mrph | Leipzig WGT

So, this is how it all went...

Wednesday
Went to the pub instead of packing. Then sent some emails instead of packing. Finally, played on the PS2 for a bit instead of packing.

Thursday
Up early, just in time to pack things in the usual mad rush. Got to Pool Meadow bus station with time to spare and got the National Express to Luton Airport. Luton-the-town, btw, is pretty damn grim. Spotted familiar goths at the airport - there were a small mob of us (Andy, gigib, Simon, Lorena and more...) there by the time davefish (the only goth I was expecting to meet) arrived.

The veggie sushi they sell at the airport is actually quite edible, btw. It certainly looked better than the veggie breakfasts...

davefish, by the way, had decided to wear big boots, zip-covered bondage trousers and a t-shirt with a metal plate. It seems this was just because of the comedy potential at security - funnily enough, they didn't look surprised when the metal detector went off. And he beamed at them.

Eventually, we got to our departure gate. They called us for our flight. We got on the bus and they drove us to the plane. But they didn't open the bus doors. Then they drove us to a different plane. Next they drove around the airport for a few minutes, before finally dropping us back at the terminal for an announcement that our plane "wasn't working".

An hour and a half later we were on the plane, or on a plane anyway, and heading off to Berlin Schonefeld.

Only one thing about the actual flight is worth mentioning - the EasyJet in-flight magazine, with its €9000,000 luxury holiday homes. If I could afford one of them, would I really be flying EasyJet? They also sell chocolate-scented teddy bears. I'm not sure why.

It's a short walk from the airport to the station, and we seemed to accumulate goths on the way - Andy's girlfriend Nicole was waiting for our flight to arrive, and Karen (who'd just flown in from Bristol) got to the station just after we did. Then we actually boarded the train and found that lsur and Celine were already on it... it's a small world. :)

Due to planes and trains we were an hour or so late into Leipzig, and found that Laszlo (who davefish had been planning to meet at the hotel a little earlier) was on the platform, waiting for us... so the three of us wandered back to the hotel, on foot (well, ok, Laszlo had his bike, but he was pushing it not riding it so it's still technically on foot...). I mention this solely because gigib and the others decided to get a taxi instead... and we'd just finished checking in when they arrived. There are advantages to having a local friend who can show you the short-cuts. :)

The rest of the day was quite relaxed - the mob had dispersed by this point, with some heading down to the Agra to get wristbands while others went off to the Sixtina or the Moritzbastei, so I wandered out in search of food with davefish and Laszlo, but then got sidetracked by Morrisons, which was (unsurprisingly) full of UK goths (including chimera_s, ninshubur, macrina and all the other usual suspects). Chatted, had food (which wasn't quite as nice as I recall from previous years, but was still good), drank beer and wandered back to the hotel.

So, that was the warm-up. Then I woke up on Friday and the fun really started... :)