So pleased you enjoyed your trip Suncatcher - European trains are a joy to travel on. I'm actually on the train north back home to Scotland for a week before boarding a cruise from Dundee (for those of you who've followed the story, my Dad is doing OK and my brother is staying with Mum to look after her this week and various friends and relatives are doing the hospital run with her the week after).

Due to the vagaries of the UK ticketing system I'm travelling 1st Class for less than straightforward Standard Class tickets would have cost! I'm not complaining - they serve a rather nice mug of Earl Grey tea at your seat on the new Virgin East Coast franchise - just confused! The cruise starts from Dundee but I am getting off in Newscastle at the end so I started off looking for a single ticket Liverpool to my home town on the east coast of Scotland and a single from Newscastle to Liverpool. Standard class off peak tickets would have totalled not far short of £160 even with a railcard so I started to look at the price of Liverpool-York return with singles York to hime and Newcastle back to York. That was looking better but still more than I had hoped to pay and in the end the best deal was 1st Class singles Liverpool-York and York- home for today and a through single 1st Class ticket Newcastle-Liverpool in a fortnight's time. And not only that but I've been plied constantly with complimentary complimentary sandwiches, snacks and hot and cold drinks etc which makes it even better value. So this might be the time to ditch the plane and get a great deal on a weekend city break by train to Edinburgh (or London if you live up north!).