Disembarkation and Journey Home

We were up early for breakfast just as we were coming in to Dover.  After breakfast it was back to the cabin for the last time to pick up our bags and go to the Britannia Lounge to await being called to disembark.  We already had our disembarkation number, which was 18, and which had been given to us the previous night so that we could mark our luggage accordingly.

It wasn't long before the numbers started being called but we were somewhat surprised when after the number six I think it was, they called 18!!  So, off we went and into the holding area for the luggage where we identified our cases.  After that, it was off to follow the rep where the cases were packed into a taxi and we were packed into a separate taxi and whisked off to Dover train Station where there was another Saga rep waiting and who helped take our cases to the relevant platform.  I must say that Saga had all of this very well organised.  We got ourselves onto the train for St. Pancras in London and managed to get seats fairly nearto the luggage racks and we were finally off on our journey home.  It was easy to get from St. Pancras to Kings Cross in London where we found the first class lounge - however, because of whatever kind of ticket we had, we had to pay another £5 each to be allowed to use the lounge and partake of the food and drink on offer.  Being Scottish, we paid with a Scottish £10 note whether they liked it or not, and made sure that we had value for money as far as the food and drink on offer was concerned!!  We certainly didn't have to pay any extra when we used the first class lounge in Edinburgh, so goodness knows why we had extra to pay in London.

As we approached the train that would take us to Edinburgh, we were able to put our luggage into the baggage car, so that was a great help, then we found our seats which had been pre-booked by Saga.  The train was going to be busy it seemed by the number of tickets that were protruding from most of the seats in our carriage.

During the journey we were offered sandwiches and drinks - not just soft drinks either, alcoholic ones were on offer too, and the service was superb.  The weather was also superb most of the way towards the Scottish Border but, just before arriving in Berwick on Tweed, it took a turn for the worse, and we already knew that it was pouring with rain at home!!

As you can see in the above picture, the skies were getting very dark indeed!!  This was taken just prior to Berwick on Tweed, a place which is very special to me, and I was looking forward to crossing the Border Bridge once more on the way home, hoping to capture some photos as I crossed, as I was on the right side of the train for one of the best views in the world!!

We were soon approaching Berwick, so the camera was at the ready even though the skies were grey and the rain was beginning to start.  I did manage to take a few photos, but they're not as good as I had hoped for because we had left the sun behind!!

Heading towards the Border Bridge

Looking towards the town and the road bridges

New bridge and old bridge

New bridge, old bridge and boathouse

From here it wasn't far to Edinburgh, the silly thing being that we had to pass our own village in the train en route there, then catch a train in Edinburgh to come back on the same line!!  On getting to Waverley Station, we could see our train waiting at the platform so it was a mad dash to get the cases from the baggage car then make our way to the platform for our train and, just as we got there, the ticket collectors motioned to a huge group of students to come forward to board the train, so we had to fight our way through hoards of people while carrying our luggage as well!!  However, we made it by the skin of our teeth and we were soon back home after a memorable trip to Norway.

We were also back to the rain!!