Sunday 25th May LEIGHTON BUZZARD
- SILVERSTONE
Robyn writes: The jet
lag is improving, finally – we were awake a bit in the middle of the night, but
managed to sleep until nearly 6, which is a vast improvement!
Lex, of course, had to get himself organised to leave early,
and decided to walk to the station. I’d decided on a ‘down day’ here in
Leighton Buzzard to catch up on washing, fix the unholy mess that was my port,
and bring the blog up to date. I started with a very sociable video chat to
Danny, Cait and Mikeal as Danny ate his dinner, and told me all about his day.
Then Mum rang, and finally Sandy for a chat. The roaming pack is excellent; it’s
so good to stay in touch with family and friends. Finally, by about 11 the
washing was all hung out around the flat (no outside clothes lines in a top
floor flat!) and Glen and I set out for a walk downtown. Leighton Buzzard is a
very old town; it was listed in the Doomsday Book. The Market Cross in the town
square is beautiful. We also saw the home of Mary Norton, writer of the ‘Borrower’
books (a childhood favourite of mine). We popped into a couple of op shops for
a browse, and I found two books to take on our travels.
We also went into Waitrose, which is in the town centre. It had some lovely food offerings, which we got for the next two night’s meals. There is a wide range of supermarkets here, unlike Australia. You’ve got your really budget ones, like Aldi, Lidl and Asda. They have a wide range of goods from all over, and rarely have the name brand items. Then there’s the middle range, like Morrison’s and Tesco’s, Waitrose is slightly more upper class and at the very top is the luxurious and expensive Marks & Spencer’s! From prices in the supermarkets I’ve seen, Morrison’s and Tesco’s are pretty much equivalent to Coles and Woollies. But it’s always fascinating to see and try new foods here. Two favourites of mine so far have been Morrison’s delicious Chicken & Bacon sandwich filling (already mixed in mayo) and Waitrose’s potato and onion rosti which Glen and I had for lunch yesterday – yum! Tomorrow night we are having the 12 pound ($24AUD) Waitrose Indian takeaway which has 2 curries, 2 naans, rice and Indian pastries.
Anyway, this is not a food blog – we wandered home with our goodies, had lunch, and then I finally got the blog updated. Just before three, we went for a walk to the local steam railway station – as it’s a bank holiday, they had the trains running, so we went up to see the engines steaming up and leaving the station. We filmed the event for Danny, who is currently obsessed with trains! We had a cuppa in the café there and headed home.
I was so tired
that I decided I’d have to risk a nap, so I set the alarm and had a refreshing
half hour sleep, which made me feel quite human again. I tackled the repack of
my port and brought it under control (have put the ‘summer’ clothes away in the
top compartment – looking at the long-range forecast, I doubt I’m going to need
them any time soon). Sad.
Lex got home around 7, and Glen
had cooked tea to nicely time with his arrival. Once again, tiredness overwhelmed,
and we were in bed by 8.30.
Lex writes: After the early rising mentioned above, I got
myself ready to travel to Silverstone. The UK MotoGP is there today. First up
was a 25 minute walk to the train station, then find the correct platform. I
asked a lady who was waiting, and she asked me back- for now? Yes I was on the
right platform, but later in the day the train stops at a different platform,
welcome to British Rail. Also, I did find an information panel (electronic)
which showed me the timetable and platform information. It was on a short stand
beside the shelter and was not obvious to the casual observer. This set the
tone for the day.
The train took me from Leighton Buzzard to Milton Keynes,
where a shuttle bus would take me to the circuit. An American couple were
standing in the bus waiting area, near a sign that said “All pickups from zone
Z”. We were in zone Y. There was a bus just nearby, with nothing on the display
at the front- blank. She started walking toward it, but I said, “that can’t be
it”. As we got on board I said, by way of apology- “How wrong can you be?”
A Greek man sat next to me, and with his daughter, chatted on
and off until we reached the circuit. The atmosphere on the bus was convivial
for the half-hour journey. Credit to the bus driver who drove the bus through
buildings that just about had to breathe in and lean back to let the bus pass.
Yes the little shortcut lanes were narrow!
On arriving at the circuit, we had our bags “searched” by a
man who only just peered into my open backpack before waiving me through. The
grandstand at Becketts corner was over a kilometre’s walk from the entrance,
but I finally made it to seat T280 in the stand. It was then I really felt the
English weather. Down below in the sun and out of the wind, people were wearing
jackets unzipped. Where I sat, all the clothes I wore weren’t up to the job.
The wind made me shiver, even though I was holding my backpack in front of me
for protection.
Anyway, there was a race- three actually. Moto 2 was first –
our view from the grandstand was quite good. We could see 4 corners and half of
the back straight. All three races were exciting and everybody was impressed.
I even saw Marc Maquez fall off and slide down a run-off
area for about 70 metres. He remounted, and a separate incident caused a
stoppage. Marc was back on the grid to restart the race when it resumed. His
Brother Alex had also crashed (on the first lap) and he too took his place for
the restart. Marc made the podium in third place, with Honda hero Johan Zarco
in second. Marco Bezzecchi won, but only after Fabio Quartararo’s bike
developed a fault while he was leading by “miles”. Overall, a great MotoGP
race.
During the breaks, everyone lined up first for the toilet,
then for the bar (beer only), then the food vans. The catering was awful and
expensive, and there was not enough of it. The food line was more than 30
metres long at one stage. The line was still there when the next race began!
After the event, I retraced my journey as far as Milton
Keynes train station. Then I got on the “London Euston” train. I was only going
two stops anyway – NO I WASN’T. The train I got on was express to London Euston
station. After I got there, I turned around and came back, arriving at 18:45. The
walk home was slightly uncomfortable. My boots were disintegrating, and the
heels were coming off. Nevertheless, I made it home just after 7:00, a bit
tired and looking for dinner.
As soon as I reasonably could, I went to bed and slept very
well for the first time since arriving in England. The jet lag must be gone.
Looking forward to tomorrow!
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