Blackpool

28th and 29th July 2009

So after finishing the last blog on the first leg of our train journey, things got much much worse. We followed the grumpy ladies instructions to avoid all the problems caused because of the cable stealing. We arrived at Warrington and the train we were meant to catch had been cancelled, so we were left sitting in the rain and the cold to wait for another one in 40 minutes time. In the meantime, 2 other trains arrived and would go now further, so all those passengers got off and were waiting for the same train as us. When that train finally arrived thousands of people piled onto this one train. It looked like something out of India (there was even a dog!) Luckily we were told to only go one stop, then change again. After the train being held in the middle of nowhere for about 30 minutes we got to Wigan. We jumped off the train to go find our connection, but the voice on the PA told us to get back on the crowded train we'd just got off and go another stop. Great. So we squished our way back onto the train for another 15 minutes. Although this was made much more enjoyable by a dumb teenage girl and her young brother and mum playing eye spy. Boys pick "C S" - turned out to be Crammed Space, and the older sister cracked the s***s cause he chose something dumb. It became mums turn and she said "R L". The teenage girl figured it was a light and the mother replied "Well what shape is it" to which she replied "Circle", mum just looks at her blankly saying "It begins with R", girl: "Rircular". Mum let her go for a few minutes before telling her it was "Round". What a dumb arse. We then arrived at Preston - I think - where the next train to Blackpool was going to be in 40 miuntes. More waiting in the rain. Eventually the train arrived and after another 30 minutes we arrived in rainy Blackpool. So for a journey that originally was supposed to have no changes and last for 1hr20ish, we ended up doing 3 changes and it taking just under 4 hours.

From the train station we walked, in the rain, down to our B & B. It was just a little guest house, run by a lovely couple Colin & Sue. There was only us and a family from London staying there. Finally our first place with an ensuite. It was really quite nice. We dumped our bags and headed for the promonade. I should probably mention, the main reason why we came to Blackpool, was on the word I got from a group of strangers I met whilst in Cardiff. I was a little tipsy, as were they, and they sold their hometown to us as a beautiful seaside resort. The harsh reality was that it was quite possibly the tackiest place in the world. Even more so than Southend. This could be the place where people go on holidays is Southend is full. There was countless 'amusement centres' and so many street side stalls selling 'quality' watches and handbags for £2 each. We headed out onto the central pier where there is all sorts of rides and tin can alley stuff. The wind didn't quite manage to blow us off into the water, but it came close. We got off the pier and decided to head to Pleasure Beach; a big theme park which lies at the end of the Promenade.

After about 10 minutes of walking, we were soaking wet, being blown over by the wind, and cold. It was so cold. Not just summer cold, Australian winter cold. It would have been lucky to be 12 degrees. We pulled into the nearest pub and again I ordered myself a coffee, Dan stuck with beer. We decided to continue on with our trek up to Pleasure Beach, rather than turning around and heading back. Another 20 minutes or so and we arrived at Pleasure Beach. We had a look through the fence at all the fast rollercoaster and fun rides. We decided to check what the weather was going to be like tomorrow before committing £30 each on entry tickets. Although if the weather stayed the same the queues would be short for sure. We crossed the road and looked at the Sandcastle water park; an indoor waterslide pool centre. It was massive, but we couldn't really get in. So we walked next door to one of the many casino's as Dan needed to use the toilet. Before we could actually go into the casino we had to sign up as members. Showing ID and having photos taken and all that. 10 minutes later and Dan was able to use the toilet. I think we spent less time actually in the casino, than what we did signing up for the membership. We couldn't be stuffed walking in the torrential rain and wind all the way back to the central pier, so we jumped on the first bus we saw. Blackpool also has some weird tram things, which run the length of the Promenade. They're double Decker trams, which are meant to look like buses. But they got a good laugh out of me when we first saw one.

After getting off the bus, we needed to find somewhere for dinner. We walked for ages (still in the rain) to find something that was affordable and not a fish shop. We eventually found a nice pub, which was warm and cosy, and we tried to dry out a little before our walk home.

We managed to find our way back to the B&B, and I couldn't wait to get the wet clothes off and hop straight into a warm shower. We enjoyed the comforts of having a TV in our room and laid in bed for a while before eventually going for a good nights sleep with some excellent pillows.

The next morning we woke to more grey clouds and rain, so we decided to give Pleasure Beach a miss. Instead we purchased some tickets online for the Blackpool Tower, which included a circus also. We sussed out the prices yesterday, and we ended up saving £4 each, score.

After our massive home-cooked breakfast, we headed down to the Tower, and were immediately greeted my massive queues of people. In every direction, people we're lining up. I grabbed the attention of some guy that was running the queue and he told us where we needed to go to pick up our tickets. Tickets picked up and we were escorted through the front of the queue and straight in. No queuing and cheaper tickets, I don't know why everyone else didn't book on the internet - dumbarses. The Blackpool tower is quite possibly the strangest collection of things in the one place. On the first floor we walked through a small aquarium, with some eels and fish in it. Then we went up to the next floor where there was a really crap 3D dinosaur movie followed by a dinosaur 'walk'; mechanical, blow up dinosaurs moving around. Then we moved into the Grand Ballroom, which was considering the rest of the place, really quite grand. There was thousands of oldies sitting on tables around the outside of the dancefloor, and 1 or 2 old couples up having a fling around the floor. There was this one old duck, in her glittery gold singlet, dancing to every song, but swapping partners between each song - Floozy. We then headed up to the lift to take us up to the top of the tower. 69 seconds and we were three floors from the top of the observation deck, some 158m in the air. We took the 'walk of faith', which is just a section of the flooring taken out and replaced by some really thick glass. I can't believe I was brave enough to walk on it. We hiked up to the very top, and I don't believe that I wasn't anywhere near as scared as I was on the Eiffel tower. Maybe it was because the Blackpool tower is only half as high (This was point was hidden by a very deceiving poster on the way up - photos to come). With not much to see due to another very overcast and cloudy day, we headed back down to get ready for the circus.

We had about 15 minutes to kill before the show started, so we found a nearby Poundland for some drinks. 4 cans of drink and a bag of lollies for £2, much better than the £3 for 1 drink they were charging in the tower. Back inside the circus we found our seats; the last row on the bottom level on the end of one of the circular rows. When the seat folded down there was exactly 5 inches between the end of my seat and one in front of me. Now, I'm not a tall person, and I couldn't find my legs into the space comfortably, so I don't even need to mention the troubles Dan went through. Luckily after the show started the two old ladies next to us got up and moved to some disabled seats so we were able to move down to take their much more spacious seats. The circus itself, was pretty good. An incredibly lame clown, but the groups of Chinese boys who did all sorts of acrobatics, climbing on each other, and up ropes was fantastic. The finale involved lowering the stage to fill the whole arena up with water and some chick played in a net above it all. A very impressive set up, for a really weak act.

After finally leaving the circus, the rain had eventually stopped, but the temperature had not increased, so we decided to take up the 2 for 1 movie ticket offer. We strolled for the 30 minutes up to the cinema and saw our only options were Harry Potter or The Proposal. I would've quite liked the chick flick, but I couldn't see Dan sitting happily through it, so I agreed to go see the little wizard homo (although he is getting much cuter with a bit of age). I think I slept partly through the 3 hour 'children's' movie, it wasn't too bad. After dinner we went to a 2 for 1 pub (we do really like the bargains) and both knocked back 10oz rib eye steaks. I had been hanging out for a really good steak for weeks, and I was so glad we found this place, because for both of us to have massive steaks, it wasn't overly expensive. After dinner we headed back to the B&B for a bit of television and then sleep.

We got up this morning to another lovely breakfast - we had to say no to the black pudding - and then packed our bags and headed for the train station. We are currently on a really nice train heading to York. No changes (hopefully!) and a journey time of just under 3 hours. Here's hoping the grey clouds and rain disappear before we arrive!