At last….Elbow

 7 May 2024

Absolutely did not sleep well last night.  Of course I arrived here at almost 10 and went right to bed.  The hotel is on a main road and the traffic never really stopped.  I miss the quiet neighborhood in Ljubljana.  Thankfully just here for 2 nights and then I’m back in my own bed.

I hit the breakfast room around 8:45 and it too really paled in comparison to my great breakfasts of the past week.  Iw as excited to see a fresh hot tray of scrambled eggs, but that was the highlight.  The rest was a non-vegetarian-friendly arrangement of meats and some ok croissants.  I had juice and a large cappuccino which I took back to my room and drank in front of the window.

I hit the streets for the morning.  I first walked across the street to check out the sea.  My sister and I make a habit of checking out the water in any place we visit.  Well, I misjudged the waves and ended up with soaked sneakers and socks.  Ooops.  So back inside the hotel to put on my alternates.  For all my worry about drenched feet in the rains in Ljubljana, it would happen here.

Back out and I first located the venue for tonight’s show, which is maybe 4 minutes down the main road from my hotel.  I made a circle around it and saw the roadies loading in gear and a tour bus, but that was it.  Hard to tell the entrances and even if it’s the right venue, no marquis or anything.  No one queuing yet anyway, these folks aren’t like Morrissey fans I guess.

I walked up through town and did some shopping at Boots (chocolate, pain meds and Savlon cream, more chocolate) and got a Lucozade to help rehydrate.  Then I passed a Greggs sausage roll shop and had to stop and try a vegan one after my sister raved about them last year.  2 pounds for a sausage roll and a water!  A bargain, and it was quite good too!

I found the Royal Pavilion and just took a walk around the grounds, which were quite pretty and as the day was nice and sunny it made for some nice photos.  I dropped my purchases at the hotel then walked out to the end of the pier and back and toward i360 tower that you can take up 450 feet and back again.  I put in 13k steps before lunch.

I’d been texting with a guy on the Elbow Facebook page who I’d helped navigate from Heathrow to here yesterday.  We met up and walked around the venue again (still looking for the queue to start) and then we took an Uber out to Brighton Marina, about 2 miles away because he’d heard that you can see the white cliffs of Dover from there.  Well they start there, apparently, and yes, we did see them from the marina.  Interesting enough.

There isn’t much to the seaside that’s really of interest.  The pier is a bit rundown with amusement rides at the end, and the same repetitive churros/donuts/candy floss/ice cream stands the length of it.  Some things haven’t opened for the season yet.  It was nice walking the beach (which is all rocks, not sand) but the rest of it got old quickly.  I keep hearing a Morrissey lyric in my head “this is a coastal town that they forgot to close down” and that kind of fits this.  Even the main city away from the water has seen better days.  And maybe it’s because I didn’t see any smoking in Ljubljana, but the smoking here is off the wall.

We ate at a nearby fish and chips stand and I had haddock which was quite good. I decided I needed a break before the show to rest and get ready, so we’d regroup around 5:30. Meanwhile I ate some of the chocolate I bought and drank more Lucozade.  Checked in for the flight tomorrow so I was ready to roll.

I’d planned to take a nap and head to the venue later but at 4:30 Randy texted that there was already a queue at the venue for GA.  I wanted to be close and this was my chance, so I hurriedly got dressed and headed over, only to find maybe 8 people there.  It was fine, I was practically guaranteed to be on the front rail at that point and I only had to wait less than 2 hours to get in, so all was good.

The folks I met there were so nice and very kind to me here at my first show.  All the members of the band except the lead singer Guy left the venue and were friendly with the fans who approached them (I did not but would have if it was Guy).  Soon enough we were inside and I was indeed on the rail at the very front on the left side.  We only had to wait an hour for the opening act The Waeve who were good enough to pass the time.  So far it was all very low stress and low drama, quite unlike what I’m used to for Morrissey shows.

To say that Elbow were spectacular is an understatement.  I’d waited so long for this and had such high expectations and they were just wonderful in every respect.  I’m so glad I did this and am angling to try to see another show if I can, but who knows.  This was good enough to live off for some time.

I was so keyed up after the show that I did not sleep well and was up before 7 to eat and head to the airport.  Fortunately ThamesLink ran properly this time and I made it to Gatwick on time.  The JetBlue flight home was wonderful, like flying in the good old days!  And we landed and I was home by 5 pm.  All in all, a pretty amazing trip!

Twisty turny travel day

 6 May 2024

Last day in Ljubljana, or half day really.  I slept pretty well and woke around 8.  I know there’s a tour group in the hotel so I waited until they’d mostly cleared the breakfast room before I went down.  Same breakfast as yesterday.  There was no way I wasn’t having that struklji again.  Holy cow.

There was a nice older couple next to me who I got chatting with and turns out they are from the south shore of Boston, and oddly enough are named Bob and Sue (my parents).  This is the second time in as many trips I’ve met a couple who share my parents’ names.  Dad if this is your way to give me a shout out, message received!

When I checked out and handed over my luggage for storage, the desk clerk asked if I would mind leaving 15 minutes earlier for the airport, because the taxi driver was worried we would need more time.  I didn’t really have any plans other than walking around so that was fine with me.

I just did a few loops around the city center and Old Town.  I found a cold brew coffee cart in the market and had another coffee there, and popped into some souvenir shops but didn’t see anything that called out to me.  It was a nice, comfortably warm morning, so I didn’t need my coat again.  I grabbed a yogurt drink again to hold me over until the meal on my flight, and meandered back to the hotel.  

I made one more stop at another Plecnik-designed building, this one the national library.  Every book written by a Slovene is kept here, and when the building was bombed during the war, citizens did a bucket brigade of sorts to take all the books out to safety.  It’s an interesting design with stones jutting out against flat brick and windows shaped like books that have been laid open, face down on a table.  Apparently inside he perpetuated his seating style of keeping everyone uncomfortable because it’s better for working and all the seats are ram-rod straight and slightly slanted forward to keep sitters on their toes.

I got back to the hotel and Boris showed up.  The man had to be about 80 and pretty slow.  Now it made sense because he drove as he moved on foot and we needed the extra time to get to the airport.  Boris took the time to berate me for only staying here for 5 days (while the guides I had thought it was brilliant that I was here for so long!) and sniffed when I said I was heading back through London rather than Frankfurt.  You can’t please everyone.

It was pretty straightforward finding my way through to one of Ljubljana airport’s dozen or so gates.  I did use the Business Class lounge which had an open air deck overlooking the runway.   Business Class on BA offers no extra legroom but it does block out the middle seat and as a bonus the aisle seat is also empty so I’m alone here in this row.

All took a turn however when we decided we had to wait for two final passengers to board.  They ended up boarding a full 25 minutes late (which is odd because I saw them both when I walked into the airport) and we lost our landing slot at Heathrow.  We were an hour behind schedule when we were told our reassigned slot means we’re not leaving for another 20 minutes.  I was livid, but what can you do.  We ended up leaving 2 hours late, which obviously stinks for me since I still had to make the connection to get to Brighton by train tonight. 

I did appreciate the nice flight attendant who hooked me up with enough gin and tonic to ease the anxiety.  I had some vegetarian finger sandwiches, clotted cream (for what?) and carrot cake for lunch/dinner.  The flight was otherwise uneventful.

By some freak of nature, landing at 6:10, getting on the Tube at 6:51, arriving at Farringdon at 7:28 and getting on the last nonstop Thameslink to Brighton at 7:34, I felt like I’d won the lottery.  Until we reached Gatwick, 40 minutes from Brighton, and the train stopped.  And all trains stopped. Flooding ahead, they don’t know what’s going to happen.  There was a scramble for another train that was going to go forward a few more stops, but I scratched that plan when the train looked overfull and got an Uber.  So 56 pounds later, and a near death experience with a speeding Uber driver, I arrived at the Queen’s Hotel and settled into my seaside view room.  Of course I can see no sea since it’s pitch dark, but I plan to set my alarm for 5:00 and at least open the curtains, if not go outside.

But I’m here, and Elbow is tomorrow, and all is good in the end.