Flaming Nora

To Dundee by train for a day out with a difference.  The difference was, most of it was spent on the train.  Much as I love train travel, five and a half hours to get somewhere only to spend two hours there before a four hour journey back wasn't an equation I was happy with. But listen to me! Moaning on!  The journey might have been too long for a day trip, but we travelled in 1970s-style British Rail carriages so it wasn't cramped. And it did pass some beautiful scenery, taking in a ride across the rail bridge of the Firth of Forth and the Tay Bridge too. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And then to Dundee - the city of jute, jam and journalism .  Sadly the first 20 minutes were spent gaining my land-legs as I was feeling somewhat discombobulated after such a long journey on the train. We knew we only had two hours to explore Dundee before the train left for the return journey.  So it was straight to see the DC Thomson's comic character statue...

Being a fan of funiculars, I went quite giddy with excitement when I found out that there was a song about funiculars . Mind you, I've only ever been in the ones at Scarborough but there's something special about a tram that goes up and down a hillside.  When I win the lottery I'm going to travel the world and ride all the funiculars I can find, both up and down, and tick them all off in a little book.

I'm more excited than a grown-up should be about going on holiday soon. We're travelling between European countries on an overnight train and do you know what? I can't wait. I've got a vision in my head that it'll be all very Brief Encounter, black and white and romantic. I'll let you know when we come back if it turns out to be a) just like the deluded vision in my head or b) nothing like that at all. I like trains, me and the funniest book on the subject I've ever read is Ian Marchant's Parallel Lines (aka Every Girls' Big Book of Trains).