Another day, another trip by train to the airport. I went from Norwich via Cambridge due to work being completed on the Norwich to Ipswich line, with a change at King’s Cross railway station. Surprisingly, the first section of the journey wasn’t that busy, despite it being on a two carriage train that can be really quite packed.
I picked up my free Greggs sausage roll and then boarded the Thameslink train to Luton Airport Parkway.
At Big Smoke, the chicken tenders and freshly squeezed orange juice were a beautifully paired meal. Who needs anything more decadent than this? This is always a handy restaurant as it’s included with Priority Pass and they have plenty of power outlets to charge devices.
Mine was the 19:35 flight to Warsaw, all looking on time. It’s not a bad timed flight, it gets into Warsaw at around 22:30 their time, which is fine as long as I get out of there by the time the last train leaves at 23:45.
A pint of Menabrea and some olives at Nolito.
Some bloody awful non alcoholic Heineken alongside some odd chicken thing at My Lounge. Nice teas though, alongside the usual dirty cutlery. I’ve noticed they’ve had a few negative reviews about the cutlery, it feels odd that they haven’t made any effort to fix this.
Boarding was announced early and then they were swiftly dealing with passengers at the gate. As usual, it was clear where non-priority passengers such as myself needed to go, I like clarity.
Boarding and the seating Gods had given me a middle seat which is never ideal, but wasn’t too problematic on this flight. The aircraft was 9H-WDX, an aircraft that I have been on before when doing this journey the other way around.
The flight was very busy with nearly no free seats. I will write the same as ever about the flight, which is that the crew were friendly, the service was efficient and the pilots made clear and appropriate announcements.
There wasn’t much of a wait at border control at Warsaw airport, so I made good time and was able to get a train to the city centre. It was then just a ten minute walk to the Novotel hotel where I was spending the night, which is one of my favourite accommodation options in Europe.
I had only decided a couple of days before what I’d be doing this week and I ended up on a route that was perhaps not entirely well thought through, but there was adventure and so that’s sufficient to keep me functioning.
This is a rather nice 1950s bus shelter that has sat next to Sheringham Railway station from when it was actually part of the national network and not a heritage railway. It’s not staggeringly beautiful and its glass has fallen out, but the council decided that it was too near the pavement. I tend to find bus stops near the pavement are helpful, but I don’t suppose I fully understand these modern methods that the council like.
In a botched consultation operated by Norfolk County Council they consulted with the locals about how they were going to do mostly what they wanted anyway. The locals were allowed some minor ideas, but this was not a consultation that was designed to consult, it could be argued that it was solely done to tick some boxes.
Was there an easy solution? Of course, put in a new accessible bus shelter, complete the works and maintain the former bus shelter for some other purpose or use.
Paul, a brave and courageous campaigner.
The council could have responded to local opposition by coming to look at what was happening to try and resolve the issue. Well, they could have done, but they didn’t. They did this.
Here is local money being spent for the people.
Sheer incompetence from the council saw metal barriers put up around the site and putting pedestrians at risk. It was only locals warning the council of the sheer danger that led to the council providing fencing.
The town council, as the owners of the bus shelter, had a vote and told the county council to withdraw their bailiffs. This annoyed the council, so they’ve decided to dump the chaos they’ve caused on the local community and scrap the rest of the project. The cost of this work was scheduled to be £580,000, although much of this was ring-fenced from Government funding for bus improvement schemes.
Brave locals fighting for their community have ensured that the bus shelter has been saved. Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has become involved and suggested that perhaps the county council should resolve the mess that now exists. We’ll see what happens now.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with the railways, but the Railway Times of 1837 certainly found itself with quite a lot to say about the world around them.
It’s some stretch to suggest that Germans speaking German in the United States, at a period of substantial migration, was “evil”, but it clearly concerned those speaking English. It’s also an interesting sign of the times that there was an opinion that it would be English and Spanish that would be the two major global languages.
“The Germans in America.—The German newspapers inform us, that according to the most recent intelligence, “German life and civilization,” develop themselves more and more at Saint Louis in the United States, and apparently will in time predominate in this part of the Union. A German Library is established there, a German Annual published, &c. In two of the German newspapers printed in America, a proposal has recently been made to found a German University in the States, and is said to be likely to meet with support. We hope that the friends of progressive civilization in America will not allow this evil to advance too far before they oppose a check. It has always been considered a cheering point in the future prospects of the world, that, in all probability but two languages, the English and Spanish, would prevail over the vast continent of America, among a population of hundreds of millions, whose influence would be of such weight as to spread those languages pretty generally among the whole human race, every person of education knowing both, and almost every individual knowing one or the other.
The common languages of Europe would then be eclipsed by the superior importance of these two, in the same manner as Welsh or Wallachian now by French or German. All this vast improvement in the condition of mankind will be prevented or obstructed, if another language is suffered to gain ground in America. The Portuguese is there already in Brazil, but that may be considered as hardly more than a dialect of the Spanish; the French is there already in Canada, but on the decline before the advancing influence of the English. Dutch, Russian, &c., are spoken at a few points, but have never attained sufficient importance to excite any apprehension that they will offer resistance to the gradually overpowering march of Spanish and English. But if the practice gain ground for natives of the different nations of Europe to emigrate in bodies, and carry their language and habits with them, we shall have an America as much cut up into small divisions as Europe, and the difference will be a fruitful source of dissensions and wars.
While the future mischief to be apprehended is so gigantic, the present inconvenience is by no means small. Lieber, the editor of the Encyclopædia Americana, himself a German, but who, since his emigration to America, not only speaks but writes in English, complains that the little knots of Germans scattered over the States, are full of ignorance and prejudice; not knowing the language of the country, they are shut out from intercourse with their neighbours.“
As a brief interlude between my posts about Italy and other assorted European countries, back to the Railway Times of 1837.
Firstly, the word superabound is a loss from the English language, no longer in use it meant something in abundance. The newspaper was at this time annoyed at Charles Poulett Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham, the President of the Board of Trade, who also happened to become the First Governor General of Canada.
I think I’m with Thomson here, as although in 1837 the number of Acts of Parliament to build railways was low, the number soon increased to ridiculous levels. In 1846, there were 263 Acts of Parliament, so more pledges to build railways than could possibly be met.
The result was known as the Panic of 1847 and what became called railway mania, as large sums of money were lost. This is what Thomson had warned about and had prevented whilst he was President of the Board of Trade in the 1830s.
Here’s the long article from the Railway Times.
“We take the earliest opportunity, upon the re-assembling of Parliament, of adverting to the Standing Orders which were passed by the House of Commons in the recent Session, and very shortly before its close, with respect to future Railway Bills. Foremost among those enactments, and the most to be condemned, is that most unjustifiable and oppressive one, by which it is required, not only that “ten per cent. of the estimated capital shall be subscribed and paid,” before the parties promoting any Railway Bill shall be at liberty to proceed with it,—that is, long before it is required for the actual execution of the work,—but that the money so paid shall be lodged in the Bank of England, where it is well-known no interest is allowed on deposits. A greater impediment to the progress of the Railway System could not by possibility have been invented. Indeed, the author of the measure did not hesitate to avow, that it had for its express object “to check speculation” in Railways. The Premier had set the fashion to his colleagues of giving “heavy blows” and “serious discouragements”; and this was the President of the Board of Trade’s heavy blow and serious discouragement to a class of undertakings fraught with greater benefit to those interests, which it is his special duty to protect and promote, than any dozen other improvements or discoveries of modern times.
Now, without entering into the question of the merits or the demerits of many of the lines of Railways which have been projected within the last two or three years, we purpose to dwell in preference upon the right of individuals to judge for themselves as to the propriety of employing their money in any speculation which to themselves may appear good, and upon the fitness of the people of England being no longer treated as children, who have not the capacity to understand their own interests, without the interference of Mr. Poulett Thomson, whom we have never understood to be in any great degree wiser in such matters than other folks. True, it may be, that very grave errors have been committed in some of the projects which have been set on foot; but then it is to be borne in mind, that the Railway system was new in England but a few years back, and that a great deal of experience has since been acquired, which must go far to prevent the repetition of such errors—experience arising undoubtedly from some memorable failures, but from many more instances of the most triumphant success.
Why, moreover, should excess in Railway speculations alone be checked? Why not in other speculations as well? Is it simply because the House of Commons is possessed of no power over other fields of enterprise? And if so, what are we to think of the wisdom of a system of restriction which is necessarily partial in its operation, and has might alone (not right) for its basis! It is clear there is a great mass of superabundant capital in England; that the possessors of this money find it useless, unless invested in some commodity or public work or funds, which will yield an annual return. Although, therefore, Mr. Poulett Thomson be determined that the people shall not speculate in Railways, it is certain that he cannot prevent them from speculating in cotton, corn, wool, tea, silk, indigo, and a thousand other articles, all of which are forced up in consequence, and rendered dearer and less accessible to the great mass of the people. To allow Railways to be constructed, is to allow the agricultural labouring population to be employed; to allow the iron manufacture to flourish; to allow a thousand varieties of artificers to earn a good livelihood, in woodwork, brickwork, steam locomotive-engine building, and the like; whereas, to turn aside the current of capital from these works, is to force it into other and less beneficial, if not decidedly injurious channels of speculation; to raise the prices of cotton, silk, wool, hemp, and other raw materials of manufactures; by which rise the price of the finished article is raised, consumption diminished, and the manufacturing population, in a corresponding degree, left unemployed. This is precisely the present position of affairs. Money superabounds, because the employment of it in public works has been “checked;” and hence the many millions which would otherwise have been giving employment to the population in raising embankments, building bridges, and hammering out rails, is employed in forcing up the Cotton Market of Liverpool, and the Wool Market of Yorkshire, to prices which render the extremest caution necessary on the part of the manufacturer, to protect himself against the chances of a re-action—should spurs instead of checks happen once more to come into vogue.
Again, if Mr. Poulett Thomson be so bent upon checking speculation in Railways in England, how will he check the speculations in similar undertakings in various countries abroad? As he has not the power to prevent the English capitalist from sending over his money for investment in Railroads from Paris to Havre, Brussels, or Rouen,—or in Railways from New York to Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Boston,—it is clear that those places will attract the capital that is denied the opportunity of investment at home; that Railways will, therefore, be constructed with British capital in foreign countries, whilst no more Railways will be constructed in Britain itself; so that, in fact, by “checking speculation” in this country, we are preventing our own population from obtaining employment in preference to foreigners, and are assisting foreigners with our own money to gain the start of us in that which is the greatest of all auxiliaries to commercial and manufacturing industry—cheap and quick communication.
So far from “checking speculation” in Railways, there is no branch of enterprise from which the checks already existing should be so sedulously removed. As it is, they have quite enough to contend against in the high price of land in England, and the exclusive and stand-still spirit of its aristocracy; whereas, in the United States, the comparatively small value of land, and the absence of privileged castes, of legislative difficulties, and of artificial restraints, give that rising Republic advantages of so important a kind, that money alone is there wanted—that capital which Mr. Poulett Thomson is kindly doing his best to drive thither—to enable it to go immensely a-head of this and all other countries in the race of national improvement.
On referring to the Parliamentary Notices, we observe that there is scarcely one new Railway line to come before the House of Commons during the present session of Parliament; and on conversing on the subject with those most intimate with this branch of Parliamentary practice, we find they are unanimously of opinion that the compulsory payment of a large part of the capital—for no purpose whatsoever, save that it may lie dormant in the coffers of the Bank of England—is the principal reason why the progress of the system has been so deadened at the present time. Let us hope, therefore, that this most absurd and impolitic provision may be forthwith rescinded. There is room for the employment of many millions of capital upon new lines of Railway, of the success of which there can exist no reasonable doubt, and only Mr. Poulett Thomson, with his nonsensical checks and crotchets, stands in the way.”
After a comfortable enough lounge visit, I meandered to the gate to take me back to London Luton. I do this on a regular basis, but I have to credit Wizz Air with one of the most efficient boarding processes that I’ve seen, it’s always clear where to stand which is something that other airlines seem unable to deliver.
Just a little pause though as we were waiting for the bus to take us to our aircraft. This is the British Airways A319 aircraft G-EUPJ which is decorated in the old BEA (British European Airways) livery. It’s perhaps one of the most beautiful looking liveries I’ve seen, a marvellous idea of BA to use this piece of history.
I was on board the rather more modern Wizz Air branded aircraft, registration 9H-WDM. We arrived there on a bus to add a little extra tension to the whole arrangement.
The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat near the centre of the aircraft and I had pledged not to swap seats after the debacle of getting to Venice and missing out on a goodie bag…..
Views of Venice over the water are visible from the airport.
Anyway, I board and I’m immediately asked by a passenger if I’d swap my seat to let an elderly couple sit together. After checking there were no goodie bags in the seat back, I agreed, although I would prefer that people book a seat if they really want to sit next to each other to avoid all this faffing about.
Incidentally, this reminds me of a Wizz Air flight recently, and I’ve forgotten which one, where a couple asked a lady in the window seat if she’d move so the husband could sit with his wife and child. The husband said that he was in seat 15B which was “near the window”. That’s one of the more arrogant statements that I’ve heard, putting emotional pressure to get a lady to move from her window seat to a middle seat. For avoidance of any doubt, I would have absolutely refused.
Safely back at Luton Airport. The flight was peaceful, I didn’t miss out on any goodie bags and the service was efficient as ever.
And the ever exciting 20 minute walk to Luton Airport Parkway, a railway station which amuses me as perhaps the most unhappy with the new station manager that I’m aware of, the staff appear to be in permanent uproar there for reasons unknown. Anyway, the flight was £8.99 and another bargain from my perspective.
This was my first time departing from Venice Airport and the lounge won the 2025 Priority Pass lounge of the year award, so my expectations were reasonably high. It’s the sole lounge in the airport, so it’s used by airlines and lounge access schemes.
There was quite an impressive selection of foods, although, as a slight spoiler, the quality really wasn’t there with a lot of this. The meat burek was bland and stodgy, although the cous cous and rice were rather pleasant.
The falafel was quite dry, this tasted like a lot of generic food dumped into a fryer.
It all looks exciting and decadent, but there are a lot of bland tasting stuff in this selection as well.
There’s a lot of pineapple in those containers and that was one of the stars of the show, with the pastries all being a little generic. The cakes were OK, nothing overly exciting.
In terms of decoration though, this is a very nice lounge.
All of the drinks are served by a staff member which feels like a slightly odd arrangement. Peroni was the only beer, so that was a disappointment. The food here looks good, and the pineapple was pleasant, as was the rice, but the rest was dry and not really very exciting. Although that’s not to say that I didn’t eat it all of course, as I’m quite greedy…. Those potato slices could have done with actually cooking as well.
There were lots of different rooms located around the lounge.
I choose to sit here, as I like higher tables and chairs, with the added advantage that there were plenty of power outlets here as well.
It was all perfectly pleasant and it’s a very large lounge in terms of the size, although I imagine during the summer months this can get absolutely packed when it’s in the main tourist season. The staff were all friendly and it was spotlessly clean, they had more cleaners than I can remember seeing in a lounge before.
The food and drink was a little mediocre as I’ve mentioned, I suspect they’ve tried to go for the option of having lots of selection rather than any focus on quality. However, since I gained access with my unlimited lounge card, I was pleased to ensure my devices were powered and I had some food and drink. All really rather lovely.
Another day, another Accor hotel…. This one is the Novotel, around a thirty minute walk from Venice Mestre railway station.
I was pleased to get an upgrade to an executive room, so I felt like a proper business professional….. Or something like that.
I hate connecting rooms, but fortunately, there were no issues with noise or light on this one. The hotel had themselves put a little barricade up, which saved me doing it.
There were some free drinks in the fridge, along with a Nespresso machine.
The view from the window. The old city is off to the left in the distance.
It took 11 minutes to be served at the bar, which felt a little sub-optimal, although I was collecting a free welcome drink so it’s hard to be too annoyed. There was a very large group in the restaurant that was taking up the staff’s time, but they probably could have been more aware of the customers starting to queue at the bar. The team members were all friendly and helpful, just heavily overworked when I was there.
This was an anti-climax, a small glass of Peroni, which tasted chemical, metallic and bland. It felt a slight shame that the hotel didn’t have something similar to the nearby Mercure hotel.
The restaurant in the back might have been at capacity, but the bar wasn’t….. Here we are after the team members had served the customers at the bar.
The old part of Venice was visible by zooming in…..
Anyway, I liked this hotel as the team members were friendly, the room was clean, I got an upgrade and there were no noise issues. The hotel was dealing with a very large group of customers when I was there and that impacts service somewhat, but I was happy with my room at the end of the corridor on the top floor, away from all that frivolity. If they could just upgrade their bar options though, that would be lovely.
I had one night at this Mercure hotel in Venice, around a twenty minute walk from the railway station although I think that there are regular buses there as well. I took this photo when leaving as my night-time photo is a little unclear.
And here’s that photo as I arrived quite late in the evening. There’s a motorway to the left and the walk here involved going down a quiet little footpath which felt slightly oppressive.
There was a very friendly welcome at reception and I went over to the bar to get my welcome drink and of course wanted a beer. I had rather expected a choice of one beer, but the helpful team member put on the bar all of the options that she had so that certainly surprised and delighted me.
I opted for this one, the Birra Dolomiti Rossa, a quite punchy red ale from Fabbrica di Pedavena brewery. There was a malty taste as well as some sweetness to the whole arrangement, very agreeable. I hadn’t expected to see so many local beers, as well as some national options, far too few hotels offer that.
It was a pleasant restaurant and bar area, my first impressions of the hotel were very positive.
These impressions were also lifted as the team member at reception had mentioned that I’d been upgraded. I liked this.
The team member mentioned that all of the drinks in the mini bar were free, so that meant that I had more welcome drinks….
And some Nespresso coffees.
And the view from the window.
As might be apparent, I very much liked this hotel and didn’t have any noise issues either internally or externally. I was put at the end of a corridor, so as I like it, with the room being clean and comfortable. The bathroom also had a bath, a feature that isn’t common enough, with the temperature in the room being appropriate for me after I had opened the window to make it cold. Definitely recommended.
After a lovely few hours in Padua, it was time to get the train back to Venice. The city’s railway station opened in 1842 and around 450 trains stop here every day. The bit in the above photo is the post-war extension.
The departures hall.
This is all in the more modern extension that has been added to the station. There are plenty of ticket machines available, but there’s a customer service desk for anyone who is still confused.
I bought my ticket using the rail company’s app which saves all that faffing about validating it. I found that the platform numbering was a little confusing as they have a sensible system of I to X (well, there’s no number IV, but that’s a different matter) and they also have 2M and 3M for some Venice services. My train was scheduled to depart from platform II, so I just had to guess that they meant the usual platform numbering and, fortunately, that worked out.
The platform floor has numerous little trip hazards along it.
I was pleased to see my Venice train appear on the signage.
Back on the Hitachi Rock train…..
The Vivalto train which is a rather decent arrangement for long-distance services.
The train got very busy towards Venice, not least because a group of what appeared to be Chinese people boarded. When I say a group, I mean around 80 people, but they were going to the old city and I was getting back off at Venice Mestre.
I think that’s the last Italian train that I’ll take for a while, having used them around fifteen times over just a few weeks. I’ve been very impressed, they’ve been reliable in terms of operation, they’ve been clean, comfortable and I don’t have to mess about with seat reservations.
