Wales, Day 1
Mar. 1st, 2007 02:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amelia_petkovaI must be on a roll lately--doing a drabble, thinking about more weekend traveling, and now finally posting my main adventures from two weekends ago! Here are the highlights.
Friday, February 15
As I was going to Wales by myself, the taxi ride to the airport was dreadfully expensive. I should have taken it as a sign of things to come. (In hindsight, I could have arranged the transportation to Cardiff and back with less transfers and at a lower price.)
Currently, I dislike small children. Sitting behind me on the airplane flight to London was a family with two boys. The older one behaved himself, but the younger (around two years old) just could not sit still. He wasn´t kicking my seat, but he was constantly wiggling about, and it was a solid two hours of the mother saying, "James, sit still; James, keep your seatbelt on; Stop tearing your coloring book--you´re only ruining it for yourself; etc." It´s a good thing the brat wasn´t on my return flight, as I would have been tempted to tell him stories of the Erlking/Goblin King/Lucy from Dracula to make him behave.
Amelia looked at her watch; still another hour before the airplane would land in London. Directly behind her, she heard James´mother once again try to make her son/spawn behave. Looking up from her train tickets, she saw the woman sitting next to her twitch.
"I give up," she muttered. Ignoring the curious expression on her seatmate´s face, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around on her seat, kneeling so that she could see James. "Little boy, do you know what happens to children who don´t behave?"
James stared at her and continued squirming. The mother looked relieved that someone else was going to do her job for a little while. "Uh-uh."
"The Goblin King comes and takes them away. He lives underground, and can be summoned to steal little boys who irritate the people around them. At any moment, somebody could say the right words, and you would be taken away forever, and turned into a goblin. You´d be an ugly creature; stupid as well. And you would never see your mommy again." Amelia tried not to grin as James looked increasingly nervous. "All I would have to say is, 'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.'" She snapped her fingers and the cabin lights went out.
The airplane shuddered and the seatbelt sign turned on in the dark room. The pilot´s voice came over the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are encountering some unexpected turbulence, but should be out of it in a few minutes. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts." Then in Spanish: "Señoras y señores, estamos..."
There was a crack in the air and Jareth, the Goblin King appeared in the aisle next to Amelia´s seat. Both the jaws of her and James´mother dropped. Amelia mentally reviewed the last few moments in her head. "Oh shit, I did say the words," she murmured.
"Where on earth did my son go?" his mother demanded.
"Um, it´s more like 'Where in the Underground,'" Amelia corrected.
"I beg your pardon?!"
The King of the Goblins leaned down over the petite Amelia, who was now slouched down in her chair. "You seem to know very well where he is. Do you truly want the troublesome child returned?"
Amelia had opened her mouth, when a person several rows behind them asked shakily, "Are you some sort of terrorist?"
Amelia facefaulted.
The less said about all the train changes I had to do, the better. A word to the unwary: train tickets are expensive, and dollars are not worth much when exchanged into pounds. Still, at least I can brag about having navigated the Tube.
Somebody must have been taking pity on me, as it was after dark when I arrived in Cardiff, but I found my hostel easily. Literally all I had to do was walk along the River Taf, and there it was.
I signed up for a four-person room to save money. The first night, my roommates were two women around my age from Germany, here to visit the one person´s brother. In the hostel´s bar/restaurant I made friends with a couple named Sarah and Adam, here for a few days from around the middle of England. The beds were terrible, but that seemed to be a feature of our room, and not the entire hostel.
Friday, February 15
As I was going to Wales by myself, the taxi ride to the airport was dreadfully expensive. I should have taken it as a sign of things to come. (In hindsight, I could have arranged the transportation to Cardiff and back with less transfers and at a lower price.)
Currently, I dislike small children. Sitting behind me on the airplane flight to London was a family with two boys. The older one behaved himself, but the younger (around two years old) just could not sit still. He wasn´t kicking my seat, but he was constantly wiggling about, and it was a solid two hours of the mother saying, "James, sit still; James, keep your seatbelt on; Stop tearing your coloring book--you´re only ruining it for yourself; etc." It´s a good thing the brat wasn´t on my return flight, as I would have been tempted to tell him stories of the Erlking/Goblin King/Lucy from Dracula to make him behave.
Amelia looked at her watch; still another hour before the airplane would land in London. Directly behind her, she heard James´mother once again try to make her son/spawn behave. Looking up from her train tickets, she saw the woman sitting next to her twitch.
"I give up," she muttered. Ignoring the curious expression on her seatmate´s face, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned around on her seat, kneeling so that she could see James. "Little boy, do you know what happens to children who don´t behave?"
James stared at her and continued squirming. The mother looked relieved that someone else was going to do her job for a little while. "Uh-uh."
"The Goblin King comes and takes them away. He lives underground, and can be summoned to steal little boys who irritate the people around them. At any moment, somebody could say the right words, and you would be taken away forever, and turned into a goblin. You´d be an ugly creature; stupid as well. And you would never see your mommy again." Amelia tried not to grin as James looked increasingly nervous. "All I would have to say is, 'I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now.'" She snapped her fingers and the cabin lights went out.
The airplane shuddered and the seatbelt sign turned on in the dark room. The pilot´s voice came over the intercom. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are encountering some unexpected turbulence, but should be out of it in a few minutes. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts." Then in Spanish: "Señoras y señores, estamos..."
There was a crack in the air and Jareth, the Goblin King appeared in the aisle next to Amelia´s seat. Both the jaws of her and James´mother dropped. Amelia mentally reviewed the last few moments in her head. "Oh shit, I did say the words," she murmured.
"Where on earth did my son go?" his mother demanded.
"Um, it´s more like 'Where in the Underground,'" Amelia corrected.
"I beg your pardon?!"
The King of the Goblins leaned down over the petite Amelia, who was now slouched down in her chair. "You seem to know very well where he is. Do you truly want the troublesome child returned?"
Amelia had opened her mouth, when a person several rows behind them asked shakily, "Are you some sort of terrorist?"
Amelia facefaulted.
The less said about all the train changes I had to do, the better. A word to the unwary: train tickets are expensive, and dollars are not worth much when exchanged into pounds. Still, at least I can brag about having navigated the Tube.
Somebody must have been taking pity on me, as it was after dark when I arrived in Cardiff, but I found my hostel easily. Literally all I had to do was walk along the River Taf, and there it was.
I signed up for a four-person room to save money. The first night, my roommates were two women around my age from Germany, here to visit the one person´s brother. In the hostel´s bar/restaurant I made friends with a couple named Sarah and Adam, here for a few days from around the middle of England. The beds were terrible, but that seemed to be a feature of our room, and not the entire hostel.
