JamesMcVean
24-May-08, 22:02
Maybe I should have titled this thread -
PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES!!!
We set off from the toon at 9am and got a great run down to Inverness…stopped off at the big Tesco on the Aberdeen road. Then we made our way to the Airport, making sure we arrived about 1pm…we left the motor at the longstay carpark and dragged the overfill suitcase to the airport an annoying quarter mile of road and through the short stay carpark!!! Where was the courtesy bus??!!
As we were checking in, the guy at the desk said – I am sorry to tell you there is going to be a half hour delay on the departure because of the French Airtraffic Controllers going on strike…grrrr….oh well..I thought – Ten to Three take off meant arriving in Luton at twenty past four…still loads of time to get into the city and find the hotel and change into my kilt!!
We settled down for a lunch at the airport when a further announcement said that there was a further delay to the flight!!!! A terrible sinking feeling filled me with dread…
It turned out that the flight ended up leaving Inverness at 4PM!!!!!! We landed and picked up our bag by 530PM…and the Party was due to begin at 630!!!!!!!!!
I desperately asked a foreign taxi driver how long it would take to get to Regent Street, and he had to get an interpreter to tell me that it would take between an hour to an hour and a half!!! (Bloody Hell I thought - though it was far worse a swear than I would be allowed on here)
Managed to catch a bus to the Luton Train station, then had to wait a further 20 mins for the train to St Pancras International Station….a trip of 25 mins….We made it to the HUGEST building I have ever visited….You could fit the Eastgate in a corner!!! LOL
Took a few mins to find the nearest taxi rank and got a swift ride to the Hotel….by now I had resigned myself to the fact that we would be fashionably late…We got to the hotel by 635pm….and began to change into our glad rags…As we were getting ready, my mobile rang and it was one of the lassies from the BBC asking if we were still coming….I said we would be there in half an hour!!
We made it in 20 mins…
On arriving at the venue. – 28Portland Place…this is the first time I have been to a place that has no name!! It is just an address??!! Weird eh?
http://www.28portlandplace.co.uk/
We were greeted by a very enthusiastic BBC girl…Nadia…she shushed us up the posh stairs into a room filled with half drunk prize winning writers…the lucky so and so’s had been making full use of the Free Bar for the last 50 Mins!! There was also a really posh mini buffet too, but it was just with waiters walking around with trays of mini bites and things...but yummy nonetheless...
I caught the last 10 Mins of Vanessa Feltz speech congratulating us all on our tales…and she read a couple of them…She really comes across well at an event like this, and is not at all the way she is repersented on TV and in the press....surprisingly LOL
Here is a link to the BBC site where you can read all the winning entries…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/raw/beinspired/yourstories/competition/winners1.shtml
There were 40 odd winners by only 18 made it into the book….Mine was one of the (BIG SMILE)
I mixed and mingled with as many peeps as possible, handing out printed cards with my details and books printed on…and met a couple of successful authors and influential book types…who took cards from me too!!
I was delighted and amazed by the female attention I got by wearing a kilt!! I had to pose for SEVERAL photos...lol I have been told that I will get copies of them via email and if they are not too embarrasing I will post one, as and when it arrives...
I did a fair bit of catching up on the free bevy and by 930pm everyone was starting to disperse…so we went for a meal…it is funny eating a sit down dinner at 10pm!!! But the place was heaving!!!
The next day we went on a tour of the BBC Studios…it was superb!! Well worth a look if you go down there….Spent the afternoon shopping and finding our way around the amazing streets of London (They are NOT paved with Gold, by the way!!)
We ate in a nice restaurant before walking all the way to the bottom of the Strand to the Pavilion Theatre and watched the "Lion King" show,,,it was truly breathtaking!!! We walked all the way back to the top of Regent Street at 1015 and I was delighted to notice that there really was a Cosmopolitan Atmosphere…
The strangest thing were the Rickshaws!! Yep dudes were hankering to cycle you around the city!!
I never felt threatened or Ill at ease once whilst walking…and would heartily recommend a trip there…
I think copies of the Book are going to be sent to the Library...not sure if it is going to be for sale as the Beeb cannot be seen to be making a profit or something...that was what the lassie said anyway...Strange...
All the best and thanks for reading...
James
PLANES TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES!!!
We set off from the toon at 9am and got a great run down to Inverness…stopped off at the big Tesco on the Aberdeen road. Then we made our way to the Airport, making sure we arrived about 1pm…we left the motor at the longstay carpark and dragged the overfill suitcase to the airport an annoying quarter mile of road and through the short stay carpark!!! Where was the courtesy bus??!!
As we were checking in, the guy at the desk said – I am sorry to tell you there is going to be a half hour delay on the departure because of the French Airtraffic Controllers going on strike…grrrr….oh well..I thought – Ten to Three take off meant arriving in Luton at twenty past four…still loads of time to get into the city and find the hotel and change into my kilt!!
We settled down for a lunch at the airport when a further announcement said that there was a further delay to the flight!!!! A terrible sinking feeling filled me with dread…
It turned out that the flight ended up leaving Inverness at 4PM!!!!!! We landed and picked up our bag by 530PM…and the Party was due to begin at 630!!!!!!!!!
I desperately asked a foreign taxi driver how long it would take to get to Regent Street, and he had to get an interpreter to tell me that it would take between an hour to an hour and a half!!! (Bloody Hell I thought - though it was far worse a swear than I would be allowed on here)
Managed to catch a bus to the Luton Train station, then had to wait a further 20 mins for the train to St Pancras International Station….a trip of 25 mins….We made it to the HUGEST building I have ever visited….You could fit the Eastgate in a corner!!! LOL
Took a few mins to find the nearest taxi rank and got a swift ride to the Hotel….by now I had resigned myself to the fact that we would be fashionably late…We got to the hotel by 635pm….and began to change into our glad rags…As we were getting ready, my mobile rang and it was one of the lassies from the BBC asking if we were still coming….I said we would be there in half an hour!!
We made it in 20 mins…
On arriving at the venue. – 28Portland Place…this is the first time I have been to a place that has no name!! It is just an address??!! Weird eh?
http://www.28portlandplace.co.uk/
We were greeted by a very enthusiastic BBC girl…Nadia…she shushed us up the posh stairs into a room filled with half drunk prize winning writers…the lucky so and so’s had been making full use of the Free Bar for the last 50 Mins!! There was also a really posh mini buffet too, but it was just with waiters walking around with trays of mini bites and things...but yummy nonetheless...
I caught the last 10 Mins of Vanessa Feltz speech congratulating us all on our tales…and she read a couple of them…She really comes across well at an event like this, and is not at all the way she is repersented on TV and in the press....surprisingly LOL
Here is a link to the BBC site where you can read all the winning entries…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/raw/beinspired/yourstories/competition/winners1.shtml
There were 40 odd winners by only 18 made it into the book….Mine was one of the (BIG SMILE)
I mixed and mingled with as many peeps as possible, handing out printed cards with my details and books printed on…and met a couple of successful authors and influential book types…who took cards from me too!!
I was delighted and amazed by the female attention I got by wearing a kilt!! I had to pose for SEVERAL photos...lol I have been told that I will get copies of them via email and if they are not too embarrasing I will post one, as and when it arrives...
I did a fair bit of catching up on the free bevy and by 930pm everyone was starting to disperse…so we went for a meal…it is funny eating a sit down dinner at 10pm!!! But the place was heaving!!!
The next day we went on a tour of the BBC Studios…it was superb!! Well worth a look if you go down there….Spent the afternoon shopping and finding our way around the amazing streets of London (They are NOT paved with Gold, by the way!!)
We ate in a nice restaurant before walking all the way to the bottom of the Strand to the Pavilion Theatre and watched the "Lion King" show,,,it was truly breathtaking!!! We walked all the way back to the top of Regent Street at 1015 and I was delighted to notice that there really was a Cosmopolitan Atmosphere…
The strangest thing were the Rickshaws!! Yep dudes were hankering to cycle you around the city!!
I never felt threatened or Ill at ease once whilst walking…and would heartily recommend a trip there…
I think copies of the Book are going to be sent to the Library...not sure if it is going to be for sale as the Beeb cannot be seen to be making a profit or something...that was what the lassie said anyway...Strange...
All the best and thanks for reading...
James