Northallerton to York

A simple 30 minute train ride is all we wanted,  just so we wouldn’t have to drive into the city of York. That seemed easy in the planning stage, but by now everyone should know that what seems easy, rarely is when the Caldows plan anything. 

We had done our research and even accounted for Sunday having a different schedule. We scouted out the route to the station in Northallerton and found the parking lot the day before. We even arrived at the parking lot an hour before the train left, today. And that’s when our trouble started. We had discovered, way back in Cornwall, that the public parking lots were unattended and you had to pay through an app. It took us awhile to download the app that time and get an account set up, but we eventually got our spot paid. 

The first problem today was the discovery that the lot owners were an entirely different company so we had to start the process all over - only we couldn’t ever find the app to download. That’s why we ultimately gave up that approach and tried to email the company. No luck. Next we tried calling the listed number and after several tries, we got an automated message asking for the necessary information to set up an account. Got it set up and paid for a day’s worth of parking. At that point the voice gave us instructions on how to enter our license plate. Trouble!! Between her strong accent and rapid speech we just couldn’t get the right number entered. Fortunately, each time we hung up and redialed we got the same message telling us to text the information and rattling off a long number. After 6 tries we finally got the number right and our information accepted. In addition to the accent and speed of the instructions, the other barricade was getting the country code in the right format. By this time we had been trying to pay for 45 minutes and had missed two trains. 

We didn’t give up and eventually were able to buy our tickets. We were directed to the proper platform but as it was windy and very cold, we decided to wait in the lift just to keep warm. That’s where one of the ticket agents found us and led us to an enclosed waiting room on the platform. 

Having gone to all that trouble, I wish I could say that I loved York, but I can’t. We walked to the medieval section, poked in a few shops in The Shambles, walked through the market, and ended up at the York Minster, the ancient huge cathedral. The plan was to take a look inside before heading back to the train station, but when we realized it was going to cost us $53 just to enter, it only took a second for us to say no way and start back to the train station, 

When we purchased our return tickets, the agent told us that there was a 2:35 train, but if we took the next one at 2:37 it would save us about 10£. 

At least now we knew to look for a waiting room on the platform. A train came in at 2:33, but we thought that must be the 2:35. We couldn’t imagine how the 2:37 was going to be on time while that train just sat there. Brian checked the screen, found out our train was on time. We stood there gawking and finally decided that maybe that was the 2:37 and we probably ought to get on… but the doors were closed! Brian noticed a green button, pressed it and the door magically opened. We scurried aboard, and in less than a minute the train started moving- at exactly 2:37. That’s when it occurred to Brian that the 2:35 train had to have been on a different platform. God looks out for fools and the ignorant!