London Meet-Up 31 Jan 2008

Absence of a caption on some of the pics means that I need help with one or more names or screen-names, please!

Kick-off was at 6 pm at the Fify Five Bar in Camden Town, the time being chosen to take advantage of the 2-4-1 offer on cocktails during the happy hour, which period is also doubled and actually runs from 6 to 8 o'clock. My journey into town having boringly been subjected to no delays at all, I was the second to arrive, at 6.03, to find Mark [travelman727] already ensconced with an official-looking list of attendees. Ruby [2win] had arranged for a portion of the Bar to be reserved for us, which was a bit embarrassing as non-Trav-Buddies came wandering along to this big space occupied only by Markand myself; and so I tried to shoot evil looks at them, with evident success as our space remained unpolluted by the hoi-polloi. After about 15 minutes genuine TravBuddies started arriving, including the organiser Ruby and her chief henchgirl Lori [lovely_lori88], and Mark worked overtime trying to ensure that everyone was ticked off on his list, while Ruby ensured that everyone had name-badges. And of course we made the first of several assaults on the bar, as the 2-4-1 quickly transmogrified into 4-4-2 and even 6-4-3. The cocktails were good, with that dangerous quality of not making you much aware that you were actually drinking alcohol.

Thereafter everyone milled around, chatted, and took zillions of pics until panic set in at 7.50 when pleasantly-inebriated TravBuddies all realised at once that the era of cheap cocktails had only 10 minutes to run. Fortunately the resulting mass invasion of the bar was just in time, double quantities of booze were duly secured, and that more or less kept everyone happy until Ruby, at about her third attempt, managed to convey to her distinctly merry charges that it was time to repair unto Wagamama's, a Japanese restaurant conveniently situated about 10 yards from the Fifty Five Bar, where you sit at long communal tables and get large steaming platefuls of whatever unpronounceable dish it is that you ordered. And of course you get more alcohol, the ingestion of which was causing increasingly obvious and entertaining symptoms in certain TravBuddies.

Astonishingly, after we had finished Ruby produced a bag of gifts for everyone, which we drew as a lucky-dip; mine was a nice little note-pad as a souvenir of London, wrapped in a photo of Britney. Then, after Ruby had been given a thank-you card that we had all signed, it was time for the much-heralded Surprise, which turned out to be that we all had to organise ourselves into teams of four, be energetic, and dash around London gathering pictures of specified places and landmarks. I teamed up with Sarah [sarahelaine], Nathan [nathan85], and a gentleman whose name, if I was ever aware of it, unfortunately escapes me now: our task was to visit Nelson's Column, Paddington, and Farringdon, and to photograph a black cab; and all by 11 o'clock! Nelson's Column was easily achieved, but then there was a rather long haul on the Bakerloo line up to Paddingon. During this journey Sarah gave entertaining evidence of just how much she had had to drink, but a natural and thoroughly commendable concern for the her reputation suggests that a tactful veil should be drawn over the details. By the time we got to Paddington it was clear that there was no way on God's earth that we could achieve our objectives by 11 o'clock, so we decided to head back to Camden and hope that the other teams had done even worse.

Unfortunately, back at Camden I realised suddenly that my last train home from Charing Cross left in 25 minutes, which meant that I had to make a quick unscheduled departure. Although Ruby had kindly said that there was room in her flat, there were logistical difficulties involved with a sleepover, and I needed to get back to base, even if it meant foregoing the glory - or ignominy - that was due to our gallant team. I gather that, as it turned out, we didn't win, surprise surprise.

It was a fantastic evening, with so many lovely people to meet, and I was sorry not to have been able to say goodbye to everyone! All possible thanks and gratitude are due to Ruby & Co for arranging it, and I really hope to be able to get to the follow-up meeting on the 9th, when TravBuddies can get happily smashed all over again!