I used some of my change on this trip - yes, I remember when that was a handy way to get rid of change - they don't accept cash on London buses any more, of course. Not that there was any need of it at the Caltrain station - he stopped for a break there anyway, and when he saw me checking my phone, he asked where I was going, and directed me around the corner for my next stop. I was soon educated as to how to get the bus to stop - unlike the buttons I'm used to, there's a pull-cord. The Flyer stop is just down the road - and I didn't need to pay on this one, just took a seat. Well, my first time taking buses in America! I checked the route on my phone before I left the office, while I still had WiFi. As he remarked, that sounded more interesting than talking to him! :-) I put my foot down, and he moved it earlier. Imagine my chagrin when someone organised a meeting with me for 4. I booked onto the last tour, which starts at 5 - so I had to leave early. Well, it took over an hour to get to - there's a free flyer that goes to the Caltrain station (if only I'd known that on Sunday!), then I could get another bus, which stops right outside. Servants working in the house apparently needed a map to navigate its 500 rooms! (now reduced to 160). Whatever the truth, it sounded a fascinating place - staircases that lead to nowhere, doors and windows that open onto walls.
(No, she wasn't resident at the time.) Historians, however, dispute the fact that it continued after the 1906 earthquake. Apparently she was told that they'd be kept at bay only if she never ceased construction on the house - so, on it went, reportedly 365 days a year for the next 38 years.
It was built by the Winchester heiress (played by Dame Helen Mirren in a recent film), who reportedly became convinced that malevolent spirits haunted it.
Quite intrigued about what I was doing yesterday evening - on the recommendation of someone else at work, I went on a tour of the Winchester Mystery House - the most interesting-sounding of the local attractions.
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