Illustrious / Eastercon 2011 (Thursday)

Before the con I wasn't feeling at my best, so I only decided to go at the last minute. I also discovered I couldn't cancel my room booking after 2 days beforehand and at £70ish per night...

Then I discovered (at 12:45) that the cost of a ticket leaving after 13:00 goes up from £30.25 to £96.50! The jump in price only affected the London to Birmingham leg of the journey and the price dropped again at 19:00. So I decided to got up to London on the next train and wander around the British Library (which I'd never visited before) until it shut at 17:00. I learned about the new Out of this World Exhibition that was to open in May, which I decided was worth a visit.

I walked to Euston Station and had a BK Meal, with reading and found that due to some problem or other trains to Birmingham were delayed so all tickets were valid. I was therefore going to board the next train when I discovered that my tick had been marked as valid from Monday 25 April! (even though I'd used it successfully to get through St Pancras). As Virgin Trains didn't sell me the ticket they couldn't provide a refund, and I would have to buy a new London to Birmingham return ticket!

Finally I got on the train and got to the NEC at around 20:00, it was dark and I could figure out how to get to the hotel, so gave up (I was also tired) so took a taxi which charged me £5.60 and then went right to bed. (The following day I discovered the station was a 10 minute walk from the hotel!)

Illustrious / Eastercon 2011 (Thursday)

Before the con I wasn't feeling at my best, so I only decided to go at the last minute. I also discovered I couldn't cancel my room booking after 2 days beforehand and at £70ish per night...

Then I discovered (at 12:45) that the cost of a ticket leaving after 13:00 goes up from £30.25 to £96.50! The jump in price only affected the London to Birmingham leg of the journey and the price dropped again at 19:00. So I decided to got up to London on the next train and wander around the British Library (which I'd never visited before) until it shut at 17:00. I learned about the new Out of this World Exhibition that was to open in May, which I decided was worth a visit.

I walked to Euston Station and had a BK Meal, with reading and found that due to some problem or other trains to Birmingham were delayed so all tickets were valid. I was therefore going to board the next train when I discovered that my tick had been marked as valid from Monday 25 April! (even though I'd used it successfully to get through St Pancras). As Virgin Trains didn't sell me the ticket they couldn't provide a refund, and I would have to buy a new London to Birmingham return ticket!

Finally I got on the train and got to the NEC at around 20:00, it was dark and I could figure out how to get to the hotel, so gave up (I was also tired) so took a taxi which charged me £5.60 and then went right to bed. (The following day I discovered the station was a 10 minute walk from the hotel!)