a day trip to warrington on a virgin train

yesterday, for the first time since i moved here, i got out of london and experienced a little bit of the rest of england. i had a business meeting in warrington which is in the north west of england, between liverpool and manchester.

my colleague and i took a virgin train from london euston that was headed to lancaster. the train was delayed by fifteen minutes but the tea and freshly baked croissant we were served at their lounge at euston (i love how virgin has a lounge even at a railway station!) made up for the delay. the actual experience on the train was just fantastic. we effortlessly glided through the picturesque english countryside. though the train was moving at a very high speed, you didn't really feel it inside the train except a little bit of tilting every once in while. i was supposed to get work done but i was quite mesmerised by the green fields and little villages that we passed, it was hard to concentrate. i was most excited to pass a town called rugby where the game originated.

warrington itself is not a terribly special town. the cab driver gave us some random facts about the city which he was very proud of - population of half a million, exactly halfway between london and edinburgh, a pub/post office/bank/convenient store at every corner just like the old times, three asdas, three marks and spencers, and the first ikea in england!

my biggest take away from my train journey yesterday is that there is so much of england waiting to be explored and virgin trains have a fantastic network covering many of the places i'd like to visit including brighton, birmingham, glasgow and edinburgh. now if the weather would only warm up soon...