meeting1

Meeting Tico and Hugh

Dublin, night before the show. We (btw…We = Darren, Deb, Suey, Jas, Melissa and myself) arrive at the hotel and check in – noticing the large 5* hotel directly across the road from us. We wondered at the time if Jovi et al would be staying there but dismissed the idea due to the hotel being so close to the area in which all the fans were staying – and only being 2 mins walk from the RDS.
We agree to go and freshen up and then to meet to go out later on that evening – to partake in the well known Dublin pastime that is drinking!! (it would have been rude not too!!) Melissa and I are heading back to our room when we meet with some other fans and stop to talk. We learn that the guys ARE stayin across the road…OMG…sooo close to us!!!!! At this point, Darren flies past us like a bat out of hell…we just about catch ‘met tico and hugh near the rds’!! Further investigation with Darren…who has just about calmed and gathered his breath enough to talk…reveals that he had gone out to the shop when he noticed Tico and Hugh simply wandering along the street. Seems that they had been (or were going to) check out the RDS. Abandoning all memories of what Tufty the Squirrel taught him about the green cross code, Darren risked life and limb dodging traffic to cross the road and catch up with Tico and Hugh. After sayin hi and introducing himself and chatting for a little while he left the guys to it and returned to the hotel – this was when he flew past us – on his way to get the camera and go back to find them again!!
Did we need a second invite?? Lmao…we were off!!! We walked all the way around the RDS – no sight of them. By this time it was about 8.30 ish…so we decided to take a wander and find ourselves that pub for the rest of the evening. Anyway..on our travels we pass a doorway with a small canopy above it – it was a Cuban restaurant!! We all looked at each other and …at the same time said..TICO!!! lmao… There was no way of seeing whether they were inside…because it was simply a stairway – the actual restaurant was upstairs!
After discussion, I was nominated to go in to find out!! .Now..let me make this clear…I would NEVER interrupt any of the guys during dinner. Ever.
So..up the stairs I went…..as I neared the top of the stairs…I saw Tico and Hugh at the table directly ahead!!! Without batting an eyelid..I went over to the head waiter and reserved a table for the next night – remembering to ask for a card (so that I had a number to call and cancel the reservation later!!!!) I simply then left without looking over at the guys again!! My self control, at times, amazes me!!!!
So…they were there and hadn’t been in there long…so we had a bit of a wait – but us UK’ers are used to that, plenty of practice in those FC lines!!!
Eventually they emerged from the restaurant and we asked politely for photos and autographs which they provided and posed for. They were in a good mood..and joked about the weather saying they hoped it was not going to rain at the show like it did last year!! They also agreed that Glasgow the night before had been the coldest ever!!! We thanked them for their time and they then left…they had been really nice.
It was funny then…because their hotel was right across the road from ours….we had to follow them back!!! They were walking real slow and casual too…so we kept having to stop otherwise we would have caught them up!!!!
We were not expecting to see any of the guys ‘out and about’ in Dublin so this was a very nice surprise and all due to Darrens good timing in needing to go to the shop!!!