Following a couple of days based in Newcastle to complete some more Exploring the East Coast, I had decided to make my way back south by a slightly more unusual method. As such I headed from the Tyne to the Wear and to Sunderland station to begin my journey to London with Grand Central.

Having already had plenty of trips with LNER up and down the East Coast Mainline (ECML), I decided it was time for another as I headed to Newcastle for a couple of nights to explore some more of the East Coast. Thanks to a discount (more on that later) I was travelling in first once again and was hoping to try out the ‘Dish’ menu that I keep missing out on.

Having enjoyed a weekend in Glasgow, including a day exploring the railways around the city, we had made our way back over in Edinburgh ready for our journey back south with LNER in first class.

The end of January saw my second trip to Scotland of the year, with Beth & I heading north with my in-laws to spend the weekend in Glasgow. The first part of this trip saw us travelling from Peterborough to Edinburgh with LNER and on this occasion we’d decided to upgrade to first class.

Having had a couple of nights based in the costal city of Rimini, it was time to continue my journey with an afternoon of travelling. From Rimini a pair of Trenitalia would take me first north to Bologna, before then heading south and west to the Italian capital, Rome.

Bologna is one of Italy’s major railway crossroads, with high-speed, inter-city, regional and local lines intersecting at the city’s main station, Bologna Centrale. Having arrived into the underground platforms that serve the high-speed Turin to Salerno route (via Milan, Bologna, Florence & Rome), I had made my way through the underground maze to reach the station’s ground level platforms.