Detour

Just occasionally, I submit to a regular family holiday. My trips off the leash are quite self indulgent as a rule so I feel that the family holiday is sometimes a compromise. Any compromises I made last week were well worthwhile however. I haven't blogged the trip here, as it breaks the rules. But, should you feel inclined, you can view my travel photos in my Venice album or read the minutiae on our family blog, newly created to brag about the holiday.

Gone to the Dogs?

Date: 27th - 28th September 2008

Purpose of trip: Visit to the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show, Alexandra Palace, London

Getting there: Bus to the station, train to London St Pancras. London transport buses and tubes

Travelling companions: None

This is a bit of a cheat as it is a regular trip of mine and I was sure I'd blogged it before. But I see I haven't so I really must get it 'out there'.

Alexandra Palace is the most wonderful venue. It is imposing on the outside and just as impressive on the inside. My experience of the interior is limited to the Palm Court and the West(?) Hall.

The Great Hall is truly magnificent but I've only managed to see that on tiptoe with my nose against the glass from the West Hall doors. The show is here twice a year and the weather has been great every time, showing the park at its best with great views across the city. I usually have sunshine for my visit but on Saturday morning the whole planet seemed to be inside a cloud. I expected to be disappointed but I wasn't. I just saw another side to the park. And, as you can see from the photos, the sun had broken through by the time I reached the palace.

My usual accommodation at Borehamwood was out for this trip because I didn't book soon enough. Instead I stayed in Chingford/Walthamstow at the Holiday inn Express. I wasn't daunted by the 2 bus journey in each direction. Quite the contrary!

Extra points for:

1. My local bus company who run a service to the station early enough to have saved me from a long foggy walk in the dark. Barton buses celebrated their 100th anniversary just this week.
   
2. All day travel tickets which save the problem of trying to describe your destination to bus drivers. Then, when you find you're on the right bus but going in the wrong direction and have to jump off fast and cross the road, you haven't wasted your bus fare. (Not that it happened to me of course :-) )


3. The Transport for London journey planner. Love it! Especially the 'wizard' which shows little stick man me, walking to the bus stop on my virtual, mapped journey.


4. All those wonderful craft demonstrators who keep going all day, showing us how they achieved their masterpieces. It must get very boring by the 10th time.
   
5. Walthamstow didn't sound too inspiring when I booked my room but when I saw the Stadium across the road I was quite chuffed.
   
   
   
   What an iconic place. The race at £3 was a snip but sadly clashed with Strictly Come Dancing.
   
   
   



6. Art at Kings Cross
   
   



7. History at Kings Cross. I once read an article in the English Heritage magazine about these gas tanks. Not everyone's idea of heritage but another icon nevertheless.
   
   
   

Points deducted for:

1. Having to get up at 4am to get the train as it meant I snoozed away the whole of the train journey.


2. I think the barista at Costa was still training. She took forever. I was there around 9am and thought at last I'd catch sight of the elusive Chocolate Twist. Wrong. I asked the guy in charge how early you have to be to get one. He said he sold the last 2 at 8.30 but they are changing their supplier any time at all. Better quality, he promised, and pain au chocolate too. I first fell in love with Costa many years ago when they were Costa Coffee and serving (no pun intended) at the Guardian Direct tennis tournament in Battersea. The coffee was nicer then and no frills (although I seem to remember that was the first time I'd seen sugar in paper tubes). We hadn't seen them in the provinces. I could go on but suffice to say my last stop before the train home was Starbucks.
   
3. No workshops at the show. The organisers told me there wasn't sufficient interest from the exhibitors.


4. Missing demonstrator! I love to watch Rob demoing at the shows. He is one of my faves. But he wasn't here and my friend says he wasn't at the Harrogate show either. His blog has gone quiet too so hope all is well.

Crafters' Day Out

Date: 2nd September 2008
Purpose of trip: To check out Whichcraft in Doncaster
Getting there: Bus to the station, train to Doncaster
Travelling companions: None on the journey but spent the day with my crafting 'kindred spirit', Lesley


After meeting in the virtual world, Lesley and I met in the real world at a Graphicus workshop this summer. Having found that we share similar tastes and hitting it off really well, we promised ourselves that we would meet up again before I went back to work in September. Our first choice was another workshop but we didn't quite pull that one off this time. Instead we went to visit Paula Walters' Whichcraft in the Corn Exchange at Doncaster. We thought we had plenty of time but we filled lots of it with chat and nearly ran out of shopping time. Next time we will manage a workshop.


Extra points for:

1. The man at the station ticket office. I think he smiled at the lady in front of me in the queue. Or it may have just been wind.
   
2. The Corn Exchange. What a beautiful building. The ironwork inside is superb. I remember it from my childhood when I made shopping trips to Donny with my parents but hadn't realised that was where we were heading. We had lunch in the Gallery Tea Room and I really can't think of a nicer setting.
   


3. Coffee and Walnut cake in Costa. We almost didn't care that the chocolate twist shelf was just crumbs.
   
   Points deducted for:

1. The Frenchgate Centre car park. Yes, there are apparently three Level 4s! So, of course, 66% percent of first time visitors are going to think they have had their cars stolen.


2. Being too busy talking to get out my camera. There were plenty of photo opportunities but I don't multitask. Sooo...we have to go back!

The Nostalgia Trail and InMe

Date: 29th August 2008
Purpose of trip: Day - Revisit my old haunts

Evening - InMe in concert at Sheffield Corporation
Getting there: Bus to the station, train to Sheffield via Derby
Travelling companions: My ace travel buddy Pete

This was one of those very special days with happy memories not just at the end of it but also at the beginning. In its own way it was perfect but there were some hitches too. I'd wanted a sunny day to visit the restored Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. It was very warm. But no sun. Then the usual travel problems. Not the trains, for once, but the buses. Our local buses are generally reliable but today 2 buses failed to arrive and the third was too full to stop. So we walked 40 mins to the station, after which we'd missed not only the train we'd orinally planned to get but the two that followed it in the timetable. Miraculously, we arrived in Sheffield only an hour late.

Arriving in Sheffield is a real treat now. There is the most fantastic water feature at the station. It's almost worth the trip just to see it. But then there's a new attractive route into the city very different from the one I used to take when I lived there. It culminates in the fantastic new Peace Gardens.

On the way we passed what used to

be the Pond Street site of Sheffield Poly but is now Hallam University. This is what you can now see/read on the side of the building.

We walked through the newer features of the city centre, past a few less attractive parts to the Ecclesall Road area where I spent most of my student days. I regaled Pete with my tedious stories as I dragged him round all the places I had lived/eaten/shopped etc. We got philosophical at times and talked about how today would one day be part of the nostalgia trail. Then we made it to the Botanical Gardens themselves. Not changed too much since they were part of my everyday routine. We enjoyed watching the lively squirrels, admired Peter Pan and scared each other in the bear pit before going to eat in Yankees on Ecclesall Road before the gig.

Meanwhile, the police had descended on the Corp. Apparently the venue should only be admitting under 18s if they have membership. We waited in a long queue of confused youngsters to see if a confrontation between the management and the police would be resolved in our favour. Eventually we were picked out of the queue because we were parent and son. We think the unchaperoned youngsters probably made it in eventually but can't be sure.

InMe delivered. They were on stage for a little over an hour because of a 'curfew'. We don't know if they managed an encore as we had to leave at 10.15 to get the last train home.

I didn't get my camera out at the gig but Pete took this pic on his phone, hence the quality. But I think it's a great picture anyway.

Extra points for:

1. Everyone involved in the development of Sheffield. I'm heartbroken that we moved away before all the positive changes. I wouldn't need asking twice to move back.


2. Yankees on Ecclesall Road. Their food too is just as I remembered it. Pretty much the same menu and flavours. Nothing wrong with that. They must be doing something right to have survived all these years. Ditto for Uncle Sam's, just a few yards down the road, whose chargrilled burger aroma brought the memories flooding back.


3. Pete, whose ears must have hurt even before the gig but who never lets on how bored he is of listening to me talk about how much I love Sheffield and how great it was being a student there.
   
4. InMe. The metal equivalent of the chocolate brownie - just a little bit crusty on the outside but soft and chewy beneath the surface. Thanks, guys, for indulging us with some oldies and most of all for finishing with Chamber (see video at the end of the post). That song goes into my ears, straight to my soul and out onto my skin in the form of goosebumps.
   
5. Some great street art which pushed Pete's buttons.

Points deducted for:

1. The Corp for not doing things by the book. Get it sorted!


2. Grumpy railway station staff who have no concept of customer service. At our local station we have one guy who barely tolerates customers and has never been seen to smile. But there is another guy who will do anything for you. Let's hope he gets all the promotion he deserves!


3. British weather. Hot all day but no sign of the sun.


4. Teenage boys who decided it was appropriate to mosh to Chamber. Not this one, fellas.


5. The powers behind student loans who have seen to it that Pete will never have a student experience like mine.

The Banksy Tour

Date: 14th August 2008
Purpose of trip: Tour of Banksy street art and Tate Modern
Getting there: Train to London St Pancras
Travelling companions: 2 - my gorgeous son Peter and his equally gorgeous girlfriend Hannah











Sorry, but this has to be a bit of a rant as the whole day was dominated by an unpleasant incident on the outward train journey.

I most often go to London on the coach because the fare is so much cheaper. But because Peter was coming with me this time it made the train journey cheaper because I can use the Family Railcard. Although Peter has turned sixteen since I bought the railcard, he is still entitled to child fares until it expires. But the conductor on the train was ignorant of that fact and would not accept the ticket I'd bought. He made me pay an additional full adult single fare for him amounting to over £60 (the ticket I had originally bought for him had cost me less than £10). After much wrangling with the man, I seethed for 2 hours on the train, frustrated that I didn't have the terms of the railcard in black and white to show him and also very angry that we had been made to look like fare dodgers by this incompetent man. I've written a letter of complaint today but the only real justice would be for that man to acknowledge to me that he was wrong. Instead I'll probably get a reply from some drone who really doesn't care how I was made to feel.





Anyway, moving on... a word on how we came to be back in London again so soon. Last week we walked along the South Bank with the rest of the family and admired the street art on the walls of the Tate Modern. Peter said he'd like to go round London looking for the Banksy murals. A couple of years back we stumbled across the Girl with the Balloon and admired it before we'd even heard of Banksy. It obviously struck a chord with Peter. As we'd been talking for some time about visiting the Tate and the V&A, I suggested we go back this week and do exactly that. In the meantime I did some research and Peter sent away for a couple of books to help us locate the artworks. Then yesterday we made it all happen (well, some of it anyway)...

Extra points for:

1. Martin Bull's book "Banksy Locations & Tours".


2. Research on the internet which gave us a map of London locations (shame I didn't print it off as I assumed there would be one in the book).


3. Peter, my perfect travelling companion, who lets me do my 'independence' thing but then looks after me, making sure I don't get trapped in tube doors, run over by taxis or leave my shopping in the restaurant. (Yes, ok, maybe not so independent after all)


4. Fantastic food in Covent Garden and lovely sunshine while we were eating.


5. Hannah, who doesn't say much but who smiles all the time and has an unforgettable laugh.
   

6. The Navigators in Hays Galleria, a favourite landmark of mine.

7. The Meeting Place by Paul Day at St Pancras station. I saw it for the first time earlier this year and came to the net to find out more. It elicits strong reactions from people. I think it's wonderful but I can understand why some people would disagree.

Points deducted for:

1. East Midlands Trains staff. I generally moan about the trains but this time they went too far.


2. Thunderstorm while we were in Trafalgar Square and getting soaked watching the Olympics on the big screen.


3. Wear, tear and overpainting. Banksy pieces that can now only be seen in books and photos. Such is the transient nature of street art.


4. Us for the jinx. Within five minutes two women fell over on station escalators just a few feet from us. What's happening there then?

Straining at the leash

I hadn't really noticed but over the last few months, travelling by myself has become the rule rather than the exception and that was brought home to me last week when we travelled down to stay with mother in law in Essex. The car journey was fine but then we decided to go into London for the day on Friday. On the train. My territory. But with someone else in control.

Ouch.

I set off not knowing when the train was due, which tube we would need or where we'd need to change. Not a problem, because someone else knew all those things. But a strange sensation. I did have my say over where we went when we arrived and where we ate but then I had to deal with making compromises, justifying decisions and acting logically. It's just so much easier being a one man show. I'm wondering if this is a slippery slope...

On the positive side, it was nice to have someone watching out for me. I get a little paranoid when it's just me. I always think I've left a bag on the train or put my tickets in the wrong pocket and think I've lost them.

kd lang at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Date: 1st August 2008

Purpose of trip: kd lang in concert

Getting there: Train to Birmingham New Street

Travelling companions: 0 but met Karen in Brum and Michael came along later

Extra points for:

1. Overnight stay at Crowne Plaza in the city. Undergoing renovation but still more luxurious than I have any right to expect
2. Karen, who paid for my room just because she was feeling affluent
3. kd lang. She should be piped into all railway waiting rooms to soothe jangling nerves. Her voice is like a piece of heaven
4. Michael, who looked after my case while I took photographs of the city on Saturday morning
5. The lava lamps Karen and I bought while we were there. I stood and just watched mine for more than 2 hours yesterday. It has me in its spell.

Points deducted for:

1. The person who opened my hotel room door at 8.24am when I was determined to have a lie in and gave me bad dreams
2. No 'Barefoot' or 'Crying' in the set list
3. The barista at Caffe Nero who told me off for expecting him to bring my coffee to the table and then served me a lukewarm meatball panini
4. Audience members with seats in the middle of rows who arrive later and need to leave their seats more often than us self righteous types on the ends.

My local station. A little arboretum in an otherwise uninspiring town. Great conifers and wildlife.

Birmingham Symphony Hall. Very impressive, inside and out

The Spirit of Enterprise, Centenary square

Back to Graphicus

Date: 24th July 2008
Purpose of trip: Rubberstamping Workshop
Getting there: Train to Darlington, bus to Barnard Castle
Travelling companions: 0

Extra points for:

1. My map reading skills which got me to a hidden craft gem in Darlington
2. Meeting fellow crafter/blogger/Graphicus devotee Lesley who I'd previously only exchanged e mails with
3. Overnight stay at Homelands Guest House in Barnard Castle. A real 'personal touch' guest house as opposed to the faceless lodge type hotel I usually go for
4. Homemade bread toast with breakfast
5. Rubbing shoulders with real artists
6. Ditching my backpack in favour of a small case on wheels
7. Mr Buns - ooh yes!
8. Great travel reading in the form of 'The Book Thief'. Thanks, Stacey, for recommending that one.

Points deducted for:

1. Repeating routines. Jo, that is cheating! Fish and chips and Costa coffee are all well and good but it's time to live beyond the comfort zone!
2. Poor stamina. I lost concentration before my craft projects were complete
3. Hot weather. Say no more.
   

Dad's birthday

Date: 12th July 2008
Purpose of trip: Celebrate dad's birthday
Getting there: Train to Sunny Scunny, bus to Ashby
Travelling companions: 0


Extra points for:

1. Lunch at the Hotel Clamart - great find, dad. Nice home cooked bistro food and a really nice setting for eating
2. Being geeky together trying to sort out cameras and bits for dad's flash new laptop
3. Dad insisting on giving me a drink to take back on the train. Turned out to be a life saver in bad travelling conditions
4. Going back to my roots. My dad's family have great DNA. None of my direct ancestors on my dad's side have died before the age of 60. Dad is in his eighties and has two elder brothers still going strong

Hotel Clamart

Points deducted for:

1. Cable theft on the railway meant stopping at every signal to get authorisation to pass. But I didn't miss a connection because EVERY train I needed was running late
2. No online manual for dad's camera. Come on Praktica, every manual should be up there. If you can't manage that then at least make menus etc more intuitive
3. Giving dad a John Grisham book he'd already read. Poor research on my part.

Bon Jovi at the Ricoh stadium

Date: 24th June 2008
Purpose of trip: Bon Jovi in Concert
Getting there: Car to Coventry airport, Taxi to the Ricoh

Travelling companions: 1 - Karen, my bestest friend
Extra points for:

1. The brill picnic
2. Bon Jovi being fab
3. Overnight stay at the Innkeeper's Lodge
4. Long girlie chats in the dark

Points deducted for:

1. Booking tickets late
2. Traffic chaos and park and ride fiasco
3. The taxi driver who charged £35 for a 10 minute ride
4. Neglecting to buy neither a shirt nor a programme
5. The people in our row who had us out of our seats every five minutes so they could get beer/go to the toilet
6. Failing to drink enough during the day
7. Not changing out of my work uniform

Stamp Magic

Date: 22nd June 2008
Purpose of trip: Craft Show
Getting there: Train to Doncaster, Bus to the Dome
Travelling companions: 0
Extra points for:

1. Straight through train on outward journey
2. Interesting characters on the train
3. Interesting architecture (the Dome)
4. Rob's (Once Upon a Stamp) demos http://thornsartplace.blogspot.com/
5. Great music on my mp3 player on the journey (Muse)

Points deducted for:

1. Trains cancelled and delayed from Sheffield on the return journey
2. Tasteless egg mayonnaise roll bought at Doncaster interchange
3. No chocolate twists left at Costa

Darlington and Barnard Castle

Let's start by breaking the rules. This was a recent trip but essentially predates the blog.

Date: 7th June 2008

Purpose of trip: to visit Graphicus - Crafter's Pradise and Rubber Stamp Heaven

Getting there: Train to Darlington, Bus to Barnard Castle

Travelling companions: 0

Extra points for:

1. meeting papercrafting artists I really admire
2. eating the local speciality - real northern fish and chips (southerners - eat them and weep!)
3. historical connections - the castle
4. architectural highlights - clock towers in Darlington, buttercross in Barnard Castle

Points deducted for:

1. staff with bad attitudes at Darlington station
2. delayed train from Derby
3. no chocolate twists left at Costa

Where did it all begin?

My first off-the-leash experience was many years ago when I took my two young sons on a seaside holiday. I came back a bolder person, having relied on my own resources and made a success of the trip. Since then I've been determined not to miss out on anything because I didn't have someone to go with me. Now I've turned it into a bit of a lifestyle in itself. I wouldn't actually object to going away with my husband but that tends to be the exception rather than the rule these days.
The typical off-the-leash experience involves a trip away from home for some indulgent purpose. Trips are rated according to a variety of criteria such as forms of transport used, amount of research needed to organise the trip, amount of time spent away from home etc. Points can be deducted for anything that detracts from the experience such as train delays and general wimping out of challenges. I reserve the right to make all of that stuff up as I go along. This is my blog, after all, so I can make up the rules and change them on a whim!
I have no pretensions here towards travel blogging. I'm unlikely to report a trip to anywhere glamorous. Some destinations might be distinctly uninteresting but those of you who know me will probably understand what the game is really all about. Those of you who don't know me...how on earth did you find your way here?