The Nottingham Adventure

Yesterday I got a little bit of a lie in before beginning the long commute to London St Pancras. The DLR was so crowded; until we got to Canary Wharf I couldn't move at all. Thankfully the Northern Line wasn't so bad. They've changed the layout of St Pancras again and being my usual dumb self I came out at Pentonville Road, just to make finding it more fun. I did have an interesting time finding out that Euston station is a mere stones throw from there...

Anyway... Simon, then Bonnie and Ben, eventually appeared and we boarded our Midland Mainline service to Nottingham. I've never been in First Class before but I have to say it's very nice... comfy seats, food and drink and no annoying yobs.

We got to Nottingham and dropped off our bags at the Jurys Inn before heading directly to our meeting with our suppliers. The meeting really wasn't that long and wasn't particularly controversial. I did find out some things that'll be useful for my team and it's always nice to see where the people we talk to every day are based.

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and had a couple of hours of personal time. I used this watching Stargate SG1. I've always kinda liked that show but still can't see why it's as popular as it is.

6.00pm and we met in the bar. After a couple of drinks and some gossiping about one of the people at the suppliers we discovered a group of the suppliers staff sitting behind us. Including said gossiped about person. D'oh. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Had another drink there then headed off into town.

We met everyone at the Cock and Hoop (much confusion over whether it was called the Cock a Hoop or not, People didn't believe me that cock a hoop is a phrase!). It was great to finally meet Emily, our account manager and someone I regularly send sarcastic emails to (in a nice way!). It was a quiet, smoke free pub with really friendly staff.

We then headed for dinner at Piccolino. Sadly they had only pizzas due to some problems in the kitchen but the pizza I had was delicious. Mmmm... Bianca Pizza Ai Bianci. Sadly the waiting staff were of the rude homosexual description and didn't seem to understand a request for a pint of Peroni. First request got me a Boddingtons. Second request got me a bottle. Everyone else got a pint... I even pointed to the pint when I was requesting the drink!! Oh well. As you know I didn't complain and just drunk what I was given... I'm a good customer.

I tried to convince people to go to the Pitcher and Piano as recommended by my last commenter. However we instead went to The Living Room directly opposite it. A few more drinks later there and I had come to the decision that it was the most dull place I'd ever been in, filled with likely lads trying to come on to girls well out of their league. I decided to leave and my boss tagged along with me. Our mission: find a gay club. So that was why at some point after midnight we wandered through Nottingham, up and down hills, across empty roads until we reached the dark entrance to NG1. Closed. Grr. So we headed to Oceania instead...

They wouldn't let me in... I looked too young! Woo. I liked that a lot. So we headed back to the hotel bar to find the two groups ours and the other group we'd seen at the hotel earlier had merged into one. Many drinks later (just how much did I drink?) and having outlasted all but 4 other people I gave up at 3am and went to bed.

I woke up early this morning and wandered around the Nottingham Station area for a while before meeting up with the others who were a lot more worse for wear than me. We went to a nearby greasy cafe... Oh my God! The woman who served us was one of the most sullen people I've ever encountered. Brilliant! Stereotypical Northern can now be added to my list of species found. Train home took for ever.

Soooo tired. Let's all spare a thought for Prince Harry as he heads off to battle.

Not those kinds of thoughts! Dear Constant Reader, how rude of you!

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