Travel anecdotes. Bus pass problems. And a bit of serendipity.

Yesterday we said goodbye to Figueira da Foz … at about 8.45 am. Our organiser, Miguel, had arranged a lift for us to Porto airport. Our flight did not leave until 14.25 but another chess-player had to catch a  flight at 12.30 and so we all had to leave early. So there we were in the breakfast room at 8.00, watching the breakers roll in across the bay for the last time. 

Our driver this time was not the talkative Torval, who had collected us on our arrival ten days previously. This was a much more taciturn chap but he made good time getting us all to Porto. And then we spent quite a long time sitting in the airport at Porto. 

The arrivals hall at the airport seems to be slightly different each time we visit - not that we have visited it much in the last few years. The very traditional Portuguese-style coffee bar has been replaced by something that I think is a Portuguese chain. The Costa coffee place has become a “cervejaria”, presumably catering to those who think drinking lots of beer is obligatory when you go on holiday. And a Starbucks has popped up! Quite how anyone thinks it’s a good idea to sell American-style coffee to the Portuguese escapes me. But, of course, many of those buying bucket-sized cups of pale coffee are not Portuguese but internationals, especially young internationals, who think that coffee is meant to be served that way, preferably with caramel or vanilla or cinnamon additives! Oh, and they also had a Christmas tree!

Once we had got through security, a much calmer procedure than we have known in some other years, we hunted out a quiet corner to read and possible snooze until it was time to “go to gate”. There was queue snaking its way around the place … waiting to be served at Burger King! Other eateries are available! Is it really worth standing in line for a burger?

Our plane landed at Manchester five minutes early: cue for a self congratulatory trumpet recital from Ryanair! The timing was wrong for any of the family to meet us and give us a lift home and so we walked about a million miles down corridors and walkways from one terminal to another to find the tram station. And for the sum of £4.60 I travelled from one end of Greater Manchester to the other. It took forever! Phil travelled free on his bus pass. My bus pass ran out two days before we set off for Portugal or I too would have had free travel. I had been assured that a replacement would arrive two weeks before it expired but this did not happen. It was waiting for me under a pile of junk mail on our return.

So this morning I set off in the rain to “activate” my new card, to make it possible for me to continue using it on local trains and trams. After all, I had paid the huge fee of £10 for that privilege back in August. However, too much time had clearly passed since the new card arrived. The card-reader machine at Oldham Mumps tram stop was not prepared to activate anything. I took my card to the “travel shop” at the bus station, which is now an “Interchange” apparently. A helpful assistant fixed my card and then informed me that I still need to “activate” it by tapping it on a card-reader at a tram stop. I could not do so immediately, she told me, as there is a time delay. However, I should do it within the next few days so that the card does not “time out” again. Oh, boy! Another bus ride to a tram stop is called for! Timing is all important!

My trip to Oldham was not wasted, I hasten to add, as I picked up some excellent fruit at the market in the town centre and bought a few essentials from Sainsbury’s. That supermarket has small, pot-grown Christmas trees for sale, at a reasonable price. I have already succumbed to the temptation to buy Christmas cards. Maybe I need to give in and buy a small tree before they sell out. 

Today’s travel by bus had al element of serendipity about it. As we went through Springhead, en route for Oldham, I saw an elderly couple get on the bus and realised that this was Jack and Josie, people I worked with some 45 years ago. I had thought about them recently, wondering, indeed, if they were still alive. 92 and 90 years old respectively now and still catching buses and reminiscing coherently about old times when we worked together and catching up on the time between then and now. Actually, we have met from time to time over the years, at the local film society and other such activities. Not only did I travel into Oldham with them but when I caught the bus for home, there they were again. Sometimes life gives you nice surprises! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!