Well, I made it down to reception on Monday in time to check out. Handy they have a box to drop your card into for express checkout, considering there's almost never anyone at the desk.. So off I went. And it drizzled on me, which it hadn't been supposed to. Turned out to be a relatively short hop to Central Station, though.
I had to pick up my ticket, but wouldn't you know it - no machines! So I had to queue at the desk. It was just after 11 at this point - I'd had to check out for 11, and had been early. So the guy couldn't find my name, and asked whether I'd booked for the 12.35. Nope, the 2.05. He found my ticket, and as I was so early, I asked whether I could switch to that one. He said it'd cost me £10 extra. I passed.
I took a quick look around the station, returned to the desk, and paid the £10 - it was still cheaper overall than not booking in advance. There's practically nothing there! It's quite tiny, for such a significant station - northern terminus of the Enterprise! Apart from the ticket desk, there's a shop, a cafe, a toilet, a bakery stall, and a couple of vending machines. I didn't fancy anything in the cafe, so I bought a sandwich in the shop and sat in the seating area to eat it.
By the time I had, the chap had announced that the queue for the Dublin train started over there. I had to chase him across the station to ask him whether that was for the 12.35 - there was another train leaving just before that, which turned out to be a connecting train for the Enterprise. If you should need it. The departure boards had just stopped working, so I was as confused as many people there. Anyway, yes, that was the train, and I duly queued.
When we were eventually allowed to board, I was delighted to find plenty of unreserved seats - given my recent experience with Virgin Trains, where they all seemed to be taken! (nominally, at least). Nice little traffic-light type lights over the seats make it easy to see, too - green for unreserved, orange and red for reserved. I quickly found myself a forward-facing window seat, and had a comfy and pleasant trip south. I dozed a bit, and might have dozed more, except for the excitedly barking dog at one end of our carriage, and the child that screamed as though they were in The Exorcist at the other..
I arrived at Connolly Station, and had to make my way to Heuston. It's a bit far to walk, particularly with luggage - I did it, once, and wouldn't fancy repeating the experience. Time was, the only public transport option was the #90 bus - well, I consulted Google Maps, which sensibly suggested the Luas! It is actually slightly more expensive, but so much handier with bags - and, of course, not as dependent on traffic. There's a stop at Connolly, but Google Maps suggested trying the next stop along, where trams are much more frequent - turn right at the corner. I picked up a Leap card last time I was there - similar to the Oyster card, it gives cheaper travel across the city - and, of course, is handier than cash. And sure enough, the tram was along in no time.
So it was that I arrived at Heuston at 3.20. Here, they have machines - where I picked up my ticket, booked for 5.25. Now, there was a train leaving at 3.30.. which also connected with the third train I needed, to travel the final leg to Sixmilebridge. But you know, I had it in mind to pick up a birthday card for my mother, whose birthday was last week, and a box of chocolates - these things I could find in Heuston, but not if I rushed for the train. Plus, what would I do if I arrived down in Clare a couple of hours early? It wasn't as though my mother would want to go out to eat at that hour! And it wasn't as though I could change my journey for €10.. I'd have to buy a completely new ticket! Nah, I decided to wait it out.
So, I bought a card, pen, and box of chocolates. And the paper. Checked out the carvery in The Galway Hooker pub - but honestly, it didn't look too appetising, so I stuck to a sandwich in the cafe outside. Space heaters kept me warm while I ate and wrote the card - I was to wish, later, that I'd just stayed there, but it has no view of the departures board, so I moved. And after that, never stopped moving - it was too cold to be stationary. It's a feckin' barn of a place, draughts from every angle. A mint hot chocolate from the stall did help - although I could have done without the cream, which didn't have time to dissolve, and just ended up as a lump at the bottom.
It took forever for our platform to be announced, as I paced in the cold, and kids bashed the poor piano that was advertising a piano repair company. Strikes me that, if that piano survives all that treatment, it'll be a great advertisement! Finally, it was with a great sense of gratitude that we scurried to our train when it was announced. For once, I had a reservation, and gratefully took my seat - with lights on the tables, my table companion wondered whether we'd stumbled into First Class, as we're not accustomed to such luxury! Me, I was impressed that the reservations are now given as LCD displays - I remember when they were scribbled on slips of paper, and shoved into the join between seat and headrest..
Only thing was, I had really nowhere to stow my bag. There doesn't seem to be a luggage section, it was too heavy to go in the overhead rack, and the spaces between the seats now - sensibly - house bins. I ended up shoving it in the wheelchair space at the end of the carriage. Another comfy journey, during which I dozed substantially. And wow, decent WiFi!
As we approached Limerick, a helpful announcer told us that the train to Sixmilebridge was leaving from Platform 4. Great - considering that Google Maps said I had all of five minutes to make the connection! I couldn't even remember where that was. In scurrying off the train, I nearly came a cropper on something that had been spilled on the dining car floor. Well, I did manage to find the door for Platforms 3 and 4, which had a massive queue - automatically joined that, and in trying to find out whether I was in the right place, had some trouble getting the youth in front of me to respond, since he had earphones in. When he did, it was to say that no, that wasn't the train he was queueing for.. queue the lady behind me exclaiming to her companion, "I told you so!", as we all legged it past the queue.
I think the smaller, two-car train at Platform 4 was waiting for us - at any rate, it left just a couple of minutes after I sat down. I'd missed the announcement that explained the stops, but as I suspected, Sixmilebridge is the first. I disembarked into the freezing cold, and hiked over to where I'd left my car - and so it was that I made it back to my mother's, around 9pm. Rather exhausted, and not really in the mood for my mother's poodle's shenanigans.
Really, it's been great, without work to occupy me for the last couple of days. But you know, I had to do something for Hallowe'en.. and realistically, that was going to be a film. Particularly as tomorrow is a Holy Day of Obligation, so my mother needed to be taken to Mass, which placed some constraints on when I could leave, as the only local Mass was a vigil Mass, tonight. Now, Limerick has a good selection of films, these days - it had to be something relevant to the day, though, which left three: Halloween (2018), Slaughterhouse Rulez, and Venom. Slaughterhouse Rulez actually scored highest on IMDB (typically for a Simon Pegg film, its rating has crashed since!), but it's a comedy, and I decided to go for straight horror, since it was available. So that meant Halloween. And as the Odeon had showings at 9, 10, and 11 - and is less than 2/3 the price of the Omniplex - that was the clear winner. Mind you, as I remarked to my mother, going to Mass followed by a slasher film was an interesting juxtaposition..
Well, Mass was done nice and quickly, I dropped my mother home and took off into the night. I even remembered the way to the cinema - which is quite good, considering I hadn't been there in years! Busy, busy car park - Ireland, they say, has the largest cinema-going population in Europe. (I blame the weather, as usual.) I parked as close as possible, and shivered my way over - where I discovered that every one of the ticket machines was out of service, so I had to queue at the counter. Well, at least it got rid of some cash for me. Seating is unreserved, so I just specified the showing I wanted - managed to get the next one, at 9 - and headed to the toilet. When I came out, it was still 25 minutes before showtime - I asked the usher, who said certainly, it was open! How handy - I'm not used to screens opening so early. So I went in and chose a comfy seat - I see they still have the old Storm logo, from before they were bought by Odeon!
Five minutes before start time, a very zen logo was displayed - all exploding particles and soft noises. Doubtless to try to calm down the audience before the show got underway - and indeed, the cinema (a pretty large size) was mostly full, most people arriving just before the feature. They were pretty well-behaved, to their credit. Some ads, some trailers, and we were into the feature.
Yep, another instalment in the franchise. This is the 40th anniversary of the fantastic original, written and directed by John Carpenter, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis (the original "screamer") as the hapless babysitter, pursued by a crazed serial killer with a big knife, and wearing an iconic, featureless mask. Well, Carpenter and Curtis are back as executive producers on this - a major draw is the return of Curtis, who reprises her role as Laurie Strode, 40 years older: and the best of all is the return of Carpenter's terrific music! It is such a treat when they use that in a chase sequence - although, to their credit, it's not over-used.
This is what you might call a female empowerment horror. Laurie has spent her life compensating for her helplessness on that original night, and has now turned her house into a fortress, complete with a kick-ass arsenal in an underground bunker. She has a daughter, Judy Greer, whom social services removed from her care when she was 12, considering her upbringing to be unsuitable: involving, as it did, the bunker, gun training, combat training.. you know the sort of thing. She, herself, is now all grown up and married, with a teenage daughter of her own, who feels an affinity to her crazy grandmother. (It occurs to me that these people must have had their daughters damn young - only 40 years have passed, as is confirmed in the script, and Laurie was about the same age in the original film that her granddaughter is now, in her late teens..)
The men in this film - our famous villain aside - are hopeless. There's no mention of Judy Greer's father, and her husband is a pompous ass, who makes inappropriate comments, is never of any use, and always thinks - erroneously - that he knows best. The officials are predictably at sixes and sevens, the boyfriends stoned and/or drunk. Nope, it's up to Laurie and clan to save the day.
It does deliver the scares. And oh, thank you for that glorious clip of music! Many scenes are reprised from the original - a treat for fans - particularly at the start of the film. Note the similar decor in parts, the similarities with scenes of Michael stalking the streets full of trick 'r treaters. Specific scenes that are reproduced include one of Laurie's granddaughter, sat at the back of a classroom, bored and staring out the window, to see someone standing on the opposite side of the road, staring back at her. Mental patients wandering the streets at night, dazed. A couple of murders are committed in like manner to the original. We get teenagers walking down streets lined with autumn leaves. We get a car driving around in the background, perhaps stalking the characters. We get a horny babysitter, inviting friends over. We get someone falling from a roof, apparently dead - and when we look back, the body is gone. We get Laurie's granddaughter, running through the neighbourhood screaming - she doesn't have to do it for so long though, these neighbours are much more helpful!
The film starts with two rather annoying investigative journalists, looking into the story for a podcast. Don't worry (spoiler!), they don't last too long. I'll say this, this film makes us care much more for the victims than does the original - there's not a murder that occurs but we're disturbed by. Which might be why I spent much of the film with my hands to my mouth. I did also notice a distinct lack of sex / nudity in this one, in comparison with the original. In the original, I got the impression that Michael was punishing people for having sex - not sure whether he has any particular motivation here, apart from people who get in his way, and of course, Laurie, for whatever reason. Ergo, we have a much higher body count - I estimated 18, perhaps 19.
In summary, not the classic that the original is, but a worthy successor, and definitely scary enough to watch on Hallowe'en. Outside, it was like a fridge - the car needed demisting, and the drive back, over the mountain, was quite scary in dense fog. Perfect weather for the day that was in it! but I was glad I hadn't had to wait for a later showing.
On Monday, I'm back up to Dublin. U2 again, dont'cha know? Staying in the Clayton again, which is a hop, skip and jump from the 3Arena, where there are concerts on Monday and Tuesday. Would you believe, I've just spent 10 months clicking on the Ticketmaster website to see whether they had a ticket drop, so I could get a ticket to Monday's concert - the only Dublin one I didn't have. Would you believe further, last night I randomly clicked on it again, on the way to do something else - and there they were. You just have to persist. Within the next 10 minutes, I had a lower-tier ticket! Well, my return train ticket is for that day - might be a rush across town, but I should do it.
Next Wednesday, I fly back to London (BA) - purely so I can work on the 8th, before flying back to Dublin that night! Was supposed to be Cityjet, but they've now ended their flight schedule after this month - so now I'm going Ryanair. Same hotel, same venue, same band - on the 9th and 10th. I fly back on the 11th, exhausted, and finished with U2 concerts for the year!
On the 12th, I booked for Macbeth, at the Wanamaker Playhouse. And then Let's Do This finally posted that date for the Shirt Tail Stompers at Wilton's - well, I couldn't miss that! Funnily enough, London Social Detours have now advertised the same thing (and are charging more, as usual) - there's a terrible rivalry between the groups, with the leader of the latter group thinking she has prior claim to the floorspace. Sparks might fly. Meantime, anyone want a spare ticket for Macbeth?
On the 13th, we have our monthly team outing - probably just the two of us, but hey.
On the 14th, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) at last for Love Lies Bleeding, at the Print Room at the Coronet. Got my ticket from London Theatre Direct.
On the 15th, I'm going to try the Seven Deadly Sins Pub Naughty History Tour. Walking in London again. And it being a Funzing event (like all of Walking in London's) I scoured my old Funzing discount codes, and discovered that Funzing_Fb20 seems to be working again - for all of them I've recently booked! So, a 20% discount - better than any recently offered on their Facebook page. Then I'm back to Ireland again for the weekend.
On the 19th, News of the Strange, from the Crick Crack Club, at Soho Theatre. The club does have a Meetup group, but it seems to have gone dormant, and is no longer advertising upcoming events. Not that that stops the organiser from attending - I'm sure I saw her at a recent event! I've actually asked whether they're now defunct - we'll see whether I get a response.
On the 20th, back with UITCS for Pinter at the Pinter - Pinter plays at the Pinter Theatre. Two long ones on this occasion - this is Programme Four: Moonlight & Night School.
On the 21st, back at last with The London Jazz Meetup, who are off to the London Jazz Festival for a concert by the Faraj Suleiman Quartet at King's Place. UK premiere, apparently!
On the 22nd, with UITCS at the Garrick for Don Quixote. The only cheap tickets left for this were terrible, so I went a bit upmarket. A bit - I'm still behind a pillar!
On the 23rd, I'm on a Paranormal Activity Tour - ooh! Now, for this one, we get ghost-hunting equipment, which could make it interesting - I don't fancy the dowsing rods, myself, but we'll see. Walking in London, again. Discounted, again. And this was after my loyalty discount - so I got it at better than half price! which is good, considering the price.
On the 24th, I'm off on my own to see A Small Place, at the Gate.
On the 25th, back at last to Winter Wonderland! That evening, I'm off to Cirque Berserk - an annual tradition for me. The latest show is the cheapest, so that's the one I booked.
On the 26th, I'm back with UITCS for Programme Three of Pinter at the Pinter - Landscape / A Kind of Alaska / Monologue.
On the 27th, I'm going to see Company, by Sondheim, at the Gielgud. No tickets available for the upper levels on the official site - they must all have been bought up by resellers! Cheapest I found was with OfficialLondonTheatre, run by See Tickets.
On the 28th, I'm with Walking in London again for the Haunted London Pub Tour.
On the 29th, I'm back with UITCS at the National for Hadestown. Then back to Ireland again for the weekend.
On the 3rd of December, I'm back to the National for I'm Not Running.
On the 4th, I'm off to the Bush, for Drip.
On the 5th, LDN Talks @ Night and London Speaks Sessions (both Funzing) advertised a "Winterville" talk on The Science of Santa, where we get the scientific explanation of how he does it. Taking place at The Windmill. However, seems they meant the day before, when of course I'm busy. So instead I'm going to True West, with Kit Harington, at the Vaudeville. Cheapest tickets from the venue.
On the 6th, Hazel of Walks, Talks and Treasure Hunts, London Guided Walks (and, indeed, Walking in London) has a Christmas Carol Tour. Now, the last two events I booked with her turned out to be no-shows.. the first might not have been her fault, as she was advertising someone else's event, but the second, she just missed the ball on and left three of us standing on a street corner. Whether this event happens is anyone's guess! Now, it's technically more expensive if you book on Funzing - but if you have my discount ;-) it comes down to the same price she charges on her own site, without the booking fee! So I did it that way. But then Henning, with the London European Club, advertised a Happy Xmaths evening at Imperial College, the same night! Festive fun for maths geeks - sign me up. Plus it's free - you just have to register with Eventbrite. And it'll be great to get back with this group. And since I booked the walk with Funzing, I've cancelled and will get a full refund. And I feel no sadness at missing an evening with Hazel, after what's been happening.
On the 7th, back with UITCS at the Royal Court, for The Cane. Got the very last ticket, phew!
On the 8th, with them again at the Orange Tree Theatre for The Double Dealer.
On the 9th, the Crick Crack Club is back at the British Museum for I Know Not, an afternoon of Sufi legend.
On the 10th, I'm off to the Bridge Theatre for A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter, by Martin McDonagh. Starring Jim Broadbent, this is a dark take on Hans Christian Anderson!
And on the 11th of December, I'm going with North London Friends to The Convert, at the Young Vic. Discounted top-price seats, it seems!
Showing posts with label Heuston Station. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heuston Station. Show all posts
Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Concert: U2 (Éire)
Interesting month I'm having, zipping from city to city, from bed to bed. The latest was upon leaving work on Friday, when I was heading to Dublin, for U2's one-and-only (!) concert there this year. And, for a change, I was going from City airport! I don't normally, because they don't fly from there to Shannon, which is where I'm normally headed to, in Ireland.
It'd be very handy if you were based in East London - not so much from where I was coming from, in the West End. Still, no longer to get to than Heathrow. If I were to do it in under an hour, I'd have to take the Tube - to Waterloo, then catch the Jubilee Line to Canning Town, from where I could take the bus or DLR. Now, I must have been feeling a bit distracted, because, while you can happily change Tube lines without touching out, something persuaded me that I should exit at Waterloo. It was as I was ascending on the escalator that I saw signs ahead, started to prod myself to remember where I was headed next, and went, "Oh, hell!".. so that cost me some unnecessary time and expense. Never mind - my life is just too damn busy these days. "Sleep when I'm dead", indeed.
So, back down again - by stairs, as the down escalator was out of order. A packed Jubilee Line took me - not to Canning Town, but to the stop before, North Greenwich. (I hadn't even thought to check.) And I really wish I'd heeded the driver's advice to get off at the stop before that (Canary Wharf) if we wanted to go further - when we arrived at North Greenwich, it turned out I had to go all the way upstairs and down onto another platform to get a train going my way. And this journey really wasn't going my way - when I finally got to Canning Town, I couldn't flippin' find the exit! You could go up or down to change platforms, but there was nothing about an exit. Heading up, I saw a sign pointing down for the exit, and sure enough, the basement was where I finally found it. The rather aggressive charity collectors gathered around the exit got short shrift from me, I'm afraid..
Guess what? It was easy from then on. I'd decided to take the bus, and easily found the stop: only to find that the next wasn't due for a while. I was just wondering whether to take the DLR instead, when the bus arrived (so much for departure boards, again). And a quick, 10-minute journey took us right to the airport door. A short walk, the automatic terminal doors opened - oh look, there are the self-service kiosks! (Desks with people at them are just behind.) Duly checked in - why, there's the escalator to Departures, just over there. Ascended, through security nice and quickly, and I was hungry. Looked around - oh look, people eating! "The Pilot's Kitchen". Ok then.
I was quickly seated, and quickly served - and with a smile; they're lovely, here. The menu consists mainly of variations on the same dishes, so they can get it out swiftly - and many of these are burgers. I noticed you could have a plain or posh (Aberdeen Angus) burger, with or without plain or posh bacon and cheese (posh = Stilton). I was plain all the way - with bacon and cheese, mind. And very moreish it was! Funnily enough, I forgot to ask for it without the pickle that was advertised on the menu - but there wasn't any; instead, they had tomato, which hadn't been listed. And which I had to remove, as I'm intolerant. I'd have had dessert, maybe, but my gate had been announced by the time I'd finished eating, and I just paid and left.
Duly found my gate, only to discover that BA was doing its thing of keeping people waiting an eternity before boarding. (One U2 t-shirt, ahead of me in the queue.) We finally boarded a plane with only four seats across - rather nice. Also nice was to discover, once we were airborne, that - despite me being on the same airline, in the same class, as my last trip, to Barcelona, where economy were charged for everything - on this flight, we got a free drink and snack! Gee, I'm liking this airport more and more. (They forgot to close the curtain separating us from Business class, so I can testify that the difference is that they got a proper meal, with metal cutlery and proper glasses. And cloth napkins. Ehh, not worth the extra. Except I was a bit jealous of their chocolate cake.)
In Dublin, sure enough, the bus information desk was closed, where I'd hoped to get a Leap card - the card they've brought in, since I was last here, that works the same as an Oyster card. I also noticed no sign for the bus - just as well I remembered where the stop was! Got a regular ticket for my ride into town, and a clear information system told me the stop names, which bore a vague resemblance to those that Google Maps had given me. Again, it pays to have some idea of your bearings.
My hotel was on Talbot Street, so when we came to the Talbot Street stop, off I got - and glee! The Ripley Court was right across the road. And the doors were locked - I had to buzz the intercom to get in, and the guy on reception had to tell me when the door was unlocked, as there is no indication. Checked in - and straight away, a rip-off: I'd thought the hotel in Barcelona was a tad exorbitant, but at €250 per night (over twice the normal rate), not including breakfast, this was really taking the mickey! Apparently, some foreign tourism minister stayed in Dublin recently, and returned home in high dudgeon, saying he'd never recommend Dublin, for its inflated prices. As it happened, that was one of the lead stories in Saturday's paper, how local hotels had boosted their rates by an average of 40% for the concert - indeed, I remember the hassle of booking accommodation in Dublin, back in January on the day I bought my concert tickets, when the availability map on Booking.com had hotels disappearing in front of my eyes, and I had to book fast to get a bed in the city at all..
So, for €250 per night, I got a decent-sized twin room (for single occupancy), with double glazing, standard, heavy, oak furnishings and trim, and the pokiest bathroom you've ever seen. Plenty of towels, nowhere to put them. Still, I was exhausted, and slept well - but only with the help of the earplugs I'm never without; I was on the first floor, and that double glazing does nothing to mitigate the noise from this city-centre street, or the trains that rattle right by the window, on their way to and from nearby Connolly Station. Convenient location, adequate accommodation - but very overpriced.
Saturday dawned fine and sunny. Got the aforementioned paper - packed with enthusiastic articles about the concert: event of the year in Ireland, y'know! I was supposed to meet my friend, who was going to the concert with me, at Café Kylemore for brunch; she texted to say she was running late, so I stayed reading a bit longer before I headed out. She hadn't got there when I arrived, so I staked a claim to a table - it can get very busy at lunchtime, which we were now approaching. She was coming by bus, and traffic was horrendous - in the end, I was waiting over half an hour before she arrived! So, she had breakfast and I had lunch - roast chicken, with veg and gravy. As I didn't want the cabbage, they let me have something from the breakfast menu to substitute - I chose mushrooms. The chicken was lovely - unfortunately, the carrots and mushrooms were stone cold. Hey-ho, I got fed at last, and was glad of it.
Popped out to her place for a while, where she kindly fed me with chocolate cake - then back into town, for something to eat before the concert. I fancied Chinese, all of a sudden - so we decided on the Good World, which we used to go to, back in the day when we both lived here. An early-bird menu, with a cheaper and a slightly more expensive option, was great value, and we were well and tastily fed. Ice cream for dessert - I asked for chocolate sauce, but she mistook it for a request for chocolate ice cream. Delicious, anyhow!
Back to the hotel then, briefly, to drop off the large bag of prezzies my friend had kindly given me. (Can't take large bags into rock concerts.) And also to drop off any food products - that's what they're really looking for, with those security checks, you know! A minor panic followed when it seemed she'd lost her phone and went back to look for it; in the meantime, I heard a ringing.. it turned out to have scooted under the dressing table, of course, and we hadn't heard it, as it fell on carpet.
Finally, we were off. I had Google Maps to hand, but you really don't need it on the way to the concert - just follow the hordes.
More photos here. No queueing allowed, this time - must've been manic when the gates opened! Routes were split, as ever, according to what section of the stadium you were headed to, as stated on your ticket; Google Maps was kind enough to direct us by the correct route, anyway. It's an impressive structure, rising above the rooftops.. Bag check complete, we were soon in our seats - the best for me yet on this tour!
Practically down on the pitch, as the concert progressed, it felt as though we were in the world's largest rave! Predictably, the most international crowd yet - we had Spanish and Germans beside us, a row of French people in front of us - I overheard American accents, and there were Spanish, Greek, and Brazilian flags in the crowd. A lot of Northern Irish accents, too. And the place was, apparently, packed with the Great and the Good - a huge round of applause went up when the President and his wife took their seats, high above us (not as good a view as we had). The Taoiseach was on the pitch, rather overdressed:
The Archbishop of Dublin, Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Colin Farrell and his family, Larry Gogan, Amy Huberman, the various members of U2's families.. yes, all were in attendance when a scream arose, as someone saw a procession of folks heading for the rear of the stage. Finally, Larry Mullen strolled out, took his seat, and laid into the military beat of Sunday Bloody Sunday. And we were off..
Setlist:
Bono started by saying that he wanted this night to be epic: and as the hymn-like strains of Where the Streets Have No Name heralded the turning-on of the screen, someone had obviously done their best to make it so, as everybody raised their eyes to a military flyover, jets trailing the Irish colours! Nobody seems to know who actually made that call, but as people have remarked, there was enough political clout in the house to make it an easy task.
Awesome concert, a real sense of one-ness, when all you could see frequently were hands raised aloft below the stage. A real toss-up as to whether this or Barcelona was THE concert of the tour - I suppose I have to give it to Dublin.
Afterwards, a schlep back to the hotel - my friend's sister had got a last-minute ticket, not too badly priced on Stubhub, and met us at the hotel afterwards, but it took her until nearly midnight to get there. They were hungry, and I started to get peckish myself, so we headed out to forage; the queue at Supermac's extending into the road, we headed around the corner to Saigon City, an Asian takeaway with long tables. Where the queue was.. lively. For the authentic Dublin experience, do come here late night at the weekend. Just be prepared for rough language.. we could have stayed and eaten there, but thought we might have had a quieter experience back in my room, where there was a table, and three chairs - just right. And she of the last-minute ticket managed to cadge a fork and spoon from the bar, downstairs. I have to recommend the chicken balls, which were excellent - I found the curry too spicy for my taste, and wasn't mad about the rice.
And so to bed, eventually - and I was glad I set the alarm, given that late checkout would have cost me €40 extra, and without the alarm I'd probably have missed the deadline. That bus stop I'd got off at was set-down only, and rather than try to figure out where to go for the bus to the station, I decided to walk - it was a nice day. I was taking the train down to my mother's for a couple of days, you see. Unfortunately, I was dragging quite a weight of luggage.. never mind, I made it eventually, and after discovering I'd left my charger in the hotel and would have to buy another (damn!), I headed for food in the station bar, which was by now serving carvery lunch. Service for food was good, for the bar was indifferent, and the food was excellent - apart from the overly sweet marinade on the chicken. Oh, and I finally got a Leap card! (too late) - I don't know whether the feature was available at the other ticket machines I used over the weekend, but I have one now. And since the cash slot didn't seem to be working, I used my Monzo card.. thank goodness for it! The prepaid card that you top up with your debit card - no fee for using abroad, and very safe. And unlike my existing credit card, I don't have to pay this one from my Irish account - the one with no regular funds going into it.
After some standing around - no seats available - my platform was finally announced, and I had a relaxing journey all the way to Sixmilebridge, where I picked up my car. By the time I got to my mother's, both of us were ready to be fed again, and headed to the Abbey Tavern - and again the next day. She does like it there - good atmosphere, and the staff all know us. A pity they hardly change their menu.. so, on the first outing, I had lamb (for a change) - wasn't that keen, and they gave me far too much, as is typical. On the second outing, I had steak - always excellent, it's a good staple choice here.
And so back to London, finally. Tonight, I had booked free comedy in Greenwich - London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and London Art, Comedy & Culture Lovers. Then Funzing rode to the rescue, and I booked a Funzing talk entitled "Politics - WTF!" Appropriate, no? Anyway, I booked on a once-only code "iwantfunzingagain". Or you could try "Funzing30" - both give 30% off, but are time-limited. But last week, I checked.. and whoopee, London Literary Walks is back at last, with a Sculpture in the City walk. Thank goodness I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours beforehand without penalty. So I did.
Tomorrow was free comedy in Hammersmith again. With the first three of the above groups, plus DiscoverLDN.UK. And would you believe it - before I had the chance to cancel, they did! Well, Hammersmith & Fulham Friends did - which I'm taking it applies to all. Maybe not -anyway, it gave me the excuse. So I'll go to a film, as I was already thinking of doing; predictably, top of the list is Dunkirk. Showing at multiple times, nice and close to me.
So, that brings us to Friday, and it's off to Amsterdam, for my final two U2 concerts of the year (sniff). On Saturday and Sunday. Really, you have no idea of the organisation that went into all of this, back in January..! These were the only ones I couldn't get tickets for officially - bought them on Viagogo. And I see I booked from City Airport again - lovely!
I fly back on Monday, and saw an interesting Funzing talk advertised for that night - "Are We Living in the Matrix?" Well, I'm well overdue a free talk, with all of them that I've booked (every fourth free), so I contacted them to get a code to get this for free. Still waiting..! Despairing of them, I finally booked it on one of their limited 50% deals. It had been advertised with London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @Night - funnily enough, they've now both cancelled. It still seems to be running, though. No loyalty points for this one, I guess!
On Tuesday, I finally get to see Jennifer Rees again, when she's giving a talk on The Psychology of Criminals. With dim sum, great! (Had to stick with a 10% discount for this one - Fun_Day10 or Fun_Week10 are the ones you want for that.) And it's walking distance from me for once, in Covent Garden. She's a fantastic and engaging speaker. Excellent.. and Helen has sensibly decided to come too. On which occasion she'll deliver all the stuff I couldn't fit in my bag, coming back from Twickenham!
I was just looking up what to do next Wednesday - and wouldn't you know it, at that moment the Pop-Up Opera sent me a mail with upcoming events. Une Éducation Manquée is a short, French comic opera, whose run finishes that day. All right then!
On the 3rd, my first Meetup with Up in the Cheap Seats, one of several new groups I've joined to fill the great void left by the sad departure of the Man with the Hat. We're off to see The Tempest, with Simon Russell Beale, at the Barbican. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
And on the 7th, back with Let's Do This for a vintage swing jazz evening at Wilton's.
It'd be very handy if you were based in East London - not so much from where I was coming from, in the West End. Still, no longer to get to than Heathrow. If I were to do it in under an hour, I'd have to take the Tube - to Waterloo, then catch the Jubilee Line to Canning Town, from where I could take the bus or DLR. Now, I must have been feeling a bit distracted, because, while you can happily change Tube lines without touching out, something persuaded me that I should exit at Waterloo. It was as I was ascending on the escalator that I saw signs ahead, started to prod myself to remember where I was headed next, and went, "Oh, hell!".. so that cost me some unnecessary time and expense. Never mind - my life is just too damn busy these days. "Sleep when I'm dead", indeed.
So, back down again - by stairs, as the down escalator was out of order. A packed Jubilee Line took me - not to Canning Town, but to the stop before, North Greenwich. (I hadn't even thought to check.) And I really wish I'd heeded the driver's advice to get off at the stop before that (Canary Wharf) if we wanted to go further - when we arrived at North Greenwich, it turned out I had to go all the way upstairs and down onto another platform to get a train going my way. And this journey really wasn't going my way - when I finally got to Canning Town, I couldn't flippin' find the exit! You could go up or down to change platforms, but there was nothing about an exit. Heading up, I saw a sign pointing down for the exit, and sure enough, the basement was where I finally found it. The rather aggressive charity collectors gathered around the exit got short shrift from me, I'm afraid..
Guess what? It was easy from then on. I'd decided to take the bus, and easily found the stop: only to find that the next wasn't due for a while. I was just wondering whether to take the DLR instead, when the bus arrived (so much for departure boards, again). And a quick, 10-minute journey took us right to the airport door. A short walk, the automatic terminal doors opened - oh look, there are the self-service kiosks! (Desks with people at them are just behind.) Duly checked in - why, there's the escalator to Departures, just over there. Ascended, through security nice and quickly, and I was hungry. Looked around - oh look, people eating! "The Pilot's Kitchen". Ok then.
I was quickly seated, and quickly served - and with a smile; they're lovely, here. The menu consists mainly of variations on the same dishes, so they can get it out swiftly - and many of these are burgers. I noticed you could have a plain or posh (Aberdeen Angus) burger, with or without plain or posh bacon and cheese (posh = Stilton). I was plain all the way - with bacon and cheese, mind. And very moreish it was! Funnily enough, I forgot to ask for it without the pickle that was advertised on the menu - but there wasn't any; instead, they had tomato, which hadn't been listed. And which I had to remove, as I'm intolerant. I'd have had dessert, maybe, but my gate had been announced by the time I'd finished eating, and I just paid and left.
Duly found my gate, only to discover that BA was doing its thing of keeping people waiting an eternity before boarding. (One U2 t-shirt, ahead of me in the queue.) We finally boarded a plane with only four seats across - rather nice. Also nice was to discover, once we were airborne, that - despite me being on the same airline, in the same class, as my last trip, to Barcelona, where economy were charged for everything - on this flight, we got a free drink and snack! Gee, I'm liking this airport more and more. (They forgot to close the curtain separating us from Business class, so I can testify that the difference is that they got a proper meal, with metal cutlery and proper glasses. And cloth napkins. Ehh, not worth the extra. Except I was a bit jealous of their chocolate cake.)
In Dublin, sure enough, the bus information desk was closed, where I'd hoped to get a Leap card - the card they've brought in, since I was last here, that works the same as an Oyster card. I also noticed no sign for the bus - just as well I remembered where the stop was! Got a regular ticket for my ride into town, and a clear information system told me the stop names, which bore a vague resemblance to those that Google Maps had given me. Again, it pays to have some idea of your bearings.
My hotel was on Talbot Street, so when we came to the Talbot Street stop, off I got - and glee! The Ripley Court was right across the road. And the doors were locked - I had to buzz the intercom to get in, and the guy on reception had to tell me when the door was unlocked, as there is no indication. Checked in - and straight away, a rip-off: I'd thought the hotel in Barcelona was a tad exorbitant, but at €250 per night (over twice the normal rate), not including breakfast, this was really taking the mickey! Apparently, some foreign tourism minister stayed in Dublin recently, and returned home in high dudgeon, saying he'd never recommend Dublin, for its inflated prices. As it happened, that was one of the lead stories in Saturday's paper, how local hotels had boosted their rates by an average of 40% for the concert - indeed, I remember the hassle of booking accommodation in Dublin, back in January on the day I bought my concert tickets, when the availability map on Booking.com had hotels disappearing in front of my eyes, and I had to book fast to get a bed in the city at all..
So, for €250 per night, I got a decent-sized twin room (for single occupancy), with double glazing, standard, heavy, oak furnishings and trim, and the pokiest bathroom you've ever seen. Plenty of towels, nowhere to put them. Still, I was exhausted, and slept well - but only with the help of the earplugs I'm never without; I was on the first floor, and that double glazing does nothing to mitigate the noise from this city-centre street, or the trains that rattle right by the window, on their way to and from nearby Connolly Station. Convenient location, adequate accommodation - but very overpriced.
Saturday dawned fine and sunny. Got the aforementioned paper - packed with enthusiastic articles about the concert: event of the year in Ireland, y'know! I was supposed to meet my friend, who was going to the concert with me, at Café Kylemore for brunch; she texted to say she was running late, so I stayed reading a bit longer before I headed out. She hadn't got there when I arrived, so I staked a claim to a table - it can get very busy at lunchtime, which we were now approaching. She was coming by bus, and traffic was horrendous - in the end, I was waiting over half an hour before she arrived! So, she had breakfast and I had lunch - roast chicken, with veg and gravy. As I didn't want the cabbage, they let me have something from the breakfast menu to substitute - I chose mushrooms. The chicken was lovely - unfortunately, the carrots and mushrooms were stone cold. Hey-ho, I got fed at last, and was glad of it.
Popped out to her place for a while, where she kindly fed me with chocolate cake - then back into town, for something to eat before the concert. I fancied Chinese, all of a sudden - so we decided on the Good World, which we used to go to, back in the day when we both lived here. An early-bird menu, with a cheaper and a slightly more expensive option, was great value, and we were well and tastily fed. Ice cream for dessert - I asked for chocolate sauce, but she mistook it for a request for chocolate ice cream. Delicious, anyhow!
Back to the hotel then, briefly, to drop off the large bag of prezzies my friend had kindly given me. (Can't take large bags into rock concerts.) And also to drop off any food products - that's what they're really looking for, with those security checks, you know! A minor panic followed when it seemed she'd lost her phone and went back to look for it; in the meantime, I heard a ringing.. it turned out to have scooted under the dressing table, of course, and we hadn't heard it, as it fell on carpet.
Finally, we were off. I had Google Maps to hand, but you really don't need it on the way to the concert - just follow the hordes.
More photos here. No queueing allowed, this time - must've been manic when the gates opened! Routes were split, as ever, according to what section of the stadium you were headed to, as stated on your ticket; Google Maps was kind enough to direct us by the correct route, anyway. It's an impressive structure, rising above the rooftops.. Bag check complete, we were soon in our seats - the best for me yet on this tour!
Practically down on the pitch, as the concert progressed, it felt as though we were in the world's largest rave! Predictably, the most international crowd yet - we had Spanish and Germans beside us, a row of French people in front of us - I overheard American accents, and there were Spanish, Greek, and Brazilian flags in the crowd. A lot of Northern Irish accents, too. And the place was, apparently, packed with the Great and the Good - a huge round of applause went up when the President and his wife took their seats, high above us (not as good a view as we had). The Taoiseach was on the pitch, rather overdressed:
The Archbishop of Dublin, Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Colin Farrell and his family, Larry Gogan, Amy Huberman, the various members of U2's families.. yes, all were in attendance when a scream arose, as someone saw a procession of folks heading for the rear of the stage. Finally, Larry Mullen strolled out, took his seat, and laid into the military beat of Sunday Bloody Sunday. And we were off..
Setlist:
SET LIST
Sunday Bloody Sunday
New Year's Day
Bad
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared
New Year's Day
Bad
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Where The Streets Have No Name
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
With Or Without You
Bullet The Blue Sky
Running To Stand Still
Red Hill Mining Town
In God's Country
Trip Through Your Wires
One Tree Hill
Exit
Mothers of the Disappeared
ENCORE
Miss Sarajevo
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
One
The Little Things That Give You Away
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Vertigo
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
One
The Little Things That Give You Away
Bono started by saying that he wanted this night to be epic: and as the hymn-like strains of Where the Streets Have No Name heralded the turning-on of the screen, someone had obviously done their best to make it so, as everybody raised their eyes to a military flyover, jets trailing the Irish colours! Nobody seems to know who actually made that call, but as people have remarked, there was enough political clout in the house to make it an easy task.
Awesome concert, a real sense of one-ness, when all you could see frequently were hands raised aloft below the stage. A real toss-up as to whether this or Barcelona was THE concert of the tour - I suppose I have to give it to Dublin.
Afterwards, a schlep back to the hotel - my friend's sister had got a last-minute ticket, not too badly priced on Stubhub, and met us at the hotel afterwards, but it took her until nearly midnight to get there. They were hungry, and I started to get peckish myself, so we headed out to forage; the queue at Supermac's extending into the road, we headed around the corner to Saigon City, an Asian takeaway with long tables. Where the queue was.. lively. For the authentic Dublin experience, do come here late night at the weekend. Just be prepared for rough language.. we could have stayed and eaten there, but thought we might have had a quieter experience back in my room, where there was a table, and three chairs - just right. And she of the last-minute ticket managed to cadge a fork and spoon from the bar, downstairs. I have to recommend the chicken balls, which were excellent - I found the curry too spicy for my taste, and wasn't mad about the rice.
And so to bed, eventually - and I was glad I set the alarm, given that late checkout would have cost me €40 extra, and without the alarm I'd probably have missed the deadline. That bus stop I'd got off at was set-down only, and rather than try to figure out where to go for the bus to the station, I decided to walk - it was a nice day. I was taking the train down to my mother's for a couple of days, you see. Unfortunately, I was dragging quite a weight of luggage.. never mind, I made it eventually, and after discovering I'd left my charger in the hotel and would have to buy another (damn!), I headed for food in the station bar, which was by now serving carvery lunch. Service for food was good, for the bar was indifferent, and the food was excellent - apart from the overly sweet marinade on the chicken. Oh, and I finally got a Leap card! (too late) - I don't know whether the feature was available at the other ticket machines I used over the weekend, but I have one now. And since the cash slot didn't seem to be working, I used my Monzo card.. thank goodness for it! The prepaid card that you top up with your debit card - no fee for using abroad, and very safe. And unlike my existing credit card, I don't have to pay this one from my Irish account - the one with no regular funds going into it.
After some standing around - no seats available - my platform was finally announced, and I had a relaxing journey all the way to Sixmilebridge, where I picked up my car. By the time I got to my mother's, both of us were ready to be fed again, and headed to the Abbey Tavern - and again the next day. She does like it there - good atmosphere, and the staff all know us. A pity they hardly change their menu.. so, on the first outing, I had lamb (for a change) - wasn't that keen, and they gave me far too much, as is typical. On the second outing, I had steak - always excellent, it's a good staple choice here.
And so back to London, finally. Tonight, I had booked free comedy in Greenwich - London Live Comedy, Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich, Random London, and London Art, Comedy & Culture Lovers. Then Funzing rode to the rescue, and I booked a Funzing talk entitled "Politics - WTF!" Appropriate, no? Anyway, I booked on a once-only code "iwantfunzingagain". Or you could try "Funzing30" - both give 30% off, but are time-limited. But last week, I checked.. and whoopee, London Literary Walks is back at last, with a Sculpture in the City walk. Thank goodness I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours beforehand without penalty. So I did.
Tomorrow was free comedy in Hammersmith again. With the first three of the above groups, plus DiscoverLDN.UK. And would you believe it - before I had the chance to cancel, they did! Well, Hammersmith & Fulham Friends did - which I'm taking it applies to all. Maybe not -anyway, it gave me the excuse. So I'll go to a film, as I was already thinking of doing; predictably, top of the list is Dunkirk. Showing at multiple times, nice and close to me.
I fly back on Monday, and saw an interesting Funzing talk advertised for that night - "Are We Living in the Matrix?" Well, I'm well overdue a free talk, with all of them that I've booked (every fourth free), so I contacted them to get a code to get this for free. Still waiting..! Despairing of them, I finally booked it on one of their limited 50% deals. It had been advertised with London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @Night - funnily enough, they've now both cancelled. It still seems to be running, though. No loyalty points for this one, I guess!
On Tuesday, I finally get to see Jennifer Rees again, when she's giving a talk on The Psychology of Criminals. With dim sum, great! (Had to stick with a 10% discount for this one - Fun_Day10 or Fun_Week10 are the ones you want for that.) And it's walking distance from me for once, in Covent Garden. She's a fantastic and engaging speaker. Excellent.. and Helen has sensibly decided to come too. On which occasion she'll deliver all the stuff I couldn't fit in my bag, coming back from Twickenham!
I was just looking up what to do next Wednesday - and wouldn't you know it, at that moment the Pop-Up Opera sent me a mail with upcoming events. Une Éducation Manquée is a short, French comic opera, whose run finishes that day. All right then!
On the 3rd, my first Meetup with Up in the Cheap Seats, one of several new groups I've joined to fill the great void left by the sad departure of the Man with the Hat. We're off to see The Tempest, with Simon Russell Beale, at the Barbican. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
And on the 7th, back with Let's Do This for a vintage swing jazz evening at Wilton's.
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