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We all decided it was safest to get to the airport the afternoon before Tony 's 1:30pm flight, just in case there was some difficulty getting the bikes to the station. We started the day on the Craigs and headed our way to the bike shop that had disassembled and boxed our bikes and the majority of Tony's belongings. I was craving breakfast, so after attending morning mass at St. Patricks Church we marched our way to a good looking pub and all enjoyed an enormous English Breakfast. Nate was entranced by the Liverpool /Manchester football game and requested to hang out until the game's end. Tony left in search of his sunglasses and we planned to meet in front of the Library around 3.
The game ended, I barely paid attention, so I don't remember who won or what the score was. We met Tony
and the three of us meandered to the bike shop where we picked up our bikes. To say the least, they had lost their convenience in the packing. We carried the two bikes between the three of us. The box that held my bike was heavier due to the enormous amount of random things we managed to pack into the box, so there was one person walking in front carring my bike's box behind and to their side, the second person carried the back end of my bike box with one hand and then front of Tony's bike's box with the other, stumbling and such but making headway. The third person was at the rear of the caravan carrying Tony's bike box and trying to assist the middle man by not letting the box nip his or her heels on the way. We made it a good 7 blocks before the box handles began to tear. We tried repairing with the remnants of my electrical tape with no avail. Thank God for my Dad's insistance on packing for all kinds of emergencies. I whipped out two 25 foot lengths of rope and did my best to wound one around each box in order to create handholds for our journey's continuation. We didn't get far before realizing that I didn't tie the ropes tight enough. As we began to resistuate a Frech exchange student studying business at the Edinburgh University offered to help us. With four we made wind and arrived at our destination in a fraction of the time we had allowed. I did some talking and got the three of us, along with our two enormous boxes onto a shuttle to the airport. We all shook our heads as the shuttle retraced our path and came to a stop only 10 blocks from our bike-box-adventure's destination. We arrived at the airport with a good 19 hours to spare. I've had some pretty long layovers, and even spent a night or two in an airport, but time began to do funny things in that concrete fortress. Luckily we scored some free sandwiches and enormous cups of coffee.
Morning came and Nate and Tony said their goodbyes, a bit of a heart break since they may not see eachother for a couple years from now. Nate's train left from Edinburgh to Manchester at noon, whereas mine didn't leave until closer to 5pm. I stayed with Tony until security prevented me from doing so. Words don't quite capture how hard it was to just let go, but that's another story altogether. I took the shuttle back to city center and visited the museums we never found time to go into and tried to widdle the remaining hours away until my train left. It was a very odd feeling, traveling alone again, despite the fact that I knew it was temporary it was an unsettling feeling that I was looking forward to ridding myself of. It was my first time on a train and it was absolutly amazing. As I looked out the window I wished for my bike, peddling up and down the rolling hills rather than racing past them. I nearly missed my connecting train to Manchester but thanks to a kind attendant got on just in time. I arrived just as Nate approached the gate to greet me. He walked me through part of the city and it was interesting to note that Manchester had been his home for a good month and a half. He knew it well, my navagational skills were no longer needed. We arrived at the squat and I was introduced to the residents and another way of life.
previous travel blog entry
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