BritRail - Day One - Taunton to York

We had reservations on a late morning train leaving Taunton, which left us plenty of time in our less than luxurious accommodations. Mom was up early, so when I got up, I figured out how to turn on the stove and fry up some eggs. The later start also gave us time to cycle everyone through the shower, which turned out to be a real blessing because the shower was somewhat lacking in water pressure and temperature control.

Mom, Dani and I started out a bit early to make a more leisurely walk to the train station. I had the BritRail passes and I wanted to get them validated and make sure I knew exactly where we were going. Ann and Jerynn were able to easily catch us up. The station was quite small, so finding the platform wasn’t difficult. We were only able to figure out where our car was moments before the train arrived. But we managed to get on and find our seats. Mom and I sat near the back. Jerynn and Dani sat together and Ann sat across the aisle from them. Ann made new American friends - mom and I could hear Ann laughing from the other end of the car.

The train reversed direction after a couple stops, leaving mom and I to ride backwards for most of the trip. We had been promised lunch on the train, but it never appeared, so we arrived in York hungry.

While we were still at the train station, we made reservations for the following day to take the train to Edinburgh. And we found the hop-on, hop-off city bus stop that we planned to take the next morning.

After checking into our hotel - a lovely place with locking doors and functioning bathrooms, we got directions to a street with several dining options. It was still a struggle to decide on a place to eat, but at least we had options.

Relaxing in one of the rooms
Standing: Ann
From the left: Jerynn, me, Dani

After dinner, we went for a short walk on the walls. Then, back at our hotel we sat in the lovely garden while Dani had a snack (dinner had, again, not been her favorite). Mom and Ann decided to go to bed, but the girls and I decided to check out the nightlife.

Touring the walls
From the  front: Jerynn, me, Dani, Mom

We promptly made friends with the bar staff. The barback was fascinated by Dani’s shirt, which I had made with a map of our travels. And the bartender was fascinated when he realized we were American. Perhaps it was a good thing that the bar staff was so friendly, because we’d hardly sat down when Jerynn attracted a very drunk man who got her attention by crowing behind her. Yes, crowing…like a rooster.

Jerynn with her "friend"?

Both his friend and the bartender came over several times to check that we were alright. I snapped a few pictures and even took a short video of his very strange behavior. With a quick text, I established how Jerynn would let us know if she wanted to leave. It wasn’t long before she was tugging her ear and we were standing to go. The bartender walked us out. He also walked the drunk patron back into the bar to ensure that we were able to get away cleanly.

We took our more sober party back to our room and talked into the night.

In the hotel garden after dinner.
From the left: Ann, me, Dani