What dread those four little words engender in the mind. Sadly I was compelled to use the service twice yesterday.
But let me rewind a little and start the story at the beginning. Quite some time ago I had booked a ticket to go and see Abba voyage. I had hoped for a paper ticket but no, I had to download the Ticketmaster app on my phone and show the electronic bar code on entry. OK, if I must. The plan was to stay overnight with my sister in South East London, drive to the venue, and then drive home. That was the plan. However, on Saturday I got an email from the organisers saying there was no car parking at the Abba Arena, except for blue badge holders. Plan B.
What to do? Short of driving around the venue and searching for multi-story car parks, which I'm not keen on using anyway, I decided to drive to Stevenage, park at the train station and use public transport. Google maps showed me that the tunnel at Dartford was closed and routed me via Blackwall tunnel at Greenwich. Fair enough. Hardly had I started my journey than the nice voice re-routed me to the Dartford (a female's prerogative to change her mind) tunnel. How I wish I hadn't listened to her but had carried on to Greenwich. I got on to the approach road to the tunnel and sat there for over an hour, listening to music and twiddling my thumbs. Luckily I had an empty bottle in the car. 'Nuff said.
Realising that I was running out of time I got off the approach road as soon as I could. I drove to Dartford railway station and left the car in the car park. £3.50 for the day (well, it was Sunday) and £10 (using my Senior rail card) for a one-day travel card. And then, horror of horrors, I discovered there were no trains at all running from Dartford yesterday and there were replacement buses running to Slade Green, to Sidcup and to Gravesend. Too late to re-position the car so I took the bus to Slade Green and caught a train from there which was going in a big loop to Cannon Street. Met, and helped with my few words of Spanish, a lovely family from the Basque country in the North of Spain. I got off at Lewisham and transferred to the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), changing at Canary Wharf and ending up at Pudding Mill Lane. The Abba arena was right outside the station.
By this time I was a bit 'peckish' so splashed out £9 (how much?) for a hot dog. I also bought a T-shirt for £35 from the merchandise shop. Has to be done! Young people these days refer to it as merch. e.g. did you buy any merch?
As for the concert itself, can I be a grumpy old man and have a moan or two? It was great to see Agnetha and Frida looking much larger than life on enormous screens (and Bjorn & Benny too, of course). And it was nice listening to Abba's music. But why did it have to be so loud? And, for me, the laser (?) lights were a bit OTT at times, leaving an image in my eyeballs after they had passed. My third gripe is that although the seats had enough leg room they were connected one to the other in long rows and the two ladies to my right were bouncing up and down to the music as if they had St Vitus' dance. I don't grudge anybody anything but was more than a little annoyed when my seat was being bounced up and down too. And how inconsiderate of many people to stand up, blocking the view of people behind them. It was a 90-minute show, with no interval, but I left early to give my ears and eyes a rest.
Back to Dartford by DLR, on the new Elizabeth line, train from Abbey Wood to Slade Green and rail replacement bus (when it finally deigned to turn up) back to Dartford train station. Then the 2+ hour drive home, with a smaller hold-up at the Blackwall tunnel. Fish and chips, and a beer, in St. Ives and home by 7.30. A long day, by car and public transport, for just over an hour's entertainment. Still, it was good to see my sister and her BF. Did you know that in Spanish one of the terms used for 'other half', or 'significant other' is 'media naranja', literally half an orange!
Hope this blog wasn't too long, but I had a lot to get 'off my chest'.
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