A Medley of Extemporanea

I’m so caught up in my plans for my trip that I’m not really spending any time thinking about the story I’m trying to write. That’s all right, though, it’s going to work itself out. I’m still thinking about it, and that’s the important thing. I’ll come up with something gorgeous in the very near future, I can feel it. Instead, I’m doing hard labour (in the form of rebuilding the patio), and watching Orphan Black. My plan, as it is, is to finish off the second series before I leave, that way I can either get it out of my mind for a bit, or at least have an opening where I can talk about it with other con-goers. Whee! Speaking of cons, here’s my new-and-improved, revised schedule for my trip. It’s insane, but I think I can manage:

11^th: I land at 10 am in London, Which means I can theoretically be at the bus terminal by 11:30 (unless there’s some stupid strike or another on with the passport people, grump grump. I’d hate to be stuck there for 3 hours as it’s happened in recent memory). That’d get me to Woking by 12ish, time for a gawk at the war machine and the cylinder from War of the Worlds, and then a train to Salisbury. This should get me to Salisbury for 2:30. Not a lot of time to check in and then hit both the Cathedral and the museum, I might have to pick one. Once everything is closed, I’m going to stop for some supper, and then take a walk (or a bus, depending on how tired I am) to Salisbury Hill, aka old Sarum, and see if I can see the city lights. Hur hur hur. Then back to the hotel and sleep.

12^th: Do a bike tour(!!!! “Awesome!” he says, in his best imitation of Rainbow Dash) of Salisbury and Stonehenge and the surrounding countryside and go to London when I’m done. It’s an hour and a half from Salisbury to London, and then another 25 minutes to the hotel, not bad really. And London is the end of the line, so if I’m tired, I’ll get punted off the train, so long as no one steals my bag. I assume I’ll want to sleep when I get to the hotel.

13^th: Up and eat and shower and brush my teeth and onto the DLR and the tube and the train all the way to Richmond to start my big crazy walk (Yes, I’ve taken it on myself to walk the entire length of the London section of the Thames while I’m in town this year. It’s a stupid goal, but it’s a goal nonetheless). This should actually be aided by me suddenly not having a problem with riding the Boris bikes. I’m not convinced that I will, but it’d definitely make life easier. Not on this particular leg though, as they only have bikes at my terminus. I anticipate getting out the door for 8:30am, but we’ll see what jet lag has to say about that.  Annnnnnnnnnyway…. So, walk walk walk, all the way to Putney Bridge (I’m assuming I’ll be able to grab food type substances on the way from Richmond to Putney, please Cthulhu say it’s so), then hop on the tube and go to the Great British Beer Festival, being held at the Olympia Exhibition grounds. Been there! It’s where the Doctor Who Experience was put on back in 2011. From there to the West End! I’ll be hungry again, I’m sure, so Wagamama is on the menu (for old times’ sake), then off to Forbidden Planet, where I will try not to squee all over the place. This last will be hard, as I’ll have been sampling real ales all afternoon. From there it’s a short walk to the Duke of York, where I have tickets (OK OK Ticket, geez) for the Jeeves & Wooster based show, Perfect Nonsense. It should be a delight! Crawl back to hotel and sleep the sleep of the dead.

14^th-18^th: Not that long, cowboy! You’ve got the Thames to walk!  Then con-con-con-con-cooooooon. NB: The 14^th through 18^th are all the same thing. If you’re wonder where I am in the morning, I’m somewhere near a specific body of water. If it’s the afternoon or later, I’m in the Excel Centre, or out eating with awesome people (hey, awesome people, we need to make dinner plans, eh?)

19^th: I should be done the death march^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^hlovely riverside stroll by now, so I’ll instead spend the morning in the British Library checking out the comics exhibit they have going on before hopping on a train to Watford Junction to enjoy the Harry Potter Experience. It’s all about experiences with these British, isn’t it? (A kewpie doll for catching the reference). And, I don’t know, maybe I’ll drink beer? Maybe I’ll go see the adaptation of Let the Right One In? Haven’t decided. Maybe I’ll just go for a walk, since it’ll be lacking.

20^th: Futz around, check out of my hotel, and take the train to Chester. Why Chester? Why not? It figures heavily in a Roman story I wrote several years back, and I feel I owe it to the town to actually see what it’s like. Plus I want to promenade on the Roman walls, and check out the Cathedral, as that’s what I tend to do, it seems.

21^st: More Chester fun, at least in the morning. I don’t actually have anything planned other than Something Cool^TM. Afternoon is another train, this time to Holyhead, in time to catch the ferry to Dublin, and Shamrokon! Rokon! I foresee an actual Ireland Guinness in my hand within the first 37 seconds of checking into my hotel.

22^nd-24^th: Shamrokoning! And walking around Dublin. I wouldn’t mind going to Sandycove, but we’ll see. I’d like to point out here that the schedulers at Shamrokon know their audience quite well. There’s a conspicuous gap in the programming around the time the Series Eight première of Doctor Who is on. Hmmm, coinkidink? I might also try to see a Gaelic Football match while I’m in Dublin, as there’s a big game going on at Croke Park (or, should I say, Páirc an Chrócaigh) on Sunday afternoon.

25^th: Drink a bit more of the good stuff, then it’s Dublin-London-Zagreb, and end the odyssey. The only real shame is that Medvesčak are playing on the 27^th, but I’ll already be on my way back to Canada. Pity.

OK, enough about me…