Adventures in the UK

Right, so I haven't blogged in a good long time and I have some catching up to do. First off, my fabulous trip to Scotland and England May 9-12. What an amazing weekend!


Edinburgh May 9th and 10th
It started out rather ominously with an announced strike at the airport (in the end only our flight was delayed - by an hour) but we made it to Edinburgh and the headlining concert just in time. Got really close to the stage and was near enough at one point (when Jared jumped into the crowd we kind of surged forward, whether you liked it or not) to spit on Jared's face. Didn't think to until after we'd moved back to where we started. Had a blast singing along to all the songs and hanging out with my Dutch pals during the gig. They all got wristbands for the signing (I was too late) so after the show finished I found some other unluckies and we hung out outside waiting for the rest to be finished getting stuff signed.

Me, Adee and Joannah (you should be able to click the picture for a bigger version)

Me, Marie, Dawn, Vicki, Claudia and Adee ... still waiting around outside.

By the time the rest started coming out again we decided to try our luck behind to venue to see if the guys would come out and chat. The venue had already set up barriers to keep the crazies away from the actual bus. We didn't even have to wait long. Shannon came out first and walked the length of the barrier talking to people and signing things. I got a few pictures of him but nothing spectacular. Then Tomo came out, followed quickly by Tim, their touring bass player. They also did the lenght of the barrier and also took pictures with people. They spent a really long time with everyone. After a long while Jared came out but kept well back. There were some girls there who'd more or less attacked Tomo with kisses and I am guessing Jared didn't fancy his turn.

I enjoyed the entire wait because it meant I got to hang out with Vicki, Joannah, Damon, Adee, Dawn and the rest for longer. I finally got some real time in chatting with people. It was bliss. Plus, it was fun to see the guys relaxed and chatty and taking their time.

After the bus left, Dawn, Adee, Vicki and I headed to our B&B and after chatting for ages we hit the sack.

The next morning Suze came up to Edinburgh and met up with us at the B&B. We had a lengthy chat at the breakfast table over a full English/Scottish breakfast and then, reluctantly, we headed to the center of town to drop Adee and Dawn off at the train station. Suze and I headed down Princes Street to spend money. I bought shoes. Big surprise there. Hehe.

We had a difficult choice at one point - where to eat. We were stuck between a Bad Ass and a Dirty Dick. We went for Bad Ass. ;)

After milking every last possible minute out of the visit I had to leg it for a taxi to get me to the airport on time (*just* on time, btw, I had 10 minutes to spare before the gate closed) to go to London for the next bit of fun.

London May 10th, 11th and 12th

I arrived at London Heathrow after 8pm and got in touch with my Dutch pals who were already there. We were set to celebrate some recent birthdays in a pub called The Troubador and I thought for sure I'd missed the dinner part of it. Turns out they were all running late as well and we all arrived at the pub at the same time!

We had a fabulous birthday dinner and catch-up and were joined by Marie and Claudia along the way. I especially liked that I finally got a chance to have a good chat with Elpida, who I get along really well with on the 30STM forum but always seem to miss at shows.

After dinner and cake we took some group shots and headed back to the hotel.

Loads of Dutchies and a Greek, Swiss and French girl thrown in for good measure.

Our hotel was really lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed my full English breakfast the next morning.

We decided to spend the day in Camden doing some shopping. My already full wheelie bag (see previous picture, front) was going to suffer something big as I bought five (5) T-shirts and another pair of shoes. Late in the day we ran into some familiar faces and I got my second Chris squeeze of the weekend (the first was in E'burgh)

Chris squeezes

So, once again we were running late and had to get a hustle on to the venue. This show was the band being the headlining act of the Give It A Name festival. I have to admit to never even having heard of any of the other bands. Once again, I was in it for the laughs with friends.

We got to Earl's Court (one stop down the road by Underground) and quickly found the rest of the crazy fanbase. It was a glow in the dark theme or something equally ridiculous so we face painted and generally goofed around.

Helping Larissa by holding the mirror. Helping me by holding a beer.

Getting my own face painted.

Once it looked like the act prior to our boys was over we headed into the mass of people in front of the stage. We hada pretty decent spot near the front and spent the wait singing along to classics by Nirvana, Guns 'n Roses and Faith No More (personal squee!). Then the opening cords of Carmina Burana started up and I got instantly and painfully squashed. I couldn't move a muscle. And it was getting to be a tighter and tighter squeeze. Eventually I managed to fight my way out and watched the show from the back of the venue. I got some pretty good pictures of the big screens that were set up and I could sing and bounce along without fear of death.

After the show finished up I found Liz and Olly and got some hugs (no pics with Liz, I'm afraid :( And I'm not sure when the next opportunity will be). We were very quickly ushered out of the venue but not before we got our share of pictures taken!

Olly hugs

I love this one of me and Marie

This is my favourite picture of the show. It is now my wallpaper as well. :)

Miriam and I went back to the hotel quite quickly after we were ushered out. We were both really tired and our beds were calling to us. Shannon came out afterwards for a bit but the rest of the guys were MIA.

Sleep was good.

On Monday we headed into Covent Garden and (in my case, anyway) did some window shopping. After a full day of that we headed to Heathrow again to catch our late flight home. Tired but very happy we arrived in the Netherlands just after 10:30pm.

This made me giggle every single time. I know, I am so mature.