ATTENDEE COMMENTS/MEMORIES

Loui's Story

DAY ONE:
Let's see, my journey to Chester for the Global Gathering began early on the Friday morning as I set off to get the train from Glasgow. My main obstacles that morning were persuading a depressed dog that:

#1 He would not fit in my bag and as a result could not come with me. #2 That paraphrasing General MacArthur, 'I would return'. #3 There was no chocolate in my bags. J

The train actually left Glasgow on time - I kid you not! - but still managed to be slightly delayed due to 'problems' somewhere down the line. The British railway system at its best.

Arrived in Chester and phoned our Fearless Leader to say that I was here and pretty please could someone come fetch me and take me to the hotel? I was obviously not the only one to do that as Sara (doing a splendid job as the modern incarnation of Wells Fargo) arrived to herd up a gaggle of GG attendees - namely me, Thalia, Manjula & Suzanne.

We arrived at the hotel to be greeted by our aforementioned Fearless Leader and those attendees that had arrived before us. We promptly plonked our collective butts on some seats, received our welcome folders and had a nice chat with a group of people that didn't think it was strange to travel hundreds of miles to meet up with a bunch of people that we'd only met via email just because we all happened to like the same cowboy tv show. I fail to see how that is any way odd but my work colleagues tend to give me strange looks. Takes all sorts, I guess. J

Eventually we all disbanded to go do the unpacking thing before re-congregating for our first excursion - the Ghost Walk - how exciting! Well actually it wasn't that exciting cause the guide was not really that great. The walk was lovely though and we got to see some sights - including some soap stars parading around in bath robes while we inadvertently held up the filming of a tv soap - a dirty job but somebody had to do it. J

From the walk we progressed to our first group meal and getting to know the people that we would be spending the rest of the weekend with. A fun time was had by all. Upon returning to the hotel we again temporarily disbanded to discard accoutrements that were unnecessary for an evening of munching, chatting and watching vids. Hence the reason that I returned to the tv room wearing slippers - comfort before fashion any day.

Before the video watching started we received our goody bags with the stuff that we ordered - all of which were fab! There were several surprises included which also made us giddy with delight, I do not jest. By far the biggest surprise of all was the special little something that Helen 'aka' Fearless Leader had managed to arrange. personalised signed photos of our favourite characters!! The sound of the collective intaking of breath was quite noticeable. THANK YOU, HELEN.

Then, once pulses had returned to normal, munching and vid watching started. I admit to wussing out fairly early on Friday but I was knackered after my train journey and needed sleep.

DAY TWO:
We all staggered in to the restaurant at the hotel at various points on the Saturday morning and had breakfast. The next excursion planned was the Roman Tour. More or less at the appointed time we set off from the town centre of Chester with Paul, our guide. It's not often you see a group of 30+ females wandering around Chester with a man dressed as a Roman Centurion - the looks on some of the faces we passed would testify to that!

Paul was a treasure. He was funny, knowledgeable and clearly enjoyed his subject matter. Our tour ended up in the ruins of the amphitheatre. Pulses started a flutterin' once again - not thanks to Paul - more thanks to fevered imaginations and a certain actor named Russell Crowe. J

We then dispersed for a couple of free hours around Chester. Jane and I went meanderin' which was fun, the others got up to what the others that got up to. We then went back to the hotel, the crazy - excuse me - energetic people amongst us went off to play Laser Quest and apparently had a whale of a time. J

Next scheduled activity was our group meal, the only difference on the previous night was this time we were in fancy dress. I must say we were a splendid sight to behold. J The staff at the restaurant seemed fairly calm about being faced with a horde dressed as cowboys, working girls and natives. I'm not too sure what the other patrons thought!

We returned to the hotel - who kindly gave us free use of one of the boardrooms - and spent the next several hours doing quizzes, making key-rings and watching videos - not to mention munching yummy things like chocolates and cake. I believe we eventually started packing up around three-ish in the morning. J

DAY THREE:
Those of us that got up the next morning and had breakfast then retired to our tv room and started watching Now and Again. I realise that it wasn't Mag7 but it did have the ever delectable Eric Close in it (this from a fervent Ezra fan!) so it wasn't exactly a trial to watch it. As the morning progressed the motley group watching vids periodically changed its viewing schedule and its members but a morning and early afternoon spent airing Now and Again or Mag7 can basically sum up the action. J

Yet again we had another group meal - this time accompanied by a little bit of magic. The card tricks were fairly cool - I can never figure out how people do them - I'm fairly sure that if Mr. Standish had been there he would have mopped the floor with the guy doing the magic in the restaurant though. J

Once again we returned to the hotel and - you guessed it - watched vids. J I left around one-ish to go pack so I didn't have to do it in the morning.

DAY FOUR:
Got up and met some bright-eyed and bushy-tailed GG attendees that were in the restuarant. The foreign contingent had been up even earlier and headed off to get aeroplanes while most of us were still in bed. Some not so bright-eyed attendees showed up after us in desperate need of caffeine.

Final packing was carried out by Fearless Leader and her posse while the rest of us sat around and nattered in the lounge - occasionally being asked by reception to tone it down cause the couldn't hear prospective customers on the phone as they tried to book rooms. *Makes sheepish face*.

As the morning progressed people drifted off in dribs and drabs to catch their various methods of transport home. For the majority of us the last action we made as a GG attendee was to hug our Fearless Leader and say a heartfelt thank you for an absolutely amazing weekend.

In my case, I shared a cab to the station with Suzanne and Manjula. They headed off for the train to London, I headed off for the train to Glasgow. My actions once safely settled on the train? I pulled out my personal CD player and listened to the Mag7 soundtrack - naturally!

In summation, the experience of Global Gathering: Chester is one I will treasure for a long time. I had a blast!

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