... made to a recipe that English bakeries have never been able to replicate. Served buttered, with lashings of bacon and slices of tomato, these formed an excellent cholesterol-excessive breakfast. This was followed by the entertainment right outside the bay window of their holiday flat.
First the man with "ride-on" mower (top left) arrived ...
... followed by a North Ayrshire lorry and its concours d'élégance of mowing excellence. Two power mowers plus strimmer set to work to make the greensward look its best. Once this entertainment had been enjoyed by all, No 3 son went out for "a 10k run". This is a particularly frightening piece of masochism which brings into question the sanity of the "boy", aged 37!
The run took him along the coast and up into the woods at Kelburn.
Kelburn Country Centre is based around a 13th Century castle and Kelburn Glen, home to waterfalls and deep gorges, with spectacular views over the islands of the Firth of Clyde. Visitors can explore the secret forest, crocodile swamp and an adventure course.
Kelburn "Castle" is just a little bit "different"!!
Meanwhile fbb was undertaking some equally strenuous exercise (for his his little grey cells) by composing the public transport part of this blog, namely no 3 son's journey from base to Largs on Sunday.
Southern Railway was strike free and cancellation free, so all was well. More strikes are, however, planned.
Next, EasyJet.
After the fbb's late running train on Saturday, there was an element of schadenfreude** as the plane was significantly late. Apparently it was late arriving from Valencia. Actual times were 1548 from Gatport Airwick, with an arrival in Glasgow at 1720; 25 minutes down on a 90 minute flight. that makes Virgin's delays of the previous day seem insignificant.
As you would expect, these days, you can replay the flight on-line from take off ...
... to touch-down after a maximum flight height of 37,000 feet.
You can also see a picture of the actual plane ...
... an eight year old Airbus A319 III.
But all this begs the question, What does an "arrival" at Glasgow Airport mean? When the wheels touch the tarmac? When the plane parks at the terminal? When the passengers escape from the plane? OR ...
... and the team of elderly meeters and greeters toddled round to the station to welcome their honoured guest.
Total journey time from Station to Station, just about seven hours; of which half was spent waiting for stuff to happen.
How did the cost compare (return fares show)?
Train Shoreham to Gatwick
£24
Flight
£136.83
Train Paisley to Largs
£15
Total £175.83 (for comparison purposes £115.75 with a 34% discount equivalent to OAP card on the trains).
If No 3 had gone by train, and IF all services had been unimpeded by any engineering work, the journey would have taken about nine hours and cost £168.70 with no travel restrictions.
fbb and Mrs fbb each paid £126.70 (includes OAP discount).
Contrast and compare?
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** schadenfreude - concatenated from German words for "harm" and "joy" - literally, deriving "joy" from other people's "harm".
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Next holiday-based blog : Wednesday 23rd August
Is the plane fare a single or a return? Also I imagine the plane fare is severely restricted - so more akin to an "Advance" train fare rather than an "Off-Peak return"
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