Phoneless In London

I do a small amble with Doggo just around the Spinney, so that L and MD can hit the park. Without Doggo to slow them down L observes, although she says I'll think she’s being paranoid, that he is also slowing down and they don't get as far as they used to. Well he 63 now, in dog years. Older than all of us bar Doggo of course, who’s a spritely 105.

I’m on the bus today because it looks like my trip to London is now going ahead. So L can start worrying and she says she has a huge list of places for me to avoid.

Despite their appalling website and phone system, DPD don’t seem totally useless on email and they get back to me saying they have told their driver to leave my phone with a neighbour when it is delivered this afternoon.

Which is better but still leaves me phoneless in London. I have my laptop so it will be lonesome emails to L instead of texts.

I catch the 5pm train to London and turn down L’s late offer of a dog to take with me. I would love a dog with me but I'm not sure they’d cope with all the trains, although they'd love the buffet breakfast.

I stay at the Camden Lock Holiday Inn which is expensive and went up another £50 between me cancelling last week and rebooking this week but at least I get the loyalty points. I also get free calls in the room, so at least I can ring L.

They have Camden bottled beers in the hotel bar but the best option for real ale is the nearby Wetherspoons.

(Tuesday 6^th June)

Glastonbury 2015 - Day 1

After a hearty buffet breakfast in the Ibis, as I said we’re slumming it, it’s off back to Bristol Temple Meads status and a train to Castle Cary. Castle Cary is the local train station for the Glastonbury festival.

The train is packed but not with people. Most of our carriage space is taken up by the thousands of cans of Strongbow and Fosters that most folk seem to be taking with them. It must be a good sign if you can’t buy anything that bad at the Festival and so they’re having to take their own.

We arrive at Castle Cary to face a huge queue for the buses to the festival site.

‘Excuse me are you for Worthy View?’

I think they’re talking to us glampers.

‘Follow me please’  

Cue a massive queue jump. In fact as we are the only customers for Worthy View on our train we get a bus to ourselves. Royalty or what?

We are dropped outside the festival entrance where we are quickly wrist banded, although we have to give up the beautiful tickets with our photos on them.

Then we are directed to our tent, one of many arranged in nice neat rows. Our five star accommodation is called a two person Scout Tent, although it’s certainly more roomy that our own tent or perhaps that’s just the lack of dogs.

Worthy View is impressive in having its own showers, toilets, shops, bar, several eateries and security to keep the riff-raff out (I mean the rest of the 170,000 punters). We have a beer to celebrate our incarceration as well as to toast the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts which is 45 years old and, well,  here we are. They have Otter Ales in the bar, that’ll do nicely.

Worthy View is at the top of a big hill, which while having the added insurance that we are unlikely to get flooded out also offers a great views of the massive Glastonbury site below which you can watch from the bar with a jar in your hand. 

The hill will also keep us fit even if it isn’t as fearsome as some folk would have you believe. We head down to the festival to have a wander around the site. Most of the stalls seem open already but equally there are many things that are still being constructed.

We decide to catch a film in the Pilton Palais tent where we watch Kingsman with Colin Firth and Michael Caine. No personally you understand, they are in it.

One thing we aren’t going to struggle for is food. There must be hundreds of food outlets. Most are pretty inventive and even healthy. We should be able to eat our way around the world this week and we start with Jamaican Jerk tonight.

We also check out the Stone Circle and then get trapped in it by the lively crowd that has gathered. Now is perhaps a good time to escape, only that security won’t let us back up to Worthy View. Health and Safety you know, they’re about to let off the opening night fireworks.

As the crowd gets bigger and more unruly, eventually they see sense or an impeding riot and let us through. At almost the same second the fireworks start, so that worked well then. At least, once back up the hill, we get a great view.

(Wednesday 24^th June)