From the queue to the shops took about 15 minutes - and while I was fine, my friend crossed the rudest, most bad tempered security person I have ever seen. I know the job can be stressful, but this was beyond the pale. It was like she was herding sheep rather than people, and I was relieved that I had been seen by someone who was a bit nicer, but in context that is not saying much. All the security people in our queue seemed to have a very condescending attitude, which was not pleasant at all. It's a tough job, but why make it tougher by antagonising people? My friend is pondering whether to complain formally, so I won't go into details.
Gate 87 for us today, my last three flights have been from this island, it's quite an easy walk too. We always wait until the very last to board, and today was no exception.
Boarding was quick-ish, there were no priority boarders today, and the staff were really lovely. I printed out my boarding card on blue paper as I had run out of white, and the Ryanair said 'Thank you - it's nice to see a bit of variety!' and walked with us to the plane. At first glance it seemed very busy, but then you notice that there a lots of rows with just one person in them, and even with us being the last to board, we got a row each.
Classical music was playing, not the usual Mr. Superfly...!
The flight was very nice, the crew we had seemed to love their job (even at Ryanair!) and it was a very relaxing flight, believe it or not.
The approach to Torp is fantastic - all of a sudden, from the frigid North Sea you fly above the rugged coastline, the sea dotted with islands, and intensely green farmland.
We landed at Oslo Torp 15 minutes ahead of schedule (queue fanfair) and were through security and passport control in minutes.
We had no intention of going on a bus for two hours to Oslo, so we headed into Sandefjord instead.
Public transport to places other than Oslo is a bit flakey, we ended up sharing a taxi with four ladies on a day trip too, and they like us had discovered that the train from Torp to Sandefjord is every two hours and we'd just missed it!
Moving on, Norway is eye-wateringly expensive. But the sun shone all day (that far north it really means all day!), the people were lovely, and the scenery breathtaking.
Sandefjord
The return trip would prove to be more eventful...
