The long commute

The major downside to living in Brighton is days like today, in order to get to Manchester for 9.30am I have to set my alarm for 4.30am and catch the 5.23am, then lots of waiting around because the trains are less frequent.

To get through the Brighton - Victoria leg, I upgrade to a large skinny latte, for the Euston - Manchester leg, another skinny latte, on arrival at Piccadilly - another skinny latte, then finally for the journey home a skinny latte.

Far too much caffeine.

Far too much milk.

Zagreb, fish and Nirvana

With a couple of hours to kill until our room was ready we headed out into Zagreb to explore, armed with the Lonely Planet and a keen sense of direction.

After a restorative CocaCola Zero and coffee overlooking the Market we sought out Amfora - a recommended restaurant - pushing our way through the chain smoking market traders drinking beer at the entrance we entered the bar that smelled like a fish mongers and were ushered upstairs. We looked around for menus but instead were presented with a platter of raw fish - all still with faces!

Through the medium of mime and pigeon English we managed to order fish soup and giant whitebait (for Hywel) and fish risotto (for Sarah and I). I commented on how unexpected it was that this hole in the wall was playing such great music - Nirvana followed by Garbage, then Dusty Springfield launched into Son of a Preacher Man, at this point I realised the iPhone in my pocket was in iPod mode and playing a Genius playlist...

The food arrived - the risotto was a bit tasteless, but this was more than compensated for by the half a kilo of salt that had been added to the giant bowl of tomatoes that accompanied it. The whitebait was more successful.

Dinner at Agava was altogether more successful - Dalmatian ham, Pag cheese, truffle sauce and Dalmatian stuffed beef!

The following day we hit Zagreb hard - culture in the morning at the modern art museum, a picnic in the botanical gardens (procured from Croatia's grumpiest market traders), afternoon nap in the park and a trip to the cinema in the evening before heading to the station for our night of luxury aboard the night sleeper to Split....

Split

Not only were our rooms a matter of metres away but they were also ready early - after a night of no sleep on the train journey from hell we almost wept with joy.

Thirty minutes later we were on the beach blending in with the locals.

The Diocletian's Palace is amazing, so much history - if we hadn't been so exhausted from the train journey we would have done the tour, visited the museums, soaked up the culture - instead we had afternoon naps, had an average meal and went to bed early.

The next day, feeling altogether brighter, but with SAGA withdrawal we jumped on a bus with some oldies to visit the beautiful city of Trogir. Again a lot of history within those walls. We ate ice cream and dozed / read books under some trees.

Feeling fully refreshed and back in Split we headed out for pizza and then sat in the square watching the young and beautiful (and not so young or beautiful) salsa'ing whilst we drank Campari and critiqued their efforts Strictly style.

Express train to Zagreb - and a whole new country

Arriving early at Ljubljana station meant plenty of time to stock up on snacks. A slice of ajobolci zavitek (apple strudel), a large chocolate truffle that I hadn't meant to point at but it seemed rude to ask her to put back, a large fig slice and an enormous kremna rezina - a sort of vanilla slice with whipped cream about 4 inches square by 3 inches high - plus the obligatory bottles of water.

Boarding the Austrian train we found a small lady (Austrian? Slovenian? Croatian?) who spoke no English occupying all three of our reserved seats with her extensive selection of luggage. After many hilarious hand gestures we persuaded her to relocate to another section. 

At the Slovenian / Croatian border we were excited to be offered two passport stamps - one from a jolly Slovenian border guard and the other from a less jolly Croatian lady. A shifty looking man in a hoodie was less lucky and was escorted from the train after extensive radio action by the guard.

The remainder of the journey was to the soundtrack of Katy Perry - played at a level just above annoying by the girls (and their mum) in the next section.

Night sleeper from Zagreb to Split

So my Cary Grant and Eve Marie Sant fantasy about overnight sleeper trains lies in tatters. I had imagined crisp white cotton sheets, turned down by a courteous attendant and sparkling conversation with exotic strangers in the cocktail lounge car.

10.55 pm Zagreb station - no sleeper car, no reservations, no crisp white cotton sheets; just two slightly surprised Canadian tourists and a uncommunicative Croatian man and a long night ahead in very upright seats in an overheated compartment.

03.00 - a railway yard somewhere in a Croatia, rudely awoken by the light being flicked on and the guard shouting 'bags bags get on bus' - that is I would have been rudely awoken if I had managed to actually sleep for more than 5 mins. Emerge from train to find fellow travellers clambering down from platform onto live tracks to reach the three buses. With suitcases, elderly people and a feeling of panic it resembles the early scenes from Tenko when the British colonists evacuate Singapore. Separated from luggage we manage to force our way onto a bus and set off on the next stage of this journey.

05.00 - somewhere in the Croatian countryside, police road block. The male occupants of two if the coaches (the third with Hywel's luggage is AWOL) line up to p*** in the bushes under the watchful eyes and guns of the cops before we embark on an off road safari along dirt tracks.

05.30 another train, another scramble across railway tracks with luggage - compartment lights go off and doors close as we approach - 'you can't come in here - it is reserved', we settle for the floor of the luggage van with the old and sick.

07.30 - arrive in Split to discover just how poor Lonely Planet maps are when trying to locate your hotel, we also note the lack of functionality of Google maps without a data roaming connection before finally admitting defeat and calling the hotel - the owner helpfully waves to us from the window immediately facing the cafe we are calling from. At this point we remember the Lonely Planet explaining that many streets have two names - helpfully the one on the reservation is not the one on the actual street sign....

SAGA Saga

'Are we the youngest people on this flight?' I thought as we waited to board the tiny Adrea plane to Ljubljana - a plane so small it was dwarfed by the superfluous air bridge; so small that you had to lean your head to one side to stand up in the toilet; so small that I banged my head on the overhead bin; so small.. you get the picture.

Securing a taxi at the equally pocket sized airport on arrival was easy and we were soon cruising by Lidl, Aldi, Coca Cola ads, McDonalds and other exotic local brands - travel certainly broadens the mind.

Ljubljana's riverside bars thronged with oldies as we pushed away through to Macek Rooms - our base for the next few days. The apartment (on the third floor - no lift) was massive and very convenient for Ljubljana's most lively bar downstairs. This was particularly evident at midnight....

The next day arising bright and very early to the sound of workmen in the adjacent hotel angle-grinding we decided to take a bus to Lake Bled to the sound track of Slovenia's answer to Smooth FM (all 80s, all of the time). More oldies everywhere we looked, we headed off around the lake for a brisk 6km walk. 2km in we stopped for a CocaCola Zero and a plate of chips (for Sarah) before climbing into a rowing boat for a short trip that will be carved on my memory forever. Sat at the prow I was literally inches above the water's surface - closer still when the boat tipped alarmingly.

Back on dry land we continued our circular tour with no further incidents.

Back in Ljubljana and venturing out in the evening prompted two new drink discoveries - Aperol, a sort of low alcohol Campari served as a spritzer, and Union Radler, a grapefruit* and lager shandy mix - also low alcohol (*other fruit flavours available). A clear head needed for the early morning train to Zagreb.

On the home straight - Miami to Orlando to Gatwick

Paranoid about missing the train I woke super early on Saturday, too early for breakfast or coffee at the hotel, and headed to the Amtrak station by taxi.

Slightly intimidating station in the middle of an industrial park with no breakfast or coffee facilities. Now in desperate need of caffeine!

Train left on time at 08.20 - same funny system of allocating seats at the door, but this time I bagged a window. The cafe didn't open till 09.30 - so really desperate by then! My healthy eating plans were cast aside as I devoured a sausage, egg and cheese muffin, a coffee and an apple juice.

My seat buddy was not so chatty so I powered through a book on the kindle. Arrival into Orlando was a bit late and it took ages to unload the luggage so I headed straight to the airport to check in with six hours of lay-over stretching ahead of me.

Orlando airport has more shops than most American airports, but that isn't saying much - T5 it ain't! It does have two Disney shops, two NASA shops, two Universal Studios shops, one Sea World shop and a couple of unidentifiable themed shops, a Brookstone, several newsagents and a food court - oh and a Starbucks. So that was the first half hour filled...

Amazingly the flight left on time and after watching the first film (Crazy, Stupid Love with Steve Carroll, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling) I felt my eyes closing. This never happens on flights, I must have driven myself to tiredness through sheer boredom. The next thing I recall is being woken for the breakfast service one hour before landing an hour early. Fast through Border Control and home by 09.00 - end of a great holiday!

South Beach 2 - the Dorchester

A disappointing last breakfast at the News Cafe before checking out of the Pelican. I should have read the menu more carefully - replacing the hollandaise with cream cheese on eggs florentine was not one of the chef's better ideas...

The art deco walking tour was also not the best, I think our guide 'Kent' needs to lose the script and freshen up the jokes.

A short taxi ride later and we are in the Dorchester on Collins north of Lincoln Road, a bigger hotel with a pool and beach access via its sister hotel the Marseilles. We resist the $1 specials at the bar and head up Lincoln Road for stroll before our planned trip to Little Havana.

The bus interchange downtown is confusing so we opt for a cab. Not a whole lot to see in Little Havana - some old Cuban guys playing dominoes, art galleries and Cuban diners and bars - a quick tortilla Espanol and then we jump on a bus downtown, just as a text arrives from my mother warning against the murder dangers if downtown Miami! We change buses, avoiding various fellow travellers with mental health problems and return to the safety of South Beach.

For the evening's activities a bar crawl of the high end hotels is planned, starting with the Ritz Carlton de Lido bar (closed), the Sagamore (deserted), the Delano Rose Bar (livelier), the Delano Florida Room - designed by Lennie Kravitz - (closed for refurbishment), the National (empty), the Raleigh (empty). Not exactly wall to wall Beyonce and JLo! We draw the line at the Catalina - (KFed sightings) and head up Lincoln Road, dropping into Five Napkin Burger, home of the legendary 10oz burger - opting for the fish tacos before heading home to bed.

Thursday up bright and not so early for a morning by the pool. The heat got the better of me after a couple hours and I headed for shops.

The evening's highlight was dinner at Sushi Samba - the Japanese Peruvian Brazilian fusion restaurant featured in Sex & The City. Amazing food and great cocktails, we then headed down to The Palace on Ocean Drive for a sidewalk drag act - lots of big hair and lip syncing whilst a family tucked into cheeseburger and fries seemingly oblivious!

Friday was cloudy and pretty uneventful, early night required prior to the super early start on Saturday to catch the 08.00 train to Orlando.

South Beach 1 - the Pelican

Miami at dusk looked spectacular from the tiny American Eagle plane as it came into land - the western horizon blood red with the sunset and the moon enormous and deep crimson to the east.

The arrivals hall cafe used Spanish as its first language and offered the choice of Cuban or American coffee - Cuban being the default option.

More choices - $2 bus ride or $32 taxi...? The taxi won of course!

Room 250 'With Drill' at the Pelican - heavy industrial chic - almost like they knew me? A simple roast beef salad at the Sandwicherie and an early night.

Tuesday started with breakfast at the News Cafe, followed by coffee at the Pelican then a few hours on the beach. Free giant towels from the hotel, free loungers on the beach and the perfect temperature in the high 20s - time to hit the kindle hard. The sea was not so pleasant - I usually associate the water off Florida with the temperature of a warm bath, evidently this isn't the case in January - it was freezing.

Lunch at the Pelican was amazing - red snapper ceviche and the best focaccia ever, served in a paper bag.

A bit of shopping in the afternoon followed by cocktails and dinner at Joe's Crab Shack - which required a 1.5hour wait before our names were called to join the second queue - this time to enter the gargantuan dining room. The baked Atlantic cod was amazing, but in hindsight the deep fried side orders were unnecessary so we mostly resisted them! I could say that we then hit the bars, but in reality bed was calling!

Charleston to Raleigh and back again

One hour late, and after eight hours on the train, I arrive at Charleston's not so buzzing Amtrak station, my friends are waiting for me in the freezing cold - this makes me feel even more guilty about being late, especially as I need to be taken to the airport to pick up my rental car.

At the Budget desk the assistant is desperate for me to have an upgrade - I resist knowing that gas is not as cheap as it used to be and I have a long trip to Raleigh NC ahead of me.

The next few days are full of catch ups with friends - including the aforementioned nine hour round trip to Raleigh NC - mixed up with hanging out around Charleston. A trip to Folly Beach was just as deserted as it always was and the city was pretty much unchanged - happy memories.

I made time for a few purchases, including a bargain $85 Kindle at Walmart. I eagerly headed to Starbucks to use the free wifi and set it up with my Amazon UK account - just to check it wasn't restricted because of the price. No problem at all and in less than 10 minutes I had downloaded about 20 books.

Obviously I purchased a drink before hooking up to the wifi. In the queue in front of me was a woman who ordered a Venti latte with two shots of vanilla, two shots of caramel and two shots of hazelnut, the incredulous sales assistant queried "that is just a regular latte, right?", the barista then queried it too. I think the subtext was "would you like some coffee with your bucket of milk, sugar and artificial flavourings?"

That said flavoured syrups seem to de rigour in Charleston - every coffee I ordered came with the question "would you like syrup with that?" kind of like an updated and more middle class version of "would you like fries with that?" I guess. Though the best had to be at Charleston Airport where, when purchasing coffee, I was asked "would you like some pizza with that?"

A fun week overall, only marred by the development of the head cold from hell, which is still with me now.

Silver Meteor from Orlando FL to Charleston SC

1.35pm - train departs on time

The seat assigned to me at the door does not have a window or plug socket and my seat buddy has already closed the curtains and hunkered down to sleep - so no sparkling conversation or view of the Florida countryside for me!

The pleasant warmth is actually sickly heat so I head off for the lounge car. I've seen Sex & The City, so I am not expecting North by Northwest. It's basic but clean and I have a great view of the waterways leading to Florida's east coast; I also get to listen in on the conductors' gossiping as this seems to be their favoured hangout.

For the final three hours (make that four) I head back to my seat, the train empties at Savannah GA and I get a double seat to myself. We then grind to a halt a few miles outside Charleston and sit there for the best part of an hour, finally pulling into Charleston at 10.35pm, one hour and ten minutes late - nine hours after leaving Orlando.

Orlando

With howling winds giving a foretaste of the plummeting temperatures to be experienced the following day I arrived in downtown Orlando. The hotel had a simple self check-in system for out of hours - basically a key in a box with a pin number - despite the clear instructions, I was flummoxed until rescued by some other guests.

It was 9pm or 2am UK time, so just time to check out the neighbourhood bars before bed. Dexter's seemed a safe bet - the combination of a crispy Rolling Rock and a Colby burger sealing the deal for me. Not sure what the burger had to do with the Colby's- and weren't they Californian anyway?

Back at the hotel I surfed the tv channels and was horrified to see that not only had the UK fallen for the dubious charms of Jerry Springer and repackaged it in the nastier form of Jeremy Kyle - but we had then sold it back to our poor unsuspecting American cousins. The shame.

Then the lights went out.

Literally - power cut that wiped out the neighbourhood. Not the end of world in the middle of the night but a little disconcerting when no emergency lights come on and no friendly hotel staff come round to tell you it's ok. Does the fire alarm work without power for instance? The next five hours were spent in fitful sleep listening to people open and close doors and frantically try light switches, until it finally came back on at 5am.

A few more hours dozing - trying to pretend I wasn't jet-lagged and actually wide awake - I finally gave in and headed out for breakfast at 7.30am.

My god was it cold outside - last nights crisp autumnal evening replaced by a bitterly cold but beautifully sunny winter morning. The plan - have breakfast at Panera - the recommended bakery next door then head out on a self guided walking your of historic downtown.

Panera - amazing selection of baked goods, each with its own frightening calorie count proudly displayed. I settled for a skinny latte and a plain bagel with a scraping of butter - eschewing the four pats helpfully provided by the server.

8.30 - time to hit downtown.

Walking tour was interesting - especially the part that strayed into the ghetto without notice... Generally it was a mix of churches, court houses and old bank buildings from the early 20th century much like many other mid size American cities - the lakeside setting adding extra sparkle.

Back to hotel to check-out and collect bags, receptionist had no clue that power had been down most of the night.

Taxi to Amtrak station, bag checked, during which all the attendants papers blew away in the wind, he made a half hearted attempt to gather the closer ones up - hope I see my bag again....

An hour and a half to kill so checked out The Jazzy Dog Cafe - an all American diner bizarrely decked out with lots of Union Jack flags! They apparently sell Orlando's best hot dogs, chicken sandwich for me though.

Train boarded on time - slightly stressful process whereby, you are sent to section 12 on the platform where you have to queue (though they don't tell you this), the queue is along the cold shaded side of the platform rather than the sunny warm side. Then people leisurely get off - some just to smoke- then you are sent to a different section, then finally allocated a seat by the attendant at the door. Thankfully the train is warm!