I arrived back in England at about 7pm this evening, and began the railway adventure towards home. Seeing “Mind the Gap” painted on the ground reminded me that I really was home. Internationally, it’s probably up there with “whoops-a-daisies”.
During the final leg of the journey home, we pulled into Cookham station, and a gentleman who had been quietly reading his newspaper gazed out of the window at the sign, jumped up, and then raced towards the door. I imagined I might see him jump from the train door, but no - the train doors closed, and he re-appeared - pacing back and forth, looking out of the windows.
After a minute or two he sat opposite me.
At the next station, “Bourne End”, the train rolled to a stop such that the window between us was parallel with the railway station sign. The gentleman once again started into action, looked directly at the sign, and then turned to me.
“Is this Marlow?”
I wasn’t quite sure if he was joking.
“No, it’s Bourne End.”
He looked at me in a quizzical manner.
“Marlow is the next stop.”
I then had to cover my face with my hand and tuck my chin into my chest -feigningtiredness to cover the fact that I was grinning.