We got
the rental car and left Montpellier for a road trip to Marseille to fly to
Newcastle via Gatwick.
After
some tries we got out of the city and on the way.
And with
the exception of the disappearing toll road ticket it was a nice trip
Not much
time in the airport so after a little food shopping we were on board and in the
air.
But they
came around with free coffee and cookies, and we were lucky, there was no pork
fat in them!
We
arrived in the cold UK, compared to where we came from; there was no rain….yet!
We had
dinner at the airport and I got the biggest chicken burger ever.
Then we
found out that our 20.05 flight was now being 2.5 hours delayed!
Now info
besides “we hope to fly”, then around 22.00 we got free voucher for drinks, not
a good sign. But after a short meeting with Mr. Jack D, they were ready to
board us.
The nice
rental car man in Newcastle stay at the office waiting for us, so we got the
car and went straight to the Sunderland line and got number 105.
Then we
went looking for our hotel, and after scaring the poor guy in reception when we
arrived 5 persons, as Kathy from OZ now had joined us, with all our bags as he
was only waiting 1 person and was fully booked, we found out we was in the
wrong one.
We found
the right one and could finally get a few hours of sleep before the morning
roll call.
We had
the roll call at 6.00 in nice UK rain. Then we had breakfast and shower and packing the bags as we were going straight to Manchester after the show.
Then back to the line to be told we should be
back at 14.30 for wrist bands. Then the
security staff said wristbands at 14.00, so we decided to be back at 13.30 to
see what was happening.
We then
went looking for waterproofing and a place to park the car, before we rejoined
the line at 13.30, now everything was chaos, they just gave us a grey wristband
and say that they would soon let us into another area where they would be food
and drinks to buy before they would let us into the stadium, but they would not
respect the numbers.
When
they open the gates people was running and fighting for they spot, nobody seem
to care about food and drinks everybody just wanted a good spot in the new line.
After
sometime in the new mass line, Graham showed up and he was not a happy man!
Then
they started to line us up in numbers in a new line outside the “new” line, but
faith was restored and we knew that with the G man in charge everything would
be all right.
Then
they finally let into the stadium in numbers and walking, again we got a spot
at the rail in front of the video scream on the right side.
The band
was in very good mood and a bit loose after a few drinks celebrating Nils
birthday with a few drinks.