Today was one of those boring travelling days – the kind of day you seem to spend forever on trains, planes and taxis getting nowhere fast. It wasn’t helped by delays on the Picadilly Line and then at Heathrow while we waited on the tarmac for the first ever Airbus A380 to land. It ended up parking right beside us. It’s big – real big.
There were a couple of surprises on the Icelandair flight. All the stewardesses looked old enough to be Bjork’s grandmother. And there are ads on all the fold down tables. The one on mine was for Optical Studio in Reykjavik and featured a seemingly naked girl staring up at me in those glasses that people in publishing always seem to wear. It kind of distracted me from my fish curry. In retrospect that was probably a good thing.
So now I’m ensconsed in my room at the Hotel Helix. I’ve been given one of their ‘flex’ rooms. It’s the same as there other rooms except for a gratuitous piece of gym equipment sitting in the corner of the room. (I just checked – it’s a Stairmaster Freeclimber.) Oh, and it’s directly above the bar where they are having an ’80′s night. They’ve played Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, Johnny Be Good by Men at Work and Let’s Dance by David Bowie.
If they play Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins I’ll be a very happy man!
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You’re so retro! Echo Beach – good grief, I haven’t heard that for ages!!!
I’m so jealous that you got to see the Airbus A380 up close, I saw it from the sky here in cloudy Bristol, it flew over our offices as it made its way to London. It looked enormous in the sky, I can’t begin to imagine how big it is on the ground. I think the whole of Bristol was out to see it yesterday lunchtime, I was surprised it attracted so much attention. I guess its because part of it was made in our city.
Ah beautiful Bristol, creator of aeroplanes, crap BBC TV, Sherry and Wallace & Gromitt – I’m sure there are worse places to hail from!
Hope you settled in nicely – anywhere in the world has to be better than where I am right now, looking out onto a very overcast stretch of the M32!
Ciao Ciao (see what I did there ……………. ok, I’m going)
Millie :->)
Good luck with the US tour Peter – no doubt it will be a whole lot of fun!
Funny that you were sat next to the new Airbus A380 – I was at the VIP party in the gate room enjoying the canapes and drinks whilst you were sat staring at old stewardesses!
They were giving away lots of freebies including some little models of the aircraft – unfortunately they had run out by the time I got there – so I made sure I got my own back my eating more mini desserts than anyone else!
Good luck Pete!
Mick
Good Luck Pete.
Enjoy the states and keep us updated of your travels.
Have a great trip! We’re currently in Rome and I can’t believe you rode a Vespa around this town. They’re fucking nuts!
PS: You still haven’t sent me your postcard challenge. Bought our first souvenir today: A John Paul II bottle opener, so every beer can be blessed.