So, week just gone, I felt just about well enough to head into London (spurred on by the fact that I really didn't want to miss this forum, as they are always extremely valuable), so it was just my luck, that we had not only *another*
bus strike, but the
tube was in absolute chaos (three lines suspended) too!
It was only at the Millennium Hotel in Grovesnor Square, so under normal circumstances I probably would have just walked, but thanks to the
problems with my leg, my only real option left was to get a cab. When I hobbled off the slippery Victoria station concourse and out to the taxi rank, my heart sank when I saw that rather a lot of other people had been thinking along similar lines, in fact, the end of the queue was out of sight somewhere down Wilton road, the cabs weren't coming quickly either, in the 90 seconds I spent pondering my next move only
one cab came onto the rank.
This was never going to work, I had to get away from the chaos of Victoria and try to hail one elsewhere...So, to the buses, unfortunately the three different TFL HVJ wearers attempting to direct the desperate angry mob all gave me a different answer as to which bus to catch to get me nearby, so in the end I just got on the 73 because I knew it went past Green Park tube, which isn't a million miles away from Grovesnor Square...the bus was packed, I didn't get a seat, I was in pain with my leg, and when I finally managed to get off again I realised I had come too far, being miles up Oxford Street. A great silver lining though, my plan had worked, no more than 2 minutes of hobbling and a cab went past with his light on, hehe...a further 2 minutes and £4.40 later the cab door was being opened by a top hatted doorman, my rucksack and stick were lifted from my hands and I was helped to my feet to a gruff but friendly East end "'ello Sir, alright then?"...
I got to my seat (in the end)...(aaaaaand relax!) phew...won't bore you with the details of the forum, but it was excellent, some really exciting stuff coming up (and I got a free pen)... ;)
At lunchtime we were released, oddly I seemed to manage to be one of the first people to get organised and follow the instructions for how to get to lunch with one other fellow, we "Just cross over by reception, it's the door right opposite"'d and were stunned to see this wonderful sign by the doorway, could it really be true? Doubleclick feeding us in the
Brian Turner Mayfair? I checked the one other door in the area and it turned out to be the "Brian Turner Bar", which would have been equally good... ;)
But the total confusion on the face of the Maitre'D lead us rather rapidly to the conclusion that it was not to be... :( One of the Doubleclick folk came and scooped us up, kicking and screaming and dragged us into a little meeting room by the back door, where they were serving up a crazy concoction of chewy boeuf bourguignon, cold pilau rice with red onion and some sort of Petit Pois spicy Dhal...a quite extraordinary combination...
As if to rub our noses in it, my companion even pointed over my shoulder and said "there he is", I turned to look behind me and there he was indeed...Mr Turner, in his whites, walking past the door, so he was even personally cooking in his kitchen...bah... ;(
