Weekends tend to fall into two categories. The first is those where I'm at home, in the cottage, pottering around, drinking the occasional beer, catching up on my e-mail, eating hearty meals, that sort of thing. The second is those where I'm on the road with Ros, riding on trains, drinking the occasional beer, catching up on my e-mails, eating hearty meals, that sort of thing. This weekend has had railways in it.
Leaving Newbury, we were off to Swansea for the Spring Conference of the Welsh Liberal Democrats or, as I discover, the Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru. It's a pretty long haul down to Swansea, fairly quick as far as Cardiff, rather slower beyond that as the train weaves its way through Bridgend and Port Talbot before reaching the terminus at the old Swansea High Street station.
With the business end of the trip scheduled for the following day, my only 'tasks' were to watch the rugby with the locals (given the circumstances, my decision not to was probably a tactful one...), attend a wine reception hosted by Optometry Wales and then the Conference Dinner, where the guest speaker was Evan Harris, the MP for that heartland Welsh constituency of Oxford West and Abingdon.
First, leaving Ros to relax, it was time to go shopping. I'm a moody shopper, in that either I'm in the mood, or I'm not. Yesterday, I was, and set off for the retail experience that is Swansea. It was a pleasant enough walk from the hotel, along the side of the marina, under the old railway embankment and past the site of the new bus station (it doesn't look like much now but just you wait!). I picked up what I needed (a shirt) and headed back via Debenhams where, oddly enough, the last days of the sale were on with some serious discounts. I did pretty well...
Heading back to the hotel to discover that England were leading by 20 points to 3, I decided to stay put in the room. In any event, it was going to be a long evening...
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