Sprite has an ‘away day’

The object of yesterday’s ‘one to one outing with Sprite was not just to walk him along the river bank, but to check that he was OK on a train. He had been on a train before but it was a couple of years ago and he had Merlin with him. I was planning to take him with me today for a long train ride and wanted to check he was OK with it - and he was!
We had a 3hour train journey (3 trains) each way to have lunch with my sister and brother-in-law on their Golden Wedding anniversary. I wanted to take Sprite as he is not really socialised with people, due mainly to lockdown, but also his natural shyness. The route from home to Lewes involved two changes but at Cambridge and Haywards Heath - not London so not multi platform or vast crowds - just off one train and onto another. He was an absolute star - sitting or lying by my feet, watching people and occasionally even saying hello - only barked once when another dog walked down the carriage. We walked from the station to the pub where he sat quietly under the table and few people even knew he was there.
Even the weather co-operated - not the terrible storm that was forecast - yes,  it was cold and windy, but bright and dry.
The journey home was not so straightforward, unfortunately !
The train from Haywards Heath to Cambridge was lovely, not crowded, spot on time  - until Finsbury Park  - where we were told the train was terminating due to power lines down between Royston and Cambridge ! We were to get the train to Peterborough then two trains from there to home. This would have been inconvenient but not too bad if it were not for the fact that Arsenal had been playing at home - the Emirates Stadium is alongside Finsbury Park - so the station was jam-packed with hundreds of (fortunately very happy) fans wanting to get to stations between there and Hitchin. We got aboard the already crowded train - where  a fan immediately pointed to a man in a window seat and said ‘lady here needs that seat’! So he gave us his seat and we were away from those standing in the door space - but could not avoid the noise as they were all singing Arsenal songs! Sprite was a bit stressed and shaking so I sat him on my lap but he calmed down as the train emptied after Hitchin. The homeward journey took an hour longer than the outward one but I was really impressed with my baby - he coped magnificently !
We got off the train to strong wind and SLEET - but 5minutes in the car and we were back with the rest of the gang, kettle on and a cup of tea!
PS Arsenal beat Newcastle 2-0