You can lead a horse to half a glass of water, but....

I'm suffering from Wardrobe Anxiety. It hadn't occurred to me that we were getting Poshed Up for the occasion!

Now you're being naughty.

And as much as I love Nick Frost I'd rather sleep with Daisy Haggard (esp in her Psychoville incarnation!)
OOH! and The Hotness too!

Oh chick - two 99p tops from eBay because my current size has gone from High Street to Larger Lady to Carnival.
Don't you worry, no-one is going to be asking who dressed me, unless they have a daughter wanting a marquee for a wedding.

Oh crap, crap,crap....5 inches of snow over the last 3 hours.

It's still snowing. Can we cross our collective fingers now for a clear rail journey up to Scotland?

They're predicting 'heavy snow' in many parts of the north of England, and Scotland, throughout today and into the night.

Reports seem varied.
The English snow is already passing and from webcams it looks like rain in Glasgow.

I'm confident.
FSM knows our quest is fair and true (perving over a Scottish/ American homosexual) so will clear a path for us.

Well, the English snow is alive and well and still falling on my part of the country. The road down to Mum's house is unsafe for driving.

But yes. FSM will come through for us. I have faith.

Where is your mobile number on my IM, lady?
You realise I'm leaving in - OMG! - 1 hour 45!!!!!
I'm meeting my bro at Euston at 17.30 and he's meanly refusing to make it any later than that.
On the other hand he is buying me tea and giving me some spending money, so I can't complain :)
The second I leave this house I'm on holiday. It's all good.

I'M ALL PACKED!
Oh, except for my slippers - to wear on train and in room.
Must go and pack them nowish.

Pics or it never happened!

I won the lottery last night, so am taking a first class flight there immediately. Just let me sit and watch you guys, you don't even have to acknowledge me, because I bet you will have FUN!

OK, I didn't really win the lottery, but I too want pics because how much fun are you guys going to have?

:)

I wish it were true, Shawnee - you'd love panto for a start.

Now don't y'all worry. Once I leave this house I will be a tourist, so there will be photos galore. It's all new to me too - I've never been on a sleeper train, never spent any real time in Glasgow (we stopped on our way to Oban, for lunch), never eaten Russian food and never met Limey. All those first events are well worth documenting.

If I had won the lottery, I would be there anon.

(See how well I'd fit in, with my command of the King's English?) ;)

You'd be pretty old-fashioned, chick. We've had a Queen since 1952 ;)

Limey's probably the only one of us with anything approaching RP.
I'm daughter of London parents (well, technically Mum is an Essex Girl) and swallow my consonants like they were especially delicious. Living back here with the rents has eroded my diction and dipthonged my vowels even further. Dana is of Northern stock - beautiful to listen to, but not considered top drawer. And even Limey is now an honorary Scot, even if it hasn't touched her accent yet.

You'd have fit in, I promise.
Don't forget the ostensible reason for our GTG is to see a Scottish born man with an American accent perform in a uniquely British style of entertainment. We welcome diversity this weekend :)

Anyway - I'm off.
Off to double check my packing, cuddle the Diz cat and then get into non-cat-haired clothes.
Next time you hear from me will either be from Glasgae, or sometime next week (depending whether we get the guesthouse laptop to play with).

Buh-bye.

Fuck...Diversity aren't gonna be there are they? :P

Never mind the guesthouse laptop, I'mma bringin'a netbook. And Ipod touch with wifi ... :cool:

I'm leaving my laptop behind. But will have my i-phone 4

Eat you heart out guys. SG, Danac and Limey hothoused in a small room with plenty of alcohol in Glasgow ...

I have lots and lots of pics for you, but I'll wait til I get home to resize and all.

Glasgow at present is super slippy. The snow melted into ice and then refroze, so we've been out on pavements of DOOM, I was mincing along gingerly behind Dana, who was wearing sensible looking boots with about the same grip as ice skates. I was in platform trainers, but they gripped surprisingly well. Anyway, you'll be pleased to hear none of us fell over and we intend to get a taxi to the panto. After that I don't really care if I break anything.

We're having a coffee (them) and wine (me) in our room before heading out again. One unexpected bonus of staying in this guesthouse is the extremely lovely young member of staff on duty in the mornings. He's far too young for me, and very innocent looking, which means the things I'm thinking are twice as filthy... I must get a photo before we leave. There is also a wonderful old cat - big, solid, and supercalm. He glories in the ironic name of Flash. I might have to smuggle him home. And the cat :)

Only an hour before we see JB in the flesh. I am quite overwhelmed by wonderful males this weekend, as well as being blessed with amusing and intelligent female company.

More later, with tales of my journey here, the odd licensing laws in this city, eating Russian, the Fort Knox off licence, and my new Scottish admirer (seen off by Limey, but nae borther)...

So I'm off now to start pumping up my excitement levels. We're all sitting separately in the theatre, but I'm pretty sure Limey & Dana will be able to hear me even in the Front Circle.

Laters...

Yall have fun !!! ( Like I gots to tell ya THAT !!)
Be safe !!!

TAKE PICS !!!

Ok

whoo hoo I am so excited for you all! Now where is my 'eating heart out' emoticon. :)

Which one?

Please tell me that some of them will be in the Dwellar NSFW 2011 which is still empty:(.

No worries. We have late night pussy action video being posted tomorrow ;)

Dweller ladies signing off for the night! Resting after a long squark

Have just waved Sundae off on the ferry, after having dragged her all around my island home all day.
I'm sure she'll sleep well on the bus journey back home tonight!
Dana, where's that video?!

Harr!

I am sitting in my little house again :) What a wonderful weekend.

I need to play with the vids a little before posting (some are a tad dark). daren't do that yet for fear of offending Pilaudog. He's so pleased I am home, and he hates me turning my back on him for the comp lol

:P

Over so soon! I am so jealous Glasgow is a hop skip and a jump away along with all the other awesome European countries.

I see Sundae posting .... and yet no pics :eyebrow:

Yes, where is all this late night pussy action video we've heard so much about?

Hold your horses!
I left Limey's house at 18.30 Monday night and got home about 09.30 this morning!

I've had to console Diz, talk through the whole weekend with the 'rents (separately, as they have different interests) and start shrinking and playing about with the pics, as well as ordering my thoughts and responding to my emails. And I've had a kip and just eaten dinner.

Photos will come, I promise.
But they'd be nothing without the words.

That sounds promising. They could be misinterpreted without the explanations? :D

Well now. You asked for it.
This is the Cellar GTG (and John Barrowman panto trip) from my point of view.
The other ladies involved both have flashier phones than me, which incorporate cameras, so if you don't like my food/ menu/ people-centric pics you can blame them for not providing any balance.

Not really - I'll write a paeon to them later but the truth is I can't imagine a better weekend without me having won the lottery or perhaps actually meeting captain Jack Harkness.

So. This is my account and starts with my journey.
Dads gave me a ride to Amersham (about 20 miles but saves over a tenner on railfare) at about 16.00. Stupid damned Metropolitan Line was having signal failure. I kept texting my poor old bro with my progress (this line is mostly overground - see a previous thread from when I had blue hair..) In the end I was only 20 mins late and at least he knew I'd be.

We walked up to a Prezzo; it's not all that flash but given I'd been intended to pack sandwiches for the journey I was very appreciative.

My bro with his Pasta Arribbiata, and my Vesuvio with pineapple.
I didn't quite finish mine, but recognised I probably wouldn't fancy cold pizza later that night/ morning.

Ste dropped me off at Euston.
It's previously been described as a big stainless steel sink, that fills up with people and then drains them away.
To be fair, it's had a couple of makeovers, but it's never going to match the old stations with their cantilevered roofs.

This was taken in low light; if you look, the things that are static are reasonably clear, it's only the moving people that are blurred.
Yeah okay - but it wasn't shaky hands!

The second pic is a close-up of the electronic display for my train.
From the top:
Caledonian Sleeper (name of train)
FRONT PORTION (that's me!)
Carlisle
Carstairs
Motherwell
Glasgow Central

That's as far as I go.
If you want REAR PORTION Sheldon might be happy to fill you in.

I'm having some slight difficulty with my i-phone, which is where the late night pussy action videos are currently sitting. Bear with me, I am used to using preformatted vids, not this quicktime nonsense.

Here is my carriage. Sans Prince Charming!
I'd been at Euston since stupid-o'clock (so I could meet Ste) and was watching the boards obsessively. That and the fact I walk fast meant I was the first person into the seated carriage. The train was about 20 carriages long, but the seating is near the front and only takes up the one.

NB - Caledonian Sleeper. The main length of the train is split into berths/ cabins and a lounge car for people with more money than me (aka have made better life choices :))

So I got on and saw that half the carriage was reserved, and half not. Lovely jubbly - less noise and less disruption. But - oh dear. My seat was the second in from the door (to the toilet and the buffet!) and faced across a micro table to another reserved seat. Arrrgh. Don't worry - clever Cherry checked all the other reserved seats and realised no-one was joining the train after Euston (London). So I moved my reserved ticket to a single seat further down the carriage - which was vacant.

A few minutes later I was joined by a Japanese man who had the same issue - his reserved seat was in a block of four. "Don't worry about it!" sez I, "If there's no reservation ticket you can sit there if you prefer."
And shortly after that I was approached by a lovely blonde teen (very good English - perhaps Dutch?) who was worried about putting her baggage on the seat opposite the one she was allocated. Bearing in mind that was supposed to be MY seat I reassured her that no-one was going to get on and claim it.

As it turned out, only half of the reserved seats were even taken up. I think there were about 8 of us in a 30 (?) seat carriage.

I loved it. There was legroom, a buffet a clean toilet, silence and constant movement.

Pics are a shot down the carriage and my seat. Excuse the colouring for the second pic - I was trying to make it match the real colour - it was oranged out by the setting/ flash. Each seat had a pull down table and foot-rest. When I was really tired I retreated to a double seat and used one of the duvets (visible in the luggae racks) as a pillow/ partial wrap. The train was warm enough not to really need to be covered, but it made things cosier.

And here are my slippers, which I changed into as soon as I got on the train.
It's a seven hour journey donchaknow?!

You speak of the "Buffet" what means "Buffet?"
Is place of fooding? On train? How Come this?
http://www.dynamicfoods.com/images/buffet.jpg

Glasgow!
It had snowed overnight - I knew it would as we get national weather reports, which of course include Scotland. It was a lovely lickle powdering - fine to walk through.

For all of this trip I'd done everything through the internet, down to finding out where the local Wetherspoons (chain of cheap and friendly pubs that open early and serve breakfast) were located. I exited Glasgow Central, following the signs for Platform 14 and then Argyll Street as instructed. Yay! There it was, the Moore! I was 10 minutes early, but when you're dragging a heavy bag the last thing you want to do is trudge around the streets...

Ah.... Nope.
A polite and decent member of staff saw me waiting and bothered to tell me they didn't opne until nine (many staff won't, secure in their knowledge of opening times and belief you are a stupid twat).

I've sent an email tot heir Head Office re the incorrect details on the internet, but also in praise of the staff memeber who made an effort to speak to me AND pointed me in the right direction for an alternative breakfast.

Here is a rather blurry shot of Argyll Street.
The closed pub is on the right, at least the overhang gave a clear pavement. The snow at this point is freshly fallen and dusty - nothing like what we encountered later.

A buffet is any type of food service which does not constitute a full or plated meal.

In the case of the train buffet .... actually I do have a menu so I will capture and post it tomorrow.
It means snacks and bits and pieces.
Carried in a bag back to your seat.

Proper, decent people book berths - they get to eat and drink in the Lounge Car. They serve Haggis, Neeps and Tatties there. I don't care - I went somewhere where they did later. That's a tease as I won't be posting about it tonight.

Haggis trailer...

Hmmm, I don't know, but that Corn Cob in Milk that chick is spooning up looks mighty good.

So, fast forward an hour of hanging around and I was comfortably ensconced in The Sir John Moore on Argyll Street. As I was on holiday, and after all it felt like mid-afternoon to me by then, I thought I deserved a beer.

No. You cannot buy alcohol until 11.00 unless you are having a full breakfast, and even then they will only serve you two before 11.00. I had already had a large cup of tea at the exorbitant price of £1.70, AND I'd already eaten breakfast, so I was slightly narked. I bought another cup, thankfully cheaper and retired to study the menu. Below is a picture of the expensive tea, and a detail from the menu, which to those in the know will show the difference between a Full Scottish and a Full English Breakfast. Ask me if you don't know but would like to.

I don't know (and would like to), but I would definitely go for that Scottish breakfast.

Do the give free refills on coffee there like they do here?

I couldn't face another breakfast, and couldn't justify the cost anyway, so I just eked a tea out for a long time. I then struggled with my bags and baggages and had a bit of a wander. No evidence of this as I simply did not have enough hands to accomplish it.

When a reasonable amount of time had passed, I figured I could go and find the guesthouse. I knew I wouldn't have access to the room, but at least I could leave my bags. My plan had always been to come back into town and see some more sights, but I had always allowed that I might be shattered, and indeed I was. The snow put paid to my intention of walking, so I got a taxi to the end of the street.

Here are the views of Kelvingrove from there.
First, Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Then Glasgow University

And thence to the hotel - The Alamo.
None of my photos of the interior really do it justice, so you'll have to check out their website yourself.

I was first to arrive and was checked in by a staggering attractive young man.
I honestly found it difficult to maintain sensible conversation with him. He was tall and rangy, with large liquid eyes, and an open and guileless expression. In some ways he reminded me of David Tennant playing a B&B employee. Sadly no photo of the vision called Sandy, as he wasn't working on Monday morning when I brought my camera to breakfast.

Anyway, there was another lovely male I had more contact with, and behaved better around, and that was the cat, Flash. 18 and a half years old, solidly built with massive paws, very sanguine and very friendly. The epitome of Nae Bother.

Here is a pic of the room with Flash on my bed. As you can see, neither of the other ladies are in residence at this point. Don't worry, they appear in the next thread or the one after that. I'll bet you were wondering when I was going to get round to it, right?

I then headed off to the nearest recommended pub to have a drink and think about lunch. Sandy McHandsome suggested The Park Bar on the corner as it was a real Scottish pub, and full of Highland-and-Islanders speaking Gaellic. In the end I couldn't justify eating out, so I had a quiet beer and then bought a Pot Noodle (!) Still, it was a nice place and I got you a picture of the menu for the reason that will become apparent when you look at it.

Now. The moment you have all been waiting for - DanaC arrives!
I met her at the door as I had the keys - she's as lovely as ever. Down to earth as well as earthy and intelligent as well as lighthearted.

We settled in and started to get ready to head to Cafe Cafe Cossachok to meet Limey, We found a taxi and got there with very little drama. It's a gorgeous place. We were seated at our table for three and settled back to wait for the final mamber of our triumvirate.

I didn't get the settings right until after our food arrived, so the pics are low quality. Again, check out their website for better quality photos.

Turns out Kimey was already there - she was speaking Russian to the owner. Some people just don't know how to stop being accomplished.

Limey is pretty much how she comes across on the Cellar. Very honest, forthright and full of common sense. Great, cheerful and intelligent company with no hint of how many talents she has under her belt, and no suggestion of eliteism - in fact she is generous in all senses of the word.

Finally, we're all here!
So. Dinner.

Starters first. Dana had Smoked Salmon and Smetana Blinis (Smetana is sour cream pretty much and the dish is served with Russian Wheat Pancakes)
Limey had Rostovsky Salad, a duet of beetroot-raisin & carrot-garlic salads in mayonnaise dressing.

I had a mixed dish with onions, potatoes, herring. It came with a shot of vodka. So we all ordered one :)

I honestly can't remember the name, hopefully Limey will stop by and remind me. It might be Seliedka...?

Limey taught us how to drink it the Russian way - it involves sniffing and bread! - and taught us a Russian toast. I felt like a sophisticated woman of the world.

The starters were dekicious and quickly polished off - as were the vodkas of course.
We were talking almost non-stop, but the good thing about three people is you still get the chance to eat while the conversation keeps going.

Dana's main.
I think it was Lulya - succulent georgian lamb kebabs, pan-fried and seasoned with mixed herbs from the Caucausus served with rice and a side of tangy tomato salsa.

Limey's main.
I have no idea, sorry! Lamb again I think, and cracked wheat...?
I really should write these things down

And finally - mine!
Moscow Blintzes - pancakes, stuffed with beef & turkey mince, fried onions, rice and herbs, served with a creamy spinach sauce.
Wow they were lovely! Too rich for me in the end, and I had to leave the last third. But then I HAD had a full starter.

Dana slipped off early, and Limey and I had liquer coffees and follwed at a more sedate pace.
We went looking for an off licence to get some wine for our room.
We found one, and were quite bemused to find that you could not touch any of the alcohol - it was all protected by a plastic "wall" that ran around three sides of the shop, with a little serving hatch in it. You asked the owner for what you wanted and he fetched it for you. I've never seen anything like that, but when we went into another one on Sunday, Dana admitted there was one like it in Leeds.

As we were walking out, a slurring Glaswegian asked where we were going and whether he could come along. Limey said in a withing tone, "No." and carried on moving. "Nae borther" came the amicable reply. I was glad she was there. My instinct to be polite would at least have made me engage in conversation with him and that could never have come to any good.

Back to the hotel, open the wine and get into the Cellar!
Oh. And then get into bed together. Well, what's a girl to do..?

As it turns out, the Traditional Breakfast on the menu would generally be considered a Full English. Places vary - black pudding is generally included the further North you go, and is shown as optional here. It's not served at all in the Aylesbury wetherspoons but appears in both Scottish meals. Our sausages are also links, whereas Lorne Sausage as per the menu is a square slice. No potato bread with an English - although sometimes toast or fried bread is included.

And no - refills are certainly NOT included.
Unless it is a buffet style breakfast, as we had in the hotel (details to follow). Which was just as well as Limey and Dana are capable of swallowing any amount of coffee at any time, but most especially at breakfast :worried:

Bravo!

I am loving this...sitting here giggling and smiling. MORE!

The next morning we were up in time to catch breakfast thanks to Dana's alarm.
Alarm is the right word - not being a morning person she had something that sounded like an alert in a nuclear power station. It scared the bejesus out of me even through my earplugs. AND she had it on snooze! When it went off again I decided to get up and get rid of the rest of my bejesus in the toilet just across the hall.

I WISH I'd videoed coming down the stairs to our room, and where the facilities were. We had our own bathroom (no bath, sez Limey) but for the rooms without there was a WC opposite, and next door was a bathroom (with bath), shower AND WC. And also a shower room - nothing but shower, but underfloor heating, heated towel rail, all toiletries and a super-smashing-great LARGE shower.

So I used these, because three girls in a room do need someone to take themself out of the way. And also I was worried I'd stink the room out embarrassingly with my morning bowels. And I couldn't resist the shower room and it's opportunity to cavort naked behind a locked door without worrying I was denying anyone else access :)

So, off to breakfast.
Again, I had to remove myself from the room in the end. For a nicer reason - Sandy was making it difficult for me to swallow... No, really I just wanted to get sorted for the day, and as mentioned the caffeine fiends had already indicated they needed further stimulants before moving.

The breakfast buffet from the left - fruits and fruit salads in bowls, pots of fromage frais, muesli, single person packets of cereal, plain yoghurt, cheese, honey and Marmite bottles, butter and marge, milk, orange and apple juice.

The hot table from the left - croissants, scrambled egg and bacon in the chafing dishes. Tomato and brown sauce as condiments. I didn't fancy the bacon, but Dana and Limey partook. I will praise the eggs though. Toast came with my pot of tea, and both were refillable if required. Coffee was via a help yourself flask-thingy. Which the naughty Dwellars emptied all on their own and had to be refilled...

Looks like a really nice place. I'm enjoying these pictures!

Again, soz for the rotten quality.
One day I will sit down properly and work out how to take decent pictures in low light.
The trouble is, all the settings which attempt to do it for me automatically require a very steady hand. I find just putting enough pressure on the camera to press the button makes it move enough to blur. Sigh.

You can see outside via the mirror in the above pic, but here is one to show you the lovely windows too. And while I'm at it, here's one of the entrance hall. The owner - Steve - hand painted the ceilings.

Don't be so hard on yourself...these pictures are perfect.

So, off onto the streets of Glasgae.
We decided to stay in the Kelvingrove area - there was easily enough to see locally and after all the reason we booked a hotel this side of town was to be close to the SECC where the pantomime was.

The pavements, the pavements. Four words.
I have another three. Sheet Fucking Ice.

I have never come across anything as slippery apart from an actual ice rink.
I have not been physically brave since I was about 12 years old.
I suffered enormously (now raise a large AWWWWWWWW! like a good panto audience).
I am not used to mincing about, holding onto things and being rigid with fear for every step I take in case I slip and impale my cheek on the very railings I have to hold onto in order not to be horizontal.

Of course I'm exaggerating. Well, I mean I was exaggerating the consequences as I walked around, my fear and my shuffling were the real consequences. Dana and Limey were far more pragmatic, but even they were slow and cautious.

We tried to go to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but it was still closed! despite what felt like a late start to us, it was still Off Limits On A Sunday o'clock. So more mincing over pavements of doom, more fear and pulling faces from me (at this point I was ready to go back to the room and ply the girls with coffee and the red wine left over from the night before and it was only 10.30!) Wiser and more adventurous minds prevailed and we ended up walking through the University grounds.

We could walk on the grass there, and as my fear of falling abated I really began to appreciate the architecture, the still cold air, and the feeling of being up while lazy sluggards were sleeping (I pretended not to see the joggers, as light on their feet as elves, sprinting past on frozen pavements).

When we left the grounds we were on a road which had been at least partially gritted/ cleared - mostly by the owners of the shops, bars and restaurants along that stretch. The second picture below is an advertising taxi for an American style diner/ coffeeshop. The girls were keen to go in and get their fix, but Dana needed to find a cashpoint, so we walked further along. When we came back on the other side of the road we found the Big Mouth Coffee Company, which fitted the bill just as well. I had a milkshake :)

Dana and Limey were having a personal and profound conversation about death and families. I zoned out because I was wondering whether the description "moo-rvelous" on the advert behind me could be considered incorrect given that the British spelling should have to ll's. Can you misspell a made up word?

Pics: Kelvingrove Museum as before (glimpsed through trees from the hotel in previous pic) and the taxi.

Back to the room - still no falling over, still more fear from me. Crikey I was happy to turn off onto Gray Road, which is quiet enough to walk in the street.

I went and pilfered some more instant coffee from an unoccupied room as the girls had now been about 30 minutes without. Then I had a glass of wine. In fact this was when I made the post re getting excited about seeing JB.

I have to pause now, as I need to come up with the right words to describe the sheer majesty of the occasion.

So in the mean time, here we are united, even if just by a poster. I think it's a hideous photo of me, but it's the only one with the two of us together and I'm sure he'd be hurt if I didn't post it.
And here are Sam and Dani enjoying our gourmet lunch at the SECC. I'm not being snooty - maybe it wasn't gourmet but I loved it.

And when we were all full it was time to find our separate seats (Dana & Limey were together, but I was in the front stalls) and settle down for a magical two hours. Magical I tell you.