There always has to be someone who...

Friday 31st March…Once it had got to a really unearthly hour and they finally kicked us all out of the bar, we decided that it couldn't get any better anyway. What with Mandie already gone some hours before, Rebecca and I decided to call a taxi. Our taxi had just arrived when a woman appeared from the foyer enquiring where to call a taxi. As she was staying at a hotel that was on the way home for us, we offered her a lift in ours. In the back seat Rebecca and I where laughing about the bizarre events of the night, gushing about Chris Dean, Gwendal, Stephane, Elvis and everyone else we had seen and the woman in the front was laughing too. She turned around and asked us where we were from....."She's friendly,” I thought to myself. We replied London and asked where she was from..."Philadelphia" was her response. I was a little surprised as she had a slightly European accent "Oh" I said "You've come a long way! Were you pleased with the result tonight?” "The result tonight?!? Yeah sure!" she said. "Oh, you must be a big A&P fan then!" I said. "Fan?!?!? Oh yeah I'm a fan first and a coach second I guess!!!" She said laughing!! (I know, I know ROFL but I'd had a few drinks OK!!). I looked at Rebecca for some clue as to who she was but wasn't getting anything back !! So I decided to try get it out of her in what I though was a subtle way !! "Oh really!" I said, "So do you coach more than one couple?!?” She replied, "I coach Elvis"........it hit me like a brick!!! ROTFL!!! With that we arrived at her hotel and we descended into a fit of laughter when she left the taxi. Rebecca said, "You know that was Uschi Kesler!" "Errr no!!" I said. We arrived at our hotel and Rebecca started telling me more and more about this Ms Kesler, which was quite painful LOL!!! "She coached B&K a few times, she invented hydro-blading!" laughed Rebecca! "And I told her that she must be a big A&P fan!!!! Oh God tell me it didn't happen!! And we were gushing about Elvis being in the bar as well!!!!! And we said it was a turn up for the books about Plushenko!! We didn't say it was a shame did we?!?!?!?!?!?" I exclaimed. ROFL I'm still cringing about it!!!!! It was a little hazy, but we still keep remembering bits of the conversation that we wish would stay forgotten......and the vast majority of it came from me LOL!!

Forgets to look behind them!

Reading your story about not recognising Uschi Kesler reminded me of what I did whilst walking back to our hotel after the free dance. My friend and I had got into a deep discussion about TV coverage of skating in Britain and we'd started slagging off the BBC and saying how they never show anything and how Robin Cousins' commentary really annoys us. Anyway, I guess we were probably talking quite loudly because I'm never quiet, and we stopped at the kerb to cross a road and I looked behind me. I couldn't believe it; Robin Cousins was standing directly behind me with Christopher Dean! He just smirked at me and then they overtook us crossing the road. I just wanted the ground to open up! I mean what were the chances of that happening? I certainly wasn't going to ask him for an autograph after that one!

Who can't hold their liquor!

I have quite the fetish for Totmiana and Marinin, I threw a rose or something after their free skate. On Saturday night, we were in the pizzeria across from the arena for quite some time (4am) and had drunk 40 BEERS! They eventually closed- Boo! Inebriated, we walked into the lobby of the Novotel, where we were talking with some other fans for a little while. Then here he walks! My IDOL! Maksim Marinin! All I know is that I ran up to him and gushed for 5 minutes (Oh the pain! The humanity!). He looks at me rather amused and in a gruff Russian accent says: 'Thank you for your support'.

I spent all day Sunday DYING of embarrassment. Talk about Psycho Fans.

Fails to recognize who is sitting next to them!

I was taking lots of pictures throughout the whole event. However when Michael Weiss skated I didn't take any. The guy next to me says, "Oh, I see you didn't photograph Michael Weiss and he's an American. How come?" To which I replied, "I've just never particularly cared for him." At which point the woman behind me leaned forward and told me she was related to him and was there with his family to support him. OOPS. All I could think was, "OK, how do I get out of this gracefully?" So I just said, "Oh, well, I'm not rooting against him or anything" and then I just turned around real fast. (Not quite as bad as what I said about Angelika last year in front of her boyfriend but just as embarrassing. When will I learn?).

And in case you are wondering….

I’ll have to try and remember something here, I recall Liz telling us a story once about Worlds 1999 in Helsinki. Something about being stood by an Italian guy and talking loudly to an acquaintance that K&O didn’t really deserve the win and that Angelika was too over the top or something. Of course, the Italian guy turned out to be Guiseppe Arena, Angelika’s boyfriend! Liz realised this about a minute later when Angelika came over and hugged the guy!

Puts their foot in their mouth...at just the wrong time!

I just remembered another embarrassing moment too! I just had pounced on Gwendal to give him a hug! As I pulled back I thought to myself "Errr...I better say something now! I couldn't see a lot of their skating! Aaaarrrggghh!” So I said something like "Congratulations ! ......You were fantastic tonight! ...And I'm a total convert now!” He replied grinning "What?!? You were not before?!?” I just winced and kept opening my mouth to reply but didn't know what to say! Then I turned around and hid behind Rebecca I think! PML!

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