Glasgow GTG 2014

[Aliantha]

One day I'm going to come too! (yes I know I say that every year, but one day I will surprise you all!)

[Undertoad]

Me too.

[limey]

You'll have to let us know so that we can get you tickets. It's damn near a sell - out each year.
But we'd sure as hell love to see you there!

Sent by thought transference

[Lola Bunny]

It would be so nice if all of us can get together.

[limey]

Too righty!


Sent by thought transference

[lumberjim]

LIMEY HAD TWO AT ONCE!???11?

[limey]

Sent by thought transference

[Sundae]

Okay, here we go!
Let me take you back to the third of January, about supper time.
I'm all packed and ready to leave.

And bloody hell did I have a lot of packing to do!
Not so much of the fancy-pants variety, but enough clothes to stay clean and warm and dry, three pairs of boots and gifts for the girls.

1) Posing in my travelling clothes.
2) My big fat bags. And Jaffa cakes.

[glatt]

Looking good!

[Sundae]

Mum gifted me the money for a taxi to the station.
She did this another year too, but I walked then, because I wanted to save the money.
I could've done with the money this year too, don't get me wrong, but it was pelting it down.

Anyway I saved money by getting the bus to Amersham (instead of the through train), and the Tube on from there.
Londoners might think otherwise, but once you get onto the Tube you save an absolute fortune. It's getting onto it (from Aylesbury) that costs.

1) Waiting for my bus.
2) Me on the crowded train from Amersham.

[Sundae]

I forgot to say - I bought the Jaffa Cakes from Waitrose. 75p. And that's before staff discount.
For those who don't keep a close eye on the fluctuating Jaffa Cakes market, a packet will set you back over £1, and there were four packets in that long box.
It would have been rude not to.

Why did I dress up just to travel?
Me, the person who lolls about in jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt?

Well... I don't get the chance to dress up often.
And I knew there was a chance I'd have to sleep in what I was wearing, so it had to be fairly light.
And the bottom line is, I thought I would be more likely to get some help with my case if I looked a bit girly.
It worked. Three staircases, three charming men helped me. Then again, Dani and Limey hefted my case about for me too, so maybe I just lucked on out altruism.

So. Arrived at Victoria coach station pretty early.
Only, what's this? A sleeper coach to Glasgow at 23.00? Yup, was mine. Blimey - I'm so used to it leaving at 23.50 I hadn't even bothered to check.
Scrambly, scrambly, join the queue.

It was okay, I was still in plenty of time.
We boarded at the back, and I headed to the front, which was an all-or-nothing gambit, because if there were no berths left you'd be behind everyone else who was heading upstairs.
I lucked out.

I took the bottom bunk on the left closest to the driver.
There was no bottom bunk on the right, just storage for the staff.
The top bunk on the right was taken by a very lithe young Weedgie woman who had travelled from Tel Aviv that morning, coming hame from a nine month entertainment contract in Israel.
Chalk one up to her for travelling further than me.

Then the bunk above me was taken (with much heaving and puffing) by an even younger Sheila from Badelaide, Baustralia, who'd come via Eurostar from Paris.
Chalk one up to her for travelling from half a bloody world away in the first place and then not even stopping to catch her breath in London (off to see rellies in Erskine).

And I had my tea at home that night, I felt like a right surburbanite.

Megabus have changed the sleeper coach.
No seats, just bunks. NO SEATS! Nowhere to go if you're feeling a bit crook or want to see where you are or too hot...
And the bunks were tiny. Teeny tiny. I measured the mattress with my arm and it was barely wider than elbow to outstretched fingers.
And the poor lass on top. She was no super-model, and she was very aware of that. Bless her. She asked more than once, "I'm not squashing you am I?"
Yes, she was. But it would have been exactly the same if I'd been under the lithe dancer; the only way not to be squashed is not to have anyone above you. Or not to travel on the Megabus Sleeper.

1) Me in my lickle berth.
2) Really sweet Aussie.

[Sundae]

Notes on the above: what you see is what you get, apart from a scanty cover.
There are no longer any curtains on the berths. So I was glad I wore my dress, because it's not a million miles away from a nightie, really.

I paid back the gents who helped me with my bag via karma. Young Sheila only had Euros and was horrified to find out that public toilets cost money. So I gave her 30p and showed her how to use the pushchair entrance (it's not clear, even though there must be loads of people with suitcases who can't use the turnstiles).

[Sundae]

So the coach had left earlier than I expected.
In fact it also left ahead of schedule as all passengers had been ticked off the manifest and they were wary of bad weather.
This meant arriving in Glasgow WAY earlier than I expected.

Four and a half hours before I could expect even to leave my bag at the B&B, let alone check in.
I fannied about for a while, but there is only so much you can do without anything being open. Or startling the horses.

So off up Sauchiehall Street. At least this time I knew how to pronounce it. And I knew the way. It all helps.
Although it's pretty much uphill for a mile, it didn't really start raining until I got to the Alamo. Bloody hell, it's still not even 07.00. There weren't even any lights on.

So I sat and waited on the steps.
I know I'm irritable. But it's mostly because I dislike other people.
Left alone I am pretty patient and can wait for extended periods of time. It's my African heritage.

Flash (B&B cat) came and sat with me. He was more restless than I was, but then he couldn't/ wouldn't understand the significance of the 15 minute clock chimes from a nearby tower.
And Mr Fox trotted past us down the street on vulpine business.
Came back a while later, still in a foxy fashion.

A chap with a bear-trapper's hat went by with a red setter and returned also, noticing us on the return journey. "Happy New Year!"

Still no lights on.
OMG. What if no-one was staying last night?
It's not an unreasonable assumption. No breakfast, no rooms to clean, no reason to get up and open the doors until at least 10.00 and no reason for my poor old bones not to be sitting there for another two and a half hours. sadness.

Everything in me rejected the idea of taking my suitcase on another jaunt.
I'd used my dwindling reserves of energy just to get it up the steps.
And it was now raining properly.
So I found a napkin and wrote my name and the fact I was staying that night, and left my case (and the Jaffa Cakes) outside the door.
Risky business I know. But by then I was quite cavalier about my luggage.
My Norman heritage.

Off I hoyed, in the rain, to the Wetherspoons I'd passed earlier, which I knew opened at 08.00. Breakfast photo in Breakfast thread.

Back I climbed, in the rain, only to find that the Closed For The Night card in the door had been changed to a No Bags To Be Dropped Off Until 10.00 card.
09.35. Sigh.

Luckily, Steve - the owner - saw me and recognised me and let me in with a warm welcome and a worry that I might have been kept waiting.
Not at all!
He's such a nice chap.
My second breakfast photo is in the Breakfast thread.

The breakfast room has had a makeover - although it was nice enough anyway.
They've let out the whole place to the BBC for the duration of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year and the makeover is thanks to the deposit.
Good on them; Steve & Emma get a holiday as it's been booked as a self-catering let, and the BBC get to benefit real Scots as opposed to faceless multinationals. And it's a smashing place.

The breakfast room and me after being ravaged by travelling. And still in the clothes I slept in.

[Sundae]

Down to our room. Which they made available before 10.00.

I had no mobile (cellphone).
All I could do was wait and hope someone else arrived.
My worry wasn't financial - for once! The Alamo know us and anyway Dani & Limey would never leave me stranded with an unpaid bill.

I was just a bit lonely.

[Sundae]

Detritus.

1) I know it's a busy photo, but look out for hand-made chocs and biscuits from Ali, my decoupage decorated boxes and a pile of prizes for the girls.

2) My hat on a hand mirror.