2005-08-13: Home again, home again

Our second day of England was one quick depature to find a place to live in Swindon. The Oxfordshire Inn has ridiculous breakfast times on weekends and our food was served as the taxi turned up. So we shoved as much food into our gob as we could, wrapped the rest and rushed into the taxi.

Swindon is about an hour by bus from Oxford. You go past a McDonalds, then a Toys 'R Us and then British farms, before coming across a massive Sainsbury and Retail megastore outlet and then driving into a town that is pretty much any English working city.

A taxi took us to the flat in a decent enough location in Swindon. The place is tiny, but then we don't have anyone to entertain or possessions so it isn't a big problem. The biggest problem was the flat we were expecting to take today isn't actually empty until September. Luckily the agent found us a room in one of her other places for ?15 a night. The place is currently occupied by three women, a Greek, French and Scottish woman. We go there after we get back from Poland.

Our Swindon activities were completed by lunch and again we were left to wander around. Except a city like Swindon has nothing to see, it is just a city for those who have money to spend (which after paying the ?575 bond we don't have). I did find the Games Workshop and a big Aussie pub and now know my way around their shopping mall (and after much disaster of me not asking for directions the way to the bus stations).

The weather changed from cool and sunny to cold and wet by lunch. The English don't seem to mind walking around in drizzling cold rain. I was in a light top and with the cold wind didn't like the idea of getting wet. Edyta liked the idea even less. That and the lack of money left us walking around the shopping mall lots of times.

Coming back re-introduced me to all the fun of public transport. The bus was 30 minutes late (motorway was choked by holiday makers). We got to spend that time listening to a drunken man tell another drunken man that he wasn't interested in the bag he was carrying, that the guy should leave Swindon because he was a trouble maker and that at any time he could blow him if he wanted (I assume blow is used more for hit rather than the usual Australian slang meaning on the world). Back in Oxford when looking for an ATM I found the other Games Workshop.

It was too late to try a bus and Edyta had open topped shoes not compatible with poison ivy so we took the taxi back to the hotel.