Of the 36 hours starting from 12:25 on Saturday 1st May I spent approximately 13 of them, or 36.1% recurring, on various forms of public transport, including trains, the tube, more trains, a coach, and still more trains. And apologies to its residents, but where on earth is Castle Cary and why do we stop there?

First loco trip to Exeter was in 1984 to visit the university's CompSci dept; so much more relaxed than Imperial, and a tad greener too. Subsequent journeys were mostly by National Express – "when your life's in a mess" – being substantially cheaper. Twenty years later, a good friend of mine, who we'll call Richard Mason and who never really left the campus, kindly invited me to his wedding do there at the weekend — cue nostalgiaville.

Being shown to my modest hotel room, I couldn't help but feel like a hitman coming to town: what he's got in that overnight bag?

Plenty of loud lads and resigned locals in the city centre as I made my way up Sidwell Street that evening, pausing for a quick KFC and to buy a bag of dolly mixtures — chap's gotta eat, you know. Very much like the cathedral and Kirk the electrical shop where I bought some AAA rechargeables as a student, the venerable Odeon remains:

• two decades ago, Crocodile Dundee, Platoon and The Fourth Protocol
• tonight, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Kate Winslet sure has come a long way since her 1986 appearance in Casualty.

Sun on my back Sunday morning down by the riverside, sipping a cuppa coffee from Bar Venezia on the Piazza Terracina, then up to the refectory in Devonshire House:

• May 2004, a jolly time at Richard and Julie's reception
• May 1986, same room for a gig by Half Man Half Biscuit on my 20th birthday

Had to make my excuses just as things were getting lively to go catch another train. Grounds of the campus looked fantastic in the late afternoon sunlight. Lovely place.

Be seeing you!

Ed