Passions

Tuesday was already planned out for us by Robbie. He suffers withdrawal symptoms if he is away from trains for too long, so we had to indulge his passion with a trip to Norwich by train. He kept a running commentary about each different train that he saw, but I was really well behaved and smiled indulgently as he jotted down numbers. Usually when he does that I pretend that I am travelling alone but I just happen to be sitting next to a random weirdo! I even stood quietly and waited while he took endless photos of trains when we got to Norwich.

We had a lovely time in Norwich, except when we went to Boots. Robbie needed hair gel and I needed the items that I didn't get at Tesco the day before. There was more choice at Boots which caused Robbie to be more vocal about what I wanted, he knew I was embarrassed but he was determined to tease me. I chose quickly and hurried him away as another shopper gave him a very disapproving look. A couple of minutes later we were selecting a different product when the same customer passed us again. She gave Robbie a withering look that was completely wasted on him. He announced (too loudly for comfort) that she was jealous and she probably wished her husband was just like Robbie!

Robbie is a man of many passions, trains are perhaps the most obvious obsession, but there is much more to him than that, so we set about indulging some of his other desires. What could be better than Costa Coffee in Waterstones? It was wonderful sipping coffee (from a mug that was so big that I could hardly lift it) while surrounded by books, the anticipation of browsing was almost as good as the experience itself. We finally managed to drag ourselves away from Waterstones, but t seemed that he hadn't had enough pleasure for one day, so he steered me in the direction of PaperChase. As he looked at all the products he became so excited that I thought he would explode, he was like a kid in a sweetshop. I love stationary too, but I manage to be a little less vocal about it than Robbie!

It was a really enjoyable day out that was only spoiled by the rudeness and poor service of the station staff at Norwich. It used to be a really nice station to visit, but over the last couple of years it has really slipped.