{ sing for your supper is all that I can do. }

[delga]

Oh gosh.

So, I took the 10 bus into town with my duffel and backpack making things difficult. I went in early because I needed to pick up a small Christmas present but I ended up sorting that out really quickly. I killed time by wandering around tech shops looking at things I can't afford.

Headed to the train station and spent twenty minutes freaking out on the platform because that's how I roll. Train arrived and I managed to (a) dump my luggage and (b) find my seat. The seat next to me was reserved but no-one showed up to claim it which was a massive bonus because The Flatmate boarded at York and we basically spent the next five hours talking and catching up and marvelling at/freaking out over the coastline/sheep. And by we I mean I because that's the kind of thing that freaks me out whilst The Flatmate sits by laughing.

Guys, that journey is fucking long. It goes pretty quickly whilst you're in England but once you hit the border and start trekking the Scottish coast, oh boy.

We got to Aberdeen after 5.30, at which point it promptly started to rain and did not stop until we exited the city two days later. We knew we should probably ask someone for directions but... well, we didn't. We ended up heading mistakenly towards the docks (the east!) and then trekking north-ish but up the wrong street. FINALLY worked out which direction to go in at which point the rain was proper heaving on us, and The Flatmate's (half-broken) brolly rebelled by bouncing inside out a number of times. We then got stuck in something of a wind tunnel. Yeah.

We made it to the hotel about 40 minutes after we left the station which is RIDICULOUS because it's only a 10min walk. Checked in, and then had to change because we were both soaked through. We had about half an hour before crouchingmajor was going to meet us and we basically faffed about trying to sort out things like where our jeans were and how many socks to wear. We were a little bit late but we finally made it downstairs where I saw crouchingmajor for the first time in 2-3 years. She took us out for dinner which was not only lovely, but extremely kind of her. Everybody got along well, and ate well, too. She then headed off home, but not before directing us to a bar on Union Street called The Filling Station.

That bar was great, actually. It was only about 8-9pm when we got there. The guys who were manning the bar were totally lovely. We bought a couple of glasses of wine and bagged a table, and then made a call to T and N who were at a party. I watched NCIS via the bar mirror whilst The Flatmate talked to the girls, and I texted sepiaxtoned who promptly made her way over.

Oh my god, guys: sepiaxtoned is LOVELY. (Girl, for real ♥) She is also wonderfully TALL which is the first thing that struck me about her, lols. She turned up even though it was a 20min drive to get there, and also POURING with rain. We then proceeded to talk and talk and talk (about uni, NCIS, panto, shopping locations, NCIS, nutella'd babies... and NCIS). My only wish was that I'd thought to take a photo but I'm the numbskull who forgot. Next time, m'dear!

After sepiaxtoned left, The Flatmate and I called T and N again which was lolariously disastrous. The Flatmate finished my wine and we left (one of the barkeepers made some sort of endearing comment), ambling back to the hotel (in the rain, natch). It was about midnight at this point and we were knackered so we put the ducks on the bedside table, got dressed and went to sleep. Boston, naturally, scared the shit out of us because she goes all Hulk on us in the dark. Good times.

--

I actually woke up around 8 on Saturday morning, so I showered and got dressed. The Flatmate faffed around for ages, so I went down to have breakfast and she... faffed. Breakfast was croissants and tea (yum!) and then I plugged in my mp4 and watched Pushing Daisies whilst The Flatmate finally got herself together. It was about 11.30 by the time she was ready, and we embarked on our shopping trip.

It was raining, of course, and her brolly rebelled again, and it was generally ludicrous/lolarious. We headed to the shops, bought some coffee for SK from Whittards, and then went a-browsing. During our adventures we encountered some truly horrendous moving... things wearing Santa costumes. I'll upload the pictures eventually but they don't do justice to how horrifying they were. I jumped when I saw the first one. We then headed to Starbucks because The Flatmate hadn't had breakfast. There were no free tables but this darling stranger let us sit with her. After Starbucks we headed back into the shopping centre and walked around the area; we looked up and down Belmont Street for gifts and also for somewhere to eat before the show. We also worked out where the theatre was. We ended up heading back to the shopping centre and I bought two bubble bath figures for T and N. Again, these were truly horrifying. I don't think I took pictures of those, though I have since learned that they are from a kids' show called Iggle Piggle? I don't know. If you pressed the doll's head, its eyes shut and its arms went up (that one is apparently called Macka Packa WTF?)

Yeah.

Headed back towards the hotel, stopping so that The Flatmate could get some cash out of the bank and so that she could top up her phone. We then sat in the hotel and ate dried mango (no, really) before The Flatmate took a nap and I listened to The Killers' new album on her iPod. (Verdict, btw = extreme yay. I need to get my hands on that soon.) At around 4.30 we got up to get dressed and at around 5pm we left to go out for dinner before the panto. We ended up at Vodka Revolutions where we shared this Greek platter thing and some wedges. The food was great but neither of us had all that much of an appetite. That said, I need to get hold of some baby peppers because those were delicious.

The show started at seven so we ambled towards the theatre (the rain is mostly implied at this point; I cannot accurately convey just how silly/funny/annoying/hysteria-inducing the weather was, not to mention our various battles with it, lols) and took our seats. It was a BRILLIANT show. There were kids in the audience, too, and some great gags including loads of Neighbours references (lols, Alan Fletcher) and some great wordplay sets where the Dame and the comedy foil just let loose. Absolutely hilarious. I wasn't too impressed with the guy who played Peter Pan but that's because he was boring. The Flatmate and I later discussed the ridiculous reductionism at play in the panto, as well as all the sexism and racism on show, because that was pretty full-on, but it was panto so, you know.

We didn't want the show to end, but it did, and we made our way back to The Filling Station where the barkeepers recognised us from the night before. The Flatmate was feeling low (aftershock, I guess) but we talked about the show whilst drinking (more) wine and watching The X Factor finale, not that we could hear it. We ended up obsessing over The Killers album and talking about uni, as we generally do, as well as talking about the show, cute pirates (oh, did I not mention; one of the pirates was REALLY ATTRACTIVE omg) and making each other laugh by reciting the best gags. She ordered a mojito, and I had a Soft Top (?) which was really, really good. A woman came round for another order when last orders were about to be rung, so we had another Soft Top each. We were half paying attention to this ridiculous Arnold Schwarzenegger film on the TV, mostly because it featured explosions and motorcycles and other ridiculous things. It was about 1am when one of the barkeeps came over apologetically and quietly turfed us out (we were the last ones there). Again: both guys were super nice and joked around with us.

We were in no mood to go to sleep so we headed back to the hotel (at which point one of the spokes on my umbrella snapped, I shit thee not) and vegged out in the hotel bar where we saw the end of the Schwarzenegger film (it ended with: violence; explosions; helicopters).

We finally headed up to the room at about 2am at which point The Flatmate was DETERMINED to play this Doctor Who chocolate board game that she'd originally bought to play on her birthday last year. It was this Ludo-like game where you had to move around four sectors, and if you fell on a spot with someone's face on it, that carried a consequence. I won, huzz! It was, by that time, 3.30am so we decided to pack it in. We went to sleep listening to a fight outside the hotel (lols) and again being caught unawares by Boston who is pretty nuclear.

--

Oh god, we had to wake at seven-something on Sunday which was just not on. We managed to get ready by 9-ish (as well as mostly packed) at which point we went down to have breakfast. Came back upstairs, packed, bundled up, and checked out. Rain accompanied us to the train station which is when we realised how stupid we'd been that first evening. We bought some journey-food from WHSmiths and then waited around for people to let us on the train.

About 15 minutes into the journey the train stopped for another 15 minutes because of a landslide further down the tracks. A LANDSLIDE. WTF. Once we got on our way we napped a bit, and I watched some stuff on my mp4. It was a pretty quiet trip back down because The Flatmate's mood was a little low. I watched the waves bash about on the coast which was totally unnerving for me, lols. It had stopped raining, though.

The Flatmate got off at York which made me feel low. I plugged into my zen, bought a KitKat, and spent the next hour and a half waiting to get in to P. There was a guy sitting across from me who seemed a nice sort, so I shared my KitKat with him, and he was lovely. Got in to P. at 6.30 despite the earlier delay (I'm fairly certain the train picked up pace once we were back in England) and The Mother picked me up from the station. Trip: over.

--

I wish we'd had more time to stay there because the rain made it a little difficult to just hang around the city centre (which was gorgeous). Everyone was lovely, and the city was brilliant, and I'm really glad that I made the decision to go, even though it was(/is) a fiscal nightmare.

The Flatmate and I have since decided that we need to go to Soton at Easter (and she's trying to get me to go to Sheffield to see The Killers which is great in theory, but not altogether plausible if I want to get to Soton later in the year). So. Yes! And I also did not get run over, hurrah!

Comments

[sepiaxtoned.livejournal.com]

You are lofffly too! :D It was fantabulous to meet you and you must trek up/I'll trek down to come see you soonly! ^_^

Glad you found your coffee dealer store for some coffee dealer escapades, I'm glad you didn't get epicallly lost (again!)

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

Oh man, we were TERRIBLE, lols. But no, we didn't get lost again.

*hugs*

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

:( Take a boat someday. Maybe? *hugs*

I know! SUCCESS!