The Journey to Hadrian's Wall

Someone great (whose name I cannot at the moment remember) once said in one of his books (the title of which escapes me at the moment), that "all good things come to those who wait." This truism was brought home to me in spades today.

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my flight on Lufthansa airlines (one of the best airlines I have ever flown with), and was informed by the man at the check-in desk that they would be calling for volunteers to go tomorrow because the flight was overbooked. "Will there be a voucher?" I inquired.

"Yes," he replied, "a voucher for $800 will be given to you upon your arrival at your destination."

"$800? Is that real hard cash that I can buy food with or pay to go to the zoo with?"

"If you want, sir, they can give you eight $100 bills."

I had a tent and a sleeping bag so I volunteered. But, alas, many other people apparently also thought that a daily wage of $800 was to be coveted, because the supervisor announced that they would be drawing tickets for those who would stay. After about an hour of waiting (in which my stomach ulser from India reared its ugly head) the flight desk person called a list of names. Mine was the last to be called. "Mr. *****, I am 99% sure that you will be going tomorrow, however yours was the last name drawn and there is a slight chance that another passenger will not show up so would you kindly wait to the side until we have boarded?"

Kindly, I waited.

It is an odd feeling, not knowing if in 15 minutes you will be headed to Europe or to the McDonald's in the food court.

I watched the desk people have a lengthy whispered conversation. I even heard "Mr. *****" bandied around with a lot of German words. Finally I was called to the desk.

"Am I going to Europe today?"

"Yes, Mr. *****, but in a little better class than you had expected."

And here I am. $800 would have been nice, but a three-course meal with real silverware, unlimited Jack Daniel's, a chair that turns into a bed, and Anthony Dvorak through noise-cancelling sennheisers is pretty good too. And all I had to do was wait a little.

I don't have any clue how to use any if this stuff though. I'm taking all my cues from the rich German businessman beside me. I mirror his every action. "Whoa! That's where the tray comes from! What? I have my own toothbrush in this little compartment here? The lady is taking my jacked and hanging it up? It's a crumpled up Patagonia backpacking jacket for crying out loud." Pretty fun. Oh and dad, Lufthansa's special wine of the month is the Columbia Crest Two Vines Shiraz. They have good taste.

I had a layover in Frankfurt and then flew to London. After a very friendly (and lengthy) conversation with the border official I exited the airport and had very little trouble finding the Underground. I too the Picadilly line to Green Park and transferred to the Victoria line. I got off at Euston, got my train ticket and now I am speeding across beautiful english countryside. It is absolute corner of a day. And everything has gone so smoothly! Except that I had to pay 30p to go to the bathroom.

At 7:15 I arrived in Carlisle. The streets were dark and mostly empty. It took me the longest time to find the street signs but eventually, after walking a mile in the wrong direction, I found Carlisle city hostel. Time to sleep.