Traveling to Croydon
Our last day in London gave us a sense of urgency about the exploring the city, yet we set that aside, and we were able to leisurely stroll through Hyde Park which was filled with all sorts of people. An odd thing started popping up though…. Twins! There must have been at least 5 sets of twins cutely strapped into their double decked out strollers, with their parents lovingly carting them around. Naturally, as they passed I became enthralled. Slightly ridiculous considering the natural beauty that surrounded me, but if you know me, nothing trumps cute babies.
Due to that, as well as our general poor sense of direction, we managed to circle the park and miss our turn out. Keep in mind, this park is the monster of all parks, filled with ponds and secret gardens and Kensington Palace. This detour caused us to get back to Morgan house later than expected, we ordered lunch that ended up being late, and so we set off for our train slightly rushed. After arriving at the train terminal, later than perhaps would have been wise, we got on our train and head out to meet Peter, a friend we were staying with the next few days.
The train ride was rather uneventful, and we passed cute little house after cute little house. As our stop started approaching, we gathered our bags and stood near the door, and waited…and waited…and waited. THE DOORS DIDN’T OPEN! Our train starts pulling away from our stop and Beth and I exchange a look that could only be described as amazed panic. Here we were, all confident that we knew our way around, no problem. Yet, we clearly were flabbergasted and stunned into silence as the train started getting faster and faster.
The British couple sitting next to the door, glanced at us in that typical “stupid American girls” kind of a look and explained, clearly amused at our predicament, that we should have pushed the flashing ‘Open’ sign next to the door. Ohhhhhhh. As if they couldn’t have told us that 5 minutes earlier (grumble…stupid public transportation…grumble). Regardless, we got off a few stops down, took the lift (elevator), hopped back on a train the opposite direction, and finally arrived at out stop about an hour and a half after we were supposed to meet our ride.
As we walked through the door, the security guards glanced out way, and with a chuckle and a cheeky Brit accent remarked, “Well, you girls must be the blonde and the brunett that lad was looking for!” Guilty as charged. Poor Pete had been looking for us that whole time, driving to different stations, and all around wondering where the hell we were. One of the security guards gave him a call and we arrived safely at his house. Lesson learned? Always be "open" to new things LOL : )
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